As I Lay Dying

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Is it possible for siblings growing up in the same family to have completely different life experiences? Why do siblings remember events differently and/or frequently disagree about what happened in their childhood?  

Teaching Suggestion: If students do not have siblings and have difficulty imagining how they might behave, consider changing the prompt so that it asks about close friends who have lived next door and/or attended the same school. This question will prepare students to think about the subjectivity of observation and memory, which is a defining feature of Modernist Literature. It may also be helpful to remind students that the main characters in this novel are mourning the loss of Addie, and that grief and related experiences differ among family members. This short activity connects to the theme The Development of Characters Through Differing Perspectives.

• “Why Do Siblings Have Different Memories of Growing Up?” from Psychology Today takes a scientific approach on siblings’ perceived experiences.
• This article from UNC Health Talk explains how everybody experiences grief differently.