2002 – 2003 AP English Language and CompositionWeb Project The Sound and the Fury - June 2, 1910 “Quentin’s Penultimate Journey” |
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In this, our third, year of web projects for the upper level section of American Literature at Salisbury School in Salisbury, CT, we tackled the second section of Faulkner’s complicated story of a southern family, the Compsons. While the 2001 – 2002 class focused on the internal ramblings of Benjy’s section, we moved on to Quentin’s more physical journey around Cambridge and Boston in 1910. Frenetically dashing about, narrowly averting clocks, chimes and bells en route to his final leap into the Charles River, Quentin Compson covered a lot of ground on June 2, 1910.
When we decided to take on this project, we first needed to create an itinerary which closely resembled Quentin’s meanderings on that day in 1910. Since we had already been using Ross’ and Polk’s Glossary and Commentary for the novel, I went to the source to see what the oracles might have for us, and Professor Polk (University of Southern Mississippi) did not disappoint. After swapping a few emails and clarifying the project for Professor Polk, he informed me of an out-of-print essay by Patrick Samway entitled “Faulkner and History,” originally published by the Salamanca Press in 1986 (now out of print). The appendices were the most helpful, and after some web surfing and phone calling we had a pretty good idea of how Quentin’s wanderings transpired.
On May 15, 2003, we drove to Harvard Square, seventeen strong, and tried to retrace Quentin’s footsteps from his dorm room in Harvard Yard to his incomplete crossing over the Larz Anderson Bridge. Some buildings have had facelifts, and others are gone, but the bells of the Park St. Church still ring, and the Parker House dining room is as elegant as ever. What we have compiled here are photos (old and new), corresponding excerpts from the text, and commentary about the places and the words which accompany them.
A number of people to thank: the class (you can read about them as well), Mr. Sam Simmons for his time as a chaperone and spiritual advisor, Old Town Trolley Tours (and our driver, Shannon) for taking us around and about, the folks at the Harvard Map Collection for their help in tracking down an appropriate map from 1911 (and scanning it for us), and Mr. Matt Fitzgerald for his help with the cameras. I hope you like what you see!
Sean P. Brennan, English Department Chairman
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