As I Lay Dying

1. What does Cash do to prepare for Addie’s death?

A) call the local minister

B) make her coffin

C) feed her liquor to dull the pain

D) find a burial plot

2. Which of Addie’s sons likes to perform thrilling but dangerous feats on his horse?

A) Darl

B) Cash

C) Vardaman

D) Jewel

3. Which of these is NOT a reason one or more of the Bundrens wants to travel to Jefferson?

A) to procure an abortion

B) to visit a dentist

C) to sell Jewel’s horse

D) to bury Addie with her ancestors

4. In Cora’s view, which character is the only redeeming member of the Bundren clan?

A) Anse

B) Darl

C) Dewey Dell

D) Jewel

5. To what does Anse attribute the bad luck that’s afflicted the Bundren clan?

A) the dark woods that surround their house

B) the snake that lives on their property

C) the road next to their house

D) the wolves that live in the vicinity

6. Why does Dewey Dell hope that Addie will die soon?

A) so Dewey Dell can reach Jefferson before her pregnancy is showing

B) so Addie no longer suffers

C) so the family doesn’t have to pay for Peabody’s doctor visit

D) so Anse can remarry quickly

7. Which of Addie’s sons are present for her death?

A) Vardaman and Cash

B) Vardaman and Jewel

C) Darl, Jewel, and Cash

D) Cash only

8. Which character does Dewey Dell refer to when she says, “[H]e could do so much for me if he just would” (35)?

A) Lafe

B) Anse

C) Darl

D) Peabody

9. According to Vernon, what is Anse’s greatest burden?

A) carrying out Addie’s dying wishes

B) putting up with himself

C) having a daughter like Dewey Dell

D) keeping his blighted farm profitable

10. Which animal does Vardaman liken his mother to?

A) a crab

B) a fish

C) a deer

D) a snake

11. Why do the Bundrens put a mosquito net over Addie’s head?

A) to keep the mosquitoes away

B) to ward off the smell of her decaying body

C) to hide the holes Cash drilled into her face

D) to honor a tradition in the Bundren family

Discussion Suggestion: Using this video from Oregon State University as a reference, discuss Faulkner’s stream-of-consciousness technique in As I Lay Dying. Do you find this technique effective at conveying the thoughts of characters? How would the book be different if thoughts were conveyed in a more traditional, narrative form?

Discussion Suggestion: Faulkner uses a technique by which he switches perspectives between each short chapter. What is the effect of these shifts in perspective? Pick at least three characters (Anse, Darl, and Dewey Dell are good candidates) and discuss how differing perspectives convey the disparity between how these characters think of themselves and how others think of them.

12. What errand does Dewey Dell plan to run in town, causing Anse to accuse her of sacrilege?

A) selling Addie’s wedding dress

B) buying a new dress

C) selling Cora’s cakes

D) buying Vardaman a toy

13. What action taken by Jewel does Anse say goes against Addie’s wishes?

A) riding to town on horseback instead of in the wagon

B) lifting the coffin into the wagon singlehandedly

C) cooking the fish Vardaman caught earlier

D) running an errand when Addie is dying

14. What is Cash’s biggest anxiety concerning Addie’s coffin?

A) It is not properly balanced for the long journey.

B) Its edges are not properly beveled.

C) The nails are loose.

D) It is too small for Addie.

15. What is the purpose of the Bundrens’ visit to Samson’s?

A) to buy food

B) to stay the night

C) to sell Cora’s cakes

D) to purchase a sturdier coffin

16. Why does Samson believe the Bundrens’ trip to Jefferson is ill-advised?

A) Addie never explicitly said she wanted to be buried there.

B) The people of Jefferson are hostile to outsiders.

C) There is a very strong tornado on the way.

D) All the bridges that cross the river are damaged.

17. At age 15, why did Jewel suddenly start suffering from extreme fatigue?

A) He was staying up all night with a married woman.

B) He’d been spending his nights working on another farm.

C) He came down with a mosquito-borne disease.

D) He began to suffer symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

18. In Darl’s flashback, when he catches Addie in tears, what is the reason for her crying?

A) humiliation because Anse cheated on her

B) disappointment over Dewey Dell’s pregnancy

C) guilt over giving Jewel extra food

D) sorrow over her wasted life

19. What is a ford, as it pertains to a river?

A) a shallow point where animals can cross

B) a rickety bridge offering risky passage

C) the direction of a river’s current

D) a mass of driftwood

20. According to Cora, what is God’s instrument for punishing Anse for his risky journey?

A) the mules who cannot make the crossing

B) the errant nails in Addie’s coffin

C) the rain that floods the river

D. the log in the river

21. How many of the Bundrens’ four mules do they lose in the crossing?

A) one

B) two

C) three

D) four

22. Why does Cora worry for Addie’s eternal soul?

A) Cora fears for all souls because all humans are sinners.

B) Addie loved Jewel more than Darl.

C) Addie let Anse drive her family to moral and financial ruin.

D) Addie let Dewey Dell get pregnant.

23. When does Addie feel most connected to her children?

A) when Addie is alone

B) when whipping them

C) when they are still babies

D) at the end of her life

Discussion Suggestion: Discuss Addie’s chapter in detail. Does the unexpected window into her perspective change your view of her? Why or why not?  And how does this chapter convey the book’s themes pertaining to expectations of women in the South in the early 20th century?

24. Who is Jewel’s biological father?

A) Anse

B) Vernon Tull

C) Samson

D) Reverend Whitfield

25. Why does Anse refuse Armistid’s offer to borrow his team of mules?

A) Anse does not want to owe another man anything.

B) The mules look sickly.

C) Addie would have wanted them to travel with their own mules.

D) The wagon is too wrecked to be pulled by mules.

26. According to Vardaman, what animal is Jewel’s mother?

A) a fish

B) a buzzard

C) a horse

D) a mule

27. Which of the following is NOT a reason the Bundrens cause outrage in Mottson?

A) Dewey Dell’s asking for an abortion

B) Vardaman’s claims that his dead mother is a fish

C) Addie’s reeking corpse

D) Cash’s broken body on top of the coffin

28. What is different about Jewel when he returns to his family?

A) He is without his horse.

B) He has a broken leg.

C) He is white as a sheet.

D) His hat is missing.

29. Aside from the river crossing incident, how do the Bundrens almost lose Addie’s coffin a second time?

A) over a steep cliff

B) in a fire

C) in a thunderstorm

D) by attempted theft

30. Which character is responsible for destroying the Gillespies’ barn?

A) Vardaman

B) Dewey Dell

C) Jewel

D) Darl

31. Which of these is NOT a component of the “cure” Macgowan administers to Dewey Dell?

A) turpentine

B) capsules

C) anesthetic

D) sexual assault

32. Where did Darl get his spyglass?

A) in Europe during World War I

B) on an island while serving as a merchant marine

C) in a toy store in Jefferson

D) as a gift from Jewel

33. Who ends up spending Dewey Dell’s $10?

A) Dewey Dell

B) Anse

C) Cash

D) no one

34. Which of these is NOT something Anse obtains in Jefferson?

A) new teeth

B) a new wife

C) a shave

D) new boots

35. Which character does Cash refer to when he says, “[T]his world is not his world; this life his life” (162)?

A) Darl

B) Vardaman

C) Anse

D) Macgowen

Discussion Suggestion: In Requiem for a Nun, Faulkner’s famously wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Analyze this quote with respect to As I Lay Dying. How does the book operate as an allegory for the modernization of the South? And how do the characters’ fixation on the past and the dead influence their actions in the present, mostly to their detriment? Pay close attention the book’s symbols including the road by the Bundren homestead, Jewel’s horse, and Addie’s coffin.