Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Using Constraint Logic Programming to Analyze theChronology in ``A Rose for Emily''

  • Published:
Computers and the Humanities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

William Faulkner's non-chronological story tellingstyle has long been a challenge to critics and apuzzle to beginning literature students. ``A Rose forEmily,'' one of Faulkner's most frequently anthologizedstories, exemplifies the complexity of Faulkner'streatment of time. In this paper, we apply aconstraint-based problem solving method to an analysisof the chronology of ``A Rose for Emily.'' Constraintlogic programming is a declarative programminglanguage paradigm that solves problems by enforcingconstraints among variables. CLP's ability to sortnumeric variables that do not yet have definite valuesmakes it possible to sort the events of ``A Rose forEmily'' with only fragmented and relative timeinformation. In attempting to sort the events of thestory, we find an inconsistency in the temporalreferences scattered throughout the narrative. Afterremoving this inconsistency, we are able to compareour chronology with earlier ones and discuss thethematic relevance of Faulkner's nonlinear plots.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Burg, J., S.-D. Lang and C.E. Hughes. “Intelligent Backtracking in CLP(R)”. Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence 17 (1996), 189–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clocksin, W.F. and C.S. Mellish. Programming in Prolog, 3rd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. “Constraint Logic Programming Languages”. Communications of the ACM 33(7) (1990), 52–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colmerauer, A. “An Introduction to Prolog III”. Communications of the ACM 33(7) (1990), 69–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowley, M. “Introduction”. The Portable Faulkner. New York: Viking, 1946, pp. 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner, W. Collected Stories of William Faulkner. New York: Random, 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner, W. The Sound and the Fury. (1929) The Corrected Text. New York: Vintage, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Going, William T. Chronology in Teaching “A Rose for Emily.” Reprinted in Inge, 76–83.

  • Hagopian, John V., W.G. Cunliffe and M. Dolch. “ 'A Rose for Emily' “ Reprinted in Inge, 76–83.

  • Inge, M. Thomas. William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily. The Charles Merrill Literary Casebook Series. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffar, et al. The CLP(R) Language and System. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems 14(3) (July 1992), 339–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kowalski, R. “Algorithm = Logic + Control”. Communications of the ACM 22(7) (1979), 424–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler, Frank. “The Tangled Thread of Time: Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.' “ Notes on Mississippi Writers 14(2) (1982), 80–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGlynn, P.D. The Chronology of “A Rose for Emily.” Reprinted in Inge, 90–92.

  • Moore, G.M. “Of Time and its Mathematical Progression: Problems of Chronology in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.' “ Studies in Short Fiction 29 (1992), 195–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebeker, H.E. “Emily's Rose of Love: Thematic Implications of Point of View in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.' “ Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 24 (1970), 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebeker, H.E. “Chronology Revised”. Studies in Short Fiction 8 (1971), 471–473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, M. “Literary Dynamics: How the Order of a Text Creates its Meanings” [With Analysis of Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily”]. Poetics Today 1(1–2) (Autumn 1979), 35–64, 311–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, R. “The Narrator in 'A Rose for Emily.' “ Journal of Narrative Technique 1 (1971), 159–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J.A. Logic and Logic Programming. Communications of the ACM 35(3) (1992), 40–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwab, Milinda. “A Watch for Emily”. Studies in Short Fiction 28(2) (1991), 215–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterling, L. and E. Shapiro. The Art of Prolog: Advanced Programming Techniques, 2nd ed. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Hentenryck, P. Constraint Satisfaction in Logic Programming. MIT Press, 1989.

  • Wilson, G.R., Jr. “The Chronology of Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily' Again”. Notes on Mississippi Writers 5 (Fall 1972), 56, 58–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, R.H. The Chronology of “A Rose for Emily”. Reprinted in Inge, 84–86.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA

    Jennifer Burg

  2. Department of English, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA

    Anne Boyle

  3. School of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32816, USA

    Sheau-Dong Lang

Authors
  1. Jennifer Burg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne Boyle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sheau-Dong Lang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Burg, J., Boyle, A. & Lang, SD. Using Constraint Logic Programming to Analyze theChronology in ``A Rose for Emily''. Computers and the Humanities 34, 377–392 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026594916008

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026594916008

Search

Navigation