Dry September Research Articles

Racial Violence in William Faulkner’s Dry September and Harper Lee’s to Kill a Mockingbird

AbstractWith its history of slavery and racial conflict, war and defeat, segregation and lynching, the South is defined by violence and aggression on a personal and community level. This experience defined Southern identity and shaped its literature to mirror the sense of frustration, guilt and shame bursting from the heart of seemingly peaceful, ordered and decent communities. Though some authors tend to see violence as a necessary transgression that will, eventually, through painful sacrifice, lay the foundation of a renewed world, others regard it as a trap or a vicious circle which does not allow the South to grow out of the illusion of a glorious past and accept present changes. William Faulkner’ short story

Análise estatística do perfil de vento na camada limite superficial no centro de lançamento de Alcântara

Statistical analysis of the wind profile made at an anemometric tower installed at the Alcântara Launching Center was based on wind data (direction and wind speed) collected between 1995 up to 1999, which was carried out at six different levels: 6.0, 10.0, 16.3, 28.5, 43.0, and 70.0 m. This analysis was made for typical rainy months (March) and dry (September) season, in the Alcântara Launching Center area. The analyzed data total during the wet season (March) was 76,882 wind profiles (time interval of ten minutes) and during the dry season (September) was of 109,809 profiles. It was computed the mean wind speed (or intensity) of the wind, standard deviation, median, mode, and the prevailing wind direction. The predominant direction was from NE with 33 and 40% for wet and dry seasons, respectively. The average values of wind speed showed a dependency with height and it was observed that the highest levels of the anemometric tower have the strongest wind speed in the dry period (8.2 ms-¹). The values of average wind speeds observed were 6.4 ms-¹ for the dry season and 4.1 ms-¹ during the wet one. The normal and Weibull statistical distributions were adjusted to the observed data set. Results show that the wind speed is adjusted to a 95% level (α=0.05) for the normal and Weibull statistical distributions. The Weibull distribution for the entire period presented and adjust to values between 3.0 and 9.0 ms-¹, and the normal one showed a good fit for values between 4.0 and 9.0 ms-¹.

"I am now like the gambler": Erotic Triangles and Game Theory in William Faulkner's Pylon and If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem

Shortly after beginning his tenure as writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia in 1957, Faulkner was asked where he had learned psychology. question, posed by student in the psychiatry department, was logical one considering Faulkner had just finished describing what he felt constituted irrational human behavior. answer was the sort of playful prevarication one comes to expect with Faulkner: he said that he learned everything he needed to know about psychology by the characters he wrote and by poker (Faulkner in the University 268). Although Faulkner's answer seems evasive, as does his point of mentioning his unfamiliarity with Freud during the same response, Faulkner's suggestion that poker was useful in the creation of his art--art in which one finds strata of complex human social behavior and diversity--is perhaps more truthful than initially suspected. this essay, I would like to augment existing scholarship on Faulkner's more neglected, non-Yoknapatawpha novels, Pylon (1935) and If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem (1939), by demonstrating that both novels not only exemplify typical erotic triangulations, but also employ elements of informal and evolutionary such as perfect information and adaptive phenotypic diversity. Elements and strategies of I will argue, valuable in outwitting opponents in games such as poker or chess (or in fertilizing female eggs), are employed by Faulkner in different sort of contest--one in which lovers maneuver and jockey for positions of power and sexual control. theory, however, is something of misnomer, according to Andrew M. Colman, author of Game Theory and Its Applications in the Social and Biological Sciences. In spite of its name, is not specifically concerned with recreations and pastimes, Colman writes (3). more accurate name, or at least a less misleading name for it would have been the of interdependent decision making (3). Game simply put, is the study of particular types of social interaction. According to Colman, there are three conditions to be met if an is to be considered game: (a) there are two or more decision makers, called players; (b) each player has choice of two or more ways of acting, called strategies, such that the outcome of the depends on the strategy choices of all players; and (c) the players have well-defined preferences among the possible outcomes, so that numerical payoffs reflecting these preferences can be assigned to all players for all outcomes. (3) formal all of this is entirely mathematical abstraction: a purely imaginary idealization of social interaction (6). informal nonmathematical applications undergo empirical testing, are analyzed, and have, in many cases, proven to provide deep and illuminating insights for the biological and social sciences: Certain important features of individual and collective rationality, cooperation and competition, trust and suspicion, threats and commitments cannot even be clearly described, let alone explained without the framework of theory (4). Game then, becomes way to understand behavior that would otherwise be unintelligible; and poker, as the paradigmatic game, becomes Faulkner's hermeneutic for complex psychological examination. This is certainly true in Faulkner's fiction, where competitive game playing with sexuality is employed, often manifested as sexual control-driven involving third participant. Noel Polk has found these triangular arrangements to be common occurrence in Faulkner's work; more common, he writes, than what many perceive to be central theme in Faulkner: race. Polk argues that issues of gender are the more ardent themes in Faulkner's work, as race constitutes the central theme of only four of Faulkner's novels (Light in August; Absalom, Absalom!; Go Down, Moses; and Intruder in the Dust) and three short stories (Sunset, That Evening Sun, and Dry September), while the list of works embedded with the theme of erotic triangulation is much longer, including Pylon and If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem in addition to many short stories such as Artist at Home, A Courtship, Mistral, Idyll in the Desert, The Brooch, Fox Hunt, A Dangerous Man, Honor, Hair, Divorce in Naples, and A Justice (143-151). …

Incidence and host range of the melon fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Central Tanzania

The incidence and host range of the melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae, was studied in the Morogoro Region of Central Tanzania between October 2004 and October 2006. Occurrence was limited to low to medium altitude locations. Populations reached a peak in the dry season, between July and September. Host plants belonged mostly to the Cucurbitaceae family, with non-cucurbit hosts being infested occasionally and at low infestation rate. Highly preferred cucurbit hosts were cucumber (Cucumis sativus), melon (Cucumis melo) and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), while Momordica cf trifoliata was the most important wild host. Bactrocera cucurbitae appeared to dominate most indigenous cucurbit infesters, with the exception of Dacus ciliatus which was still dominant in some cucurbitaceous spp.

“A man with such an appearance was capable of anything”: Imaginary Rape and the Violent “Other” in Faulkner’s “Dry September” and Oz’s “Nomad and Viper”

“A man with such an appearance was capable of anything”: Imaginary Rape and the Violent “Other” in Faulkner’s “Dry September” and Oz’s “Nomad and Viper”

The Southern Demiurge at Work: Modernism, Literary Theory and William Faulkner's “Dry September”

In light of the increasing politicization that can be observed within the discipline of American Studies in the U.S. — with its focus on race, class and gender — and the neglect of matters aesthetic that more often than not accompanies this phenomenon, canonized modernist texts have been cast under something close to a general suspicion. This development, however, has to be seen in the larger context of academic politics, which is provided in Francois Cusset’s recent book French Theory: How Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, & Co. Transformed the Intellectual Life in the United States (2008). In it, he diagnoses a split of French post-structuralism into two camps: a school of apolitical textual deconstruction and one of re-politicization based upon identity politics. With the help of a new reading of William Faulkner’s short story “Dry September,” I will argue that this split is both artificial and questionable. I will show that, far from being historically irrelevant or purely mandarin, the aesthetic complexity of modernist texts does not forego but actively addresses (if in a demiurgic fashion) the dangers involved in readings motivated by political agendas such as race and gender.

The Design And Fabrication Of A Solar Hot Box

The designed and constructed solar hot box was able to attain a temperature of 80oC during the month of June, when tested in Owerri, Nigeria. June, in Owerri, is the period the rain is heaviest and with consistent cloudy weather. That this temperature is achievable within the stated period revealed that the solar hot box will be capable of attaining the temperature of boiling water of 100oC during the dry months September to February, in which case the solar device can be readily adapted for solar cooking. The designed however, when tested as a dryer for agricultural products (groundnuts) was observed to produce excellent results as groundnuts, dried with the solar devices for four days were able to sprout (germinated) when planted, indicative of the fact that the moisture content of the nuts as obtained using he solar device provided a suitable condition for groundnut planting. This establishes that amongst other uses, the solar hot box can serve as a device for agriculture post harvest preservation. Journal of Research in National Development Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp. 96-101

The Stricken World in “Dry September”

The Stricken World in “Dry September”

Dinâmica nictemeral das assembléias fitoplanctônicas em um reservatório tropical (reservatório de Corumbá, Estado de Goiás, Brasil), em dois períodos do ciclo hidrológico

In this study, the main environmental variables that determined the vertical distribution of phytoplanktonic assemblages in the Corumba Reservoir (Goias) were assessed in a nictemeral scale. Samples were taken during the rainy (April 1997) and the dry (September 1997) periods, in the lacustrine zone of the Reservoir. Composition, density and biomass of phytoplanktonic assemblages were analyzed. Low biomass values were registered in both nictemeral cycles in conditions of low nutrient concentrations and low light availability, particularly in April, when the water retention time was ten days. Phytoplanktonic organisms were especially concentrated at the euphotic zone, during the morning, except for the Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii , which was concentrated at the aphotic zone due to hydraulic gradient. The low values registered in the two nictemeral cycles were mainly due to morphometric and sedimentologycal factors, and low water retention time in the Corumba reservoir

Tropospheric aerosol observations in São Paulo, Brazil using a compact lidar system

A backscattering light detection and ranging (lidar) system, the first of this kind in the country, has been set up in a suburban area in the city of São Paulo, Brazil (23°33′ S, 46°44′ W) to provide the vertical profile of the aerosol backscatter and extinction coefficients at 532 nm and up to 4–5 km height above sea level (asl). The measurements have been carried out during the second half of the so‐called Brazilian dry season, September and October in the year of 2001. When possible, the lidar measurements were complemented with aerosol optical thickness measurements obtained by a CIMEL Sun‐tracking photometer in the visible spectral region, not only to validate the lidar data, but also to provide an input value of the so‐called extinction‐to‐backscatter ratio (lidar ratio). The lidar data were also used to retrieve the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) height and low troposphere structural features over the city of São Paulo. Three‐dimensional air mass back trajectory analysis was also conducted to determine the source regions of aerosols observed during this study. These first lidar measurements over the city of São Paulo during the second half of the dry season showed a significant variability of the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) in the lower troposphere (0.5–5 km) at 532 nm. It was also found that the aerosol load is maximized in the 1–3 km height region and this load represents about 20–25% of the lower tropospheric aerosol.

Post Natal Lecithotroph: A New Age Class in the Ontogeny of Reptiles

Lecithotrophic (yolk based) nutrition is a well-documented condition for the embryos of oviparous reptiles. However, the continuation of this nutritional state following hatching, here formally defined as postnatal lecithotrophy, has rarely been considered in reptile life history studies or in reptile nutritional strategies. Approximately 50% of the caloric value of yolk lipids may be conserved as a post hatching reserve for both growth and mobility in neonate North American tortoises. A preliminary experiment was designed to study if the metabolic dependence on residual yolk may be quantified and the duration of that dependence delimited. Baseline data from tortoise egg yolk established the lipid components available in the yolk prior to hatching. Analysis of blood plasma identified those lipid components present in adult tortoises, and finally, circulating blood from neonate tortoises was drawn at intervals to monitor the extent to which lipid components abundant in yolk continue to be utilized. Neonate tortoises subsisting on residual yolk had signifi- cantly higher plasma lipids than neonate tortoises that had been fed. All of the lipid fractions including total lipid, triacyl glycerol, phospholipid, cholesterol and cholesterol esters were signifi- cantly higher in fasted than in fed tortoises. Also there were significant differences in some of the individual fatty acids between fed and fasted neonates. Prior observations and inferences suggest that this nutritional stage may continue through the first six months following hatching. It may also be attenuated by a secondary conversion of yolk invested energy into fat. Field observations indicate that lack of rainfall and associated deficits in available forage may make newly emergent neonates in the western and central Mojave Desert almost entirely dependent on such reserves for their first half year of life. Post natal lecithotroph tortoises may be able to emerge into a dry September Mojave Desert landscape, disperse rapidly

The Vocabulary-Management Profile: Two Stories by William Faulkner

The Vocabulary-Management Profile (VMP) is a graph of the moving average of the number of new vocabulary words introduced over successive intervals of text. Peaks and valleys on the VMP correlate closely with narrative structure: new episodes, new settings, new characters are signaled by an increase in new vocabulary, and hence by upturns on the curve. Conversely, downturns in the VMP normally signal a continuation of the episode, description, or characterization. Higher-level boundaries in discourse (such as those between paragraphs and narrative episodes) normally correspond with deeper valleys on VMPs than do lower-level boundaries (such as those between clauses and sentences). Hence, VMPs provide surprisingly accurate graphical representations of the hierarchical structure of discourse. In general, the VMPs for “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September” confirm this close correspondence between VMPs and narrative structure. However, VMPs are formally equivalent to unlabeled tree diagrams, and like such diagrams, they can provide only partial, not complete analogues for the structure of discourse.

Faulkner’s Dry September

Faulkner’s Dry September

Faulkner's Dry September

Faulkner's Dry September

Population Ecology and Physiology of the Common Rock Rat, Zyzomys argurus (Rodentia: Muridae) in Tropical Northwestern Australia

The common rock rat, Zyzomys argurus , undergoes a marked seasonal change in abundance in rocky habitats of tropical Australia. Four local populations had highest numbers between the late-dry (September) and mid-wet (January) periods before undergoing a three- to four-fold decrease by the end of the wet season (April). Densities differed between these populations; one population disappeared in April. Immature individuals were more abundant in September when recruitment appeared maximal; the population decline is attributable to mortality in all age categories. Both sexes were reproductively active throughout the year, but pregnant females were most abundant in April. Litter size ranged from one to six and heavier females had more embryos. Gene frequencies of Z. argurus were significantly different between the wet (January and April) and dry (July and September) seasons and the ephemeral population had different gene frequencies from the others. Differences also occurred in concentration of plasma corticosterone, maximum corticosterone-binding capacity, and corticosteroid-binding globulin-bound corticosterone. In January, individuals in all local populations had normal body weight and albumin levels, and enlarged tail bases (a fat store). They also had elevated levels of free corticosterone, neutrophils, incidence of Salmonella , and total leucocyte count; lymphocyte to neutrophil ratios differed between populations. These data indicate that populations at differing densities and in average nutritional state had greater levels of physiological and pathological stress factors in the wet season suggesting that exogenous rather than endogenous factors control stress.

Talking With Ernest J. Gaines

years old. Of course, I had not read any books here in Louisiana. If there were books there in the libraries, I would not have been allowed to go there, but I doubt that there were books by blacks at that time in the libraries around New Roads. When I went to California, I went to a small town. I went to Vallejo instead of San Francisco, but even there there were not too many books by black writers. All of my reading-even if I wanted to read about peasant life-turned out to be by white writers. When I went to college, I studied white writers. We're talking about the early fifties. Richard Wright was probably the most well-known black writer at that time, but his novel, Native Son, was not taught. Passages would be brought up in the class, why-Bigger-does-whathe-does type of stuff, why he is angry, and all this sort of thing. Invisible Man had just come out, but it was not in the curriculum yet. You did not read Invisible Man as a part of American literature at that time. At a place like San Francisco State at that time, you were still reading Hemingway, reading Faulkner. You were not reading the black writers then as you would be ten years later. When I was developing as a writer, the books were not there. They were not being taught in the classroom, and only a few of them were there. As I said, Native Son and Black Boy were there, and Invisible Man had just come out. Baldwin's essays were just being read, but they were not being taught. They were just there. At that particular time I was so far behind the average kid I had to go to school with because I had not read anything. I was still catching up, so I did not have time to go out and read anything other than what I was assigned to read. They'd say read Dry September this week for this class; read Dry September and read Twain's Huckleberry Finn. When the black novels were not taught, I didn't

Relative nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in soils of two contrasting hardwood forests: Effects of site microclimate and initial soil chemistry

This study determined the relative rates of soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in neighbouring mixed oak and mixed mesophytic forest stands on sandstone-derived soils in Neotoma Valley, south central Ohio, U.S.A. The soils of the northeast-facing mesophytic stand had higher pH, moisture, and extractable nutrient levels while those of the southwest-facing oak stand were deeper and had a higher C: N ratio. To evaluate the relative importance of initial soil chemical status and microclimate in controlling nitrogen transformation rates, the polyethylene buried-bag method was modified to include reciprocal transplants of bags between sites. Nitrogen mineralization was greater at the mesophytic site most of the year, though the rates were not different between sites during a very dry September. Total annual N mineralization per gram of soil and per m 2 of forest floor were 208 μg N g −1 dry soil and 5604 mg N m −2, respectively. The comparable rates for the mixed oak site were 125 μg N g −1 and 2209 mg N m −2. Approximately 67% of monthly mineralized N was nitrified at the mesophytic site while less than 10% was nitrified at the mixed oak site. Differences in both mineralization and net nitrification rates between sites correlated positively with ammonium pool size and moisture, and negatively with nitrate pool size, while percent nitrification was positively correlated with pH and negatively with C: N ratio. In contrast, seasonal patterns of N transformation within a site were strongly correlated with soil temperature and moisture, and relatively unaffected by soil chemical factors. The rate of N mineralization and relative nitrification in transplanted bags did not differ from those of bags incubated at their native site. Thus, within this watershed, spatial variations in nitrogen dynamics were more closely related to differences in soil chemistry than to microclimate, while seasonal patterns showed just the reverse.

But the Days Grow Short: A Reinterpretation of Faulkner's "Dry September"

Dry September is one of Faulkner's best known and most characteristic stories. Even among readers who otherwise know little of Faulkner's work, many seem to know story where the black guy rapes the ole white woman and gets lynched. It did not happen this way, of course, but that is frequently how the tale is rememberedperhaps readers are more taken by the story's rumor and sensationalism than they would like to admit. Among Faulkner critics, however, William Van O'Connor is representative of the regular approach to the tale when he refers to it as story of the wretchedness, the sadism, and the shame of a man who has helped to lynch a Negro.1 Such interpretations tend to make McLendon the central character and downplay the story's equal emphasis upon Miss Minnie Cooper and the barber, Hawkshaw Stribling. Other interpretations, such as the well-known one by John Vickery on scapegoats and ritual,2 are interesting, but emphasize peripheral issues that Faulkner would have considered of secondary importance. Still others, respecting the title, place nearly total emphasis on the Fahrenheit reading and have the heat deterministically responsible for most of what occurs. What is needed at this point, I think, is a reinterpretation which reassesses the title's meaning and acknowledges the equal importance of three main characters rather than just one. So many Faulkner titles verge on the gratuitous that we sometimes fail to recognize what a pointed one means-and in this case such failure of recognition garbles the interpretation of the story itself. When Cleanth Brooks finally reprimanded Faulkner critics in 1963 that

Faulkner’s Dry September

Faulkner’s Dry September

Dust and Dreams: A Study of Faulkner's "Dry September"

Dust and Dreams: A Study of Faulkner's "Dry September"