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Teaching That Evening Sun

Ah, That Evening Pun.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 30

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"That Evening Sun" is an extremely creepy Modernist short story is about a terrified black servant who's abandoned by the white family she works for—and, if abandonment weren't enough, she's also at risk of being murdered by her psycho razor-wielding husband.

Faulkner's South: it's horrifying. Sleep-with-the-lights-on horrifying. But luckily, Shmoop's here with a flashlight.

In this guide, you'll find

  • scaffolded and creative discussion of Faulker's...Faulknerian narration style.
  • grammar and poetry skill-building, combined, to describe Nancy and Quentin.
  • analysis of Bessie Smith tunes that eerily parallel the story.

Cue up the Southern blues and get reading already.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching That Evening Sun?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Titles often have interesting double meanings, and "That Evening Sun"has a real doozy of a background. The title comes from an old song called "St. Louis Blues"which was popularized by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith in 1927.

How do "St. Louis Blues" and Faulkner's "That Evening Sun"compare? What kinds of images are used in "That Evening Sun" that are inspired by the old jazz song?

Let's find out, shall we?

This lesson should take about 40 minutes or one class period.

Materials Needed: Audio of "St. Louis Blues," the lyrics to "St. Louis Blues," a copy of the text and/or Shmoop's summary page.

Step 1: First, to garner some interest, play Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith's version of "St. Louis Blues."

Remind students to listen to the repeating chorus closely.

Step 2: Ask students what they noticed about the song, and what they think it has to do with "That Evening Sun." As a class, students should express their initial impressions and ideas.

Step 3: Now pass out the lyrics to "St. Louis Blues" and allow students to look them over. Split the class up into pairs, and have students write a one-sentence summary of the broad themes in "That Evening Sun." Then, each pair should write a one-sentence summary of what "St. Louis Blues" is about.

We're imagining something like this:

"That Evening Sun" is about the white Southerners' indifference toward the hardships of the black slave.

"St. Louis Blues" is about a woman who's fretting over her man who hasn't returned.

For more information on the overall meaning of "St. Louis Blues" check out Shmoop's analysis.

Step 4: Batten down the hatches; it's time for more questions.

Ask the students what they think the significance is of the line: "I hate to see that evening sun go down / It makes me think I'm on my last go 'round." They should write some brief responses (a sentence or two) in their notebooks to the following questions:

  • Why doesn't the singer want the evening sun to go down? Doesn't she get to go home and go to sleep?
  • How does the fear of the sun going down parallel William Faulkner's story? What do Nancy and the singer of the song have in common?

Step 5: Easy peasy wrap up coming your way. Have students write a paragraph about why Nancy is afraid of "that evening sun going down" and what that tells the reader about the treatment of slave women in the South. We're thinking around 150 to 200 words on this one.

Ready? Go.

Instructions for Your Students

We all know that titles often have interesting double meanings; "That Evening Sun"has a real doozy of a background. The title comes from an old song called "St. Louis Blues" which was popularized by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith in 1927.

How do "St. Louis Blues" and Faulkner's "That Evening Sun" compare? What kinds of images are used in "That Evening Sun" that are inspired by the old jazz song?

Let's find out, shall we?

If you want a bit more information about jazz in general, just do yourself a favor and read our page on its history.

Step 1: Listen to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith's version of "St. Louis Blues."

Remember to listen to the repeating chorus closely. It should sound familiar…

Step 2: What did you notice? What do you think this song has to do with "That Evening Sun"?

Talk it out with your teacher and classmates.

Step 3: You'll each get a copy of the lyrics of "St. Louis Blues." In pairs, write a one-sentence summary of the broad idea in "That Evening Sun." Then, write a one-sentence summary of what "St. Louis Blues" is about.

Step 4: Batten down the hatches; it's time for more questions.

What do you think the significance is of the line: "I hate to see that evening sun go down / It makes me think I'm on my last go 'round?" Write some brief responses (a sentence or two) in your notebook to the following questions:

  • Why doesn't the singer want the evening sun to go down? Doesn't she get to go home and go to sleep?
  • How does the fear of the sun going down parallel William Faulkner's story? What do Nancy and the singer of the song have in common?

Step 5: Easy peasy wrap up coming your way. Write a paragraph about why Nancy is afraid of "that evening sun going down" and what that tells the reader about the treatment of slave women in the South. We're thinking around 150 to 200 words on this one.  Ready? Go.