The South is known for its many amazing artists, novelists, and writers; However, William Faulkner is uniquely ranked by many as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Faulkner became known for his diction and literary techniques. William Faulkner told the story of Mississippi: However, his choice of universal themes made him a giant of literature throughout the world. Faulkner achieved many great things without a high school diploma or college degree. Faulkner had proven to the world that Southern writers were not as substandard as many considered them to be. They were, in fact, truly phenomenal.William Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, to Murry Cuthbert Falkner, a railroad employee, and Maud Butler, an amateur painter (Minter, 755). Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi; however, he spent much of his life in Oxford, Mississippi (Polk, 55). In Oxford, Faulkner began to hear many stories told in small family gatherings and large gatherings. Many stories told by Faulkner's family originated from the adventures of Faulkner's great-grandfather, Colonel William Clark Falkner. Because Faulkner was disappointed and embarrassed by his own father's lack of success, he became closer to his grandfather, but it was his great-grandfather who he saw as a role model and rival ( Minter, 755). Faulkner was an excellent student throughout the first several grades; however, he left school in 1915 without a diploma, disappointing his family. Even though Faulkner dropped out of school, he read avidly (Minter, 755). Faulkner had a habit of frequenting places where people gathered to exchange stories; After Faulkner began writing about northern Mississippi, a friend observed that he “seemed to know half the paper…two of his novels have received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1924 Faulkner received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his unique contribution to the modern American novel. After Faulkner donated his Nobel winnings to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers, the PEN/Faulkner Prize for Fiction was established. Whenever Faulkner's involvement in the early stages of the civil rights movement was brought up, he and Estelle moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Faulkner became writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia (Minter, 760). In conclusion, William Faulkner, the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern writer, conquers the nation with his diction and literary techniques. With his fictional stories he put his literary hands on the Mississippi and told the universe through its culture. His universal themes have made him a giant of literature throughout the world.