Araby Assignment

Read Araby by James Joyce, Literature: The Human Experience, p.91-95.

Answer the following !estions on yo!r own paper.
"isc!ss yo!r answers with a peer or small gro!p.
#omplete the essay. $e s!re to follow %&' writing format.
James Joyce Websites
http())www.*ames*oyce.ie)
http())www.themodernword.com)*oyce)
http())intranet.dalton.org)fac!lty)$%+"%R)slb.html
Questions for Discussion
1. The Setting and the Language
Read the first two paragraphs caref!lly. &hat ,ind of en-ironment does the boy li-e in. /ay
attention to specific details 0blind street1 m!sty room1 dead priest, etc.2
2. The Characters and the Language
&ho is the narrator of this story. 3ow old do yo! thin, he is.
Read the ne4t three paragraphs. &ho is it that the boy secretly lo-es. 3ow does he describe his
feelings for her.
&hat ,ind of character is 5angan6s sister 0ro!nd, flat, symbolic2. /ay attention to how she is
described in the third paragraph.
3. The Plot
&hat ,ind of conflict is detailed between the boy and his en-ironment and the boy and the
ad!lts 0a!nt, !ncle, and 5rs. 5ercer2.
&hen does the main action of the story start. 3ow does it change the narrator.
4. Religious Images
&hat are the religio!s images)icons that the narrator !ses to describe his lo-e for the girl. &rite
down the similes)metaphors !sed.
5. The Trip to the Ara! "the a#aar$
3ow is the ba7aar described at the end of the story. &hat does this description tell !s abo!t the
world the boy li-es in.
&hat is the role money plays in the trip to the ba7aar.
%. Theme
&hy do yo! thin, the boy lo-es the girl in s!ch a de-o!t manner.
&hat do yo! thin, of the ending. &hat does he mean by -anity.
8his story is an initiation or rite of passage story. &hat do yo! thin, he learns.
&. Point o' (ie)
"escribe the point of -iew of the narrator. 9s the narrator a yo!ng boy or an older man
remembering an important incident from his boyhood.
*. Tone
Reread the opening paragraph. 3ow does it set the tone for the story.
+. ,ree Response
&hat is yo!r opinion of the boy6s lo-e for 5angan6s sister. 3a-e yo! e4perienced p!ppy lo-e
or infat!ation before. 3ow was yo!r e4perience similar or different from the boy6s.
"escribe an e4perience that led yo! to reali7e that yo! were not acting o!t of the selfless
moti-es yo! tho!ght yo! were.
ESSAY
Analy7e the !se of imagery and light in this story. "isc!ss how it ill!minates the theme and e4presses
the tho!ghts and feelings of the narrator and his infat!ation with 5angan6s sister. $e s!re to !se
specific !otes and e4amples from the te4t, and !tili7e inte4t citations correctly.