James Joyce's "The Dead," the final story in Dubliners, is rife with symbolism. It is also extremely well written. In fact, it was recently listed among the stories with the greatest closing paragraphs, here: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/literatures-greatest-closing-paragraphs#. "The Dead" is the only short story on the list.
Over the weekend, I would like you to read "The Dead," thinking about the different approaches from How to Read Literature Like a Professor that can be applied to the story.
Here is the link: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/joyce/james/j8d/chapter15.html
UPDATE!!!! I have since discovered this useful online text with several hyperlinked annotations. This will likely come in handy when you write your essay: http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDdead.html#dead.
For the paper, we are to talk about a part of the story that coincides with one of foster's chapters right? Like the dinner or the snow??
ReplyDeleteI would like you to come up with an argument of your own (so don't use Foster's exactly). If you want to apply an idea from one of the chapters in Foster's book, that would work. If you want to make an argument about another theme or symbol in "The Dead," that would be okay too. The most important thing is that it is persuasive rather than merely plot summary. Develop a strong thesis and support it, and make sure that you stick to your argument and provide relevant, timely supporting quotes from the text.
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