How to Read Literature Like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster

How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster
In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Red-Headed League," Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson both observe Jabez Wilson carefully, yet their differing interpretations of the same details reveal the difference between a "Good Reader" and a "Bad Reader." Watson can only describe what he sees; Holmes has the knowledge to interpret what he sees, to draw conclusions, and to solve the mystery. Understanding literature need no longer be a mystery -- Thomas Foster's book will help transform you from a naive, sometimes confused Watson to an insightful, literary Holmes. Professors and other informed readers see symbols, archetypes, and patterns because those things are there -- if you have learned to look for them. As Foster says, you learn to recognize the literary conventions the "same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice." (xiv). Note to students: These short writing assignments will let you practice your literary analysis and they will help me get to know you and your literary tastes. Whenever I ask for an example from literature, you may use short stories, novels, plays, or films (Yes, film is a literary genre). If your literary repertoire is thin and undeveloped, use the Appendix to jog your memory or to select additional works to explore. At the very least, watch some of the "Movies to Read" that are listed on pages 293-294. Please note that your responses should be paragraphs -- not pages! Even though this is analytical writing, you may use "I" if you deem it important to do so; remember, however, that most uses of "I" are just padding. For example, "I think the wolf is the most important character in 'Little Red Ridinghood'" is padded. As you compose each written response, re-phrase the prompt as part of your answer. In other words, I should be able to tell which question you are answering without referring back to the prompts. Concerning mechanics, pay special attention to pronouns. Make antecedents clear. Say Foster first; not "he." Remember to capitalize and punctuate titles properly for each genre.

Introduction: How'd He Do That?
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.

Chapter 1 -- Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5.

Chapter 2 -- Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.

Chapter 3: --Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or viewed.

Chapter 4 -- If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
Select three sonnets and show which form they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form. (Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis).

Chapter 5 --Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works.

Chapter 6 -- When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare...
Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster shows how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on theme.

Chapter 7 -- ...Or the Bible
Read "Araby.” Discuss Biblical allusions that Foster does not mention. Look at the example of the "two great jars." Be creative and imaginative in these connections.

Chapter 8 -- Hanseldee and Greteldum
Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony or deepen appreciation?

Chapter 9 -- It's Greek to Me
Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology. Be prepared to share your poem with the class.

Chapter 10 -- It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.

Interlude -- Does He Mean That Chapter 11 --...More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.

Chapter 12 -- Is That a Symbol?
Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism of the fence in "Araby." (Mangan's sister stands behind it.)

Chapter 13 -- It's All Political
Assume that Foster is right and "it is all political." Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned to you as students is political.

Chapter 14 -- Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film -- for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiator and Ben-Hur.

Chapter 15 -- Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.

Chapter 18 -- If She Comes Up, It's Baptism
Think of a "baptism scene" from a significant literary work. How was the character different after the experience? Discuss.

Chapter 19 -- Geography Matters...
Discuss at least four different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under "geography."

Chapter 20 -- ...So Does Season
Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. (Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.)

Chapter 21 -- Marked for Greatness
Figure out Harry Potter's scar. If you aren't familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization.

Chapter 24 -- ...And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the "principles governing the use of disease in literature" (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.

Chapter 25 -- Don't Read with Your Eyes
After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century.

Chapter 26 -- Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
Select an ironic literary work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.

Chapter 27 -- A Test Case
Read "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your writing with the three examples. How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of Mansfield's story?

From How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster
Notes by Marti Nelson

1. Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): a. A quester b. A place to go c. A stated reason to go there d. Challenges and trials e. The real reason to go—always self-knowledge 2. Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion a. Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion b. Not usually religious c. An act of sharing and peace d. A failed meal carries negative connotations 3. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires a. Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence b. Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly c. Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another. 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet 5. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? a. There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems. b. There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated c. “Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously aware we are, the more alive the text becomes to us. d. If you don’t recognize the correspondences, it’s ok. If a story is no good, being based on Hamlet won’t save it. 6. When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare… a. Writers use what is common in a culture as a kind of shorthand. Shakespeare is pervasive, so he is frequently echoed. b. See plays as a pattern, either in plot or theme or both. Examples: i. Hamlet: heroic character, revenge, indecision, melancholy nature ii. Henry IV—a young man who must grow up to become king, take on his responsibilities iii. Othello—jealousy iv. Merchant of Venice—justice vs. mercy v. King Lear—aging parent, greedy children, a wise fool 7. …Or the Bible

a. Before the mid 20th century, writers could count on people being very familiar with Biblical stories, a common touchstone a writer can tap b. Common Biblical stories with symbolic implications i. Garden of Eden: women tempting men and causing their fall, the apple as symbolic of an object of temptation, a serpent who tempts men to do evil, and a fall from innocence ii. David and Goliath—overcoming overwhelming odds iii. Jonah and the Whale—refusing to face a task and being “eaten” or overwhelmed by it anyway. iv. Job: facing disasters not of the character’s making and not the character’s fault, suffers as a result, but remains steadfast v. The Flood: rain as a form of destruction; rainbow as a promise of restoration vi. Christ figures (a later chapter): in 20th century, often used ironically vii. The Apocalypse—Four Horseman of the Apocalypse usher in the end of the world. viii. Biblical names often draw a connection between literary character and Biblical charcter. 8. Hanseldee and Greteldum--using fairy tales and kid lit a. Hansel and Gretel: lost children trying to find their way home b. Peter Pan: refusing to grow up, lost boys, a girl-nurturer/ c. Little Red Riding Hood: See Vampires d. Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz: entering a world that doesn’t work rationally or operates under different rules, the Red Queen, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard, who is a fraud e. Cinderella: orphaned girl abused by adopted family saved through supernatural intervention and by marrying a prince f. Snow White: Evil woman who brings death to an innocent—again, saved by heroic/princely character g. Sleeping Beauty: a girl becoming a woman, symbolically, the needle, blood=womanhood, the long sleep an avoidance of growing up and becoming a married woman, saved by, guess who, a prince who fights evil on her behalf. h. Evil Stepmothers, Queens, Rumpelstilskin i. Prince Charming heroes who rescue women. (20th c. frequently switched—the women save the men—or used highly ironically) 9. It’s Greek to Me a. Myth is a body of story that matters—the patterns present in mythology run deeply in the human psyche b. Why writers echo myth—because there’s only one story (see #4) c. Odyssey and Iliad i. Men in an epic struggle over a woman ii. Achilles—a small weakness in a strong man; the need to maintain one’s dignity iii. Penelope (Odysseus’s wife)—the determination to remain faithful and to have faith iv. Hector: The need to protect one’s family d. The Underworld—an ultimate challenge, facing the darkest parts of human nature or dealing with death e. Metamorphoses by Ovid—transformation (Kafka) f. Oedipus: family triangles, being blinded, dysfunctional family g. Cassandra: refusing to hear the truth

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h. A wronged woman gone violent in her grief and madness—Aeneas and Dido or Jason and Medea i. Mother love—Demeter and Persephone It’s more than just rain or snow a. Rain i. fertility and life ii. Noah and the flood iii. Drowning—one of our deepest fears b. Why? i. plot device ii. atmospherics iii. misery factor—challenge characters iv. democratic element—the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike c. Symbolically i. rain is clean—a form of purification, baptism, removing sin or a stain ii. rain is restorative—can bring a dying earth back to life iii. destructive as well—causes pneumonia, colds, etc.; hurricanes, etc. iv. Ironic use—April is the cruelest month (T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland) v. Rainbow—God’s promise never to destroy the world again; hope; a promise of peace between heaven and earth vi. fog—almost always signals some sort of confusion; mental, ethical, physical “fog”; people can’t see clearly d. Snow i. negatively—cold, stark, inhospitable, inhuman, nothingness, death ii. positively—clean, pure, playful …More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence a. Violence can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent. b. Two categories of violence in literature i. Character caused—shootings, stabbings, drownings, poisonings, bombings, hit and run, etc ii. Death and suffering for which the characters are not responsible. Accidents are not really accidents. c. Violence is symbolic action, but hard to generalize meaning d. Questions to ask: i. What does this type of misfortune represent thematically? ii. What famous or mythic death does this one resemble? iii. Why this sort of violence and not some other? Is That a Symbol? a. Yes. But figuring out what is tricky. Can only discuss possible meanings and interpretations b. There is no one definite meaning unless it’s an allegory, where characters, events, places have a one-on-one correspondence symbolically to other things. (Animal Farm) c. Actions, as well as objects and images, can be symbolic. i.e. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost d. How to figure it out? Symbols are built on associations readers have, but also on emotional reactions. Pay attention to how you feel about a text. It’s All Political

a. Literature tends to be written by people interested in the problems of the world, so most works have a political element in them b. Issues: i. Individualism and self-determination against the needs of society for conformity and stability. ii. Power structures iii. Relations among classes iv. issues of justice and rights v. interactions between the sexes and among various racial and ethnic constituencies. 14. Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too a. Characteristics of a Christ Figure: i. crucified, wounds in hands, feet, side, and head, often portrayed with arms outstretched ii. in agony iii. self-sacrificing iv. good with children v. good with loaves, fishes, water, wine vi. thirty-three years of age when last seen vii. employed as a carpenter viii. known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred ix. believed to have walked on water x. known to have spent time alone in the wilderness xi. believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted xii. last seen in the company of thieves xiii. creator of many aphorisms and parables xiv. buried, but arose on the third day xv. had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted xvi. very forgiving xvii. came to redeem an unworthy world b. As a reader, put aside belief system. c. Why us Christ figures? Deepens our sense of a character’s sacrifice, thematically has to do with redemption, hope, or miracles. d. If used ironically, makes the character look smaller rather than greater 15. Flights of Fancy a. Daedalus and Icarus b. Flying was one of the temptations of Christ c. Symbolically: freedom, escape, the flight of the imagination, spirituality, return home, largeness of spirit, love d. Interrupted flight generally a bad thing e. Usually not literal flying, but might use images of flying, birds, etc. f. Irony trumps everything 16. If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism a. Baptism is symbolic death and rebirth as a new individual b. Drowning is symbolic baptism, IF the character comes back up, symbolically reborn. But drowning on purpose can also represent a form of rebirth, a choosing to enter a new, different life, leaving an old one behind. c. Traveling on water—rivers, oceans—can symbolically represent baptism. i.e. young man sails away from a known world, dies out of one existence, and comes back a new person,

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hence reborn. Rivers can also represent the River Styx, the mythological river separating the world from the Underworld, another form of transformation, passing from life into death. d. Rain can by symbolic baptism as well—cleanses, washes e. Sometimes the water is symbolic too—the prairie has been compared to an ocean, walking in a blizzard across snow like walking on water, crossing a river from one existence to another (Beloved) f. There’s also rebirth/baptism implied when a character is renamed. Geography Matters… a. What represents home, family, love, security? b. What represents wilderness, danger, confusion? i.e. tunnels, labyrinths, jungles c. Geography can represent the human psyche (Heart of Darkness) d. Going south=running amok and running amok means having a direct, raw encounter with the subconscious. e. Low places: swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death f. High places: snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death …So Does Season a. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter=youth, adulthood, middle age, old age/death. b. Spring=fertility, life, happiness, growth, resurrection (Easter) c. Fall=harvest, reaping what we sow, both rewards and punishments d. Winter=hibernation, lack of growth, death, punishment e. Christmas=childhood, birth, hope, family f. Irony trumps all “April is the cruelest month” from The Wasteland Marked for Greatness a. Physical marks or imperfections symbolically mirror moral, emotional, or psychological scars or imperfections. b. Landscapes can be marked as well—The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot c. Physical imperfection, when caused by social imperfection, often reflects not only the damage inside the individual, but what is wrong with the culture that causes such damage d. Monsters i. Frankenstein—monsters created through no fault of their own; the real monster is the maker ii. Faust—bargains with the devil in exchange for one’s soul iii. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—the dual nature of humanity, that in each of us, no matter how well-made or socially groomed, a monstrous Other exists. iv. Quasimodo, Beauty and the Beast—ugly on the outside, beautiful on the inside. The physical deformity reflects the opposite of the truth. He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know a. Physical blindness mirrors psychological, moral, intellectual (etc.) blindness b. Sometimes ironic; the blind see and sighted are blind c. Many times blindness is metaphorical, a failure to see—reality, love, truth, etc. d. darkness=blindness; light=sight It’s Never Just Heart Disease... a. Heart disease=bad love, loneliness, cruelty, disloyalty, cowardice, lack of determination. b. Socially, something on a larger scale or something seriously amiss at the heart of things (Heart of Darkness) …And Rarely Just Illness a. Not all illnesses are created equal. Tuberculosis occurs frequently; cholera does not because of the reasons below

b. It should be picturesque c. It should be mysterious in origin d. It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities i. Tuberculosis—a wasting disease ii. Physical paralysis can mirror moral, social, spiritual, intellectual, political paralysis iii. Plague: divine wrath; the communal aspect and philosophical possibilities of suffering on a large scale; the isolation an despair created by wholesale destruction; the puniness of humanity in the face of an indifferent natural world iv. Malaria: means literally “bad air” with the attendant metaphorical possibilities. v. Venereal disease: reflects immorality OR innocence, when the innocent suffer because of another’s immorality; passed on to a spouse or baby, men’s exploitation of women vi. AIDS: the modern plague. Tendency to lie dormant for years, victims unknowing carriers of death, disproportionately hits young people, poor, etc. An opportunity to show courage and resilience and compassion (or lack of); political and religious angles vii. The generic fever that carries off a child 23. Don’t Read with Your Eyes a. You must enter the reality of the book; don’t read from your own fixed position in 2005. Find a reading perspective that allows for sympathy with the historical movement of the story, that understands the text as having been written against its own social, historical, cultural, and personal background. b. We don’t have to accept the values of another culture to sympathetically step into a story and recognize the universal qualities present there. 24. Is He Serious? And Other Ironies a. Irony trumps everything. Look for it. b. Example: Waiting for Godot—journeys, quests, self-knowledge turned on its head. Two men by the side of a road they never take and which never brings anything interesting their way. c. Irony doesn’t work for everyone. Difficult to warm to, hard for some to recognize which causes all sorts of problems. Satanic Verses , nknknl 25. Test Case: A Reading of “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield

Works referenced in How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Chapter 1. Quest The Crying of Lot 49

Title

Genre novel novel novel movie movie

Author Thomas Pynchon Mark Twain J.R.R. Tolkein George Lucus Alfred Hitchcock

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lord of the Rings Star Wars North by Northwest

2. Food as Communion

Tom Jones (excerpt) Cathedral Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant The Dead

novel SS

Henry Fielding Raymond Carver Anne Tyler

SS novel play novel novel novella novel novel novel novels

James Joyce Bram Stoker William Shakespeare Charles Dickens Robert Louis Stevenson Henry James Henry James Thomas Hardy Franz Kafka Iris Murdoch

3. Vampires and Ghosts

Dracula Hamlet A Christmas Carol Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The Turn of the Screw Daisy Miller Tess of the Dubervilles Metamorphosis and Hunger Artist A Severed Head, The Unicorn

4. Sonnets 5. Intertextuality Going After Cacciato Alice in Wonderland The Overcoat The Overcoat II” Two Gallants Two More Gallants Beowulf Grendel Wise Children Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing 6. Shakespeare Allusions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead A Thousand Acres novel novel SS SS SS SS poem novel novel play play novel John Gardner Angela Carter William Shakespeare Tom Stoppard Jane Smiley Tim O’Brien Lewis Carroll Nikolai Gogal T. Coraghessan Boyle James Joyce William Trevor

The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock Master Harold…and the boys numerous TV shows and movies 7. Biblical Allusions Araby Beloved The Sun Also Rises Canterbury Tales Holy Sonnets The Wasteland Why I Live at the P.O. Sonny’s Blues, Go Tell It on the Mountain Pulp Fiction East of Eden 8. Fairy Tales Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Snow white, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Hansel and Gretel, The Gingerbread House The Bloody Chamber (collection of stories) 9. Greek Mythology Song of Solomon Musee des Beaux Arts Landscape with Fall of Icarus Omeros (based on Homer) O Brother, Where Art Thou Ulysses 10. Weather The Three Strangers Song of Solomon A Farewell to Arms

poem play

T.S. Eliot Athol Fugard

SS novel novel poem poems poem SS SS movie novel

James Joyce Toni Morrison Hemingway Geoffrey Chaucer John Donne T.S. Eliot Eudora Welty James Baldwin Quentin Tarantino John Steinbeck Angela Carter

SS SS novel poem poem novel movie novel SS novel novel

Robert Coover Angela Carter Toni Morrison W. H. Auden William Carlos Williams Derek Walcott Joel and Ethan Coen James Joyce Thomas Hardy Toni Morrison Earnest Hemingway

The Dead The Wasteland The Fish The Snow Man 11. Violence Out, Out… Beloved Women in Love The Fox Barn Burning Beloved 12. Symbolism Pilgrim’s Progress Passage to India Parable of the Cave (The Republic) The Bridge (poem sequence) The Wasteland Mowing, After Apple Picking, The Road Not Taken, Birches 13. Political Writing A Christmas Carol Masque of the Red Death, The Fall of the House of Usher Rip Van Winkle Oedipus at Colonus A Room of One’s Own Mrs. Dalloway 14. Christ Figures 15. Flight Old Man and the Sea Song of Solomon Nights at the Circus

SS poem poem poem poem novel novel novella SS novel allegory novel

James Joyce T.S. Eliot Elizabeth Bishop Wallace Stevens Robert Frost Toni Morrison D.H. Lawrence D. H. Lawrence William Faulkner Toni Morrison John Bunyan E.M. Forster Plato

poem poem poems

Hart Crane T.S. Eliot Robert Frost

novel SS

Charles Dickens Edgar Allen Poe

SS play NF novel novella novel ?

Washington Irving Sophocles Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf Earnest Hemingway Toni Morrison Angela Carter

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Satanic Verses Portrait of and Artist as a Young Man Wild Swans at Coole Birches 16. All About Sex North by Northwest Janus Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Women in Love, The Rocking-Horse Winner (SS) 17. Except Sex French Lieutenant’s Woman A Clockwork Orange Lolita Wise Children 18. Baptism Ordinary People Love Medicine Song of Solomon, Beloved The Horse Dealer’s Daughter The Unicorn 19. Geography The Old Man and the Sea The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Fall of the House of Usher Bean Trees Song of Solomon A Room with a View, A Passage to India Heart of Darkness In Praise of Prairie

SS novel novel poem poem movie SS novel

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Salmon Rushdie James Joyce William Butler Yeats Robert Frost Alfred Hitchcock Ann Beattie D.H. Lawrence

novel novel novel novel novel novel novel SS novel novel novel SS novel novel novel novel poem

John Fowles Anthony Burgess Vladimir Nabokov Angela Carter Judith Guest Louise Erdrich Toni Morrison D.H. Lawrence Iris Murdoch Earnest Hemingway Mark Twain Edgar Allen Poe Barbara Kingsolver Toni Morrison E.M. Forster Joseph Conrad Theodore Roethke

Bogland In Praise of Limestone The Snows of Kilimanjaro 20. Seasons Sonnet 73, Richard III opening, etc. In Memory of W.B. Yeats After Apple Picking The Wasteland 21. Physical Marks Richard III Song of Solomon, Beloved Oedipus Rex The Sun Also Rises The Wasteland Frankenstein versions of Faust, Dr. Faustus, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Bedazzled (movie), Star Wars The Hunchback of Notre Dame Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 22. Blindness Oedipus Rex Araby Waiting for Godot 23. Heart Disease The Good Soldier The Man of Adamant Lord Jim Lolita 24. Illiness The Sisters (Dubliners) Illness as Metaphor (literary criticsm)

poem poem novel poem poem poem poem play novel play novel poem novel novel, play novel novel play SS play novel SS novel novel SS NF

Seamus Heaney W.H. Auden Earnest Hemingway William Shakespeare W.H. Auden Robert Frost T.S. Eliot William Shakespeare Toni Morrison Sophocles Earnest Hemingway T.S. Eliot Mary Shelley Goethe, Marlowe, Stephen Vincent Benet Victor Hugo Robert Louis Stevenson Sophocles James Joyce Samuel Beckett Ford Madox Ford Nathaniel Hawthorne Joseph Conrad Vladimir Nabokov James Joyce Susan Sontag

The Plague A Doll’s House The Hours The Masque of the Red Death 25. Don’t Read with Your Eyes The Dead

novel play novel SS SS

Albert Camus Henrik Ibsen Michael Cunningham Edgar Allen Poe James Joyce

Sonny’s Blues The Merchant of Venice 26. Irony Waiting for Godot A Farewell to Arms The Importance of Being Earnest Howard’s End A Clockwork Orange

SS play play novel play novel novel

James Baldwin William Shakespeare Samuel Beckett Earnest Hemingway Oscar Wilde E.M. Forster Anthony Burgess

Writers who frequently take ironic stance: Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Salman Rushdie 27. A Test Case Uses “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield as an application of the concepts found in this book.

Notes by Marti Nelson

Araby By : James Joyce
NORTH RICHMOND STREET being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing-room. Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers. Among these I found a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp: The Abbot, by Walter Scott, The Devout Communnicant and The Memoirs of Vidocq. I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow. The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree and a few straggling bushes under one of which I found the late tenant's rusty bicycle-pump. He had been a very charitable priest; in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister. When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness. When we returned to the street light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas. If my uncle was seen turning the corner we hid in the shadow until we had seen him safely housed. Or if Mangan's sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in to his tea we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street. We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and, if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan's steps resignedly. She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the halfopened door. Her brother always teased her before he obeyed and I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side. Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. The blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash so that I could not be seen. When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped. I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her. I kept her brown figure always in my eye and, when we came near the point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed her. This happened morning after morning. I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood. Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance. On Saturday evenings when my aunt went marketing I had to go to carry some of the parcels. We walked through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop-boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs' cheeks, the nasal chanting of street-singers, who sang a come-all-you about O'Donovan Rossa, or a ballad about the troubles in our native land. These noises converged in a single sensation of life for me: I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes. Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires. One evening I went into the back drawing-room in which the priest had died. It was a dark rainy evening and there

was no sound in the house. Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: "O love! O love!" many times. At last she spoke to me. When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer. She asked me was I going to Araby. I forgot whether I answered yes or no. It would be a splendid bazaar, she said she would love to go. "And why can't you?" I asked. While she spoke she turned a silver bracelet round and round her wrist. She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent. Her brother and two other boys were fighting for their caps and I was alone at the railings. She held one of the spikes, bowing her head towards me. The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing. It fell over one side of her dress and caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease. "It's well for you," she said. "If I go," I said, "I will bring you something." What innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening! I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days. I chafed against the work of school. At night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read. The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me. I asked for leave to go to the bazaar on Saturday night. My aunt was surprised and hoped it was not some Freemason affair. I answered few questions in class. I watched my master's face pass from amiability to sternness; he hoped I was not beginning to idle. I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play. On Saturday morning I reminded my uncle that I wished to go to the bazaar in the evening. He was fussing at the hallstand, looking for the hat-brush, and answered me curtly: "Yes, boy, I know." As he was in the hall I could not go into the front parlour and lie at the window. I left the house in bad humour and walked slowly towards the school. The air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me. When I came home to dinner my uncle had not yet been home. Still it was early. I sat staring at the clock for some time and. when its ticking began to irritate me, I left the room. I mounted the staircase and gained the upper part of the house. The high cold empty gloomy rooms liberated me and I went from room to room singing. From the front window I saw my companions playing below in the street. Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct and, leaning my forehead against the cool glass, I looked over at the dark house where she lived. I may have stood there for an hour, seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure cast by my imagination, touched discreetly by the lamplight at the curved neck, at the hand upon the railings and at the border below the dress. When I came downstairs again I found Mrs. Mercer sitting at the fire. She was an old garrulous woman, a pawnbroker's widow, who collected used stamps for some pious purpose. I had to endure the gossip of the tea-table.

The meal was prolonged beyond an hour and still my uncle did not come. Mrs. Mercer stood up to go: she was sorry she couldn't wait any longer, but it was after eight o'clock and she did not like to be out late as the night air was bad for her. When she had gone I began to walk up and down the room, clenching my fists. My aunt said: "I'm afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord." At nine o'clock I heard my uncle's latchkey in the halldoor. I heard him talking to himself and heard the hallstand rocking when it had received the weight of his overcoat. I could interpret these signs. When he was midway through his dinner I asked him to give me the money to go to the bazaar. He had forgotten. "The people are in bed and after their first sleep now," he said. I did not smile. My aunt said to him energetically: "Can't you give him the money and let him go? You've kept him late enough as it is." My uncle said he was very sorry he had forgotten. He said he believed in the old saying: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." He asked me where I was going and, when I had told him a second time he asked me did I know The Arab's Farewell to his Steed. When I left the kitchen he was about to recite the opening lines of the piece to my aunt. I held a florin tightly in my hand as I strode down Buckingham Street towards the station. The sight of the streets thronged with buyers and glaring with gas recalled to me the purpose of my journey. I took my seat in a third-class carriage of a deserted train. After an intolerable delay the train moved out of the station slowly. It crept onward among ruinous house and over the twinkling river. At Westland Row Station a crowd of people pressed to the carriage doors; but the porters moved them back, saying that it was a special train for the bazaar. I remained alone in the bare carriage. In a few minutes the train drew up beside an improvised wooden platform. I passed out on to the road and saw by the lighted dial of a clock that it was ten minutes to ten. In front of me was a large building which displayed the magical name. I could not find any sixpenny entrance and, fearing that the bazaar would be closed, I passed in quickly through a turnstile, handing a shilling to a weary-looking man. I found myself in a big hall girdled at half its height by a gallery. Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness. I recognised a silence like that which pervades a church after a service. I walked into the centre of the bazaar timidly. A few people were gathered about the stalls which were still open. Before a curtain, over which the words Cafe Chantant were written in coloured lamps, two men were counting money on a salver. I listened to the fall of the coins. Remembering with difficulty why I had come I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea- sets. At the door of the stall a young lady was talking and laughing with two young gentlemen. I remarked their English accents and listened vaguely to their conversation. "O, I never said such a thing!" "O, but you did!" "O, but I didn't!" "Didn't she say that?"

"Yes. I heard her." "0, there's a ... fib!" Observing me the young lady came over and asked me did I wish to buy anything. The tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty. I looked humbly at the great jars that stood like eastern guards at either side of the dark entrance to the stall and murmured: "No, thank you." The young lady changed the position of one of the vases and went back to the two young men. They began to talk of the same subject. Once or twice the young lady glanced at me over her shoulder. I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem the more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar. I allowed the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in my pocket. I heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The upper part of the hall was now completely dark. Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.