In this paper, you will also do a basic literary analysis. Essentially what this means is that you will be arguing how an author constructs a text in order to eventually arrive at the theme he or she wants to convey. But unlike the first 1500 word paper you did, you will need to stay confined to Dubliners. You have learned some literary elements such as plot, theme, symbol, setting, character, conflict, tone, narration, point of view, irony, setting, and theme. Now, you have to bring it all together to construct a comparative analysis showing how James Joyce builds a multi-layered thematic statement in his book, Dubliners.
You need to answer this question, which has numerous and unique ways to answer it: How does the final story of Dubliners, “The Dead,” serve as a coda for the rest of the stories? A coda is “a concluding section or part, esp. one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc., as in a work of literature or drama.” – That is, how does “The Dead” conclude the novel and generate a sense of importance thematically?
You will find that discussing your paper with me at your conference will help, but you need to come prepared to your conference—think about the stories you liked? Why did you like that story specifically? Which stories seem linked? How are they linked? How does that trace a theme or discuss it? The key here is to use “The Dead” in your paper, but the other stories you use to connect thematically to it are up to you. However, do not use more than 4 stories, including “The Dead.”
Your paper must be more than a book report—do not summarize the stories for more than 3-4 sentences. You need to hit at analysis—rather than focusing on what is happening, ask yourself “why is what is happening important to the theme the author wants to express to me? How does that author express that?” If you tell me something that happened in the story, your next sentence needs to show me evidence of it. Then you need to explain why that event or sentence or quote is important to your argument (how does it prove the thesis?).
Think about the story or stories you want to analyze, and then you may want to ask yourself these questions:
Who is the main character? What is the conflict he/she faces? How does he/she develop as a result of that conflict? Do they have an Epiphany? Are they paralyzed? How does the author construct the story with literary elements in order to support that theme?
Remember, you are explaining and arguing to your reader how the author constructs a story—you are not telling them what happens in the story. You are telling them why what happens is important to the author’s theme.
Final Exam Class E
1102 # 10799
10-10:30am
**Please note: Because there is no actual final “test” in this course—there is only a final paper—you will be handing in your paper during the first half-hour of the final exam window. You must hand in the final paper in order to pass the course–failure to turn in your final paper is failure to complete the course (Gordon Rule).