Module 2 Joyce Foster Og Indledning

Worksheet for Teams workshop, module 2 “James Joyce + Foster”
The General channel (Teams)
1. How to write a good introduction for an analytical essay (10 minutes)

A few basic rules:
The purpose of the introduction is to catch the reader’s attention and introduce the text and the main
idea that one is going to explore in the essay.
 Don’t analyze the text in the introduction

 Do mention the story’s title, author, genre and year of publication
 Do include your thesis statement/problemformulering (the main claim that you are going
to focus on in the rest of the essay)
 Do start with a broad statement, idea, quote, rhetorical question, or something like that
to catch the reader’s attention
 Don’t write a lot of biographical information about the author unless the focus of the paper
is (partly) on this too.
 Do make sure that there is a clear connection between the introduction and the
conclusion.
Link to Do It, Write!: https://app.minlaering.dk/bog/25/kapitel/6573
An example of a well-written introduction:
“A man can only take so much humiliation before it starts eating away at his soul. We see a clear
example of this in Raymond Carver’s short story “They’re not your husband” (1973). The main
character Earl Ober has lost his job as a salesman, and his wife is supporting the family. Back in the
1970s, when the story was published, this would have felt like an utterly humiliating situation to most
American working class men. The story explores how humiliation and loss of control can have dire
consequences for a person’s identity and relationships with other people.”
2. The thesis statement (tese):

 Should be at the end of your introductory paragraph and;
 Should contain the main idea that you are going to discuss and ultimately prove in the rest
of your essay.
 Must be based on thorough analysis
 Cannot just state a simple fact about the text (one which is obvious to anyone who has
read the text) or your own opinion (generally you should refrain from giving your own
opinion in your essays).
Assignment (10 minutes):
In the following, you'll find a number of thesis statements, some of which are better than others. Which
ones are good and which ones don't work (and why?)
a) Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
b) In the shortie "The Window", the protagonist Carter seems to have lost all interest in life after his
wife's passing.
c) Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn suggests that
to find the true expression of American ideals, one must leave 'civilized' society and go back to
nature.
d) In "The Masque of the Red Death," Poe uses the symbolism of the stranger, the clock, and the
seventh room to develop the theme of death.
e) In "The Masque of the Red Death," Poe uses symbolism.
f) Through its use of dialogue as the central element of depiction, Hemingway's short story "Hills Like
White Elephants" shows how an author can weave often complex underlying themes into a story
without ever directly mentioning them.
3. Group channels: Discussion of “An Encounter” and “A Painful Case” by James Joyce and the novel
Foster by Claire Keegan – I know you haven’t completely finished reading the novel, but you have
read enough of it to discuss it. Every group member is expected to participate in the discussion. I’ll
jump in and out of your group channels and partake in your discussions. We will NOT meet up in
the general channel afterwards.
Groups
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Questions for the two Joyce short stories:
 Are there any passages you don’t quite understand? Please help each other.
 Where in the texts does the main character of “A Painful Case” experience his
epiphany/epiphanies1?
 Both the narrator/main character of “An Encounter” and the main character of “A Painful Case”,
James Duffy, are hit by paralysis2 at some point in the stories. Where? And what does this paralysis
symbolize?
 Comment on the following quotation: “This rebuke during the sober hours of school paled much of
the glory of the Wild West for me, and the confused puffy face of Leo Dillon awakened one of my
consciences. But when the restraining influence of the school was at a distance I began to hunger
again for wild sensations, for the escape which these chronicles of disorder alone seemed to offer
me. The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school
in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I
reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.” (An
Encounter, p. 2)
1
In Joyce´s terms: a sudden spiritual manifestation, moments of self-awareness and realization.
In Dubliners the epiphanies reveal the paralysis of the characters
2
In Joyce’s terms, paralysis refers to the loss of ability to act due to norms, authorities, values, etc. Most of Joyce’s
characters experience paralysis at some point.
Comparison of Foster and Joyce’s “An Encounter”:
Discuss the differences between being a child in the Dublin that Joyce portrays in “An Encounter” (1914)
and in the 1980s Ireland depicted in Foster. Consider the importance of factors such as poverty, authorities
and religion.
Childhood in “An Encounter” Childhood in Foster (in the Childhood in Foster (in the
narrator’s home in Clonegal) Kinsellas’ home in rural Wexford)

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Worksheet for Teams workshop, module 2 “James Joyce + Foster”

The General channel (Teams)

1. How to write a good introduction for an analytical essay (10 minutes)

 Don’t analyze the text in the introduction

Link to Do It, Write!: https://app.minlaering.dk/bog/25/kapitel/6573

An example of a well-written introduction:

2. The thesis statement (tese):

Assignment (10 minutes):

Questions for the two Joyce short stories:

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