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James Joyce’ s life and literary career
Examples of literary approaches
James Joyce’ s life and literary career
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To me, Ulysses was a necessary evil, in that I thought that I would not be able to call myself a literature student unless I had read the entire novel. While my journey through Ulysses was laden with moments of bewilderment, exasperation, and self-pity, I was able to power my way through the novel with a deeper appreciation for the way James Joyce was able to create a linear story told through a series of non-linear writing styles. In retrospect, the grueling challenge of reading Ulysses made me a better student, in that I was able to grow as a reader by adjusting myself to Joyce’s train-of-thought writing style, and that I could add Ulysses to my personal canon of academic literature.
One of my greatest accomplishments after reading Ulysses
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For example, Bloom had to think back to his previous encounters with Mrs. Breen and juxtapose his previous impression of her in order to fully digest how she has aged in the “Lestrygonians” section. I’m not sure if this was what Joyce had intended, but I had interpreted this as a metaphor for the progression of our lives, in that we are essentially our memories reacting to the present. Additionally, I enjoyed Joyce’s employment of different literary styles, and I understand how this progression through literary styles would make this novel an ideal candidate for an English literature seminar class. However, the sheer amount of bodily functions and excrement was something that baffled me. I could see that there was a reason for it and it could perhaps represent something symbolically since it appeared so frequently throughout the novel, but I wasn’t able to make anything of it as I was unable to move past my bewilderment. Another detail that particularly perplexed me was the textual format for “Penelope”. What I specifically did not understand was why Joyce decided to present Molly’s thoughts in the form of eight extravagantly long sentences. This style made me wonder how Joyce decided which part of a sentence qualified as a moment for a sentence to end and for another to
Ulysses Mcgill has to deal with many different and serious conflicts, both internally and externally.First, Ulysses must decide if he should pull over the car to hear the Sirens, even though he is already on the run and the police must be close. Second, Ulysses’ conflict with society is that, as a married husband on the run from the law, women, no matter how beautiful their voices may be, should not be on his mind. Lastly, Ulysses loses his compadre, Pete, has disappeared without a trace, leaving only a toad and his clothes in his wake. His conflicts within himself are not only affecting him within his own mind, but his behavior toward others are changed as well.
“Dubliners” by James Joyce was first published in 1914. It is a collection of short stories, which takes place in the same general area and time frame, moving from one individual’s story to the next. Boysen in “The Necropolis of Love: James Joyce’s Dubliners” discuses the way the citizens of Dublin are caught in this never ending misery because of the lack of love- mainly instituted by the “criminalization of sensual love” from the church- and the economic stress, and struggle to survive. Zack Brown goes through the individual short stories, pointing out their references to paralysis, as well as a few other themes in “Joyce’s Prophylactic Paralysis: Exposure in “Dubliners.”” “James Joyce’s usage of Diction in Representation of Irish Society in Dubliners” by Daronkolaee discuses the background knowledge of the culture and particular details of the city that enhance the understanding of the reader and enforce the ideas presented by Boysen and broken down by Brown. These analytical articles help support the idea that Joyce uses
We have read an adventurous story called The Odyssey. It was about a hero named Ulysses who goes through many conflicts to get home. He has faced monsters to beautiful women, but he still got home. Ulysses fits the model of an archetype. There are three ways he fits into the model.
In the introduction of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster sets the scene for the upcoming chapters by pointing out crucial literary devices. Through several references, it is further explained how memories, symbols and patterns help to create broader understandings throughout literary texts. Foster continues by stating that the usage of these devices establishes the advanced readers from “the rest of the crowd” (xxvii).
"John William Waterhouse's Ulysses and the Sirens." John William Waterhouse's Ulysses and the Sirens. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Any great novel seeks to explore human nature, our morality, our trust in each other, the delicate inner workings of our societies. A classic that does more than explore the ways of our world, it exposes them, down to the nitty-gritty bare bones. These books force us to look at the world around us and truly see everything that is happening around us, not just the outer layers.... ... middle of paper ... ...
James Joyce uses sexuality throughout his works to establish an intimate and relatable bond between the reader and the characters in his works. All of Joyce’s works address issues in sexuality, which presents the idea that sexuality was of upmost importance to him. Given that sex is a large part of human existence, it is a good way to get the attention of the reader. A substantial amount of characters throughout Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man are driven by sexual desire. In fact, there is so much sex throughout in Ulysses that “early publishers and critics refused to publish it because of its vulgarity; the sexuality featured in Ulysses was part of the claims that the novel was obscene” (Ivie). Sex is a wonderful way to connect the reader to the character, and Joyce is talented in being able to bring the reader right into the sexually suggestive minds of the characters. Each character in all of Joyce’s works are defined by their sexuality and are in search of some type of self-identity, and through that idea is how Joyce best portrays that sexuality itself may be defined by adultery, prostitution, and masturbation and other bodily functions.
...believe it had no plot, no content, and was without meaning. On the other hand if this work of art was not as important as critics said it was, many would have not heard nor talked about this piece. Critics believed Joyce's work was hard and filled with gibberish, but people who have read and understood all of his stories would disagree. Joyce intended on teaching people who wanted to be taught. His writing has taught literature artist how to open their minds for new ideas to improve their work and pull more people in.
Works Consulted: Fairhall, James. James Joyce and the Question of History. Cambridge University Press. New York, New York: 1993. Garrett, Peter K., ed.
Upon first reading Ulysses by James Joyce, it may seem as though Joyce is creating chaos, but to read this text without looking deeper into it does not do it justice. Each word on the page is significant to understanding the novel as a whole, and it is when one reads the text with this in mind that its true significance emerges. It also helps to have knowledge of Homer’s epic the Odyssey. Without at least some familiarity with the original epic poem, Ulysses becomes impossible to fully grasp. The other tool to understanding it is familiarity with Modernist thought and theory, as framed in the wake of World War I. Though the novel takes place before the War, it was published in 1922, just a few years after the War ended. The chaos and senseless loss of life that occurred left a deep impact on the psyche of those that lived through it, and it was the writers and artists who demonstrated this. In his essay on Ulysses, “Ulysses, Order, and Myth,” T. S. Eliot states: “I hold this book to be the most important expression which the present age has found,” (Ellmann and Feidelson 680). Eliot realizes the importance of the novel and the role that it fulfills in the Modernist literature tradition. Ulysses is a completely Modernist text, and it becomes possible to understand the Modernist view of mythology through reading it.
between mind and body as well as the idea that Circe is a symbol for the
'Ulysses' is both a lament and an inspiring poem. Even modern readers who are not so familiar with the classics, can visualize the heroic legend of Ulysses, and so is not prepared for what he finds in the poem— not Ulysses the hero but Ulysses the man.
Pope, Deborah. "The Misprision of Vision: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". James Joyce. vol.1. ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 113-19.
In addition to the controversial content of the book was the matter of Joyce's style. Not denying Joyce's ability, Garnett wrote it was "ably written," except he felt that it was too "discursive, formless, unrestrained, and ugly things, ugly words, are too prominent." Also, Garnett criticized that it was too "unconventional," and "unless the author will use restraint and proportion he will not gain readers." Having read the book, I too agree with Garnett that the style in which the book was written does not encourage the reader to advance through the story.
Stephen's Journey to Maturation in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce