Write a short essay in response to the topic below. Because your essay will be brief, do not concern yourself too much with the introduction and conclusion.
Remember, writing is never finished, only abandoned when we run out of time.
Topic
Although he is one of the most important figures in the renaissance of Irish literature that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century, James Joyce displayed an ambivalent attitude toward the Irish culture and people? How is this ambivalence depicted in Joyce’s “The Dead” (2240-2269)?
Hints
1. Keep in mind that “to interpret” a text does not mean to explain it fully or “translate it” from one set of terms to another. To interpret a text is not to shut down all discussion of that text with a definitive reading. To interpret a text is to open up for your reader the possibilities created by the language of the text.
2. Use specific examples and vivid details from the text to illustrate your claims.
3. You are not concerned here with discovering the author’s intention or meaning. We cannot uncover such intentions and even if we could it would not matter for meaning is constructed between a reader and a text.
4. Think about the words the author uses and ask yourself "Why these words and not some other?"