Eng 211 Short Story Questions and Answers

In the story “Araby” the protagonist is portrayed by the author to seem young, which limited his ability to see past his dull, dead-end neighborhood. The author explains the boy’s carefree mindset by describing how the protagonist and his friends would run through the back lanes of the houses and hide in the shadows when they reached the street again.

Being ignorant about aboriginals, Vanessa has preconceived ideas about Picquette's heritage. "It seemed to me that Picquette must be in some way a daughter of the forest, a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds, who might impart me, if I took the right approach......., or whatever it said in Hiawatha." (Laurence 419) Vanessa is suggesting that just because Picquette is an aboriginal, she must be a skilled tracker and hunter like legendary literary character Hiawatha. Piquette senses this, and she refuses to open up to Vanessa, by rejecting her friendly act. Vanessa immediately decides that “as an Indian, Piquette was a dead loss,” when she realizes that Piquette has no “Indian” secrets to share with her; she is confused by Piquette and ultimately rejects her.

Initially, Piquette is viewed as an outsider by society when she accepts her personal identity as Metis. When Piquette is invited by Ewen to his summer cabin, Vanessa falsely believes “that Piquette must be in some way a daughter of the forest, a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds, who might impart to me. If I took the right approach, some of the secrets which she undoubtedly knew - where the whippoorwill made her nest, how the coyote reared her young, or whatever it was that it said in Hiawatha” (112). Piquette and many other First Nations have been stereotyped and misinterpreted for so long that society labels them with certain traits. When Ewen proposes that Piquette come to the family’s summer cabin, it is immediately rejected by Vanessa’s grandmother saying “if that half-breed youngster comes along to Diamond Lake, I’m not going” (110). The Metis are not accepted by the majority of society, making it difficult for them to feel like they fit in and are appreciated throughout the community. This creates a divide between society and the Metis and other First Nations groups. Vanessa’s warped views and perspectives about First Nations illustrate how the majority of society views Aboriginal people.

In Module/Week 3, you will write a 750-words (about 3–4-pages) essay that compares and contrasts two stories from the Fiction Unit.  Before you begin writing the essay, carefully read the guidelines for developing your paper topic that are given below.  Review the Fiction Essay Grading Rubric to see how your submission will be graded.  Gather all of your information, plan the direction of your essay, and organize your ideas by developing a one-page thesis statement and outline for your essay.  Format the thesis statement and the outline in a single Word document using MLA, APA, or Turabian style (whichever corresponds to your degree program).  You have the opportunity to receive helpful

In "Araby" by James Joyce, the narrator uses vivid imagery in order to express feelings and situations. The story evolves around a boy's adoration of a girl he refers to as "Mangan's sister" and his promise to her that he shall buy her a present if he goes to the Araby bazaar. Joyce uses visual images of darkness and light as well as the exotic in order to suggest how the boy narrator attempts to achieve the inaccessible. Accordingly, Joyce is expressing the theme of the boys exaggerated desire through the images which are exotic. The theme of "Araby" is a boy's desire to what he cannot achieve.

In the story of, "Araby" James Joyce concentrated on three main themes that will explain the purpose of the narrative. The story unfolded on North Richmond Street, which is a street composed of two rows of houses, in a desolated neighborhood. Despite the dreary surroundings of "dark muddy lanes" and "ash pits" the boy tried to find evidence of love and beauty in his surroundings. Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion (Borey).

2. Where does the story take place? Provide specific information about the place, time, and social context of the book. How is the setting important?

James Joyce’s “Araby” is a short story narrated by an adolescent boy who falls in love with a nameless girl on North Richmond Street. Every day this boy watches her “brown figure,” which is “always in [his] eyes,” and chases after it (27). According to the boy, “lher image accompanie[s] [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (27). He thinks of her bodily figure often, invokes her name “in strange prayers and praises”, and emits “flood[like]” tears at the mere thought of her (27). The boy exhibits all this emotion, despite the fact that he “had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words"(27). Therefore, when he finally has a conversation with her, about a Dublin bazaar called Araby, it causes him to become disoriented. The boy fails to concentrate at his Christian Brother School and at home, because Mangan’s sister finally talks to him. The boy, determined to get something for his lover at the bazaar she cannot attend, asks his uncle for money. However, to his distress, his uncle forgets and the boy is unable to attend the bazaar until “it [is] ten minutes to ten” (31). This delay and the long journey by train causes the boy to become irritated. His irritation soon turns to anger as he enters the bazaar only to find it practically empty except for two men with “English accents” and a female engaged in a conversation (32). At this point, the boy loses interest in buying anything at the bazaar for his lover and decides to feign interest to appease the

At an early age Vanessa’s naivety of Piquettes ethnicity prohibits her from seeing Piquettes struggle with her sense of lacking belonging. This causes the two characters to clash throughout the story in regards to Vanessa's false interpretation of Piquettes identity. Throughout the story Vanessa tends to

Vivid imagery can be seen all throughout “Araby.” Vivid imagery is detailed writing that gives you a sense of an image while you read. The story begins with “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street” and continues to say, “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” (“Araby” 1019). The way this imagery is used shows

"Araby" is written in first-person to tell the story of a young boy (narrator), who learns that his dreamy feelings for a girl are deceptive. The narrators impractical approach towards the girl is revealed in the details of the story, such as seeing the bazaar as it readies to shut down, the crowds are gone, the silence, the greater part of the hall in darkness, and the woman's harsh conversation with two men there. The first-person point of view allows the reader to see how the boy feels and thinks. An example from the story is: "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger."

The story “Araby” as told by James Joyce is about a young boy that is fascinated with the girl across the street. But deeper down the story is about a very lonely boy lusting for her love and affection. Throughout the story, we see how the frustration of first love, isolation and high expectations breaks the main character emotionally and physically. James Joyce uses the first-person viewpoint to tell this story which helps influence the plot, characterization, themes, and understanding of the main character.

“Araby,” is a story of emotional passion carefully articulated by the author, James Joyce, to mark the end of childhood and the start of adolescence. It is told from the perspective of a young boy who is filled with lust for his friend, Mangan’s, sister. He lives in a cheerless town on a street hosting simply complacent families who own brown faced houses that stare vacantly into one another. The boy temporarily detaches himself from this gloomy atmosphere and dwells on the keeper of his affection. Only when he journeys to a festival titled Araby, does he realize that his attempt at winning the heart of Mangan’s sister has been done in an act of vanity. Joyce takes advantage of literary elements such as diction and imagery to convey an at times dreary and foolishly optimistic tone.

James Joyce’s short story Araby delves into the life of a young adolescent who lives on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. Narrated in the boys’ perspective, he recounts memories of playing with friends and of the priest who died in the house before his family moved in. With unrestrained enthusiasm, the boy expresses a confused infatuation with the sister of his friend Mangan. She constantly roams his thoughts and fantasies although he only ever catches glimpses of her. One evening she speaks to him, confiding that she is unable to visit Araby, a bazaar. Stunned by the sudden conversation, the boy promises he will go and bring her back a small memento. In anticipation, the boy launches into a period of restless waiting and distraction

"Araby" tells the story of an adolescent boy's initiation into adulthood. The story is narrated by a mature man reflecting upon his adolescence and the events that forced him to face the disillusioning realities of adulthood. The minor charac­ters play a pivotal role in this initiation process. The boy observes the hypocrisy of adults in the priest and Mrs. Mercer; and his vain, self-centered uncle introduces him to another disillusioning aspect of adulthood. The boy's infatuation with the girl ultimately ends in disillusion­ment, and Joyce uses the specific example of the boy's disillusionment with love as a metaphor for disillusionment with life itself. From the beginning, the boy