Open Ended Prompt Practice Due Monday

Choose one of the following open ended prompts and write a timed 40 minutes essay (handwritten, testing conditions if possible) that addresses the prompt. You may choose from any novel or play that we have read this year as part of AP English. This will be scored as a completion assignment.

(Feel free to write essays on both prompts if you'd like to be a superstar.)

Option 1

"The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.

Option 2

In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.

Chapter 5 Notes

CHAPTER V

178- “the dear knows…” = God knows. The Irish words for “God” and “deer” were the same (Fiadh). To avoid speaking Gods name, deer or in this passage (dear) was used.

going for blue: working as hard as possible (alternatively, "bluing" is used in washing clothes)

180- sloblands: local term for a particular trashy area of tidal flatland

waistcoateers: prostitutes (Elizabethan term)

chambering: wanton sexual indulgence (Elizabethan term)

Synopsis Philosophiae. . .: A Synopsis of Scholastic Philosophy for the Understanding of St. Thomas (Aquinas)

181- MacCann is modeled on a contemporary of Joyces at the university. He was an ardent pacifist, feminist and believer in the possibility of universal peace. He was murdered by a British army officer in 1916.

hoardings: billboards

182- “It was a priestlike face, priestlike in its pallor…” Note the description of Cranly.

183- Ivory, ivoire, avorio, ebur: the same word in English, French, Italian, and Latin.

India mittit ebur: India sends (or produces) ivory

Contrahit orator... vates: "The orator summarizes; the poet [or prophet] amplifies [or transforms]"

in tanto discrimine: "in such a crisis"

implere ollam denariorum: to fill the jar with denarii (Roman silver coins)

184-Firbolgs were believed to be early inhabitants of Ireland, who were later invaded by the more cultivated Milesians.

“Davin” Davin is another student modeled on a contemporary of Joyce. He was a firm believer in resurrecting Gaelic (Celtic) traditions and supported the Gaelic Athletic association and the cause to hold onto the Gaelic (Irish) language. He will address Stephen later in a very casual manner, using his first name. The person on whom Davin was based became Lord Mayor of Limerick, but was murdered by a British army regiment in 1921.

“…curfew was still a nightly fear” curfew was a part of many of the Coercion Acts that were passed by the British for the administration of Ireland. 105 such acts were passed between 1800-1921.

Gael: Irishman or Celt

cycles: related groups of Irish myths and legends

***** tame geese: joke on "the wild geese," term for Irish who went into exile

185- hurling match: Irish game, a sort of field hockey

buff: skin

minding cool: playing safety

woeful wipe: huge blow to the ball

camaun: curved stick used in hurling

aims ace: very small amount or distance

yoke: any artifact

187- handsel: good luck omen or gift; also money, as in a tip

188- levite: subordinate priest

canonicals: prescribed vestments

ephod: Old Testament religious garment

189- Pulchra sunt quae visa placent: "That is beautiful which gives pleasure to the eye"

Bonum est in quod tendit appetitus: "That is good toward which the appetite is moved" [or which is desired]

190- Similiter atque senis baculus: "Like an old mans walking stick"

192- insufflation: breathing on someone or something to symbolize the coming of the Holy Ghost and the banishing of evil
spirits

193- Per aspera ad astra: "By rough ways to the stars" (a cliche )

194- Kentish fire: prolonged stamping or clapping to show impatience or disapproval

197- Closing time, gents!: How the end of legal drinking hours might be announced at a pub

Ego habeo: "I have," in "Dog-Latin," a humorous schoolboy imitation of Latin that translates English words literally and
is scattered throughout the following conversations.

Quod?: "What?"

198- Per pax universalis: "For universal peace"

Credo ut vos. . .estis: "I think you are a bloody liar, because your face shows you are in a damned bad humor"

Quis est. . . vos: "Who is in a bad humor, you or me?"

rescript: originally, an epistle issued by the pope regarding some question referred to him

cod: a joker or fool

201- Pax super. . .globum: "Peace over the whole bloody world"

Nos ad. . .jacabimus: "Lets go play handball"

202- matric men. . .second arts: referring to a set of four examinations to be passsed before a degree is granted

203- super spottum: "on the spot"

fianna: Irish (Gaelic) for Fenians
_______


205- league class: class in Irish language sponsored by the Gaelic League 204.20 eke: archaic for "also" [Cranly probably
means to say "e en"]

carmelite: order of nuns

Pulchra sunt. . .placent: see 186.1

Pange lingua gloriosi: "Tell, my tongue, in glorious. . .", part of the opening line of a hymn by Aquinas

Vexilla Regis: from "Vexilla Regis Prodeunt", "The Banners of the King Advance"

Impleta sunt. . .Deus: "Fulfilled is all that David told / In true prophetic song of old: / Amidst the nations, God, saith he, /
Hath reigned and triumphed from the Tree."

plucked: flunked

stewing: unintelligent, grinding study

Ego credo. . . Liverpoolio: "I believe that the life of the poor is simply awful, simply bloody awful, in Liverpool"
(Dog-Latin)

seraphim: the highest order of angels

villanelle: nineteen-line poem using only two rhymes, with rhymes and lines repeated according to a set pattern

censer: holder for incense, often roughly spherical

potboy: waiter who serves beer or ale

ashplant: Joyces term for a staff made of the wood of an ash

augur: Roman professional prophet

a touch: sexual play or intercourse

hack. . .hunter: ordinary horse. . . prize horse

Pernobilis et pervetusta familia: "Of a noble and venerable family"

paulo post futurum: grammatical term referring to the verb form used for an event about to happen

ballocks: set of testicles (figuratively, a clumsy oaf or a mess)

dual number: obsolete grammatical form for nouns indicating a pair

pavan: a formal kind of Elizabethan dance

sugan: rope made of straw (Irish)

jarvies: horse-cab drivers

easter duty: going to communion service on Easter

penal days: period (mostly in the eighteenth century) when especially repressive "penal laws" against Irish Catholics
were enforced

Mulier cantat: "The [or a] woman sings"

Et tu cum Jesu Galilaeo eras: "And you were with Jesus of Galilee"

proparoxyton: rhetorical term for a (Latin) word having the acute accent on the next to last syllable

Item: term used in wills in enumerating bequests

veronica: a cloth bearing the image of Jesus face

decollated: beheaded

B.V.M.: Blessed Virgin Mary

risotto alla bergamasca: a rice dish made as in Bergamo (Italian)

Tara. . . Holyhead: Tara is the traditional Irish seat of kings, Holyhead a Welsh port commonly used by Irish leaving the
country.

Chapter 4 Notes and Review Sheet Assignment

Chapter 4 Notes


153- ejaculations: brief outcries or prayers

supererogation: acts beyond the requirements of duty to establish a "reservoir of merit"

154- chaplets: The cycle of prayers called a rosary is divided into thirds, each called a chaplet, and subdivided into decades.

Paraclete: term for the Holy Ghost

twigging: brushing with a short broom

158- foxpapered: having pages that are "foxed," or discolored

canticles: the "Song of Songs" or "Song of Solomon" in Protestant Bibles

Inter ubera mea commorabitur: "He shall lie between by breasts," from "Song of Solomon."

160- dominican: order founded by Saint Dominic

franciscan: order founded by St. Francis of Assisi

les jupes: French for "skirts"

161- muff: a bungler, novice, or outsider

162- a vocation: a "calling" for the priesthood

163- “ power of the keys…sin” the power to hear confession and to give (or withhold) absolution

164- thurible: censer, in which incense is burned

chasuble: long outer vestment worn by a priest celebrating the mass

tunicle of subdeacon: vestment with wide sleeves worn by the person who prepares the sacred vessels during the
celebration

humeral veil: veil covering the shoulders

paten: plate on which the eucharistic bread is placed

dalmatic: wide-sleeved vestment worn during celebration of High Mass by the deacon, the person ranked second to the
celebrant himself

Ite, missa est: "Go, the mass is completed"

“…Simon Magus” Simon Magus offered money for spiritual power (the sin of simony)[ Interesting in terms of Simon Dedalus, Stephen’s father]. The sin against the Holy Ghost was Final Impenitence, which involved a refusal to acknowledge the existence of a spiritual force for good.

165- novena: a series of spiritual exercises lasting nine days. St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr stoned to death outside the walls of Jerusalem.

novitiate: time of probation for aspiring priests

166- “…the fainting sickness” As a novice, Stephen would fast the night before in order to receive Holy Communion.

S.J.: Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order)

169- “…the university” This is a reference to University Collge, Dublin. Crosby is a tutor there, and Simon is looking for information about it.

“…the Bull” a seawall that runs from the shore at Clontarf into Dublin Bay.

171- Note the poetic diction…

172- thingmote: place where Danes held council of law when they ruled Dublin in medieval times

Stephanos: Greek for crown, wreath, or garland

stuff in the kisser: punch in the mouth

173- Bous Stephanoumenos! Bous Stephaneforos!: Greek variants for "ox bearing wreaths" (i.e., being led for sacrifice).

artificer: inventor or craftsman (i.e., Daedalus)

the stoneblock: term for a group of rocks on the side of Bull Wall suitable for diving

cerements: burial clothes



Review Sheet Assignment: (Due the day of the AP test)

Review Sheet Assignments
You must create a complete review sheet for each of the plays and novels we have studied in class this year.

NOTE: THIS INFORMATION CANNOT BE LIFTED FROM THE INTERNET!! YOU WILL RECEIVE A SCORE OF ZERO IF THIS HAPPENS. IT ALSO CANNOT BE MASS PRODUCED AND SUBMITTED AS A GROUP.

Oedipus
Hamlet
Tartuffe
A Doll’s House
Death of a Salesman
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Wuthering Heights
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Each review sheet must address the following:

 Title of Work
 Author
 Approximate Time Period
 Main Characters: Names and Relationships
 Brief Plot Summary
 Handy Plot References
 A Meaning of the Work as a Whole
 Relevant Literary Techniques
 If I write on this work, I will be sure to mention...
 Quintessential Quote(s) [Easy to memorize, sure to impress]

A Condensed Example (Yours will be more detailed)

 Title: Metamorphosis Author: Franz Kafka Time: Early Modern
 Characters: Gregor-Salesman and Bug Grete: Sister and aspiring musician
Mr. Samsa, Mrs. Samsa, Charwoman, Lodgers
 Plot Summary: No space— but self explanatory. Can be done as bullets.(Do not plagiarize!)
 Handy Plot References: Rocking to get out of bed, desire to go to work, never miss a day, arrival of boss, attempt to communicate, picture with girl, saving furniture, apple attack, walking on walls, borders, sister playing violin…
 Meaning of Work as a Whole: The essential alienation of mankind from a world that seems to value only the material contributions he can make.
 Literary Techniques: Narrative voice, symbolism,
 I will be sure to mention: Symbolism: picture frame, apple, music, bug. Lack of explanation for transformation, Gregor’s desire to keep working.
 Quotations: “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams…” “Was he an animal…”

Chapter 3 notes

111- balefire: large fire in the open air
“Sanctifying grace…actual grace”—Two divisions of internal grace according to Catholic doctrine. Sanctifying grace is a gift is freely given to the substance of the soul, but is incompatible with sin. Actual grace is an impulse that inspires the mind to perform a good act and is efficacious only if the mind wishes to continue the good acts.

112- “prefecture. . .of the sodality”: leadership of an honorific student association to promote the honoring of the Blessed Virgin.

113- Quasi cedrus. . .odoris: from Ecclesiasticus 24, 13-15, a Biblical book of the Catholic Bible, from what Protestants call the Apocrypha ("I was exalted like a cedar tree of Lebanon, or a cypress on Mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Engadi, or like the rose bushes in Jericho; like a fine olive tree in the field; I was exalted like a plane tree. I gave forth a perfume like cinnamon and camels thorn, and I spread fragrance like choice myrrh. . . .)

“morning star” one of the titles given to Mary in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.

113- sums and cuts: math problems, generally based on Euclid
“game ball…scut the whole hour” – meaning, “class is over; we can skip the whole hour”

114- Stephen addresses the seven deadly sins: Lust, Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth

first beatitude. . .second beatitude: being "poor in spirit" and "meek", from the Sermon on the Mount in the Douay (Catholic) Bible version, Matthew 5.

115-special confessors: priests to whom a penitent goes regularly

116- “a great fisher of souls”- from Matthew 4: 19. This is a reference to St. Francis Xavier the second in command to the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius Loyola.

simoom: a hot wind, seasonal in some deserts

“Remember the last words…” Actually from Ecclesiasticus 7:40 The last things are death, judgment, heaven and hell.

125 -non serviam: "I will not serve," Lucifer’s (Satans) defiant statement

blue funk: extreme depression and fear

126- “he founded the holy catholic church…rock of ages.” There is a pun here in that the church was founded by St. Peter, whose name in Latin, Petrus, also means rock.

135- poena damni: torment of the damned (removal from Gods sight). There are two kinds of punishment for the damned: poena damni is the punishment of the loss of the sovereign good, poena sesus are all the other torments that the damned experience.

act of contrition: formal prayer expressing remorse

136- “sacraments…indulgences” A sacrament is a visible sign of invisible grace instituted for the justification of mankind. The seven sacraments are Baptism, Penance, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction. An indulgence is the remission of temporal punishment ; it is effective when the sin has been forgiven.

140- “mortal sin…venial sin…” Mortal sin destroys the soul; venial infects it, but leaves it in a reparable condition.

145- “The ache of conscience…” Stephen associates sexual arousal with sin, which is a misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine. It is an incentive to sin, not a sin in itself.

147- “a canopy” The canopy is carried over the priest who bears the blessed Sacrament in procession on feast days.

148 - brown habit of a capuchin: belted robe worn by Capuchins, a branch of the Franciscan order of friars

149- Confiteor- The prayer of penitence in which the penitent confesses his sins. Stephen stops mid-prayer before the pleas for forgiveness and absolution..

152 - ciborium: vessel that holds the host (eucharistic wafer) during communion

Corpus Domini nostri../ In vitam eternam: “The body of our Lord (lead you to) everlasting life” The first and last three words of the priest as he administers communion.

Portrait Chapter 2 Notes

Portrait: Chapter 2

70 “Black Twist” strong tobacco twisted into a rope
“All serene” = no problem
Black Rock—a suburb south of Dublin
Immediate change in style/ syntax

71 Stephan training as runner
“…he knelt on his red handkerchief and read above his breath…” Color imagery…Catholic Church

72 Disinterest in religion (thoughts respect)
“His evenings were his own; and he pored over a ragged translation of The Count of Monte Cristo…”

73 “Madam I never eat muscatel grapes” a quote from the Count of Monte Cristo, made by the her Dantes (the dark avenger) to Mercedes (his love)
“Carrickmines…Stradbook” villages sout of Blackrock
New friend- Aubrey Mills- adventures

74 Apprehension of envisioning future continuing distancing from other children- restlessness and
solitude“In a vague way he understood that his father was in trouble…For some time he had felt the slight
changes in his house…”
“He did not want to play. He wanted to meet in the unsubstantial image which his soul so constantly beheld.”

75 “Caravans” horse-drawn covered cart or wagon
Coerced move to new house in Dublin… more active city life, less provincial
(Simon Dedalus, Stephen’s father and his family had enjoyed moderate prosperity. However, in this chapter,
he falls on hard times, has to move his family to Dublin, and cannot sent Stephen back to
Clongowes. Later, he will be enrolled in Belvedere, another Jesuit school, with his brother Maurice.)

76 “He was angry with himself for being young and the prey of restless foolish impulses, angry also with the change of fortune which was reshaping the world about him into a visions of squalor and insincerity. Yet his anger lent nothing to the vision. He chronicled with patience what he saw, detaching himself from it and testing its mortifying flavour in secret.”

77 “Pantomime” popular show with song, dance, a loose story line and local references
“stone of coal” a stone is approximately 14 pounds;

78 “crackers” decorated noise makers, often with small gifts inside
“tram” means of public transportation, during this period changing from horse-drawn to electric- powered

79 “His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon the tide” – Dublin simile. Awareness of opposite sex…interest; memory of Eileen. “Now, as then, he stood listlessly in his place, seemingly a tranquil watcher of the scene before him.”
“emerald exercise” patriotic green notebook for student work
A. M. D. G. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the greater glory of God)
To E- C- : In Chapter III, we find out that this is Emma; in Stephen Hero (an early version of the novel) there is a similar young woman named Emma Clery.

80 “second moiety notices” legal notices involving bankruptcy
“All of these elements which he deemed common and insignificant fell out of the scene.” –Process oriented.
L.D.S Laus Deo Semper (Praise to the Lord always) Another Jesuit motto that would be appended to student work.

81 “Christian brothers” another order like Jesuits, thought to be less prestigious and showing the snobbish nature of Stephen’s father.
Little brother, Maurice
“The Corporation” the Dublin Corporation, the city’s administrative and legislative body

82 “Whitsuntide” week beginning with Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter
“Stewards” ushers

83 “Stephen, though in deference to his reputation for essay writing…”
85 “smiled in his rivals face, beaked like a birds. He had often thought it strange that Vincent Heron had a bird’s face as well as a bird’s name.”
“beads” saying of the Rosary

86 Two years passage of time

87 “one sure five” a certainty
Confiteor: Prayer in preparation for the Confession
“His sensitive nature was still smarting under the lashes of an undivined and squalid way of life…He had emerged from a two years’ spell of revery to find himself in the midst of a new scene, every event and figure of which affected him intimately, disheartened him or allured and, whether alluring or disheartening, filled him always with unrest and bitter thoughts.” (Chiasmic pattern)

88 Heresy in his essay! (The heresy is that Stephen denies that the soul could ever come closer to divine perfection, although it is acceptable to say that it can never attain it.)

90 Poetry debate, Tennyson vs. Byron 2 years prior “Stephen forgot the silent vows he had been making and burst out…”
“Slates in the yard” on the walls of the urinal
“the loft” place for punishment at Clongowes

91 “…and the, torn and flushed and panting, stumbled after them half blinded with tears, clenching his fists madly and sobbing.”

92 “But the pressure of her fingers had been lighter and steadier: and suddenly the memory of their touch traversed his brain and body like an invisibly warm wave.”
“in a great bake” angry or agitated

94 “for one rare moment he seemed clothed in the real apparel of boyhood.”
95 “horse piss and rotted straw.” Connection to previous and future imagery

96 “jingle” a horse-drawn car
Death of Uncle Charles-retrospect
“Terror of sleep fascinated his mind.”

97 “Come-all yous” street ballads
“Drisheens” a sort of sweet bread make with sheeps intestines
Simon struggles with his own mortality as he realizes that the names of his past in Cork are no longer know, remembered, etc. Desire to share past experience with son; personal narrative

98 Simon searches desk for his initials carved in while in school; metaphorical search for mark left on the past => future


99 “Groceries” a pub that also sold groceries
Source of reveries “His recent monstrous reveries came thronging into his memory…He had soon given into them and allowed them to sweep across and abase his intellect, wondering always where they came from, from what den of monstrous images, and always weak and humble towards others, restless and sickened of himself when they had swept over him.”
Poetic reverie reaction to Dad’s comments
“free boy” a boy on scholarship

100 “maneens” insulting term (little men)

101 “slim jim” a long jelly candy
Recollection of childhood in last paragraph speaks to maturation of character and perception. Syntax parallels fragmented style of chapter one…provides a stylistic complement and contrasts with the smoother, more mature syntax of Chapter 2. Reminder of Stephen’s maturation

102 “lob” some amount of money (penny)
“jackeen” arrogant, lower-class person
“Tempora mutantur nos…illis” Latin: Circumstances change and we change in them…second version… and we change with them.
Teasing Stephan about flirting-father denies his potential feelings/sexuality “Hes not that way built…Hes a levelheaded thinking boy who doesn’t bother his head with that kind of nonsense.”

103 “Your father, said the little old man to Stephen, was the boldest flirt in the city of Cork in his day.” Establishes sexual competition (Freudian) between father and son
Father: “Don’t be putting ideas into his head…Leave him to his maker.” Irony; Ideas are already in Stephen’s head. Simon seems unable/unwilling to recognize that Stephen has the same desires that he did as an adolescent.

104 “ He had known neither the pleasure of companionship with others nor the vigour of rude male health nor filial piety. Nothing stirred within his soul but a cold and cruel and loveless lust. His childhood was dead on lost and with it his soul capable of simple joys.”
Moon/Earth Imagery-Shelley Fragment*

105 “Exhibition” outstanding performance in one of the annual national academic examinations

106-107 Wins money for essay writing…enjoys buying things for his family, but money quickly wears out…isolation from brother and sister- “the lives he sought to approach.”
“He saw clearly too his own future isolation.”
“He cared little that he was is mortal sin, that his life had grown to be a tissue of subterfuge and falsehood.”
“Only the morning pained him with its dim memory of dark orgiastic riot, its keen and humiliating sense of transgression. He returned to his wanderings.”

108 “Such moments…”

109 Imagery… “darker than the swoon of skin, softer than sound or odour.” Appeal to woman

* Fragment (The existing lines are the beginning of a never-completed poem by the Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley)

To the Moon

Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth
And every changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its consistency.

Chapter 1 Notes

(I am pasting chapter 1 notes as part of the actual post because of my current battle with Google Drive. It looks sloppy, but you might actually have a chance of reading them.)


Chapter 1 Notes

Note: All page numbers refer to the Signet Classics Edition. If you are working with a different text, try to adjust the page numbers accordingly. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Historical Background

Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) was an Irish political leader who became the first president of the National Land League of Ireland in 1879. He was imprisoned for resisting English laws which reduced Ireland’s autonomy. Although he was exonerated of the charge of extremism in 1890, his reputation was destroyed that same year in a messy divorce scandal involving Kitty O’Shea, the wife of Captain Henry O’Shea. As such, he stands as a symbol both for national pride and the struggle for Irish autonomy, but also for the fallibility and imperfection of man.

The Daedalus Myth

King Minos of Crete receives a magnificently beautiful bull as a gift of Poseidon with the intent that Minos, in return, would sacrifice it to Poseidon. Minos, however, decides that he cannot bear to part with the bull, and as punishment, Poseidon makes Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, fall madly in love with the bull. Pasiphae has Daedalus, the great inventor or artificer, create a “cow suit” from inside which she will be able to “couple” with the bull. This is the first of Daedalus’ great accomplishments. After the union of Pasiphae and the bull, she gives birth to the terrible Minotaur, a violent half-man, half-bull creature. Minos does not have his wife’s terrible offspring slain, but instead asks Daedalus to create the Labyrinth, a maze from which the Minotaur cannot escape. This is the second of his great creations. After Daedalus and his son, Icarus are imprisoned in the Labyrinth as well (some say for helping the hero Theseus to escape; others for knowing dangerous secrets) Daedalus constructs wings for himself and his son to escape the island of Crete by air, thus marking the third of his great creations. Icarus, of course, does not following his father’s warnings and plummets to his death after flying too close to the sun, and Daedalus escapes to the island of Sicily.

Page # Annotation/Observation
19 Hot/Cold Imagery ; smell; introduction to narrative voice; details and information limited to what Stephen understands/knows at given age
20 physical smallness and delicacy
Color Imagery/ Ireland, Pope
“The third line”—Clongowes children under thirteen
“Cachou” Candy and breath freshener
“Prefects” Teachers who work as housemasters and supervise outside activities
“Greaves in his number…refectory.” Shinguards in his locker and a private supply of treats in the dining hall.
“Eyes weak and watering” Recurrent Eye imagery (Pull out his eyes/Apologize, etc.)

21 “Peach on” tell on
“Rector” Administrative head of the college
“Soutane” Black gown with sleeves

22 Eagerness to go home…changing numbers
homicide- connections to the family
Isolation from peers…picked on
“he shivered as if he had cold slimy water next to his skin”- discomfort- later connection
23 Water imagery- cold/hot
“suck” sycophant; one who “sucks up” to a teacher
24 “York/Lancaster” Names of teams; taken from British history and the War of the Roses
“in a wax” in a rage
“first place in elements” English, math, geography, history, Latin
Mind wandering from sums to roses (poetic/sensitive nature of artist)
-Intro to Jack Lawton- competition
Apron, Cold, Damp imagery repeated…trying to make connections in world/perception
25 “It made a roar like a train at night” Use of similes at this age in order to establish connections and meaning of sensory perception.
“The higher line” boys 15-18
-No introduction to characters- appear nonchalantly as they would exist in the mind of the narrator, young Stephen. (Reader must adapt)
26 Wells as bully (no first name given)
Attempts to fit in; changes answer about kissing mother; paradox…will not be accepted regardless of answer
“Hacking chestnut” dried chestnuts were attached to strings and swung against each other. The one that didn’t break was the winner.
Connection back to water imagery; rat

27 Discovers immensity of universe; his location. Same sense of degrees as with ages of parents; begins with himself (center) and proceeds to largest conceivable.
“cod” joke
Understanding of order and structure in writing and poetry “He read the verses backwards, but they were not poetry.”
28 Explanation of location in universe- God’s real name must be God- familiar to Stephan, thoughts understanding different languages and conceptualization
29 Hot/ Cold imagery…shivering that warming up in bed… “lovely”
2nd Paragraph: Repetition of “cold”
“hob” shelf to the back or side of fireplace
31 Activity of mind as he’s in bed waiting for sleep…not relaxing but thinking
“ironingroom” place where armor was formerly stored
“Cars” horse drawn vehicles
32 Casual leap of time to holiday… confusion of temporality as child emphasis on major events. Makes reader assume it is actually happening.
–Dream of returning home, repetition of red/green imagery; parallel to Dante’s ribbons
33 “The minds of rats could not understand trigonometry” –death; absence of life, thought
Brevity of sentences “Their coats dried then. They were only dead things.”
34 “Brother Michael” A man bound to the Jesuit order by vows but not educated as a priest would be; usually assigned housekeeping duties.
35 Simile “like the long neck of a tramhorse”
Mortality “You could die just the same on a sunny day.”
“cope of black and gold” a long vestment in the colors appropriate for a funeral mass
36 “… the day was going on just as if he were there…”
“Your name is like Latin” connection with Daedalus the artificer. Further separation and distinction from peers. Comment by Athy

37 “no noise from the playground” Inability to know what others away from him are doing. Center of his own life parallel writing in book
38 Personification- waves- harbor imagery
Physical break; Home for Christmas
Death of Parnell
39 “boss” a type of hassock or footrest.
“Birthday present for Queen Victoria” Casey was probably picking oakum as hard labor in prison for political activities
40 “jack foxes” male foxes
41 Family-“little brothers and sisters”; Stephen’s gradual incorporation into “adult” family activities
“Ally Dally” the best
“pandybat” a stiff, reinforced leather strap
42 Argument over influence priests should have politically over contingency. Dante = pro influence.
44 “pope’s nose” part of the turkey’s rump
46 Eileen (playmate) is protestant
“Tower of Ivory”/ “House of Gold” epithets for the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Roman Catholic Litany of Our Lady (continues development of feminine ideal and understanding on the part of young Stephen)

47 Link between Eileen “cool white hand” and Virgin Mary
“tig” a game like hide and seek
Metaphorical blinding; eye imagery
48 Blinding imagery
49 Argument continues- worth of priests
“whiteboy” member of a group working for land and tax reform sometimes using terrorist means
50 “tearing away a cobweb”
-sees father crying
*casual shift in time from one significant moment to the next*
51 “fecked” stole
“scut” the tail of a rabbit, here meaning, “turned tail and ran”
“boatbearer” one who carries the container or incense before its lighted”
“censer” vessel in which incense is burned

52 “sprinter” someone training in short distance bicycle races
Continued bulling- broken glasses; Sight, removal of senses
“prof” captain of cricket team
“rounders” British ball game
53 “square” the school latrine or urinal
“smugging” probably a mild sort of homosexual play
Development of sexual identity, gender awareness…immediate connection to Eileen
End of page, “By thinking of things, you could understand them”
54 “Calico Belly” joke on Ceasar’s Comentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic Wars)
“six and eight” number of blows with the strap given for punishment
“prefect of studies” assistant to the rector in charge of academics
56 Concern for humanity- punishment distasteful.
57 “monstrance” vessel of precious metal in which the host is displayed
“But God was not in the course when they stole it…”
“The day of your first communion is the happiest day of your life.”
58 Was it a sin for the father to be mad?
61 Gives into cry after flogging
63 Urged to tell rector- warning not to “peach”
65 Blinding; darkness of corridor
66 “Saint Ignatius Loyola” founder of Society or Jesus (Jesuit Order)
“Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” For the Greater Glory of God (the Jesuit Motto) Students in Jesuit schools might abbreviate the phrase “AMDG” and attach it to their compositions
“swallowed down the thing in his throat”
68 Momentary acceptance of crowd for telling on Father Dolan- perfect
Conmee – Rector at Clongowes
69 “gallnuts” rounded growths on trees caused by insects
“long shies” long hits by the batsman in cricket.
End with simile describing cricket
“like drops of water in a fountain falling softly in the burning bowl.” Connection of simile back to earlier water imagery; rebirth/ purification…etc

Portrait notes

So, Curry suckered me into judging debate after school and I didn't get notes posted. Please go to April posts from last year, and you will find notes for chapter one.