The reading “A Painful Case” is one of the short stories in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. During the reading in class, the story helped me acquire proficiency in literal analysis and interpretation. Specifically, the story is not complicated in its narration, but a deeper analysis reveals some difficulties in developing a comprehensive literal analysis, given the fact that most components are not easy to spot and identify. It took time to analyze and describe the figurative language, style and characters. Nevertheless, with adequate reading and background research, I was able to finally demonstrate a good level of understanding of literary analysis and interpretation of the story. Indeed, such skills will be applied in other readings as well.
When reading the story, I realized that it would be quite difficult to develop a comprehensive analysis of all the literal components, owing to the authors approach in concealing a lot of information. Therefore, I did background research and noted that one should brainstorm a list of potential topics and write down specific questions for reflection when reading.
First, I started developing questions regarding the plot setting. In this case, I wrote questions regarding the physical place of the setting, its psychological space, and space in history. These questions were designed to help me identify the relationship between the plot and its setting. Secondly, I wrote a list of questions regarding the characters in the reading. Such questions included what observations might a reader make about each character? What discrepancies are there about what they act, say, or think? What are the character dynamics throughout the story? Do the characters represent some universal quality or symbolic? Can one compare and contrast between the characters portrayed in the reading?
For the purpose of identifying themes in the short story, I developed specific questions to guide me in examining the major and minor ideas. For example, what is the major theme or idea of the reading? How does the writer relay this idea? How to the moods and actions of the characters affect the themes or ideas? What are the repeating patterns and symbols? Does each theme reflect the title of the work?
After reading the story by James Joyce, I tried to answer each of these questions. The plot in this story is in a city and its suburbs where the characters live. Concert halls, private house, and public food and drink cafes are the major areas where the events take place (Joyce 2814). The main protagonists are James Duffy and Mrs. Emily Sinico there is a connection between the settings and the nature of the characters. For instance, I found that James Duffy’s character represents individuals in the middle-class social group whose aspirations is to excel in career and life. Such people tend to avoid strong relationships to avoid commitments at that particular time. Therefore, they spend much time at work, home, entertainment centers, and others rather than with families and lovers. Similar, Mrs. Sinico represents people who are in marriage relationships but unsatisfied and would forge other lives if given a chance. Therefore, she is mostly in her matrimonial home but readily goes for entertainment in concert halls and is also ready for forge a new relationship with James Duffy, but the chance is missing.
The reading improved my skills in literal analysis and interpretation. Using study guide questions is an important approach that helps learners identify important aspects of the reading, including the key points such as themes and ideas. I believe that with this approach, I will be able to improve my ability to conduct comprehensive analysis of all reading, including long narratives such as novels.
Work Cited
Joyce, James. The Dubloiners. The Gutenberg eBooks, 2001.