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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was Joyce's boss in the city in #41?

2. Where did Joyce go to college?

3. Who was the London acquaintance who helped Joyce search for jobs?

4. School records show that Joyce was punished for ______________________.

5. Why did the manager of the school love Joyce?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the salient points of Ellmann's explanation of Joyce's writing of "The Dead".

2. What two major forces occurred for Joyce during this disgruntled period in his life?

3. What bad luck awaited Joyce when he went to Trieste for a position at a Berlitz school?

4. Who was the publisher who wanted to publish DUBLINERS and what change did he require that offended Joyce?

5. What did Ellmann think were some of the inspirations for Joyce's novel ULYSSES?

6. How was Joyce perceived in the literary community in Dublin in 1902?

7. What difficulties did Joyce encounter when trying to enroll in classes in Paris in 1902-1903?

8. Describe Joyce's father, John's, young life in Ireland.

9. Describe the difficult time Joyce had in Rome while working at the bank.

10. What was the nature of Joyce's work in the 1907-1909 period?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the book. Why would writers have a lonely life even though it may have seemed exciting and glamorous to other people? Why would Nora have had an especially lonely life being the wife of James Joyce? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

Essay Topic 2

The theme of struggling with personal identity was an important one in this book. Describe how it extends through setting, character and issues and provide examples for each.

Essay Topic 3

Substance abuse seemed to be an unnamed character in the book. How pervasive was the abuse? Why did it have such a prevalent place in Joyce's life? How did it affect him? How did it affect those impacted by Joyce's abuse? Explain how an inanimate object or characteristic can be a character.

(see the answer keys)

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