{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34611838","dateCreated":"1298348386","smartDate":"Feb 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"mariangel94","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mariangel94","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34611838"},"dateDigested":1531973935,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Araby","description":" James Joyce uses excellent descriptive writing in his story \u201cAraby\u201d. A worthy piece of descriptive writing must have a clear point of view or narrative focus, a dominant impression, and specific language. Joyce combines all three of these aspects quite successfully in his story. Through the use of evocative language, figures of speech and imagery we see a dominant impression throughout the chronological development of the main character\u2019s story. It begins by describing the street, and from the very beginning uses personification to do so. \u201cThe other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces,\u201d James gives life to the houses in order for the reader to have a better perception of these. As the story moves along to tell the fantasy he was living, and how all his hopes were eventually shattered, we can clearly identify the dominant impression. This one is the kid\u2019s hopeless love for the girl. The quality of the description can be seen through the conveyance of this impression since the author never tells us it has hopeless, but rather shows us through the use of symbolism and specific language. \u201cOr if Mangan's sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in to his tea we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street. We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and, if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan's steps resignedly,\u201d here the use of shadow gives off a gloomy description that can very well represent his feelings. His hopeless feeling was also conveyed more directly through very evocative language like he does here: \u201cThe air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me.\u201d Throughout the story he uses language that creates clear mental images for the reader. As well as descriptions that ignite our senses like hearing in the description of the market, for example. \u201c\u201cWe walked through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop-boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs' cheeks, the nasal chanting of street-singers, who sang a come-all-you about O'Donovan Rossa, or a ballad about the troubles in our native land.\u201d Finally, the description is well organized because as the story flows chronologically, the narrator describes things in the order he perceives them, just like if he was carrying a camera around on his shoulder all the time. The combination of these three components makes the description in \u201cAraby\u201d an excellent one.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"34503394","dateCreated":"1298062436","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ellagicacid","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ellagicacid","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1343664898\/ellagicacid-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34503394"},"dateDigested":1531973935,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"ARABY","description":"Ella Nugent
\nAraby Descriptive Writing
\n
\n"Araby" is a successful, brilliantly descriptive short story written by James Joyce. It is more successful in the areas of the beautiful descriptive language used and the clear dominant impression than the narrative focus and point of view.
\n
\nThe narritive focus at the beginning is not too clear or consistent. Joyce starts out describing (through the eyes of a young boy) the old house, then the old priest who had lived their previously. The narrative then jumps to the children playing in the street and finally starts the more connected and easy-to-follow descriptive story of the boy who is in love with his friend's sister.
\n
\nThe language and words used, however, make up entirely for the slightly confused narrative focus. The short story is brilliant at describing the rather tiny and trivial things which helps to give a bigger picture. He describes everything from the pages of the books he [the boy] finds: \u201cI found a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp... I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow\u201d to Magan\u2019s sister\u2019s hair; \u201cHer dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side\u201d I was only disappointed with one part of the story; the description of the bazaar. I thought that if he described so gorgeously the children playing in the streets and the sound of rain through the window, surely the description of Araby would be equally as detailed and intricate. The actual description, however, is short and concise and is a a simple description of a few of the people standing about and the darkness rather than the bazaar itself. Despite this small disappointment, I thought the words and language used were satisfying and successful.
\n
\nFinally, the dominant impression of the story which is equally as successful. It is made clear to us the obsession of the boy over this girl, going into detail how he watches the doorway of her house always willing her to appear and his distraction from school because his thoughts stray to her. The dominant impression is the growing and changing of the boy, who is becoming more gown up and falling in love.
\n
\nThe story is, perhaps, not the most eventful or suspenseful. Nothing much really happens in the story but it is ridiculously detailed and is brimming with great imagery and it is extremely easy to picture every event and detail described.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"34489552","dateCreated":"1298048118","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"marinacoccaro","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/marinacoccaro","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34489552"},"dateDigested":1531973935,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Araby","description":"Araby by James Joyce is a clear example of well descriptive writing. He provides us readers with information that actually makes us feel inside the story, and experience what the boy is living. James Joyce writes about a boy that is head over heels for a girl that lives on his neighborhood. She gives us the impression as if that was his first love, and we perceive that by vivid scenes whenever she invades his thoughts. Even though his life has nothing in special and seems very quotidian, the girl gives a spark to it. It gives him a reason to explore the beauty of life. \u201ct night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read. The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me.\u201d Whenever he insisted to his uncle to go see the girl, the words used turn gloomy and it seems like the darkness slowly swallows the boy\u2019s mood. \u201cThe air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me.\u201d His love for the girl is mixed with all the stress from school and the misunderstandings with his aunt and uncle, and Mangan\u2019s sister transmits him feelings of joy and hope. The dominant impression this story transmits to us is the feeling of maturity and the growing absence of innocence. The way James Joyce transitions from the religious school the protagonist studies on to his insatiable passion for the girl represents how he is becoming an adult. \u201cWhat innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening! I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days. I chafed against the work of school. At night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read.\u201d His feelings and thoughts are well expressed with the use of detailed adjectives, and the setting is very visible to the readers: \u201cliked the last best because its leaves were yellow. The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree and a few straggling bushes under one of which I found the late tenant's rusty bicycle-pump.\u201d Descriptive writing is not only found in relation to the feelings of the boy, but to the setting as well, and this proves how well elaborated Araby is.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34493132","body":"Thanks Marina,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1298051748","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34481350","dateCreated":"1298042025","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"cristinarojas1","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/cristinarojas1","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34481350"},"dateDigested":1531973936,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"\"Araby\" by James Joyce ","description":"James Joyce\u2019s short story \u201cAraby\u201d is a clear example of high-quality, descriptive writing. Through the use of actions and symbolism Joyce is able to provide the reader with a clear, detailed image of what is going on in the story. The dominant impression of the story is portrayed through the adolescent\u2019s insipid way of living and his discontent towards life. The young boy, in a way \u201cgrows-up\u201d as the story unravels. At the beginning of the story he is daydreaming a fairy tale, which later on, gets destroyed and ends up disappointing the poor little boy when things didn\u2019t turn out as he expected. Through his actions, and descriptions of his surroundings the author feeds his audience with a spoonful of the boy\u2019s feelings. At first, he was just an innocent boy obsessed with a girl, he couldn\u2019t stop thinking about her, \u201cAt night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read.\u201d It is clear that he feels a very powerful attraction towards this girl, yet he doesn\u2019t even mention it, but describes it through his actions. As the story progresses the boy\u2019s dreams are crushed which cause him to become disillusioned with life. \u201cThe air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me.\u201d The way the air is described allows the reader to feel and smell the musty air, at the same time giving the image a gloomy feeling and through that transmitting the young boy\u2019s concerns and worries. The story is also filled with symbolism; part of it, is the contrast of dark and light used throughout. \u201cThe light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing. It fell over one side of her dress and caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease.\u201d Light is used here to highlight the girl and her beauty and the way he observes her every detail, in contrast to the way he describes the rest of the of the street he lives in, all gloomy and dark. Darkness is also used to describe the boy\u2019s failure once he gets to bazaar he describes it as dingy and gloomy, and without actually saying he was disillusion he successfully portrays his feelings. \u201cI heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The upper part of the hall was now completely dark.\u201d James Joyce effectively uses concrete language to illustrate and describe the story; the point of view of the story is also very transparent, focusing only of the adolescent\u2019s judgment.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34492020","body":"Christina,
\n
\nI love, the 'spoonful of the boy's feelings' bit. Curious and evocative.
\n
\nYou have done an excellent job discerning the imagery on two levels here.
\n
\nGood work,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1298050404","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34467202","dateCreated":"1298008185","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"cecyrodriguez","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/cecyrodriguez","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34467202"},"dateDigested":1531973936,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"\"Araby\" Cecilia Rodriguez","description":"This story \u201cAraby\u201d by James Joyce proves to be a very successful descriptive story of what a boy feels when he falls in love for girl. The dominant impression is how the girl brings a whole new side of the boy that turns his world around. Concrete and specific language is found all over and there are many narrative focuses that bring a simple boy crush into something more.
\nThe author uses specific language to make a smooth transition while describing something, to then revealing something else.
\nThe dominant impression at first seems to be something ordinary and quite, were very usual things happen all the time. Every time he refers to something, he places a descriptive adjective so you know exactly how it looks, feels, and sounds like. \u201cRusty bicycle-pump, cold air, Silent Street, dark dripping gardens\u2026etc.\u201d
\nAt the beginning it seems very ordinary place, but as the story continues and the boy falls in love with a girl names Mangan and the scenes change to a lighter one, full of its five senses. Being with the girl is like a whole new experience for boy that brings new emotions out of him like nervousness, passion and anger.
\nWe can relate to this boy that falls in love with Mangan. The narrative focus, is to show how this boy can very well like every other person when it comes to how they feel about a girl they like. .The authors choice of words, help you feel more sympathetic with what the boy is trying to express. \u201cI had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood. \u201c The narrative focus then revolves around her and his emotions towards her. The other things described, just fill in the blanks of the real focus that is her.
\nLight deems to always be present and is like a symbol in the story. The neighborhood it s delicately described as gloomy and dark, and the girl seems to be the one who brings up light and is surrounded by it.
\nThe boy, in a very detailed way, expresses his thoughts,\u201d what innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening! I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days.\u201d His actual spoken words are very simple and straightforward. \u201c\u201cIf I go,\u201d I said, \u201cI will bring you something.\u201d The author is successful in projecting here a dominant impression of who he really is and whom he shows off to the others.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34493086","body":"Thanks Cecilia,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1298051706","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34460530","dateCreated":"1297997630","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"fabig1","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/fabig1","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1229012865\/fabig1-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34460530"},"dateDigested":1531973936,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Araby","description":"Araby is a great example of successful descriptive writing. When I started to read this story, I could not get what the author was trying to say just by reading the words, I had to interpret them and feel what the main character felt, in other words, get into his shoes. One great example of this is near the beginning of the story were he tells us about his neighborhood. \u201cThe other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces. \u201c, this quote tells us how the houses were bland and boring as well as the neighborhood. The author also uses a lot of detail when he tells us something like with the girl that lives on the other side of the street which he sees every morning through a curtain that is barley open so that they can\u2019t see him. Every sentence I feel contains detail in the story and makes it that much more interesting and intriguing to read. The main focus that this story has is the boring life that he has to put up with everyday, showing us with every sentence. Then the focus shifts to excitement and lastly anger as he gets to the bazaar and cannot seem to get in. Also, the point of view in the story does not shift slightly; it stays in the eyes of the main character and sticks with him throughout the story. The descriptions in the story are so vivid that they can explain what is going on and the actual feeling that the story gives. I could feel the excitement and anxiety when he was going towards the bazaar. Then when he couldn\u2019t find the bazaar the anger started to fill him because he wanted to get a little fun into his life and also see something interesting and out of the ordinary. Also, when the uncle tells him that he forgot, he keeps his calm, which without words, tells us how his personality is and how calm minded he is. I found that the way that the author wrote the story was very straight forward. Every sentence is important but is short and concise. To sum it up everything that we studied in class that shows if a story is descriptive this story contains, dominant impression is present, several very nice descriptions and a clear point of view.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34492812","body":"Thanks Fabian,
\n
\nI like how you detailed your personal experience in reading this... just remember that you can accomplish the same effect without using first-person pronouns.
\n
\nThanks,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1298051366","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34440346","dateCreated":"1297980466","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"eli-picado","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/eli-picado","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1283475869\/eli-picado-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34440346"},"dateDigested":1531973936,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Wiki Response","description":"In his story \u201cAraby\u201d, James Joyce manages to give the reader a story with good descriptive writing. His writing mixes, in different quatities, the three main elements of descriptive writing: a dominant impression, a good narrative focus and concrete, specific language. For a descriptive text to function, it has to constantly reflect a dominant impression you want to convey from the scene described, whether if you do it through the characters actions, through the objects describe, or through imagery. In his story James Joyce does a great job expressing the dominant impression of his story: the emptiness of the kid\u00b4s life. In a way, all his sentences suggest a feeling of emptiness and hollowness behind the kid\u00b4s actions. There is nothing exciting happening to the boy and everything he does is in his routine. For example, when he goes to lonely room were the priest had died he doesn\u00b4t have anything unusual to do. This is the description of what he did: \u201cThrough one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: \u201cO love! O love!\u201d many times.\u201d He doesn\u00b4t have anything else to do that to spent his time thinking about the girl he likes but is not brave enough to talk to. This subtly suggests the dominant impression. Also, the author writes the text in a chronological narrative focus, what means that he describes the events as they are happening. This makes a good descriptive writing because it helps the reader to follow the flow of the plot easily; it gives form and structure to the text so that it is understandable. The reader also uses concrete, specific language to describe the scenes, and even if he doesn\u00b4t use a lot of imagery, this creates a strong, almost palpable, image in the readers mind as s\/he reads. For example, when the kid goes with his aunt to the market, the author does a great work describing the situation. These are his words: \u201cWe walked through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop-boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs' cheeks, the nasal chanting of street-singers, who sang a come-all-you about O'Donovan Rossa, or a ballad about the troubles in our native land.\u201d Even if the description of the surroundings is deficient, the description of the sounds successfully transports the reader to the market, thus achieving the main point of a descriptive piece.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34491876","body":"Great Eli,
\n
\nA close reading and clearly expressed.
\n
\nThanks,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1298050258","smartDate":"Feb 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34421994","dateCreated":"1297967457","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"alabuda","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alabuda","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34421994"},"dateDigested":1531973936,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Araby","description":"The short story \u201cAraby\u201d by James Joyce is a very successful piece of work. It tells a story of a boy who desperately falls for a girl living next door. He is so interested in her that he gets slightly obsessed about the idea of going to a bazaar and buying her a present; unfortunately he fails at his little quest. The setting of the tale is described very beautifully. The attachment of the buy\u2019s feeling to the \u201cgazing at one another with brown imperturbable faces\u201d houses, gives the story a nice personal touch that reflexes on the dominant impression of the tale. The sight is not the only sense used in the description; the hearing is also present, \u201cthe cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street.\u201d The additional senses prove that the work wascreated with very good sense of details. The specific language is used very nicely bringing the emotions of failure, obsession, but also coldness and mystery. The girl he falls for is the complete opposite of the boy\u2019s normal environment. When he notices her, the style, language and dominant impression change within couple of sentences. We can say that a little example of symbolism is attached to the character of the girl, \u201cthe light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing\u201d. The light is brought up only this one time in the plot; everything else is dark or covered. The boy even goes to the bazaar at night; again no light present. We can assume that the girl represents a change in the boy\u2019s life; like if she was the only one hope and excitement that he will ever experience. The language used in the description expresses how much he wants her to be with him permanently. The successful use of similes and metaphors give a heavy impact on the boy\u2019s feelings, \u201c\u2026his body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires\u201d. Because of the intriguing style and a smart use of words \u201cAraby\u201d is a very incredible story.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34433816","body":"Thanks Avi,
\n
\nCould you provide me with the different definitions of reflex and reflects...
\n
\nI really like what you had to say about the use of the image of light... very original.
\n
\nWhat do you think of the organization of the story in general... the point of view?
\n
\nFurthermore, dominant impression? Do you have any feelings about this?
\n
\nThanks,
\n
\nWebster","dateCreated":"1297976515","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"davidgarethw","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/davidgarethw","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34457378","body":"A reflex is any automatic, unthinking, often habitual behavior or response.
\nTo reflect means to cast back (light, heat, sound, etc.) from a surface. I see your point Mr. Webster. I just haven't noticed that I got those two words confused. I very much enjoyed the organization of the story. I liked the idea that the plot was intruduced from the boy's "shoulder"; whenever he moved, we moved with him. This detail gives a nice touch of personalization to the story in general. At first, I thought that the dominant impression was the darkness and lifelessness, however, when the boy falls in love, the dominant impression seem to be more like love, a little of hope and light; sue to the change in words used.","dateCreated":"1297994895","smartDate":"Feb 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"alabuda","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alabuda","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34457466","body":"