Michael Groden — James Joyce's Ulysses

English 454F — Fall 2007

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Final essay (2500 words) - due Monday, December 3 - 35% - Possible topics:

1. Compare an episode from the first half of Ulysses (up to "Scylla and Charybdis") to one from the second half. Consider the changes between what Joyce called the "initial style" of the first half and the technique(s) of your episode from the last half. How do the two episodes relate to each other? What is gained and lost by each technique?

2. It has often been claimed that following any recurring detail in the book, no matter how seemingly insignificant, will lead you to all the central concerns and themes of Ulysses. Trace one of the recurring details (one of the various "details to remember" or "details that have appeared before" that I've listed on the pages of the course's Web site, or any other detail), and consider how it relates to issues that you consider central to Ulysses.

3. Many of the episodes of Ulysses divide in two, either by breaking in the middle or by containing two distinct elements. Examples of the former are the halves of "Aeolus" dealing with first Bloom and then Stephen, the division in "Scylla and Charybdis" between the discussion before and after Mulligan enters, the two halves of "Nausicaa," or "Ithaca" before and after Stephen leaves. Examples of the latter are the "initial style" and the headlines of "Aeolus," the first-person narration and the "gigantic" interpolations of "Cyclops," or the questions and answers in "Ithaca." Discuss one (or more) episodes of Ulysses in terms of dualisms you find in it (them). Are the dualisms thematically relevant? Do they exist in tension with each other, or is there a resolution of some kind?

4. Martha Clifford mistypes "world" for "word" in her letter to Bloom (5:245, p. 63). Consider the word/world dualism in Ulysses by looking at one (or more) episodes in terms of the language used and the reality the language presumably describes.

5. Joyce called the "Ithaca" episode the true end of Ulysses, arguing that "Penelope" has no beginning or end. On the other hand, he said that "Penelope" represents the "indispensable countersign" to "Ithaca." (See the Web site.) The ending of Ulysses has always been problematic, and the existence of two possible ends compounds the problem. Discuss "Ithaca" and "Penelope" as two ways of closing the book, and consider the episodes' possible relationships to each other.

6. Discuss the issue of gender in Ulysses by looking at the text's depictions of men and women; by considering how it seems to define "masculine," "feminine," or both; or by considering the treatment of sexuality in Ulysses.

7. Joyce claimed to be indifferent to politics, and critics for a long time took him at his word and saw his books as politically apathetic or neutral. But we have often been reminded lately that any text is political (or ideological) whether or not the speaker or author is aware of his or her ideology or politics. At the least, Ulysses repeatedly mentions Ireland's position in the world and its relationship to England. Discuss Ulysses in terms of its politics; consider the ideology, political agenda, or political position that seems to be in (or to lie behind) the text.

8. Discuss the Odyssey in relation to Ulysses by looking at one episode from Homer and the corresponding episode in Ulysses. How useful is the Odyssey as a guide to Joyce's text? How useful is Joyce's Odyssean schema (see the Web site). What does the Odyssey illuminate in Ulysses, and what are the limits of its relevance?
     Or look at Hamlet, Dante's Divine Comedy, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Flotow’s opera Martha, or another literary work or work from another art,as sources (or analogues) for Ulysses.

9. Discuss Ulysses in relation to one of the other arts or to popular culture. Possibilities include "Sirens" and music, "Nausicaa" and painting, "Circe" and drama or film, or the relation of music, opera, popular songs, drama, painting, film, journalism, or advertising to a part of Ulysses.

10. Robert Martin Adams once wrote a book called Afterjoyce, which studied fiction written after Ulysses. Discuss the impact of Ulysses on fiction that came after it by comparing it to a later novel or to an author who came after Joyce.

And finally:11. You can create your own topic (either one entirely different from these or a modification of one or more of them) if you clear it with me before Wednesday, November 28.
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RULES AND REGULATIONS:

You can submit your essay in a printed version or as an attachment to an email message.

Documentation should follow the format in the MLA Handbook – MLA = Modern Language Association; format = author, short title (if these aren't obvious from the text), page number in parentheses within text + full bibliographic details in List of Works Cited at the end. See the English Department's "Citing Authorities in an English Essay."

All essays should have a title and a List of Works Cited (include one even if only the main text under consideration is quoted).

Any extensions must be approved in advance (at least the day before the essay is due) in person or via email. Late essays will be penalized 2 marks per day.

From the English Department's "Information for Students": "Plagiarism (the unacknowledged use of another person's work) is one of the most serious academic offences, since it involves fraud and misrepresentation. In plagiarizing, one is in effect claiming another person's words or ideas or data as one's own work, and thus misrepresenting material subject to academic evaluation. . . . Students must acknowledge each printed or electronic source (including study guides such as Cole's Notes and Internet materials) by author, title, date and place of publication, and page number if: (a) they quote from it directly; (b) they paraphrase its ideas; (c) they are conscious of any influence its ideas may have had on their own work. Every source (including websites) that students have consulted (whether they refer to it directly or not) must be included in a bibliography (Works Cited)."

The following is a statement on plagiarism which has been mandated by the UWO Senate:
"Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage of text from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the Western Academic Calendar). Plagiarism checking: The University of Western Ontario uses software for plagiarism checking. Students may be required to submit their work in electronic form for plagiarism checking."