alienation, noun: the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved

alienation, noun: the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved.

For this writing assignment, focus on the two short stories "A Little Cloud" and "A Painful Case."

In both of these stories, Joyce presents protagonists who are alienated from their surroundings. This alienation takes several forms and exists to varying degrees: alienation from self; alienation from women (spouses or romantic interests); alienation from working conditions, country, community, and family.

In at least a paragraph or two, and using several examples from both stories, write about how the theme of alienation runs through the stories and is manifested in the characters, dialogue, and actions.

*Note: Your essays (3-4) pages will primarily focus on the last, and longest, short story in this collection, "The Dead." This is one of Joyce's most famous short stories. Read it carefully and be prepared to write at length on it. As you've surmised by now, "Dubliners" is a collection of stories in which Dubliners deal with, experience, and grapple with the vicissitudes and challenges life presents. One of the key features of many, if not all, of the stories is the respective protagonists having an epiphany about some aspect of his or her life. There are many ways to think of an epiphany, but in the context of these stories, the character having an epiphany realizes something profound and fundamental about the the way he or she is living his or her life: the consequences of the decisions he or she has made; things that have been lost; opportunities that have been missed, etc. Keep this is mind as you read "The Dead" as this notion (epiphanies) will be at the heart of your essay on the story.