A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

About the novelist

James Joyce, born in Dublin in 1882, is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. He is the author of the novels Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young man, which are partly autobiographical.

In A Portrait of the Artist he described how the young Stephen Dedalus (Joyce himself) becomes an artist.

Reading

Warm up

1 What do you remember about… ?

1 being a baby

2 stories your parents told you

3 first days at school

4 school friends

5 deciding what you wanted to be in life

2 Write down two or three of your earliest memories. How old were you? Compare them with your partner’s.

3 CERT You are going to read six extracts from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Skim paragraphs (A-F) and match them with the headings.

Teenage love

• First memories

• Future plans

• Student life

• First love

• A game of football

All the boys in the playground were shouting and the captains encouraged them. The leather ball flew like a heavy bird through the grey light. He kept away from the rude feet, pretending to run now and then. The boys were struggling and groaning and their legs were kicking and stamping. He felt his body small and weak in the middle of the tall, strong players and his eyes were weak and watery. Nasty Roche was a bully. His mother had told him not to speak to the rough boys in school.

You have asked me what I will do and what I will not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe. I will try to express myself in life or art as freely as I can. I’ll work and act for liberty and equality. But I will tell you also what I do not fear: I do not fear being alone… and I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake.

- Alone, quite alone, said his friend, to have not even one friend?

- I will take the risk, said Stephen.

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moo-cow coming along the road and as this moo-cow was coming along the road it met a nice little boy named baby tuckoo. His father told him that story. He was baby tuckoo.

He was alone. A girl stood before him, gazing out to sea. She seemed like a strange and beautiful bird. She was alone and still, gazing out to sea; she felt his presence and his eyes, worshipping her; her eyes turned to him. Long, long, she gazed at him and then quietly turned towards the sea, gently stirring the water with her foot. The noise broke the silence. A faint flame trembled on her cheek. He turned away from her suddenly and set off across the sand. His cheeks were aflame.

The University! So he had passed his boyhood and those who had tried to keep him at home, to serve their ends. His mother had been against the idea, as he had guessed from her sad silence. Ten to eleven, English lecture. He saw the heads of his classmates bent as they wrote in their notebooks. He looked out of the window, across the gardens and the statue of the national poet of Ireland.

Eileen lived at number seven. She had a different mother and father. Her mother and father were grown up. He was going to marry Eileen. He hid under the table. His mother said:

- Oh, Stephen will apologize. His aunt said:

- Oh, if not, the eagles will come and pull out his eyes.

4 28 Read the extracts again and put them in order according to the age of the writer. Then listen and check your answers.

Listening

5 Here are some possible scenarios for the next part of the story. What do you think will happen?

I think Stephen will

A marry the girl he met on the beach and settle down.

B stay at home with his parents and work with his dad.

C go and live abroad.

D do a PhD and be a university academic.

6 29 Listen to extracts from Stephen’s diary and check your answers.

Speaking

7 CERT Pairwork Talk about your dreams for the future. Use these questions to help you.

1 Will you stay in your hometown or move away?

2 Are you going to travel?

3 Will you be an artist or a scientist?

4 Will you do something creative?

5 Do you think you will marry and settle down?

6 Do you think you will ever publish a book or compose music?

Writing

8 You have seen this announcement offering scholarships for an artistic creation summer course. Use the information in the ad to write a personal statement to accompany your application.

Artistic Creation Course Scholarships

The Dublin Centre for the Arts is offering five scholarships to students living outside Ireland to attend a three-week summer course in art appreciation and practice. The course starts August 8th and finishes August 30th.

The offer is open to students with a B2 level in English and with a special interest in art and creativity (music, visual arts, theater, cinema). Applicants should be at least 19 years old. Applications should complete the application form and attach a personal statement explaining why they would like to do the course.

Before you begin:

1 Make notes on your ideas.

2 Work with a partner and discuss these questions: a Why are the arts important today? b Which art forms do you like most? c Are you a creative person? What do you do that is creative? d What do you know about Ireland and Dublin?

3 Use this plan: a I have read a novel by... b In primary school, I took part in... c I am planning to study... d I read your announcement on the Dublin Centre for the Arts website. e I have always wanted to visit Dublin. f I was born and grew up in...

Paragraph 1: say why you are writing.

Paragraph 2: tell the organizers about yourself, your level of English and why you are interested in doing the course.

Paragraph 3: tell them about your interests in the arts: what creative things have you done so far? As a spectator or participant? Are you learning a musical instrument? Do you write?

Paragraph 4: write about your plans for the future and what part art and creativity will play in your life (work, leisure, entertainment).

4 Match the following useful expressions with the paragraphs above.

9 CERT Write your statement (140-190 words).

1 CERT Read the text and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.

I always wanted to be an actor. After drama school, I 1 a job with a small theater company in the provinces. But my acting career got 2 to a terrible start. The director of the theater was a bit of a snob. He looked 3 on me because I had a strong Liverpool accent. I couldn’t get 4 to his criticisms of my acting; the situation was really getting me 5 and I would go home in the evenings feeling depressed. Once, in rehearsal, he was so cruel to me that I 6 down crying. You can imagine, I felt very nervous about the 7 night. It was also my first professional appearance on stage ever!

I didn’t want to 8 the other members of the cast down. The play was a silly, sentimental, love story about a teenager who falls in love with a ballet dancer. Needless to say the show was a flop.

2 CERT Read the text. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line.

What skills and qualities do you need in the workplace to 1 today?

Is it enough simply to do your job well? Apparently not. Here’s what the experts say you need for the jobs of the future, in no particular order of importance:

• Be a good member of a team.

• Have a good understanding of 2

• Be creative and imaginative.

• Be 3 , both on a personal and professional level.

• Have good taste.

• Be able to express your 4

• Be 5 to change.

• Be able to maintain a realistic view of yourself and your 6 even when working as a team.

• Be willing to learn new things.

• Be open to new ideas.

• Be 7

• Be a good communicator.

• Have good IT skills.

• Be 8

Fact

Unit Objectives

Vocabulary & Listening

● Money and shopping

● Collocations relating to money