Saturday, September 9, 2017

Reader Response Theory: Annotated Think-Aloud


Interpreting literature with a close attention to detail allows us to see reading as a “conversation with the text” and provides us with a helpful method of approaching the informational gaps in a literary text. When we interact with the literature in this way, instead of obstacles that prevent understanding, these textual ambiguities become meaningful possibilities that require an imaginative response on our part. These gaps in the text—the unwritten places—actually create opportunities for readers to participate in, and more fully experience the story.

As a follow-up to our class discussion last week regarding the passage from James Joyce’s “The Dead,” I have prepared an annotated think-aloud as an example of how a reader might actively participate with the text while reading:

Original Passage: From "The Dead" by James Joyce

     "Is it snowing again, Mr. Conroy?" asked Lily.
     She had preceded him into the pantry to help him off with his overcoat. Gabriel smiled at the three syllables she had given his surname and glanced at her. She was a slim, growing girl, pale in complexion and with hay-coloured hair. The gas in the pantry made her look still paler. Gabriel had known her when she was a child and used to sit on the lowest step nursing a rag doll.
     "Yes, Lily," he answered, "and I think we're in for a night of it."
     He looked up at the pantry ceiling, which was shaking with the stamping and shuffling of feet on the floor above, listened for a moment to the piano and then glanced at the girl, who was folding his overcoat carefully at the end of a shelf.
     "Tell me. Lily," he said in a friendly tone, "do you still go to school?"
     "O no, sir," she answered. "I'm done schooling this year and more."
     "O, then," said Gabriel gaily, "I suppose we'll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man, eh?"
     The girl glanced back at him over her shoulder and said with great bitterness:
     "The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you."
     Gabriel coloured, as if he felt he had made a mistake and, without looking at her, kicked off his goloshes and flicked actively with his muffler at his patent-leather shoes.  


Annotated Think-aloud:

"Is it snowing again, Mr. Conroy?" asked Lily.
She had preceded him into the pantry to help him off with his overcoat.

[“Proceeded” means to go before. Lily is leading him. Her back is to him.]

Gabriel smiled at the three syllables she had given his surname and glanced at her.

[Possibly, Con-er-roy? He is amused by her pronunciation. This implies his awareness of her accent, or difference in education or class. “Glanced” means he takes a quick look, checks her out.]

She was a slim; growing girl, pale in complexion and with hay-coloured hair. 

[“Slim” and “growing” suggests her age, maybe late teens. “Growing girl” further suggests that his attention is drawn to her figure. “Pale” seems positive in this context, like porcelain, pure, unblemished. She’s a blond.]

The gas in the pantry made her look still paler.

[“Gas”? The gas lamp? The light is dim. She looks attractive in the soft light.]

Gabriel had known her when she was a child and used to sit on the lowest step nursing a rag doll.

[Little girl in simple dress, pony tails, sitting knee-knocked, holes in stockings, speaking softly to the floppy doll on her lap as she strokes its yarn hair. She is oblivious to Gabriel in his dark hat and coat as he pauses to look down at her for a moment before ascending the stairs. He seems dangerous, like a predator… is that a fair image of him?]

"Yes, Lily," he answered, "and I think we're in for a night of it."

[Snow and cold weather, also foreshadowing of conflict?]

He looked up at the pantry ceiling, which was shaking with the stamping and shuffling of feet on the floor above, listened for a moment to the piano and then glanced at the girl, who was folding his overcoat carefully at the end of a shelf.

[Little puffs of dust escape between floorboards. He is checking her out again. Possibly she is turned away or has her back to him.]

"Tell me. Lily," he said in a friendly tone, "do you still go to school?"

[Small talk, or way of asking, How old are you?]

"O no, sir," she answered. "I'm done schooling this year and more."

[She’s been out of school for more than a year.]

"O, then," said Gabriel gaily, "I suppose we'll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man, eh?”

[A pretty young girl like you, done with school, must have a boyfriend who can’t wait to marry you.]

The girl glanced back at him over her shoulder and said with great bitterness: "The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you."

[They are all talk and only want sex! It sounds like maybe she is overly defensive, guarding a broken heart maybe.]

Gabriel coloured, as if he felt he had made a mistake and, without looking at her, kicked off his goloshes and flicked actively with his muffler at his patent-leather shoes.

[He is embarrassed and mad at himself for saying the wrong thing. He wants to hurry up and get out of the room.]


Summary Analysis of Close Reading:

Only with this kind of interaction with the text does it become apparent just how much the author, James Joyce, is manipulating us as readers at every moment. Even though an older man and younger woman briefly alone together in a dimly lit pantry is not necessarily inappropriate in the context of the story, by immediately juxtaposing Gabriel’s internal assessment of Lilly’s “growing” physical attractiveness with an image of her as an innocent young child still playing with her dolls, Joyce taints our interpretation of the scene with a feeling of unease, maybe even disgust, at Gabriel’s train of thought. This is because Joyce is subtly prepping us for both the surprise and understanding of Lilly’s response to Gabriel’s assumption that she will be getting married soon. When she says bitingly, that men are “all palaver and what they can get out of you," it becomes obvious that she is not only offended at the question, but she may even feel Mr. Conroy (like “all” men) is, as some of you said in class, actually “hitting on her.” Maybe Gabriel is so embarrassed because he too realizes she misinterpreted his comments...or maybe he remains clueless; either way, he can’t wait to get away from her.


Work Cited: Joyce, James. "The Dead." Dubliners. New York: Dover Publications, 1991. 119-152. Print.