“Clay” is one of only three short stories told through the eyes of a female main character (the others being “Eveline” and “A Mother”). It tells the story of an aging unmarried Catholic woman who is working at a laundry run by a Protestant Christian organization. At this time in Ireland, girls and women who were former prostitutes, had children outside of marriage, or were otherwise considered “immoral” were often sent to such laundries to be “reformed.” Although these were often places where terrible abuse took place (as the documentary for the listening task “Magdalene Laundries” explains), Maria seems to enjoy her work and the author does not portray any obvious abuse happening at her workplace.
The word “clay” is never written in the story, but it is implied that during a traditional Halloween game in which players are blindfolded and pick up items from a table that Maria picks the “clay” which has been cruelly put there by a neighbour girl, meaning that according to the superstition she will die within the coming year. Some have interpreted Joyce’s intention to portray Maria as “dead” in a way already, hyper-focused on small unimportant details of life and living a mundane daily routine.
First, you can try writing an essay based on the "A" option of the writing task of the exam which uses a fragment from "Counterparts."
Writing Task: The Complexity of Loneliness
This first listening task is based on an American news travel segment about Halloween in Ireland and its origins. “Clay” takes place on Halloween, which is referred to by the older term of “Hallows Eve” in the story. As the video explains, Halloween originates from ancient pagan Irish culture but has continued since the introduction of Christianity and is still extremely popular today. Although the specific games and traditions that are shown in the story are not mentioned, it might be interesting to have a background on the importance of the holiday to Ireland and also learn more about its origins. Note: on the exam, these listening tasks normally have 8 instead of 10 questions, and the audio is usually roughly a minute shorter.
Listening Task: Halloween's Ancient Irish Origins
Although Catholics and Protestants are two major branches of Christianity that have the same religious beliefs aside from a few differences, in Ireland, these two religious groups have been in significant conflict since Henry VIII broke the Church of England away from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 and made himself the supreme religious leader so that he could divorce his wife. Since most Irish people refused to accept the King as the head of the church and continued to follow the Pope, a conflict both religious and political in nature has been ongoing for nearly half a millennium. In “Clay,” the Catholic main character Maria works in a Protestant charity organization and is surprised to find that she likes the Protestants she meets there quite a lot despite a generally negative lifelong impression of them.
This listening task is based on a short YouTube documentary that explores a particularly violent phase of the centuries-long religious conflict, a period known as “The Troubles” that lasted from 1969 until the end of the 20th century. During this time, terrorist attacks as well as brutal police and military crackdowns became common in Northern Ireland and in some cases other parts of the United Kingdom as well as in the Republic of Ireland. “The Troubles” formally ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland has subsided as much of Irish society has become increasingly secular and non-religious over the last few decades.
This listening task is one of the most challenging out of all those in this collection due both to the format of the documentary as well as the very thick accent of one of those interviewed. I would strongly suggest watching the video instead of just listening to the audio, as it will be more interesting and understandable.
Listening Task: Catholic v Protestant