The ironically titled story “Two Gallants” focuses on two young men, Corley and Lenehan, who have turned to a life of crime in order to get by. The story follows Lenehan as he waits for Corley to apparently con a servent girl who he has seduced. Like many other elements of the stories of Dubliners, the exact details of Corley’s and Lenehan’s “plan” are left purposefully vague. However, the themes of frustration with lack of opportunities is quite clear through Lenehan’s thoughts, and the depiction of the harp and its player as weary and worn have been widely interpreted to symbolize the state of the Irish people at the time.
The publisher originally objected to the story and wanted it to be left out of the collection, but Joyce was adamant, writing, "to omit the story from the book would really be disastrous. It is one of the most important stories in the book. I would rather sacrifice five of the other stories (which I could name) than this one." The two main characters later appeared in his novel Ulysses.
Before reading the story, you students have the opportunity to write an essay based on the “Task B” choice they will have on the exam. For students who choose “Task B,” they will have to read a scientific text or summary of a scientific text from mass media and write about the main issues, recommending the article. The topic of “youth crime prevention” seems like a relevant real-world topic that could plausibly be covered on the exam, and it helps to set up for the story of “Two Gallants” by helping students think about how Corlet and Lenehan might have fallen into crime more easily in a society that lacked the kind of initiatives discussed by the article.
Writing Task: Youth Crime Prevention
As mentioned in the introduction to the story, the harp is one of the most important symbols in Irish culture and is prominently featured in the middle section of this story. This listening task should give you a bit of context about the importance of the instrument that readers from or familiar with Ireland would take for granted. This task is meant to be similar to the type that was first in the 2023 exam and Skola2030 sample; although the audio used in both featured multiple speakers, the types of questions asked focus mostly on listening comprehension rather than analysis, and can be used for a single speaker listening sample like this one.
Listening Task: History of the Irish Harp
After doing the listening task, it might be interesting to discuss similarities you have likely noticed between the harp’s importance in Irish culture and the kokle’s importance in Latvian culture. There are also many videos you can find on YouTube of Irish traditional music being played on harp, such as this one.
The story “Two Gallants” features two young men who are eventually revealed to be conmen attempting to carry out a scam. This listening task features a talk given by Frank Abagnale, a former con artist who now helps educate law enforcement and everyday people about how to recognise and avoid scams. The Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks is based on the life of Frank Abagnale.
Listening Task: How to Outsmart a Scam
The next task is designed to be similar to the first task on the reading section of the exam in which students will have to read a passage of text (up to 600 words) that is most likely non-fiction. This text comes from an informative webpage by the South Australian government warning people about the same types of “dating scams” that one of the main characters of “Two Gallants” carries out. The topic is a continuation of the theme of the previous listening task.
Reading Task: Don't Let Scammers Break Your Heart
Here there are four reading tasks to go along with the full text of the story; the first one comes halfway through the story to check your comprehension so far using questions similar to the multiple-choice ones that will come in the first section of the reading part of the exam, while the final three are similar to tasks that will follow the reading of three types of texts about a common topic.
Finally, here are a few speaking tasks you and a friend can use to practice for the exam. The topics are connected with "Two Gallants," and you should mention the story in your talk.
After completing the tasks, you can continue on to the seventh short story, "The Boarding House."