J. Joyce's short story "Eveline" is organized into 11 sequences.

• FUNCTION OF THE SEQUENCES AND LINKS BETWEEN THEM

First sequence (1-3): introductory function, because it introduces the setting of the short story.

Second sequence (4-21): the function is the description of the present external setting and the way it used to be in the past. The link to the first one is the element of the window: here the narrator tells what Eveline sees outside the window.

Third sequence (22-31): the function is the description of the inner setting, her home. As in the previous one the narrator narrates what Eveline sees outside, now he/she tells what Eveline sees inside.

Fourth sequence (32-44): it is functional to express her thoughts about what people would say when she will leave her home. The connection to the third one is Eveline's home.

Fifth sequence (45- 71): the function is to tell the way her life would change and the way it used to be right now, especially focusing the attention on her relationship with her father. The connection is the departure from her home and above all her life's change.

Sixth sequence (72-99): the function is to introduce Frank, the person who will allow Eveline's life transformation. In the previous sequence the change that she would have is narrated and here the cause of it is told.

Seventh sequence (100- 108): it is functional to narrate her taking leave of her family. Her departure is arriving and it is the connection to the previous sequence.

Eighth sequence (109-119): the function is to describe her promise to her mother and her doubts to leave her home.

Ninth sequence (120-129): her thought about her mother are functional because they remind Eveline her last words and her doubts vanish: she is convinced to escape (connection to the previous sequence).

Tenth sequence (130-142): the function is to tell her departure, the moment is arrived.

Eleventh sequence (143-155): another sequence begins to underline the detachment: as a bell clanged, she changes her ideas and she decides to come back home. The link to the tenth one is the departure.

• VERBAL TENSES AND FUNCTION OF THE PAST ONES

- Simple past
- Used to
- Past perfect
- Future in the past
- Simple present
- Past continuous

1. Simple past expresses the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. It is used to tell Eveline's story, that belongs to the past.

2. "Used to" comes in useful to underline habits in the past, therefore to mark Eveline's customs and paralysis.

3. Past perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It follows that in the short story it is used to tell Eveline's events of her childhood.

4. Future in the past is used to express the idea that in the past you thought something would happen in the future. In "Eveline" it is functional to explain her thoughts about her departure and the way her life would change.

• THE NARRATOR IN "EVELINE"

The short story is told in third person omniscient narrator. He is omniscient because he knows everything, even what cross in her mind. The point of view is that of Eveline, as if she were telling the story.