SISTER IMELDA
Jordan McKinney
Josh Saffron
Maria Houser
Sarah Clark
Edna O’Brien (b. December 15th, 1930)
o Born in Tuamgraney, County
Clare, Ireland
o Inspired to write by T.S. Eliot
o Much of her writing deals with
women
o Won many awards
Setting
o Convent school in Dublin, Ireland in the 1940s
o These schools were created to educate girls in a
religious environment
o Lived there throughout the school year
o Upon graduation, they would have the option
of joining the religious order as nuns
O’Brien and “Sister Imelda”
o O’Brien attended a
convent school when
she was growing up
o She often focuses on
internal feelings and
how women get along
with society
Convent Of Mercy
Loughrea
Typical
Catholic
Convent
School
Main Characters
o Sister Imelda- Young nun, teacher in the
convent; spent four years at the
university in Dublin and came back to
the convent; mysterious about passed
o Narrator- teenage girl; student in the
convent
o Baba- student in the convent; narrator’s
best friend
o Mother Superior- director of the
convent
Summary
o Narrator is teenage girl in a convent school
o Falls in love with her teacher, a young nun
named Sister Imelda
o Hidden affection because of Sister Imelda’s
devotion to God
o Sister Imelda urges narrator to become a nun
Connections to Our Lives
o Favorite teacher
o School (decision making)
o Indecisiveness on life choices
o Friends influence decisions
o Rumors and gossip
What makes this story good?
o Relatable
o Style of writing is easy to
read
o Not girly, passionate
Works Cited
O'Brien, Edna. "Sister Imelda." A Fanatic Heart:
Selected Stories of Edna O'Brien. New York:
Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984. Print.