Assignments

In an effort to make every aspect of this program crystal-clear, here are the assignments for fall quarter. Note also that each week’s set of assignments — written and other — is described in detail below.

  • attendance at the fall quarter céilí (TBA)
  • response papers to the readings as assigned
  • one visual response to the Famine (due 11/4)
  • two integrative essays, five pages each (due 10/18 and 11/22)
  • Irish language homework, as assigned
  • full participation in play readings, singing, and instrumental music sessions
  • participation in final collaborative presentation
  • two poems (one in Irish, one in English) to be learned by heart by week ten
  • one self evaluation (due 24 hours before your evaluation conference)


Assignment for Week One (9/30-10/2): Create a section in your binder or notebook for notes on the plays, poetry, songs, and readings. Never forget that in Ireland, oral traditions are every bit as important as written traditions. You will be using these in writing your two integrative essays in fall quarter. Now that you have created that section, take notes on Molly Sweeney and the songs and poems this week. Do this every week, and you will be pleased at your diligence when the time comes to write about them.

Assignment for Week Two (10/7-10/9): Read Irish Traditional Music, chapter 1 (“Looking in from the Outside”) and The Táin. Come to Monday’s seminar on October 7 with your book, prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Review your Irish language materials, as we’ll be working with them frequently. Consider posting sticky notes all over your house as you begin to learn about the language. Test your roommates on how to say “good morning,” “good night,” “excuse me,” and “thank you” in Irish.

Assignment for Week Three (10/14-10/16): Read the first half of In Search of Ancient Ireland (pp.3-131) and Traditional Irish Music, chapter 2 (“Roots and Branches of Gaelic Ireland”). Come to Monday’s seminar on October 14 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Complete your first five-page integrative essay (on ancient Ireland); it’s due on Friday, 10/18 in Sean’s mailbox (not in e-mail form; typed, double-spaced, stapled hard copy).

Assignment for Week Four (10/21-10/23): Read the second half of In Search of Ancient Ireland (pp.132-265) and Traditional Irish Music, chapter 3 (“Hang All Harpers Where Found”).  Come to Monday’s seminar on October 21 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Don’t forget to check the website (under “assignments”) to be sure you understand what is expected of you.

Assignment for Week Five (10/28-10/30): Read “Translations” by Brian Friel (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama) together with “On Brian Friel” (pp.540-558). Read also the first half of In Search of Ireland’s Heroes, pp.3-144. Come to Monday’s seminar on October 28 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week.

Assignment for Week Six (11/4-11/6): Read Paddy’s Lament, parts 1 and 2 only (or, if you really want to be depressed, read the whole thing – how anyone even made it here alive is beyond anyone’s wildest reckoning). Come to Monday’s seminar on November 4 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. This is also the weekend to develop a (two-dimensional) visual response to the Famine. Bring your visual response with you to seminar on Monday the 4th.  Fair warning: brace for this terrible but important work.

Assignment for Week Seven (11/11-11/13): Skim through The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats and read both “Riders to the Sea” and “Playboy of the Western World” by J.M. Synge (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama), together with “On J.M. Synge” (pp. 453-472). Select six different poems from the Yeats book that “speak” to you at a gut level; read out loud and discuss two poems in detail in your small group in seminar. You will be asked to learn ONE Yeats poem by heart for your final evaluation. Come to Monday’s seminar on November 11 prepared to discuss – in a small group – what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week.

Assignment for Week Eight (11/18-11/20): Read “The Rising of the Moon” and “Spreading the News” by Lady Gregory, and “Juno and the Paycock” by Seán O’Casey (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama), together with “On Lady Gregory” (pp. 443-452) and “On Seán O’Casey” (pp. 496-516). Read also “Murmuring Name Upon Name: From Literature to Armed Rebellion” and “A Terrible Beauty: the Irish War of Independence,” from In Search of Ireland’s Heroes, pp. 201-244. Come to Monday’s seminar on November 18 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Complete your second five-page integrative essay (on post-Conquest Ireland); it’s due on Friday, 11/22 in Sean’s mailbox in Com 301 (not in e-mail form; typed, double-spaced, stapled hard copy). Note that completing it before Thanksgiving is good. You need time to read Dubliners too. Trust me on this.

Assignment for Week Nine (12/2-12/4): Read Dubliners (James Joyce). Be sure to read the entire set of short stories; this is the place to get deeply inside issues of men and women, and parents and children. Note the progression of the book from early childhood to adulthood to death and beyond. Come to Monday’s seminar on December 2 prepared to discuss what you have read; during Wednesday’s work we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Have you reviewed the Yeats poem you plan to recite by heart at your final evaluation? Do you know your Raftery poem as well?

Assignment for Week Ten (12/9-12/11): Prepare your presentations and the Yeats poem that you plan to recite for your evaluation. Review your Irish language notes for the exam (yes, the exam!) on Monday the 9th. Note that our collaborative presentations will be this week as well.

Assignment for winter break: read Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt).  Write a three-page response essay to Angela’s Ashes on the subject of choices. Include both parents and the priests along with your discussion of Frank himself. It is due on Monday, January 6, in seminar.

Be aware that you will need to pay your $500 (nonrefundable) deposit to do the study abroad portion of the program by Friday, February 14, 2014. It’s coming right up. Have a great holiday, and don’t forget to sing “Oíche Chiúin” for anyone who will listen.