Major Irish Writers

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Course Description

Course #: HUM282/382
Title: Major Irish Writers
Credits: 3
Division: Humanities
Mode: Academic Travel
Instructor: Paul M. Pelan, M.A.
Term: Summer Intersession

Learning Goals:

1. To appreciate the works of major Irish writers in all literary genres.
2. To better understand the unique contribution of Irish writers to the canon of English-language literature.
3. To see Irish literature as an expression of culture and character.

Learning Activities:

1. Lectures and presentations at various academic venues throughout Ireland - Trinity College; NUI, Galway; and others.
2. On-site learning in Dublin and where great writers lived and great literature was written.
3. Extensive readings and presentations on the works of major Irish writers.

Grounds of Evaluation:

Adequate progress toward the Learning Goals listed above.

Means of Evaluation:

1. Final written course evaluation (credit will not be awarded without this.)
2. Submission of an Irish Literature Journal - a miscellany of notes on readings, lectures, and on-site presentations, as well as personal observations and reflections on Irish life and culture.
3. Three papers/projects on the works of major Irish writers.

Background Information and Readings:

Syllabus and Itinerary (with map) for the Course

"Travel Hints for Ireland" - Casey

"Ireland and the Irish - Intro Notes" - Casey

"Seeing-Dublin" Articles

"Traditional Music of Ireland"

"Siamsa" - Blake

Texts:

Frank O'Connor's The Backward Look: A Short History of Irish Literature. New York: Capricorn Books, 1968.

James Joyce's Dubliners. New York: Washington Square Press, 1968.

W.B. Yeats's Selected Poems. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

J.M. Synge's Complete Plays. New York: Vintage Press, latest edition.

Brian Friel's Translations. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1981.

John McCarthy, Ed., Stories from the Great Irish Writers. Dublin: Mercier Press, 1987.

Direction of the Course:

(Lectures and presentations are three academic hours in length. The course covers the following topics.)

1. Ireland and the Irish: the Country and the People
2. A Bi-lingual Literary Tradition
3. Precursors to the Moderns - the 18^th and 19^th-c Anglo-Irish Writers
4. A Celtic Resurgence
5. Yeats and Company
6. W.B. Yeats: Poetry and Drama
7. J.M. Synge, Genius of the Literary Renaissance
8. "Riders to the Sea" and Playboy of the Western World
9. Modern Fiction and Joyce
10. Dubliners and Other Literary Marvels
11. Modern Playwrights: Friel, et al.
12. Modern Storytellers: Kiely, Lavan, McGahern, et al.
13. Modern Poets: Heaney, Ni Dhomnaill, et al.
14. Presentation of Major Papers/Projects
15. Evaluation and Exam

Related Field Study:

Dublin and Environs:
Dublin Writers Museum, Trinity College, Joyce's Martello Tower, the Abbey Theatre, and other venues.

Ballyvaughan and Galway:
Yeats' Tower, Lady Gregory's Coole Park, Synge's Aran, and the Galway City Literary Haunts

Killarney:
The Irish National Folk Theatre (Siamsa), the Blasket Island Writers, et al.