ENGL 764: Modern Irish Literature

Fall 2012
Tuesdays, 7-9:30 pm
3001A Wescoe Hall

updated: 10/3/12

Professor Kathryn Conrad
Office hours:  M-Th, 1:30-3:30
Office phone: 4-2572
E-mail (best way to reach me): kconrad @ ku.edu
Course website:  http://people.ku.edu/~kconrad/764f12.html
Blackboard website (for discussion blogs, grades): https://courseware.ku.edu/webapps/login/?campus_id=1

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Course description and texts:
The early 20th century witnessed the revival of Irish literature and culture in the midst of social and political revolution. This course will study some of the highlights of that period, including the poetry of Yeats; the drama of Synge, Gregory, Yeats, and O'Casey; and the short fiction of Joyce. The second half of the course will focus on contemporary Irish and Northern Irish writers who have both accepted and challenged their inherited tradition, including authors such as Heaney, ni Dhomhnaill, Bardwell, Muldoon, McGuckian, Barr, and Friel. Course readings will include historical essays and some contemporary political documents. Students will be expected to complete an annotated bibliography and anchor at least part of their research work in the Spencer Research Library.

Click this link for book list, which is available for purchase at the bookstore or online:
http://ku-pc.verbasoftware.com/comparison?id=32445  

Although it is listed as required, the following book is simply recommended for those without a background in Irish history:
ISBN  1589790022    T.M. Moody and F.X. Martin, The Course of Irish History.

Grades consist of two major components:
1. 20%:  Attendance, participation in discussion (online and in class).  
2. 80%:  Spencer annotated bibliography assignment; prospectus; article-length research paper OR critical essay summary plus conference-length research paper. Please see plagiarism policy below.  Full description of project(s) available on Blackboard.
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Plagiarism:
    Plagiarism is stealing and passing off someone else's ideas or words as one's own or using information from another's work without crediting the source.  Any detected cheating offense--including but not limited to plagiarism; the unauthorized use of crib sheets, texts, or other materials during an examination or quiz; the copying of another student's work (even with the permission or aid of that student, who is thereby culpable); the use of prewritten essays (the student's own or someone else's); the uncredited adoption of another writer's interpretation of a work; the copying of all or part of  websites; or the unauthorized use of work written for another assignment or class--will be reported to the University. A record of each verified offense will be kept throughout the student's association with the University (Adopted from FSE statement).
     Plagiarism is not a game, nor is it simply a "shortcut" when time presses.  It is a very serious form of academic misconduct and will be treated as such in this class. When you consult outside sources for ideas--through published or unpublished essays, interviews, the Internet, conversation, etc.--you must cite those sources clearly in your work. I understand that academic work can be daunting: if you are struggling with an assignment, are unclear about my expectations, or are behind on your work, please consult me. There is always a better path than plagiarism; I can work with you to help you find your own voice while incorporating others' ideas appropriately. If after reading the statement above, you are still unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, ask me BEFORE turning in an assignment.
    A plagiarized  assignment will result in failure of the assignment (no credit given); it also impacts your larger course grade more than a paper that merely receives an F, and will usually result in failure of the course. The Department of English has a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism. Formal records are currently kept by the Department of English and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I may also send a copy of the plagiarism form to the home department or school of any student who is found to have plagiarized.

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Reading and assignment schedule 

    This schedule is likely to change.  For the most accurate reading and assignment schedule, pay attention to updates given in class.  Updates will eventually be reflected on this website.  
    All readings should be completed by the day listed on the syllabus.  Online discussions are listed on the date on which they are likely to start; the due date for participating in the discussion for credit is listed in parentheses (although of course you are welcome to discuss beyond the deadline).  

August 21: Introduction.
Course outline and goals.
Manifesto of the Irish literary theatre (MCID, 402-3).
Arnold, On Celtic Literature, excerpts (online, Blackboard).

(Recommended: Moody & Martin, esp. ch. 17-19.)

August 28: 
Yeats, Cathleen ni Houlihan (play, MCID)
Lady Gregory, Spreading the News (play, MCID); The Rising of the Moon (play, MCID).
Yeats poetry: "Red Hanrahan's Song About Ireland," "To the Rose Upon the Rood of Time," "To Ireland in the Coming Times"
Background reading (recommended):
Selections from Lady Gregory's folklore collection, Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, online (folklore and essays). See especially 'Preface', 'Seers and Healers',  'Herbs, Charms and Wise Women', 'Astray and Treasure', 'In the Way'; and 'Notes' and 'Witches, Wizards and Irish Folklore' by Yeats.
John Keegan Casey, "The Rising of the Moon" (song, http://ingeb.org/songs/othentel.html)
James Clarence Mangan, especially "Dark Rosaleen" (poem, online at CELT); also "Kathaleen ny-Houlahan" (poem, online at CELT), "Kathleen ni Houlahan" (poem, online at CELT)

September 4:
Meet at the Spencer Research Library, behind Strong Hall, for class.  Enter on the Strong Hall level (not from below parking roof) and meet in the lobby.  Please be on time, as the class will involve a tour of the collection. Please read http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/usingthelibrary/outreach/kuguide.shtml prior to attending.

September 11: 
Post your guesses on Blackboard as to why there were riots at the first performances of Playboy.
Synge, Riders to the Sea, The Playboy of the Western World (plays, MCID)
Yeats, "The Attack on 'Playboy of the Western World', 1907," "A Coat" (poems)
Selections from Joseph Holloway's journals, 1907 (prose, MCID)

September 18:
Patrick Pearse:  (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/pearsefic.html)
    poems: "Why do ye torture me?," "Renunciation," "Christ's Coming,""Christmas 1915,"  "Little Lad of the Tricks," "The Mother" 
    play: The Singer 
    story: "Barbara," "The Keening Woman"
Yeats, "Easter, 1916," "Sixteen Dead Men," "The Rose Tree," "The Leaders of the Crowd" (poems)
James Stephens, "The Insurrection in Dublin" (online)
BBC site for the Easter Rising (online)
The 1916 Easter Rising (lecture/Pp, in class)

September 25: 
O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock (play, MCID)
Yeats, "Meditations in a Time of Civil War," "The Coat," "Man and the Echo," "The Circus Animals Desertion," "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz," "A Stick of Incense," "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop" (poems)
Annotated bibliography due.

October 2: 
Joyce, Dubliners: "The Sisters," "An Encounter," "Araby" (stories)
Selected letters from back of text.

October 9:
FALL BREAK; class does not meet

October 16:
Joyce, Dubliners: "The Boarding House," "A Mother," "Clay"

Note: readings after this point are tentative and will depend on student interest and pacing of course.

October 23:
Joyce, Dubliners: "A Little Cloud," "Counterparts," "The Dead"

October 30: 
Short stories (GMS): 
    ní Dhuibhne, "Midwife to the Fairies"
    Barrington, "Village Without Men"
    Bardwell, "The Dove of Peace"
Poetry (IWP):
     Boland, "The Oral Tradition" 11, "The Achill Woman" 20, "Woman in Kitchen" 7
    Ni Dhomhnaill, "Fear Suaithinseach/ Miraculous Grass" 139, "An Crann /As for the Quince" 141, "An Bhatrail / The Battering" 162, "Cailleach / Hag"         152, "Ceist na Teangan /The Language Issue" 154, "Caitlin /  Cathleen" 169
    Meehan, "Child Burial" 220, "Fruit" 223
(Recommended: read contemporary chapters of Moody & Martin.)
Prospectus due.

November 6: 
Friel, Translations (play, MCID)

November 13:
Short stories (GMS): 
    Barr, "The Wall Reader"
    Devlin, "Naming the Names"
Poetry:
    Heaney, "Bog Queen" 108, "The Grauballe Man" 110, "Punishment" 112, "Strange Fruit" 114, "Act of Union" 120, Glanmore Sonnets: I 156, II 157, X 165
    McGuckian, "Smoke" 87, "Slips" 89, "The Wake Sofa" 115, "The Albert Chain" 120, "The Society of the Bomb" 126

November 20 (writing time/Thanksgiving/making glitter bottles: no class)  

November 27:
Heaney cont; Paul Muldoon (poems, online at Blackboard).

December 4: Last day. 
Short research presentations.
Evaluations.

December 10: 
Final paper due.

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