Dublin, Ireland: A Brief Literary History

ENGL 288J / 388J

Instructors: Dr. Alison D. Goeller; Dr. Thomas T. Tulloss

Objectives:

To understand the important historical events that provided a backdrop to the rich literary history of twentieth century
Irish literature
To develop skills in literary analysis, using in particular Joyce's Dubliners
To appreciate the rich dramatic tradition in Ireland, including contemporary dramatists
To gain an appreciation of the major writers of Ireland in the twentieth century, particularly Joyce, Yeats, and the major
playwrights Synge, Gregory, O'Casey, Behan, and Friel
To understand the role Dublin has played in the literary history of Ireland

Course Outline:

Day 1 (Sat)	Orientation meeting at Townhouse Hotel, Dublin (7 pm); lecture on Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” (Tulloss)
Day 2 (Sun)	Visits to St. Patrick’s Cathedral (9 -10 am); St. Stephen's Green; lunch; Dublin Castle (2 pm); lecture on Irish mythology and Pre-Renaissance poets: Mangan, Moore, Ferguson; Yeats' “Cuchulain’s Fight with the Sea” and On Baile's Strand (Goeller)
Day 3 (Mon)	Tour of Newgrange/Tara/Boyne Valley with Mary Gibbons (meet bus at 10:30 am, Royal Dublin Hotel); return by 5 pm; afternoon/evening lecture on Irish Renaissance and Synge’s Playboy of the Western World (Goeller)
Day 4 (Tue)	Visits to Old Parliament Hall (10:30 am); Trinity College/ Book of Kells 11:15); lunch; afternoon lecture on Lady Gregory’s The Rising of the Moon and O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock (Tulloss); prep time for student presentations of Dubliners; Evening attendance at theater
Day 5 (Wed)	Visit to Joyce Center (10 am); lunch and discussion of Yeats' poetry (Goeller/Tulloss); visit to Kilmainham Gaol (4 pm); evening lecture on Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist and “Ivy Day" from The Dubliners (Tulloss)
Day 6 (Thur)	Visits to National Library and Yeats exhibit and lecture (9:45 am);National Museum; lunch; National Gallery; late afternoon lecture on Joyce's Ulysses (Goeller); Evening attendance at theater
Day 7 (Fri)	Visit by train to Joyce Tower and lecture by Robert Nicholson (10 am); lunch; visit to Writers' Museum (2 pm) ; lecture on Behan’s The Quare Fellow (Tulloss) and Brian Friel’s Translations (Goeller); Evening discussion of Dubliners (students)
Day 8 (Sat)	Final exam (9 to noon); analysis of Dubliners short story and dramas due

Texts:
Selected Poems and Four Plays (W.B. Yeats)
The Essential James Joyce
Modern Irish Drama (edited by J.P. Harrington)

Requirements:
Students are responsible for writing a two-page analysis of one of the Dubliners short stories (15%) as well as a one-page analysis of
one of the plays we see during the week (15%), taking a final exam (30%), preparing a discussion of one of the stories from the Dubliners
(10%), and writing a paper (30%): lower level students must write a three-to-five page critical analysis, upper level students an
eight-to-ten page analysis with research. Papers are due three weeks after the class is over.

Contact number: Alison Goeller: (49)6221-183917
Contact emails: agoeller@faculty.ed.umuc.edu or ttulloss@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Contact address: The University of Maryland, Unit 29216, APO AE 09102

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