Nov. 19-21: Irish Poetry

On Nov. 19th, we first looked at a timeline of Irish history, noting where Yeats and Heaney fit on this timeline. Then, looking at the NPR site (linked below), we learned about the Easter Rebellion. We listened to a powerful reading of the Irish Proclamation of Freedom, the proclamation that began the Irish rebellion. Then, we listened to a reading of "Easter, 1916." Next, in pairs, students answered two of the questions they or their peers had written regarding "Easter, 1916." Many chose to focus on the repeated line, "All changed, changed utterly:/A terrible beauty is born" (lines 15-16).

After reporting out, we turned our attention to Seamus Heaney. To provide some context for his bog poems, including "Punishment," we looked at a National Geographic site (linked below) featuring a photo gallery of several exhumed bodies, some 1600 years old, recovered from bogs. In Heaney's bog poems (originally appearing in his collection North), these bodies become a lens to explore Ireland's tumultuous history (English/Irish and Protestant/Catholic). Thursday and Friday, we discussed Heaney's bog poems in depth, including "Punishment," "The Tollund Man," "Bog Queen," and "The Grauballe Man."

Next week, we'll largely focus on the final project. Monday will be devoted to peer review of the paper drafts. Tuesday, we'll briefly discuss two of Eavan Boland's poems, "Outside History" and "What we Lost" for a different perspective on Irish History (private vs. public). The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday will be devoted to group work in preparation for the post-holiday presentations.