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ENG20440

Academic Year 2024/2025

Reading the story of Ireland: Irish Literature in English (ENG20440)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
2 (Intermediate)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Lucy Collins
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This course will explore the representation of the individual, the community, and the nation in Irish literature from the late nineteenth century to the present. It will attend to the following genres:

Poetry: we will examine two key poets, W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) and Paula Meehan (b.1955).
Novel: we will read Portrait of an Artist by James Joyce (1882–1941) and The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien (1897-1974)
Short Stories: we will engage with the work of one major Irish short story writer, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne (b.1954)

Themes covered in these lectures may include the following: narratives of nation; mythology and history; the role of art in the formation of individual and nation; place/landscape; trans-nationalism; the relationship between public and private spheres; cultural and political (in)stability and the idea of revolution; war and violence; gender and power; religion, spirituality and the uncanny; memory and imagination; embodied knowledge; the relationship between the individual and the wider community.

Students are expected to engage in detail with the primary texts and to learn to situate them in their Irish cultural contexts. Of particular importance will be the role of these writers in the creation and interrogation of powerful narratives of national identity at key moments in modern and contemporary Irish history. To this end, students are advised to develop a basic working knowledge of key developments in Irish history from c.1880 to the present.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:

1. demonstrate critical understanding of the individual texts on this course;
2. apply close reading skills to an investigation of a text's larger meaning;
3. situate the literary writing on this course in its national, historical, social, political and intellectual contexts;
4. make informed comparisons between texts from the different Irish writers studied;
5. contribute effectively to peer group discussion and analysis of issues relating to modern Irish literature;
6. complete the two required assignments on topics related to the course.





Indicative Module Content:

This course will explore the representation of the individual, the community, and the nation in Irish literature from the late nineteenth century to the present. It will attend to the following genres:

Poetry: we will treat two key poets, W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) and Paula Meehan (b.1955).
Novels: we will read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1882-1941) and The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien (1897-1974)
Short Stories: we will engage with the work of one major Irish short story writer: Éilís Ní Dhuibhne (b.1954)




Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

36
Autonomous Student Learning

40
Lectures

12
Small Group

12
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
- Weekly Lectures (one hour-long lecture per week)
- Weekly small-group workshop engagement: in these workshops, the main course texts already treated in lectures will be discussed in detail, alongside key aspects of debate on Irish literature more generally. In addition, these workshops will devote specific attention to preparation for the module's two assignments.
- Critical writing

In this module, there will be a particular focus on close reading skills, evaluation and incorporation of secondary sources, and on linking and comparing primary texts on the basis of key issues arising in Irish social, cultural, political and literary life from the later nineteenth century to the present day.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
ENG20260 - Irish Literature, ENG31270 - Irish Literature (EVENING)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): This assignment will engage in detail with module content explored in Weeks 1-4. Week 5 Graded No
40
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): The final essay for this module will compare two course texts within a framework of key critical debates. Week 14 Graded No
60
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

- Individual feedback prior to assessments will be offered on an ongoing basis, through the responses of workshop leaders to students' in-class contribution and associated activities. Informal peer review will be incorporated as part of workshop structure, overseen by the workshop leader. - Individual feedback on the mid-trimester assignment itself will be delivered on-line through UCD Brightspace. In addition, a short one-to-one feedback meeting will be made available to all students after the results for the mid-trimester assignment have been published. Whole class feedback on patterns of achievement and areas for improvement will also be offered. - Individual feedback on the final essay (due after the end of the teaching trimester) will be delivered on-line through Brightspace. The module co-ordinator will be available to discuss the result of this essay with individual students, on request.

Main Primary Texts: [available in the Campus Bookshop, UCD, and elsewhere]

W. B. Yeats, Selected Poems, ed. Timothy Webb. Penguin Books, 2000.
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. W.W. Norton and Company, 2007 [1916].
Kate O'Brien, The Land of Spices. Virago, 2006 [1941]
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Little Red and Other Stories. Blackstaff Press, 2020.
Paula Meehan, The Solace of Artemis. Dedalus Press, 2023.


Name Role
Mr Niels Caul Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Catríona Clutterbuck Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Lucy Collins Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Luca Crispi Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Margaret Kelleher Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Ms Louisa Carroll Tutor
Mr Loic Wright Tutor

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Workshop Offering 1 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Workshop Offering 2 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Spring Workshop Offering 3 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Workshop Offering 4 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 13:00 - 13:50
Spring Workshop Offering 5 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Workshop Offering 6 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Spring Workshop Offering 7 Week(s) - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 14:00 - 14:50
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