COURSE NAME: Irish Culture and the Literary Arts

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Johnsburg

INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Steve Tomb

Full Year

COURSE PREREQUISITES: 9th and 10th grade ELA

This course is an introduction to Irish Literature and Culture. We will read a basic history of Ireland and then
continue with short stories, novels, dramas, poetry, and film.

This course will require students to read a minimum of 20 pages per evening. Reading notebooks/journals will
be kept. Projects and papers will be required. Themes important to Irish Writers, Artists and Poets will be the
focal point of this course.

As Brian McII Roy states, "Film, culture, and politics are intertwined in Ireland in such a way that no artifact
can easily escape into art for art's sake." Or as Derek Mahon considers, "Irish writers are read for what they
can tell us about the nature of history and social change, the sense of belonging and not belonging and the
extremes of personal experience to which extreme situations give rise.

1/15/08