Summer 2015

Session A: May 26-July 2

Celtic Studies R1B, Section 1 (4 units)
Thomas Walsh

Irish Performance: Film and Drama

4 units
M-Th 1-3
206 Dwinelle
Course Control Number: 56005

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

This course presents Irish drama and film through the discussion and analysis of a series of works by some of our best writers and film makers. Our goal is the development of your writing through our discussion and writing about the texts that we read and view.  In particular, we will read Irish dramas, including works by J. M. Synge, Marina Carr and other important dramatists. We will also study film adaptations of Irish plays, such as “Dancing at Lughnasa” by Brian Friel. Other films such as “The Secret of Roan Inish” will help develop our sense of the way performance media like dramas and films give shape to and are shaped by a culture’s understanding of its place in the world.

The goal of this course is focused securely on the  students’ writing. We will spend a good deal of time on polishing your writing style as you develop papers on the dramas and films covered in our course.

The following books will be supplemented by a reader and films.

Texts:
John P. Harrington, ed. Modern Irish Drama (Norton Critical Editions). 2nd ed. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008. ISBN-978-0-393-93243-0.

Brian Friel, Dancing at Lughnasa: Screenplay. London: Faber and Faber, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0571196067

Brian Friel, Dancing at Lughnasa [script for the stage]. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0822213024

A Pocket Style Manual 6th edition by Diane Hacker. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 0312542542.

Karen Gocsik. Writing about Movies. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-0393921656

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement or its equivalent. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.