The Bight
Watch Video 1, which depicts Key West Harbour. What three adjectives would you use to describe the harbour? Is it a place you would like to visit? Give a reason for your answer
The Prodigal
Watch Video 2, which features the biblical story of the Prodigal Son. Were you familiar with this story? Do you think that the father’s treatment of his two sons was fair? Give a reason for your answer.
White Hawthorn in the West of Ireland
Watch Video 4, which features a reading of the poem by Boland herself. Consider the West of Ireland as it is portrayed in this footage. Does it strike you as an attractive and inviting landscape or as a bleak and forbidding one? Give a reason for your answer.
Outside History
Watch Video 5. What do you know about stars and their distance from Earth? Approximately how long does it take the light of a star to reach us?
A Bird, came down the Walk
Watch Video 6, which is a trailer for the TV series Dickinson. • Mention three things it suggests about Dickinson's life. • Mention three things it suggests about her personality. • Did this portrayal fit with your own mental image of the poet?
I could bring You Jewels – had I a mind to
Watch Video 7, which provides a virtual tour of Homestead, the house where Dickinson spent her adult life. Based on your viewing of the video, pick three adjectives that, in your opinion, best describe the poet's personality.
Song: Go, and catch a falling star
Watch Video 8, which features a reading of the poem by actor Richard Burton. Pick out three words or phrases to which he gives particular emphasis while he reads. Identify one place where he speeds up his reading and one place where he slows down.
The Flea
Watch Video 9, which features a dramatised reading of 'The Flea'. Identify two emotions displayed by the female actor throughout the piece and two emotions displayed by the male actor. Did you find the performance effective or silly and over-the-top?
Preludes
Watch Video 10, which features a readong of 'Preludes' by the actor Jeremy Irons. Pick out three words or phrases to which he gives particular emphasis while he reads. Identify one place where he speeds up his reading and one place where he slows down.
East Coker
Watch Video 11, which features the poets Seamus Heaney and Jeanette Winterson speaking about Eliot. What is it that they found most interesting and remarkable about Eliot?
The Forge
Watch Video 12 of a blacksmith at work in Bunratty Castle, Co. Clare. Then answer the following questions: • What is he making? • Name the different pieces of equipment he uses. • Choose three adjectives that best describe the sounds of the forge and three adjectives that best describe the colours and visuals of the forge.
A Constable Calls
Watch Video 13, which depicts a series of events that took place twenty years after those described in this poem. What is ticking at the conclusion of the poem? What other devices are known for producing a ticking sound? Do these lines anticipate the Troubles depicted in the video?
A Call
Watch Video 14. Imagine it was Death on the phone, rather than the poet. How would the father react to being summoned into the afterlife? Would he respond with calmness and acceptance, or disbelief and rage? Would he bargain and plead as Everyman did in the video?
The Snake
This video is a short film about snakes. While you are watching the video, document your thoughts and feelings about these creatures. Do your feelings about snakes change as you watch and learn about them?
As kingfishers catch fire
Watch Video 15, which features a reading and discussion of the poem. Did you find the choice of images that accompanied the reading appropriate? What did you enjoy most about the presenter's interpretation of the poem?
The Windhover
Watch Video 16, which features 'The Windhover' put to music and sung by Lorcán Mac Mathúna. Do you think that Hopkins's lines lend themselves well to such a performance? Give a reason for your answer.
Raglan Road
Watch Video 17, which features legendary folk singer Luke Kelly. • What impression of Kavanagh emerges from Kelly's introduction? • Did you enjoy Kelly's performance of 'On Raglan Road'? Give a reason for your answer? • During which stanza, in your opinion, did his performance become most emotional in your opinion?
The Hospital
Watch Video 18, which features a reading of the poem by the poet himself. • Would you describe Kavanagh's reading as highly performative or matter-of-fact? • Are there any words or phrases that he particularly emphasises as he reads? • What is the main emotion that comes across in the reading?
As it Should Be
Watch Video 19, which depicts a scene from the 1982 film Rambo: First Blood and answer the following: • Pick two adjectives that describe the sheriff's attitude towards the drifter. • True or false: The sheriff would like to see a diverse range of people settling in his town. • Do you get a sense that the sheriff cares about his community?
A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford
Watch Video 20, which features a reading of the poem by actor Stephen Rea. • Pick out three words or phrases to which he gives particular emphasis while he reads. • Identify one stanza where the reading slows down. • Do you think the musical accompaniment suits the atmosphere of the poem? Give a reason for your answer.
The Pattern
Watch Video 21, which features a reading of the poem by the poet herself. • Mention three things we learn about the poet's mother from the introduction to the reading. • Pick out two or three words or phrases that Meehan particularly emphasises as she reads. • During what section of the poem did the poet's reading become most emotional? Give a reason for your answer.
The Statue of the Virgin at Granard Speaks
Watch Video 22, which is the first part of a documentary about the tragic death of Ann Lovett. • Mention three things you learned about Irish society in the 1980s. • Has Irish society changed completely since that time? • Are any aspects of Irish society the same?
My Father Perceived as a Vision of St Francis
Watch Video 23, which is a scene from Brother Sun, Sister Moon. • Who has St Francis come to visit and what does he want? • Do Francis and his followers seem to fit in in this location? Give a reason for your answer. • Pick three adjectives that best describe your impression of St Francis's personality.
All For You
Watch Video 24 in which Ní Chuilleanáin reads and speaks about 'All For You'. • What provided Ní Chuilleanáin's original spark of inspiration for the poem? • Class Discussion: To what extent is the house in the poem the same house in which Ní Chuilleanáin herself grew up? • What effect did Ní Chuilleanáin wish to convey through her depiction of the house's ovens? • What trope common to many fairy tales does Ní Chuilleanáin refer to in the video? • Do you agree that the description of the doors 'Of guardroom, chapel, storeroom' contribute to this fairy tale atmosphere?
The Second Voyage
Watch Video 25, which shows how Odysseus has been represented in literature, art, and cinema over the ages. How does Ní Chuilleanáin’s portrayal of Odysseus compare? Why do you think the poet was drawn to Odysseus? What is it about this character that she finds most fascinating? Give a reason for your answer.
The Times are Tidy
Watch Video 26, which is titled ' Living the American Dream'. How would you characterise the lifestyle that the video showcases? What does the video suggest brings fulfillment and happiness in life? Do you think that it was this kind of life that Plath is criticising in 'The Times Are Tidy'?
The Arrival of the Beebox
Watch Video 27, in which Iseult Gillespie discusses why se thinks you should read Sylvia Plath. What is it about Plath's poetry that Gillespie finds most interesting? Did you agree with her interpretation of Plath's work, based on your reading of the poems on your course?
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
Watch Video 28. How would you describe the atmosphere of the crowd? What are they talking or complaining about? Do you imagine that they will take action to get what they want? What form do you imagine this action taking?
Diving into the Wreck
Watch Video 29, which contains footage from an expedition to the Titanic in 2004. Then answer the following questions: • What is the condition of the ship’s hull? • What objects and details does the camera focus on? • In your opinion, what is the most striking and dramatic shot in this video?
Power
Watch Video 30. What most impressed you about the life of Marie Curie?
Don’t you wonder, sometimes?
How much do you know about the musical and acting careers of David Bowie? Watch Video 31 and then look through this poem again and explain why, in your opinion, the poet may have chosen him as the central symbolic figure in this poem.
The Universe as Primal Scream
Watch Video 32, which features Tracy K. Smith reading this poem at the 2014 Dodge Poetry Festival. Pick out three words or phrases to which she gives particular emphasis while she reads. Did you enjoy this reading? Give a reason for your answer.
Easter 1916
Watch Video 33 and explain in your own words why the Rising happened. What did those who organised it hope to achieve?
The Second Coming
Watch Video 34. Based on your viewing of this video, what topics do you anticipate will be tackled by ‘The Second Coming’?
The Stare’s Nest by my Window
Watch Video 35 and answer the following questions: • Why was Thoor Ballylee so important to Yeats? • In what year did he move from this tower? • What happened to the tower after he left it? • What happened to the tower in 2015?
In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz
Watch Video 36, which depicts Lissadell House in Co. Sligo, and answer the following questions: • What recent projects have been undertaken with regard to the house and its gardens? • What features of the house and its gardens strike you as appealing? Are there any features of the property that strike you as unappealing? • Is it a place where you personally would like to live or spend part of every year? Give a reason for your answer.
Swift’s Epitaph
Google the term ‘satire’; then watch Video 37. Who or what is being satirised in this extract? How is the satire being carried out? Is it easy to see why creators of satire, like Swift, might require moral courage?
Politics
Watch Video 38, which contains newsreel footage from 1938, the year in which the poem was written. What significant political events were happening in Europe? How would you characterise the mood and atmosphere of the time, based on watching this footage?
For Our Mothers
Watch Video 39, which features Olusanya reading ‘For Our Mothers’. How does seeing and hearing a performance of the poem differ from reading it? Do you think you can pick up anything from watching the video that you might not get from the written words alone?