Celebrated Irish poet Paul Durcan

Some of Durcan’s poems are extremely long, others are incredibly short.  However even when the poem is short, these little nuggets are bursting with content and finely crafted style.

 

Durcan is a master of the very short poem.  They often work like punchlines or visual gags.  We stare for a minute or two before we get the true meaning.​He manages to pack a great deal of meaning into a couple of lines.  ​They often work by juxtaposition i.e. placing two unlikely statements side by side.  ​

These poems confront us with a question and often a very unlikely answer.

 

After studying Durcan's poetry, my class wrote their own short poems mimicking the themes, style and Format.  The results are in the video below.

 

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: QkiwSlides by 6th Year English

A fresh option at H.L.L.C. 

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This term I am going through the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin for the first time with a 6th Year English class. This will be the first year the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin could possibly appear on the Higher Leaving Certificate exam paper. To date, our class has covered three poems: Translation, Death and Engines and The Bend in the Road. The class split into pairs and I challenged each group to create a brief QwikSlide presentation of their poem using Classtools.net. With the help of class discussion, their text book and some great online resources they were able to create their presentations. After we complete the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin we hope to return to this exercise and complete our set of presentations.

Translation

Deaths and Engines

The Bend in the Road

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 4 Writing Competition

"The Great Gatsby" Chapter 4 from Lina Ell

Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby is certainly the rising action chapter of the novel. Gatsby takes Nick to the city and on the way he delivers his well rehearsed fake back story to Nick with total commitment and of course fantastic props. When the two gentlemen arrive at 'a well — fanned Forty-second Street cellar' they meet the fascinating Meyer Wolfsheim. His almost comedic support of Gatsby as 'an Oggsford man' with 'fine breeding' is eerily juxtaposed with the knowledge that he was the man that fixed the 1919 World series and wears human teeth as cufflinks. After Wolfsheim leaves, Nick spots Tom Buchanan and introduces him to Gatsby. In the midst of rather awkward conversation Gatsby simply disappears. Fitzgerald then suddenly jumps us forward to later in the day when Jordan meets Nick. This conversation of course gives both the reader and Nick an insightful look back to Daisy's state of mind just before she married Tom 'Tell ’em all Daisy’s change’ her mine' and sets up the tea meeting at Nick's house between Gatsby and Daisy.

This week I set my 5th year class the challenge of filling in the narrative bridge in the middle of the chapter. I encouraged them to try and write in the style of Fitzgerald. We decided that they could: continue the conversation between Nick and Tom, start a new conversation between Nick and Gatsby or a mixture of both. Below I've included the entries I received from the class along with a poll to cast your vote for the winner (Learning of course being the real winner!). For your convenience, I've included the original text before and after where our entrants inserted their piece. Thanks for taking the time to read the entries and cast your vote!

Original Text

“This is Mr. Gatsby, Mr. Buchanan.”

They shook hands briefly, and a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby’s face.

“How’ve you been, anyhow?” demanded Tom of me. “How’d you happen to come up this far to eat?”

“I’ve been having lunch with Mr. Gatsby.”

 I turned toward Mr. Gatsby, but he was no longer there.

 INSERT ENTRY HERE

One October day in nineteen-seventeen ——

(said Jordan Baker that afternoon, sitting up very straight on a straight chair in the tea-garden at the Plaza Hotel)

 — I was walking along from one place to another, half on the sidewalks and half on the lawns. I was happier on the lawns because I had on shoes from England with rubber nobs on the soles that bit into the soft ground. I had on a new plaid skirt also that blew a little in the wind, and whenever this happened the red, white, and blue banners in front of all the houses stretched out stiff and said TUT-TUT-TUT-TUT, in a disapproving way.

Entries 

Vote Now!

5th Year Video Inspired by John Montague

Mr Doyle's 5th year English Class recently studied three poems by the Irish/American poet John Montague.  During this study the class were inspired by a student made video of  'The Cage' from YouTube and decided to make their own.  This video is their interpretation of John Montague’s 'Like Dolmens Round my Childhood...'. It was made using a Microsoft Surface tablet and Windows Movie Maker.

College Press: Easter Edition 2014

Ms Carey's Class: The Great Gatsby Flipagram

Please find below a Flipagram created by Ms Carey's Senior English class. The class had just finished studying the novel and decided to piece together key characters, themes and moments using PicCollage. The Flipagram below contains all their work.

The College Press: Christmas Edition

Looking for that last minute digital stocking filler!? Why not share this year's College Press with a colleague online? Packed full of news, reviews and features on the Christmas Season, it has everything you need. Well done, as always, to Mr Doyle and the entire College Press team, especially our editors Eveanna Sutton and Amy Farrell.

Happy Christmas!

Robert Frost - A Poet of Sadness?

5th Year pupil Rebekah Scully, from Ms Carey's class, certainly had something to say about the poetry of Robert Frost. She shares her thoughts on Robert Frost as 'A 'Poet of Sadness' below.

Robert Frost - Poet of Sadness

The Great Gatsby- Chapter 4 Pre-Reading Descriptive Writing Task

Posted below is a descriptive writing response written by a 5th year pupil from Newbridge College. The pupils were asked to write a piece in the descriptive style of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The piece was completed before we read any of chapter 4. We have been closely following Fitzgerald's nuanced descriptions so far in novel. Pupils were given some prompts before they began but the rest was up to them.

“''Meyer Wolfsheim? No, he’s a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: “He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919.”

Prompts:

• Gatsby will soon enter a bar

• He will meet a colleague

• The new character is trying to impress Nick
• There's a short time while Gatsby  is away
• Gatsby returns to the table

Pupil's Answer:

We sidled up next to the curb to come to a gradual stop. I was momentarily exposed to the lazy mid-day heat that smothered the city as Gatsby escorted me the short distance from his car to the unremarkable, heavy set restaurant which blended seamlessly with the much higher building of which it served as a cornerstone. I escaped the background din of the incessant city as I plunged into a much cooler interior. Gatsby took a moment to call to the bartender and half the bar before leading on down two low steps towards the semi-private back. There, the murky outline of a man brooded, his dark suit blending quite well with the dark ambiance of the place. As we neared courtesy demanded that he rise, and so he reassuringly did, standing as if it were a chore to be hauling such excellence and importance up this early in day. His ambitious waistcoat strained and struggled with the paunch it tried to conceal. His shady persona was reinforced when he made to pull my hand off as he shook it, and he languidly explained that he was Mr. Britchens , an old friend and inspirational figure to, "our man", Gatsby. Gatsby himself let the comment be, and made some airy, vague excuse about seeing to getting us some drinks as he drifted away. I awkwardly took a seat as I attempted to fathom Mr. Britchens apparent ignorance in simple manners. He was staring right at me. "So what do you do?" He demanded, after an uncomfortable amount of time. "I'm in bonds". He gave a knowing, condescending smile, reminding me how many other young men were flogging the same  dead horse. At that moment his eyes flickered over my shoulder, and I turned to see Gatsby coming to my salvation, three sparkling concoctions in his hands.

5th Year Robert Frost Work

Over the past few weeks, 5D have been studying the poetry of Robert Frost. At the end of our study, small groups analyzed and presented their ideas on the poems that caught their attention – concentrating on themes, imagery and other features of style. Attached is a copy of one of the presentations. This ‘Prezi’ by Paddy, Sarah and Nealon looks at Frost’s famous poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’.
(Ms C. Kelly)

   


My class also started the year with the poetry of Robert Frost. As we finished we decided to collect key quotes and poetic techniques and put them into a Quizlet revision set. Each pupil had to use a poetic term they learned during the section and link it to a moment from one of Frost's poems. Enjoy!

(Mr Evesson)

Elizabeth Bishop: Sixth Year Vine Videos

Over the past few weeks a group of sixth year pupils from  Newbridge College have been studying the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop. A selection of her poetry is on the Leaving Certificate English Prescribed Poetry section for 2014. As we are nearly finished studying her work, we decided to make a collection of Vine videos to represent the poems we looked at. We decided to collect a series of images, pictures, objects and at times people(!) to capture different quotes and moments in her poetry.


The Filling Station

 
The Fish

Questions of Travel



 In the Waiting Room

 
First Death in Nova Scotia

 
The Armadillo

Imagery in Macbeth: 5th Year Presentation

This is a PowerPoint on 'Imagery in Macbeth' by three  5^th years from Ms C. Kelly's English class. A hearty well done to the girls, Sorcha Lavelle Walsh , Katherine Murphy and Bronagh Galvin, for a superbly researched and created piece. Ms Kelly reliably informs me that the girls also gave a fantastic presentation of their work to the class.

Sylvia Plath Revision Booklet

Please find below a revision booklet on the poetry of Sylvia Plath. The booklet was compiled by a group of 5th years from Newbridge College. The booklet is accompanied by a video representation of Plath's poem Elm.

Video interpretation of Elm

Poetry inspired by Sylvia Plath

Please find below a collection of poetry inspired by the work of Sylvia Plath. I asked my 5th years to try and mimic the themes, structure and poetic techniques of Plath.  We hope you enjoy.

Mr Evesson

Popplet of 5th Year Essays on Macbeth

This is a collection of essay points from recent Macbeth essays completed by a group of fifth years from Newbridge College. These essays were the first attempt by this group of fifth years at a Single Text question for their L.C. English exam. Each block shows just one paragraph from a pupil's essay. The middle block contains a Spark Notes video summary of Macbeth and our full Resource Pack on Macbeth can be found here.

Comparative Essay Sample Paragraph: Cultural Context

Characters are shaped by their cultural context. To what extent would you agree with this statement, with reference to the texts you have studied?

Macbeth:  Feudalism

The Road: Dystopian

 The society of a time indubitably dictates the personality that its inhabitants are expected to conform to; their behavior, their morality – even their appearance. The three texts I have studied – Children of Men (COM), Macbeth and The Road – each portrays a different facet of this idea, showing the effects of this influence on the characters existing within these diverse cultures. The Road depicts the world as it would be when all remnants of society have fallen apart. The cultural context of the Father and son forces them to lose some traits of humanity is central to their survival within their dystopia. The nightmare that is their reality leaves them no choice but to conform to the “Barren.Silent.Godless.” world, at least to an extent, if they have any hope of surviving. This idea recurs in (COM). - a culture on the brink of extinction, where the desperation pervading the world”since women stopped being able to have babies” is the driving force behind Theo’s and Kee’s mission. For them, it is the last chance to survive, and often it is the recklessness spurred on by this desperation that keeps them alive. Macbeth, while devoid of the anonymity created by the seeming irrelevance of existence in The Road, or the desperation to extend the lifespan of humanity in (COM), provides an extreme towards the other end of the spectrum. Macbeth’s tragic ambition is undoubtedly nurtured by his cultural context. Within it, it is the lack of anonymity that creates the pressure to ”dare do all that may become a man”, and the ambitiousness to climb to the top of the feudalistic ladder, to prove his worth. This helps shape Macbeth into the man that persists until his tragic end. These three texts show the profound effect societal structures, or lack there of, can have on a character both in terms of their actions and their personalities.

Children of Men: Dystopian

Macbeth Reviews

Please find below the first of a collection of reviews on the recent Second Age Theatre Company's production of Macbeth. Our 5th year pupils from Newbridge College went to see the play on November 13th 2012. (full collection of Macbeth reviews)

Macbeth - Second Age Theatre Company (Cian Rea)

My year group and I recently attended the Second Age Theatre Company’s production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in the Helix. The play follows the trials and tribulations of Macbeth upon his search for power and eventual downfall and destruction.

I found this production of the timeless classic a little underwhelming. Although it was my first time seeing any sort of play at the theatre I felt that this interpretation was found lacking. It has to be said that there were many good aspects also. The main part of Macbeth, played by the very talented Will Irvine, was very well portrayed throughout. Irvine’s great bellowing voice carried well in the room and his stage presence was excellent.

The majority of the actors on stage played their parts to their fullest ability but it was the few that lagged behind that brought down the overall quality of the production. Enda Kilroy, who played Banquo was a little rigid throughout and didn’t act with the same fluidity that the others did.

The smaller parts in this play really threw me. The lack of actors lead to some people playing more than one role which made it very hard to keep track of who was who. Other actors who played smaller roles with fewer lines showed their inexperience as they muffled through their words and nervously staggered around the stage. In certain scenes the level of acting skill made the play seem cheap and amateurish.

'Fair is foul. and foul is fair:'

'Perhaps the same can be said for David Horan’s Macbeth, brought to us by the Second Age Theatre Company. A contemporary take on the timeless tragedy by Shakespeare, we see use of intriguing set, sound and lighting design with mixed performances merged and blended together to produce David Horan’s unique, yet unusual interpretation of the Scottish play.'- D. Devanney

Apart from the acting I thought the staging of this play was excellent. The use of the giant windowed doors at the back of the stage gave the simple settings in this play another dimension.  It allowed the audience to be part of the illusion of the play, like when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo, we see his “reflection” in the windows of the doors. It was the little things like that that tied the play together really well. The combination of the lighting and the smoke on stage positively added to the eerie, mystical atmosphere surrounding the witches. It gave the illusion that these supernatural beings are constantly shrouded by a mystical fog. The only downside to the overall staging was the choice of costumes for the various characters. The three witches were depicted as masked men in what looked like an old-fashioned pilot’s uniforms. It tarnished the idea of them being the “three sisters” and had me confused from the beginning.

Following Duncan’s murder, we are introduced to the Porter played by Damian Kearney. The Porter’s role was to provide comic relief for the audience following the intense events of the previous scene. No one could really argue that Kearney didn’t fulfil that brief but I felt he took it a little too far. The blatant sexual humour got everyone laughing the first time but then, he just kept going. The same jokes over and over debauched the storyline a little and the timeless play turned into a cheap pantomime.Although he adapted very well to the teenage audience, it was obvious that the diehard theatre fans were not as impressed . My favourite aspect of this production was how the director created the scenes where people were killed. The use of Radiohead’s “Videotape” along with the dramatic slow-motion and red sand in place of blood all combined to make the otherwise normal killings into something memorable for the audience. It made it far more dramatic and the red sand was a very clever idea as it was one of the few props used in the production and was by far the most effective. The playing of the song made these scenes stand out in my mind looking back because it is the only time we really saw sound used to enhance the actions on stage.

Weighing up the various pros and cons of this production of Macbeth, I feel that there was a lot left to be desired. If they could have improved the little things like the number of actors or even had more appropriate costuming it would have been far more enjoyable. I feel they tried too hard to bring this classic into the 21^st century and strayed away from what has made this Shakespearean masterpiece so famous.

Meyer Wofsheim: An important character?

Please find below an answer from one of our sixth year pupils, Mark Shanahan, on Meyer Wolfsheim. Despite having only a fleeting presence in the novel, we posed the question:

Would you describe Meyer Wolfsheim as an important character in ‘The Great Gatsby? Explain your view.

'Everything about Wolfsheim creates sinister and suspicious connotations, from his lackluster enunciation, to his ‘cuff buttons’ made from ‘human molars’.' -M. Shanahan

Despite Meyer Wolfsheim’s limited presence in the novel, he’s quite an important character in my opinion. Wolfsheim is a strong symbol of crime and underhandedness in ‘The Great Gatsby’. Being the person that allegedly fixed the World Series in 1919, Wolfsheim represents what happens when one crosses the line of greed and corruption that every character in the novel flirts with so readily. Everything about Wolfsheim creates sinister and suspicious connotations, from his lacklustre enunciation, to his ‘cuff buttons’ made from ‘human molars’.  He’s the epitome of crime and corruption in the novel. Wolfsheim also offers the reader a new perspective of what seemed to be an un-biased narrator. Something of the up-most importance in understanding both Nick and the novel. While Nick tries to have a lack of bias, he clearly takes an immediate dislike to Meyer Wolfsheim. His description of Wolfsheim as a ‘flat-nosed Jew’ with ‘tiny eyes’ highlights an immediate dislike of Wolfsheim as well as providing an ugly stereotype, at a time when anti-Semitism in the USA was at an all-time high.

Wolfsheim’s presence in the novel therefore forces the reader to ask questions about Nick. But it creates even more questions about Gatsby. Wolfsheim is a portentous symbol of Gatsby’s sinister side and shady affairs. In Wolfsheim we get a brief glimpse of what’s behind the mystery phone-calls and money. For the first time in the novel, the reader has to seriously ask questions about the eponymous protagonist. These questions had been building throughout, but Gatsby’s association with a man like Wolfsheim brings them crashing to the fore. It’s the lack of guilt or excuses about Wolfsheim that highlights the looseness of Gatsby’s morals in this regard.  He even conveys a sense of admiration for Wolfsheim’s success, explaining that he isn’t in jail, because ‘he’s a smart man.’ At this point in the novel, the reader grasps how Gatsby made his new money and begins to understand the depth of his false persona. From this point on, Gatsby isn’t the same; the new questions that plague the reader remain with him to the very end. While it mightn’t affect the reader’s overall opinion of Gatsby, he isn’t seen in quite the same light. In this, we find the importance of Meyer Wolfsheim.  For, despite his limited presence, he forces us to ask questions of Nick and Gatsby, as well as, of ourselves. For representing an awakening to the corruption and greed in the novel, I found Meyer Wolfsheim to be a very important character.

5th Year projects based on their studies of Plath

The Great Gatsby: Trailer Analysis

This an analysis of  Baz Luhrman's movie trailer for his on screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. It was completed by Newbridge College sixth year pupil Akvile Kovanate. The movie was due for release at Christmas of this year but has now been put back to early 2013.









Research the names of the two songs Luhrman uses in the trailer. Discuss why you think he used these songs and how accurate is the trailer?

The trailer begins with the song “No Church in the Wild” by Kanye West & Jay-Z. From the first notes we hear, the reasons for Luhrman’s choice of soundtrack becomes apparent. The first beats of the song instill a sense of anticipation, with its blend of dark undertones creating a sense of building tension and ‘the restlessness” that “approached hysteria” as pointed out by the voice of Nick Carraway.  The song’s agitated rhythm compliments the extraneous party taking place, and the lyrics are an accurate reflection of the main concepts of the novel. The song portrays the lack of depth within the Roaring Twenties, questioning the significance of the superficial wealth for those “Who don't believe in anything?” The song’s references to the church and its religious connotations consolidate with the novel’s portrayal of the reverence that wealth held in that time, and the veneration that it seemed to procure. Luhrman’s ingenious choice of a contemporary song relates these concepts to a modern audience and applies the criticisms by F Scott Fitzgerald of the society that he lived in, to the world we live in today.

Subsequent to a few well timed moments of anticipatory silence, the trailer launches into the song "Love Is Blindness”, the u2 cover by Jack White. Its gradual start is a perfect introduction to another aspect of the novel – the tragic love story between Daisy and Gatsby. The opening chords of the song are sudden and uncertain, much like the meeting between Daisy and Gatsby that it illustrates – the awkward reunion of two lovers that have nothing and yet five years of unexpressed words to say to each other. The song is permeated with emotion that heightens along with the events in the trailer, augmenting the impact the sequence of scenes has on the audience. Luhrman’s choice of this song serves to not only amplify the atmosphere throughout the trailer, but like the preceding “No Church in the Wild”, hints at the themes of the novel within its lyrics. The lyrics “Love is blindness, I don’t want to see” are a synopsis of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship towards each other. Both are transfixed by the supercilious façade of glamorous luxury of each other, and are blind, or unable to see the true person beneath the appearance. Gatsby fails to see Daisy as a person beneath the unattainable but so desirable aura of prestige that she projects, and Daisy falls in love with the idea Gatsby being a man that she could truly love, someone unaffected by the lavish extravagance around him, but still part of it. To both of them, unable to see the respective truths, as in the lyrics of the song “love is drowning”

Films are more often, more than inaccurate representations of the novel they are trying to depict. Luhrman’s attempts to portray the atmosphere of “The Great Gatsby” are particularly valid in the scene where Gatsby is throwing his collection of shirts towards Daisy. Not only is this a precise representation of the same scene in the book, it is a scene that summarizes the idea behind the novel – the overwhelming emphasis on extravagance with no regards for consequences or repercussions. The scene in the novel represents everything that was wrong with the American Dream, the idolization of wealth in the “shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high”. It portrays the decaying void that is thinly veiled by the supercilious attempts to counterfeit class – the complete belittlement, yet glorification of aristocracy. Daisy’s reaction to this overt show of wealth is an insight into her true character, her extreme materialism. Her tears show her attitude towards love, or perhaps her inability to love - because Gatsby can now afford an assortment of lavish shirts, he is more worthy to be loved than what he was five years ago, a man with nothing.