Contemporary Ireland 1980-Now

Contemporary Ireland 1980-Now
In this assignment, your job is to develop a five-page essay that combines multiple sources – not exclusively plays, but also poetry, peer-reviewed articles, songs, books, images, your own understanding – to give a comprehensive sense of the elements that comprise contemporary Ireland, from 1980 to the present.
Before you begin this assignment, consider the following questions. You do not have to answer all of them, but they are an excellent starting point.
• How did the Irish recover from the dark times of the mid-20th century?
• How have the plays helped in exploring / managing what happened to them, including historical plays such as Translations and Dancing at Lughnasa?
• What allowed Irish women to go from being unheard to one becoming president of Ireland?
• How were all Irish voices silenced, and what enabled them to speak again?
• How does Irish America fit into the dramatic changes happening now?
• Did the influx of EU money during the Celtic Tiger period help or hurt?
• How do the Irish handle nonconformity, and what has changed for them?
• How does shame over the “bad old days” (the Famine, the Civil War, the Troubles, the Magdalene Laundries, etc.) affect them now?
Checklist:
1. All of your expressive (visual, literary, musical, dramatic) examples must be from between 1980 and 2016, but articles, books, and films may be more contemporary.
2. All of your expressive (visual, literary, musical, dramatic) examples must be made by Irish people, but articles, books, and films may be by others.
3. Cite at least two poems
4. Cite at least one song
5. Cite at least one film
6. Cite at least three plays
7. Cite at least one peer-reviewed article (not Wikipedia)
8. Use one photograph (embed in your essay)
9. Use one painting (embed in your essay)
10. Include your own ideas
11. Include an introduction with a thesis statement, and a conclusion