Before you depart for Ireland, please complete the following assignments:
View the Online History Lectures. These are a series of lectures designed to give you historical context for reading Yeats’s work. Important Note: Dr. Cope’s lectures were originally designed for a course that he led in Ireland for Geneseo students, so there are some references to places that “we will visit” and to other specifics of that trip, which you can ignore.
View the Online Literature Lectures. These lectures focus on the four different phases of Yeats’s career: early, transitional, middle, and late. Watch the introductory lecture(s) for each phase, and then watch at least two additional lectures, on individual poems, for each phase. Important Note: Dr. Doggett’s lectures were originally designed for a course that he led in Ireland for Geneseo students, so there are some references to places that “we will visit” and to other specifics of that trip, which you can ignore.
Write Four Short (1-2 page) Essays. Write one essay for each phase of Yeats’s career. Your primary goal is to demonstrate that you have watched the lectures and that you have thought about the lectures. One easy way to structure your essay is to start with a theme or issue that links together the lectures. For example, you might focus on how the works in Yeats’s early phase are related to Irish nationalism. Once you’ve identified this theme or issue, the next step is respond to it. What do you have to say about Yeats’s writings as they relate to this particular theme or issue? State your opinion as an argument, and then prove that argument by referencing and commenting on specific passages from the poems. Once you’ve completed these essays, please email them to Dr. Doggett. Remember, these essays need to be completed prior to your departure for Ireland.