Comparative Selections

Fionnaigh Connaughton writes to us from the Dublin adult Learning Centre in 3 Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1.

ADULT LEARNERS AND THE LEAVING CERT.

I am teaching Ordinary Level English to a group of adult learners in the North Inner City of Dublin. They rush in from their busy working lives every Monday night, to discuss, critique and pull apart the texts under study, namely My Left Foot and Death of a Salesman. They approach the text with a confidence that only a lifetime of experience can bring. They are the perfect critics of Willy Loman's relationship with work and family, of keeping the proper balance between parental guidance and giving your child freedom. Yet they haven't forgotten what it's like to be a child, a son or a daughter in reading the family relationships in My Left Foot - the dynamic between father and son, the struggle for identity, the highs and lows that make you the person that you are. They will soon be reading Moore's Lies of Silence, with the familiarity of the Troubles blasting from their television sets over the last few decades. They know fully the impact of the war on family, on community and on the individual.

We have chosen McGahern's Amongst Women as our single text. They could see the challenge of compromise in marriage, between Rose and Moran, reflected in their own experience. One learner has a daughter who, like Biff, rates merits of "finding herself" over the merits of going to college. The text challenged his own behaviour as well as lending sympathy to Loman that he had not seen before. All education changes and challenges, but so much life has happened to this group, that they bring an interesting pair of eyes to each text.

Frank Farrelly (CBS Mount Sion, Waterford). I intend to use Things Fall Apart, Of Mice and Men and perhaps, A View from the Bridge as my selection for 2004. Thematically, both Achebe and Steinbeck explore the nature of prejudice, the tragedy of broken dreams, the devastating effects of dislocation and change in people's lives and the individual's struggle against adversity.

Although Miller's play also engages with similar concerns, I may ultimately opt for On the Waterfront instead. I enjoy the process of questioning issues through the medium of film. Like the other texts, Kazan's work is strong on themes of loyalty, power, the outsider and the role of individual conscience.

Carrie Egan, Noreen Kavanagh and Lynda Farrelly at Mercy College, Woodford, Co.Galway. The Plough and the Stars, The Third Man and Macbeth.

We choose these texts for a variety of reasons. The Plough features, as we were anxious to have at least one text with which we were familiar. We wanted to use a film as we find our students engage well with it and we had used The Third Man previously. Macbeth is included to fulfil the Higher Level requirement with our mixed ability classes. The fact that all three texts are set against a background of war provided a useful unity.

Marie Clynes in Pobalscoil Neasain in Baldoyle, County Dublin. We began our Comparative Studies with Philadelphia Here I Come by Brian Friel and Cinema Paradiso directed by Guiseppe Tornatore. I chose these texts because of the parallels and diversity in how society worked and for thematic issues such as love and memory. Our third text was How Many Miles to Babylon? which contrasted sharply with the other two. The idea of a play, a film and a novel appealed to me due to the variety in the area of literary genre and how texts tell their stories.

My students (an honours class of boys and girls) particularly liked the contrast between Gar and S.B. in the restricted world of Ballybeg and the more open and demonstrative relationship between Toto and Alfredo. They much preferred the idea of living in the emotional warmth of Sicily than the world of repressed feelings in the Donegal of the late 1950s early '60s.

Another point of interest in discussions was how a person's social class mattered when it came to getting married. Disbelief and disapproval were the verdicts on both Elena's bank manager father in Cinema Paradiso and Kate Doogan's Senator/Solicitor father in Philadelphia. Babylon seemed the least favourite text but the friendship between Alec and Jerry proved interesting especially in terms of Flanders and how roles in the relationship changed. All agreed that Alicia, Alec's mother was a great contrast to S.B. and Alfredo due to her total lack of love for her son or her husband.

From the 2003 list we replaced Philadelphia with Death of a Salesman. The Miller play makes an interesting contrast in terms of the theme of relationships and the cultural context (American dream, money, success etc.) General vision and viewpoint is well served by the play because of the grim, tragic point of view.

Jim Kirwan from Colaiste Bhride, Carnew, County Wicklow. For the first two years, I used Great Expectations as a single text as it is a favourite of mine. The BBC mini-series was a great help to those students who found the language difficult. Since I had taught in Lesotho, South Africa for many years, I had a feeling for African culture and affairs so I was attracted to Things Fall Apart. I used My Left Foot and King Lear also in this course. We traced the theme of identity in these texts and my students found the contrasts in cultural contexts very interesting. We got to see King Lear on stage in Dublin and on video.

This year I decided to take Macbeth as a single text and we have been to see a stage production. I will also find video versions very helpful at the revision stage next year. I wanted to offer students a play, novel and film in their comparative study so I chose The Plough and the Stars, Of Mice and Men and On the Waterfront. All of these texts explore people and their dreams.

We are extremely lucky in that the Abbey Theatre are staging the O'Casey classic for the first time in eleven years so we are booked to attend. Having taught Of Mice and Men to junior classes, I have often yearned to read this novel with a senior class. Students love film and although Kazan's film is in grainy black and white, how will they be able to resist Brando?

Anthony McAuley now teaches in St. Colmcille's C.S. in Knocklyon, but made the following selection when he taught in Jobstown last year. The sheer range and depth of pieces to study was intimidating at first, and my class were mainly boys with a severe disregard for the English language! I brought in the blurbs on the back of the novels, video and plays at the start of fifth year and we selected accordingly.

The boys had enjoyed the war poets on the Junior Cert Course and were immediately attracted to the novel Regeneration. "Sounds class Sir!" was the general consensus. Our second choice was The Plough And The Stars. I pushed this, as it is a personal favourite. I stressed that it was a play representing the working class during a very violent - and bloody - time in our history. The class really took this play to heart.
On the Waterfront had everything that these lads loved; a harsh real story, portraying a hero they could identify with. Ordinary level "compare and contrast" questions were very successful. Once the student internalises the text and loves it for what it is, the rest will follow naturally. In relation to Cultural Context we examined how history was presented through narrative. This lent itself particularly well to Regeneration and The Plough and the Stars.

In On the Waterfront, Terry Molloy opposes a corrupt society through non-violent means. We examined how the working class lived in all three narratives, looking at similarities and differences in the historical settings. We then looked at how Pat Barker attempts to examine what the soldier was truly feeling during the world conflict. We examined how propaganda can exclude the voices of those who dissent against War, particularly through the character of Sassoon. We examined the role of the hero in each of our texts. Each was faced with a moral choice. It was the choices they took when facing this dilemma that made them heroic. We also looked at the concept of self-sacrifice for the greater good, and selflessness in times of danger.

On a personal note, I never worked as hard on a section of the English course as I did on the comparative work. At the same time, I have never felt as excited being an English teacher as I did last year. It was a rewarding and stimulating experience all round.

Eric Lynch who teaches in Colaiste Mhichil in Sexton Street, Limerick. I approached the new Leaving Certificate course with apprehension, but to my delight, I am revelling in this new course. The scope it gives me is wonderful. I can combine tailoring the textual material to my own particular students from Limerick city, with indulging my own favourite hobby horses such as magical films like The Third Man - I love its superb camera work and haunting tune. I also love novels with characters of the integrity, strength and human understanding of Jane Eyre; poets with the courage to face the reality of violence like Michael Longley and so on.

Yes, it has required a great deal of research, reading up and recurring preparation, but that's what teaching is all about.