Tell us something we don't know

[Muirheid]

What interesting information have you discovered about the Irish,
Dublin at the turn of the twentieth century, James Joyce, or anything
else having to do with your MG research? Share!

[Shannon]

When I chose to research the Phoenix Park murders, I thought it was
going to be some random massacre that just happened to occur in
Dublin, where Stephen Dedalus lived. But I learned through my research
that in fact, the murders had serious political implications and
consequences for the Irish Home Movement. The Invincibles, an Irish
terrorist group, killed 2 British government dignitaries while they
were walking to dinner. They stabbed both multiple times with butcher
knives, left the corpses on the pathway, and drove away. Many people
witnessed the murder, which made prosecution relatively easy, and in
the end, six people were killed as punishment for this heinous crime.
What surprised me was the effect the murder of the two government
workers had on the Irish nation and the Irish Home Rule movement. As
punishment and to “set an example,” England imposed stricter laws in
Irish regarding police and trial by jury. This severely impaired the
Irish nationalist movement, and it seemed to really take the wind out
of its sails. After the Phoenix Park Murders, the Irish Home Rule
movement slowed down to a screeching halt, Ireland calmed down, and
England turned its attention to other pressing issues. And it wouldn’t
be until the next century that Home Rule is actually achieved.

[Jacob Ahearn]

As I researched Ezra Pound, I often found parallels between him and
James Joyce--both in personality and writing. But I also found
qualities in Pound that I've never seen in another writer, artist, or
human being. As far as similarities go, a lot of Pound's theories,
ideals, and practices spread to not only Joyce, but a wide range of
legendary writers of the early 20th century (like Ernest Hemingway,
T.S. Eliot). Having read Portrait of the Aritst as a Young Man before
starting my research, I couldn't help but see the distinct arrogance
that Joyce and Pound had--one of those deserved but annoying
intellectually snobby attitudes. Joyce also borrowed many aspects of
Modernism that Pound contributed. Both, in their writing, tended to
dangerously combine creativity and incomprehensibility. But Pound sets
himself apart from most established writers. The most successful way
he did that was through his political beliefs. He publically announced
his antisemitic, Fascist ideologies on the radio until he was sent to
a Washington D.C. federal mental institution.

[Nicole]

The only thing that really interested me in The Portrait of an Artist
as a Young Man was Stephen's curious views on women. It seemed strange
to me that Stephen only viewed women as either prostitutes or Virgin
Marys. So I decided to research Joyce's relationship with Nora and his
view on women. I discovered that a lot of Stephen's interactions with
women are very similar to Joyce's history with women. When Joyce was
young, he would often visit prostitutes and spend time drunk in pubs.
On the other hand, he also had an intense relationship with Nora, as
evidenced by his letters. Furthermore, I found interesting information
about the symbolism behind the woman in Ballyhora Hills. (She was the
pregnant woman who enticed Davin into her house.) According to the
critic Eide, the pregnant woman's calling to Davin represents how she
is a free woman from her husband, and in this way, she symbolizes
Ireland as it is trying to be freed from England. I found all of my
research quite interesting, and with this inside knowledge, I actually
appreciate Joyce's book a little more.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Maria Kurilo]

My research paper is about Nora Barnacle. She had an influence on
James Joyce in his literary works. I learned a vast majority about
Joyce’s adventures in his lifetime; I learned that his relationship
with Nora began in 1904, and the couple lived together before
marrying. Regarding Joyce, I learned that he is one of the most
radical innovators of twentieth-century writing. Nora Barnacle, who is
said to have worked in a Dublin hotel had little education and no
understanding of Joyce’s work, which caused some of the frustration in
their relationship. I also learned that Joyce worked for many years as
a teacher of English in Trieste and Zurich, in an exile which was to
grow legendary with his tardily achieved fame. His eyesight
deteriorated progressively. The problems with printing and
proofreading his often strange and fantastic writings, made him
peculiarly dependent on the assistance of devoted friends. I also
learned that Nora Barnacle greatly resembles some of the women in the
book A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

[Katie]

While reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I couldn't help
but notice how often the man by the name of "Parnell" came up.
Stephen's family and family friends seemed to discuss Parnell a lot
and even had arguments over him. I wanted to understand why Parnell
had such an influence on this family and on Ireland, so I chose
Charles Stewart Parnell as my topic for the multigenre research paper.
While researching Charles Parnell, I learned a lot about his life and
his childhood. I found out that he was very devoted to his studies as
a child, and less interested in sports and other things that most
children find interesting. I also learned about his time in
Parliament, and that he was not even interested in politics when he
first entered. When Parnell first entered Parliament, the Irish had
doubts about him and did not think that he would be a good man for the
job. However, Parnell soon gained the support and confidence of the
Irish people and he was a very influential leader. That is, until his
downfall, which you all know about.

> > else having to do with your MG research? Share!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Michael Bryant]

I am doing my Multigenre Research Paper on William Gladstone.
Gladstone was a four time British Prime Minister with roughly sixty
years of political experience. While researching my topic I discovered
that Ireland was in ruins after the potato famine and Britain was not
eager to aid their neigboring country. British rule over Ireland was
opposed by the Irish yet the British were not entirely willing to give
up their political power over Ireland. Gladstone pushed for an Irish
Home Rule Bill but the majority of Parliament would not allow the Bill
to be passed. This frustrated Gladstone and he resigned. Gladstone's
overall intentions for helping Ireland were positive. Due to political
restraints and the unpopularity by other British officials to resolve
'The Irish Question", Gladstone was unable to aid Ireland as well as
he had hoped.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[MaryClaire]

My multigenre research project is on St. Ignatius of Loyola's
Spiritual Exercises. I found it odd that the Jesuits would spend an
entire three day retreat on death, hell, and judgment, so I wanted to
better understand where the retreat came from and its original true
purpose. In my research, I learned about the life of St. Ignatius, who
was born to a wealthy family and was fighting in a war when he was
wounded. During his recovery time, he read books on Christ and the
lives of the saints and became very devoted to God. I learned about
the Jesuit focus on the view of a personal and active God who has a
Divine Will for each person. I also found that the retreat Stephen
experienced was not what Ignatius intended at all. Ignatius expected
the retreat leaders to simply provide a topic, not to preach, make
suggestions to, or influence the participants.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Scott Selvey]

Glad to see I'm not the only one still up so late. It took me a
really long time to figure out what I wanted to do. I started out by
going to wikipedia and looking at each topic to see if one interested
me. I eventually chose the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the group
responsible for the Easter Rising. Their violence and mystery sparked
my interest. I learned that there are many branches of the IRA, each
one a little bit different. The most notorious group was the
Provisional IRA (PIRA), who were a terrorist organization until
recently. They are no longer operating, however there is a branch of
the IRA that currently exists in Ireland today.

[Ed]

My research paper is on Clongowes Wood College, the first school
Stephen attends. I wanted to research this topic because I felt that
Clongowes had a lot of influence on Stephen's maturation process, even
though he was only there for a short period of time. The incident in
the cesspool keeps recurring to him throughout the book, and his
strong Catholic belief early on in life can be attributed to the
Jesuit priests of Clongowes. Researching contemporary Clongowes led
me to find things there that were there back in Joyce's time. For
instance, the long corridor full of portraits that Stephen passes on
his way to the rector's office in Chapter 1 is still there today, but
it serves to connect the castle to the modern buildings of the
school. Also, pictures have shown Clongowes to still have wide
playgrounds, and I am sure that cesspools still form there when the
weather gets bad. This research paper was insightful; it was
interesting to see how a school rooted in tradition, like Clongowes,
can keep its values over centuries of teaching.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Greg Ehmer]

My research paper is about The Great Famine in Ireland from
1845-1849. I thought that I knew what the famine was all about in
that it was just a bunch of people died because their potatoes didn’t
grow, but I was so wrong. Even though the potato blight did affect
pretty much all of Ireland, it was not the only cause of death.
Almost half of the deaths during the time of the famine were from
diseases, especially typhus which spread quickly through the wandering
homeless. I was also shocked to see how little England did to help
Ireland by the laissez faire policy. They probably actually hurt the
Irish by refusing them to give them food because they didn’t want the
Irish to rely solely on England, and they continued to ship food out
of Ireland in front of thousands of starving to England which seems
awful. I guess the main thing that I learned is that the potato
blight was not the only cause of death, but disease and pure
negligence by England did a large part to make the famine as bad as it
really ended up being.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Cristina Rocca]

For my research paper, I researched William Gladstone. Gladstone had
easily the most prolific career in British political history. He was a
Liberal who served as Prime Minister of Britain for four different
terms. Throughout the 19th century, Britain was considered a machine
that controlled one of the biggest empires in history. The
Conservatives of the British Parliament pushed for the acquirement of
more land and imposing oppressive laws on the countries they did
control. It was against these tyrannical Conservatives that Gladstone
fought. In my essay, I focused primarily on how Gladstone supported
Ireland and proposed much legislation to give Ireland its freedom.
While Gladstone was able to secure some rights for the Irish people in
the Irish Land Acts, much of the proposed legislation such as Irish
Home Rule and the Irish Universities Bill never passed. Gladstone was
an interesting man with a Liberal, moral spirit.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Tori Lewis]

I'm doing my Multigenre Research Paper on Modern Art. It was kind of
a different take on things, but I connected it with the fact that
Joyce was writing Portrait in a Modern style of literature. I greatly
enjoyed refreshing my memory with Modern art. I took AP Art History
last year and we learned about Modern art and I loved it. It was some
of my favorite pieces. I learned while doing my research, though all
about how much Modern artists were trying to break the norm that was
art. They were sick of having to fit into a mold of what art was
"supposed" to be and instead invented something all their own. They
painted what they wanted, how they wanted, and everything in between.
Many artists were critisized for the abstraction in their paintings
and the vast colors that seemed so unecessary. However, all the
artists kept on going. Modern art spread from Europe to the Americas
like wild fire. It was really interesting to see how everyone's
version of Modern art varied. In the Americas it was all about self
identity whereas in Europe it was breaking social barriers and
becoming one's own self. Although I would not consider myself and
artist, I do love looking at art and courtesy of AP Art History I can
appreciate art as well. I really enjoyed learning more about Modern
art and doing a take on it myself for my genre piece.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[erwo...@marist.com]

I expected the Easter Rising to be some small rebellion of locals that
did not pan out as planned. However, I found the rising to be a heroic
deed against all odds. The Irish Republican Brotherhood along with the
Volunteers and IRA planned this rising two years prior to the actual
event. They began planning once Britain became occupied in World War
I. The entire operation was kept in the dark. The Volunteers had no
idea that their chief, MacNeill, was planning a rising until a few
weeks before it was implemented. The IRB surprisingly had American and
German allies, who helped them with supplies. At the time, the British
were fighting the Germans in the War, which makes it an interesting
relationship. When the ship sent to Germany for weapons was
intercepted, MacNeill told the Volunteers to no longer participate in
the rising. MacNeill had been against the rising the entire time
because it seemed unprecedented, but he went along with it anyway
until that time. The IRB signed their own death sentence when they
chose to continue the rebellion without MacNeill and the troops he
brought with them. The rising took an entire week to take down and
caused plenty of destruction around Dublin. The primary leader of the
troops, Patrick Henry Pearse, had been a school teacher prior to the
rising. Following the rebellion, Ireland did not support the cause of
the IRB and rather took the side of the British. They thought the
British were victims to a blood-thirsty, violent organization.
However, when 15 executions followed, everyone jumped on board. I
thought it was interesting that their action prevailed in garnering
support at a time when violence was looked down upon, and most of
Ireland supported the Nationalist Party.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Daniel]

I chose to research the Gaelic League and its effect on the Irish
nationalist movement. The Gaelic League was an organization started by
a Mr. Douglas Hyde, in the hopes of restoring Irish as the national
language of Ireland and aiding in the restoration of Irish culture and
history, both of which had suffered severely as a result of English
control over Ireland. Ultimately the movement was a great success,
leading to an increased number of books and poems published in Gaelic
in addition to the reintroduction of Gaelic in schools. This piqued my
interest because it seemed odd to me that a country and its people had
not only lost their native language as a result of foreign occupation,
but had even lost records of their past and their ancestors. Today, we
are so ingrained with the history of the United States and its
founders that the very idea of growing up with no idea of our nation’s
past or the Founding Fathers seems almost absurd.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Alyssa Boehnlein]

In my research on St. Ignatius and the Society of Jesus, I found a lot
of very interesting information. One of the most interesting topics I
researched was Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises, in which he puts
meditations and practice to become closer to God. One of the ways the
book could be used was through a retreat like the one at Belvedere
college, even though Ignatius never intended for the retreat to occur.
This new retreat, however, took thirty days! Also, the intense
spirituality that Ignatius put into his ideals - for example, Ignatius
though prayer should be out of love, not for pure contemplation. The
daily prayer hour was kept in Jesuit churches, but people are called
to a higher form of prayer than just a few Our Fathers. It was
interesting to finally understand the forces with which Stephen was
opposing.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Brendan Hickey]

I wrote my paper about the Gaelic language. I was unable to use some
of information in the research that I discovered due to its
irrelevance to my topic, but I still found it fascinating. One thing
that particularly struck me was the locations of those lands that have
native tongues based on the Celtic language, like Gaelic. These
included Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Ireland, and Brittany, all areas
that resisted superiorly equipped and trained forces from their
neighbors, France and England, for centuries. The ferocity of the
Celts in battle was legendary, and this appears to have carried on
into their descendants, as it took the English and French a very long
time to conquer these areas while never fully subjugating them.
Brittany retains its unique cultural identity in France while the
Welsh resisted for several decades even after their conquest, still
managing to maintain their cultural identity even after they had given
up self-rule. Ireland and Scotland have never truly surrendered, as
Ireland has become independent and Scotland flirts with the idea.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Daniel Gutowski]

I learned much about the I.R.A., such as the leadership role assumed
by Michael Collins. Although he was known as a rather violent leader
in the I.R.A., he was a very intelligent financial manager who stepped
up the power of the orginization to the next level. However, beyond
Collins military intelligence, Collins was assisinated. Also, I
learned much about the inspiration by many of the famous songs by U2.
Often inspired by God, the Edge(guitarist) and Bono(singer) used the
loyalty to religion to inspire their deepest feelings for the trials
of their country. Through all the pain and heartbreak U2 supported the
path for peace and has helped the world towards worldwide peace. Their
LiveAid concert has lead to millions of dollars being raised for
cherity for Africa. The money collected has supplied much food, and
provided homes for many who were formerly helpless, lost in poverty
and desperation. Amen

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Chase]

Well, first of all, I didn't know when I left school on Friday to come
home and do my blog post before I forgot that my internet would be
down and I would have to wait for a repair man that did not come for
two days in a row until I could have internet again and be able to
complete this assignment. Luckily, it's up now, so I'll take the
points I can get.
My paper was on the Fenian Brotherhood, a group of Irish-Americans
whose pent-up frustration at English rule forced them to take action,
which of course meant invading Canada. Yes, you read that correctly; a
small group of a few thousand Irish-Americans invaded Canada. Multiple
times. And failed. Multiple times. Actually, this was one of the
factors that led to Canadian nationalism (there's a phrase I never
thought I'd use in a million years). These men were treated as heroes
the first couple of times, but when the U.S. army came to help (yes,
Canada needed help to stop a few thousand soldiers. Did you expect any
more from them?), the Brotherhood* had to dissolve.
Most importantly, I learned that I have no ability to stop myself at
the limit of a paper. I wrote way more than I should have, and lost
much more sleep than I needed to, for this assignment. Oh well.

*I know the appropriate term is Fenians, but Brotherhood reminds me of
Assassin's Creed, and that makes me smile. Five bonus points for those
who know about what I am talking.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Alex]

I researched modernism. I was very interested in the new, unique
literary movement that James Joyce embraced as a writer. James Joyce
was the embodiment of modernism, not only in his writing, but in his
life. We talked about modernism some in class, but I wanted to learn
more about what it actually was and how it influenced Joyce. I
learned many of the main themes and techniques modernist writers used
in their writing, and I discovered that many famous writers were
involved in the modernist movement, including T.S. Eliot, Virginia
Wolf, and Ezra Pound. Many of their works have become classics that
we have studied in school, so it was interesting to learn more about
where they found their inspiration.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote:

[Jenna Sharp]

In my research I learned mostly about Kitty and Parnell. What I
learned about Kitty that I didn't know before was that her husband was
very distanced and that they had a terrible relationship. They hardly
ever saw each other and friends of the couple always remarked on how
unaffectionate they were towards one another. I also learned that
after several jobs, Captain O'Shea (Kitty's husband) completely ran
out of money and they had to live off of an allowance offered by
Kitty's Aunt Ben. I also learned that O'Shea knew about the affair
(obviously because Parnell and Kitty eventually lived together), and
he tolerated it until it became too much of an embarassment and he
divorced her. I learned that Parnell and Kitty had 2 children and
still got married even after the affair virtually destroyed their
lives. By doing all this research and learning about Parnell, I
finally understood what a huge influence Parnell was in the life of
James Joyce and correspondingly Stephen Dedalus.

On Jan 18, 6:34 pm, Muirheid <muirhe...@marist.com> wrote: