Reference Librarian
Dartmouth College
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Hanover, NH 03755
Introduction to the Irish short story
This course is designed to allow students to engage in extensive writing exercises—both formal and creative—and participate in weekly discussions and critiques of published works and other forms of media, including contemporary Irish film. Our focus will be on reading stories with the eye of a writer, exploring the thematic concerns of the writer, the historical cultural context in which these works take shape, and how a work is constructed to further reveal and illuminate these concerns. We will also consider the elements of the story—including character, conflict, perspective, dialogue, setting, plot, language, and narrative structure—that come together to create a successful whole. Through numerous exercises students will practice not only how to write a precise, coherent, and rigorously engaging paper but also come to understand the alternative and strange ways in which authors of fiction approach their subject and craft. Along with classroom exercise, there will be presentations and ample demonstrations explaining close reading, academic writing, and analysis. In roundtable workshops students will have their own works considered and discussed by their peers and learn to develop a critical gaze regarding their own work and their rewriting process. Finally, students will meet with me individually after each essay submission to plan further drafts and revision strategies.
[Source: Timetable of Classes, 09/28/2022]
Finding resources in the library's collections
Introductory reading(s)
A history of the Irish short story by Call Number: Baker-Berry PR 8804 .I64 2009ISBN: 9780521867245Though the short story is often regarded as central to the Irish canon, this text was the first comprehensive study of the genre for many years. Heather Ingman traces the development of the modern short story in Ireland from its beginnings in the nineteenth century to the present day. Her study analyses the material circumstances surrounding publication, examining the role of magazines and editors in shaping the form. ...
An Irish literature reader: poetry, prose, drama by Call Number: Baker-Berry PB 1421 .I76 2006ISBN: 9780815630463Publication Date: 2nd ed.In a volume that has become a standard text in Irish studies, editors Maureen ORourke Murphy and James MacKillop survey thirteen centuries of Irish literature, including old Irish epic and lyric poetry, Irish folksongs and a selection of nineteenth-century prose and poetry. For each author the editors provide a biographical sketch, a brief discussion of how his or her selections relate to a larger body of work, and a selected bibliography. ...
The Oxford handbook of modern Irish fiction by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780198754893The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Fiction presents authoritative essays by thirty-five leading scholars of Irish fiction. They provide in-depth assessments of the breadth and achievement of novelists and short story writers whose collective contribution to the evolution and modification of these unique art forms has been far out of proportion to Ireland's small size. The volume brings a variety of critical perspectives to bear on the development of modern Irish fiction, situating authors, texts, and genres in their social, intellectual, and literary historical contexts. ...Modern Irish writers: a bio-critical sourcebook by
Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781567507737This book is intended to serve as a reference work for scholars studying modern
Irish authors, whether those scholars be entirely new to the field or experienced
researchers simply moving on to study the work of authors new to them. Ar-
ranged alphabetically, the entries are written by contributors who are experts on
their authors and who are fully up to date on the latest research available relevant
to their entries. ...
Selected book title(s)
The Edinburgh companion to the short story in English by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781474400657This collection explores the history and development of the anglophone short story since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Ranging across texts from different parts of the English-speaking world, it studies the form in its many guises and venues of publication. Why have writers of so many nationalities and dispositions found the short story amenable to experimentation and discovery? What is the history and origin of the modern short story, and what has been the role of the publishing business, of academic criticism, of the Creative Writing 'industry', and of the digital revolution in shaping and disseminating it over the past two centuries? ...
The Cambridge history of the English short story by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781316711712The Cambridge History of the English Short Story is the first comprehensive volume to capture the literary history of the English short story. Charting the origins and generic evolution of the English short story to the present day, and written by international experts in the field, this book covers numerous transnational and historical connections between writers, modes and forms of transmission. ...
Short story index
Trying to find where a short story might be? Try this index below. It can help you locate when and where a short story was published.
- Short story index retrospective, 1915-1983 byCall Number: Electronic resourceShort Story Index Retrospective: 1915-1983 is an archive database that includes the Short Story Index from 1915 to 1983. It indexes nearly 140,000 short stories published over 150 years and 350 indexed periodicals and collections of short stories across all literary genres.
Selected title(s) of irish short stories
The Rebels and other short fiction by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780815635864An accomplished novelist, short story writer, and playwright, Richard Power (1928-1970) was most well-known for his 1969 novel The Hungry Grass. While many of his stories were published in the leading literary journals of the day, his premature death prevented his work from gaining the fame it deserved. ...
Other library resource(s)
- Dictionary of Irish biography: from the earliest times to the year 2002 byCall Number: Electronic resourceThe Dictionary of Irish Biography (DIB) is a project of the Royal Irish Academy. It tells the island’s life story through the biographies, at home and overseas, of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland. ... You can search using "short-story" with the hyphen.
Neil Jordan: interviews by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1998.3 .J67 A5 2013ISBN: 9781617037450These interviews cover the career to date of Neil Jordan (b. 1950), easily the most renowned filmmaker working in contemporary Irish cinema. Jordan began as a fiction writer, winning the distinguished Guardian Fiction Prize for his very first book of short stories, Night in Tunisia, in 1976. His film debut was made during the peak of the Troubles in Ireland, and he addresses the sectarian violence head-on in his first outing, Angel (1982). This film also marked Jordan's long-time association with the actor Stephen Rea who has appeared in nine of the director's films and is often seen as Jordan's doppelgänger. ...
Finding scholarly articles & journals for Irish short stories
You can find articles on Irish short stories in a variety of publications. You can start your search in a general index like Academic Search Complete or Web of Science or a subject index like MLA International Bibliography. You can also search in the box at the top of the page.
Academic search complete by Call Number: Electronic resourceA scholarly, interdisciplinary article index and a good starting place for article searching on any subject.
Literature online (LION) by Call Number: Electronic resourceLiterature Online is the leading online resource for the study and teaching of literature in English, combining the texts of over 355,000 literary works with a vast library of key criticism and reference resources. Its ever-growing library of full-text journals and author biographies help keep you up to date on the latest research into every aspect of literary and linguistic study. ...
MLA international bibliography by Call Number: Electronic resourceMLA International Bibliography indexes journal articles, books and dissertations. Coverage includes literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing.
The web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Citing and tracking your bibliographic references
Use this guide to help you learn how to correctly cite and keep track of the references you find for your research.
