General: Form groups of three or more. Each group appoints a director, a reporter and an ambassador. The director will leads a 15-minute discussion within each group of the question posed. The reporter then communicates the conclusions reached to the other groups (e.g., A to B & C). The ambassadors in those other groups then try to agree the main point or principle of the discussion thus reported (e.g, B & C). The ambassador of the ‘reporting’ group may say whether the sense agreed corresponds to the actual contents of discussion within his group (e.g., A).

Group A

Consider the following question and report your collective view and/or differences on the matter to the other groups.
What features of Irish history and society prior to the period we are studying (1930 onwards) are most relevant to the literature produced by Irishmen and Irishwomen in Ireland and beyond?

Group B

Consider the following question and report your collective view and/or differences on the matter to the other groups.
In what way do you expect that Irish writers have responded to specific events and more general changes in twentieth-century Ireland and abroad?

Group C

Consider the following question and report your collective consensus and/or differences on the matter to the other groups.
Does the language in which Irish literature is written differ significantly from that of writing in English generally? In what ways (think of examples)? What are the causes? What are the consequences?

All Groups

Try to reach a concensus on the following questions:
Can Irish literature in English be usefully defined in terms of its authors’ usual relation to a) subject matter, b) means of expression, and c) audience?