Irish Folklore

Folklore 312 “Irish folklore” Midterm essay questions
These essays are take-home, open-notes. I expect a minimum length of three
pages double-spaced (reasonable fonts and margins) per question. Print and
bring hard copies of your responses to class on the day scheduled for our
midterm exam.
I. First essay (25 points):
Answer one essay question from the list below, and please identify the letter of the
topic you’re addressing at the beginning of your essay.
A) What is Ó Giolláin’s definition folklore? Be sure to address the influence
of Gramsci’s ideas about the workings of culture, society, and history on Ó
Giolláin’s definition. How does Ó Giolláin’s definition differ from earlier
romantic nationalist conceptions of folklore, and in what ways does Ó
Giolláin’s definition seek to improve upon these earlier conceptions. (I.e.,
what problems are set up by earlier romantic nationalist conceptions of
folklore, and how is Ó Giolláin seeking to solve these problems with his
definition?) Finally, how does Ó Giolláin’s definition compare and
contrast with our working definition of folklore as “traditional,
vernacular expressive and material culture”?
B) Compare and contrast how Arensberg, Ó Giolláin, Lysaght, and Bourke
approach and interpret stories and beliefs about the fairies. Why would
the fairy faith persist, how is it possible to be both a Christian and a
believer in fairies, how is it possible to simultaneously believe and not
believe in the fairies? Finally, in what ways are these authors’ positions
compatible, and on what issues might they disagree?
C) First, what is a pattern and what is a holy well? Then, answer this twopart
question about patterns and wells:
1) According to Mircea Eliade, why are rituals popular and “emotionally
satisfying,” and how is his perspective relevant to our understanding
of patterns? In addition, how are Victor Turner’s notion of
“communitas” and Mikhail Bakhtin’s notions of “the culture of
laughter” and “the carnivalesque” relevant to our understanding
patterns as rituals?
2) Describe changes over time in pattern rituals and in the nature and
forms of the holy wells. Discuss how Antonio Gramsci’s model of
history and cultural struggle is relevant to how patterns and holy
wells have changed over time.
II. Second essay (25 points):
Answer one essay question from the list below, and please identify the letter of the
topic you’re addressing at the beginning of your essay.
D) The relationship between official/elite/high and unofficial/folk/low culture
has been a running theme in our investigation of several forms of Irish
folklore, ritual, and material culture. First, identify how official and unofficial
culture in Ireland have intersected in as many folklore forms as you can.
Then, with these examples in mind, characterize this relationship between
official and unofficial culture and the effects of this relationship over time on
Irish folklore and worldview. (Worldview includes beliefs, values,
philosophical orientations, and assumptions about the way the world works,
etc.).
E) Offer a definition of the folktale. Describe common generic conventions and
characteristics, and say something of the history of the genre. Then, explain
what folktales are good for. In other words, what did/do these stories
provide adults and children? Does a given folktale have only one meaning or
inherent message? If so, what evidence do we have of this? If not, how can
there be room for the same story to have different meanings? What evidence
do we have of this? In answering all these questions use specific examples
from assigned readings and in-class materials and discussions.
F) What is the nature of folk history and how does it compare and contrast with
academic history? To what extent are historical legends “true”? According to
Alver, Beiner, and Ó Ciosáin, what does the historian have to gain from
paying attention to historical legends? Support your answers with specific
examples.