Lecturers on the BA in Arts (Hons) at Waterford Institute of Technology have produced two online guides to help fifth and sixth year students with their Leaving Certificate English studies.
WIT’s School of Humanities, one of the largest in the country, runs an Arts degree that includes English literature and Theatre Studies as study options.
Academics from the School of Humanities have developed two short and student-friendly books of essays on Shakespeare’s Hamlet (as an aid for 2020 Leaving Certificate students) and on King Lear (which is on the 2021 Leaving Cert exam).
The essays on Hamlet focus on some of the key themes and tropes at work in the play, but also underline its continuing relevance in considering issues such as betrayal, death, sexuality and the very nature of identity.
“Waterford Institute of Technology is delighted to share these two study guides,” says Dr Suzanne Denieffe, Head of the School of Humanities.
“The Hamlet and King Lear guides are designed to support students in their study and renew their enthusiasm for one of the greatest writers the world has ever known.”
“Study notes and grinds can sometimes stamp out affection for Shakespeare. The aim of this booklet is to regard one of Shakespeare’s most enduring texts from a range of perspectives and hopefully, to offer students a renewed enthusiasm for the text,” says English lecturer at WIT, Dr Jenny O’Connor. “It is a text about all of the questions that humanity has grappled with throughout history, the questions that we continue to grapple with today, and for this reason, the play still deserves to be celebrated.”
“In addition, the booklet on Shakespeare’s King Lear discusses themes of power, madness and kingship, as students might expect, but the essays also focus on family dynamics, the nature of empathy and the central moments of cruelty that inform the text. Above all, the booklet seeks to re-evaluate Lear himself and the way in which he represents our human failings, our appetite for self-destruction, and our desire for redemption,” says Dr O’Connor.
Both booklets can be found on the Arts course page: https://www.wit.ie/courses/bachelor_of_arts_hons#tab=stories
Essays included in the booklet on Hamlet:
“Characterisation through imagery in Hamlet” by Dr Christa De Brun, lecturer in English, School of Humanities, WIT
“Women in Hamlet” by Dr Jenny O’Connor, lecturer in English, School of Humanities, WIT
“Life, death and meaning in Hamlet” by Dr Fiona Ennis, lecturer in English, School of Humanities, WIT
Visit https://www.wit.ie/news/news/study-guides-hamlet-for-leaving-cert-students to read/download.
Essays included in the booklet on King Lear:
“‘The map is not the territory’: Lear, kingship and kinship” by Margaret O’Brien, former Lecturer in English, School of Humanities, WIT
“Brewing up a storm: Power and empathy in King Lear” by Dr Kate McCarthy, Lecturer in Drama, School of Humanities, WIT
“Shakespeare’s theatre of cruelty: King Lear” by Dr Richard Hayes, Vice President Strategy, WIT
Visit https://www.wit.ie/news/news/study-guides-king-lear-for-fifth-year-students to read/download.
