‘How is it in this country that ought to be full of such violent realness, there seems nothing for me but clothes and what people say? I might just as well be in some kind of cocoon. ’
So says Lois Farquar, the central character of Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September. The War of Independence going on outside the walls is only half suggested to the reader, and some characters strive to keep it at bay. As Lady Naylor says ‘From all the talk, you might think that anything was going to happen, but we never listen. I have made it a rule not to talk either’.
The demesne wall of the Danielstown estate acts like a barrier between the residents and the war outside. It is only sometimes breached, such as when Lois encounters the man in the trench coat while walking in the grounds.
Watch this video to get an impression of life 'inside the cocoon'
Next StepYou are a team of journalists who have been commissioned to compile a news report on the top stories that happened in Cork in September 1920 for a contemporary audience.
Since this report is for readers today, you must explain things like:
- What the War of Independence was about
- Who were the main parties fighting the war?
- Who were the Black & Tans, the 'Brigades', and the 'Cork Militia'?
- What was the pattern and nature of the fighting. You need to write small articles explaining terms like 'attacks', 'reprisals', 'patrols' & 'an offensive' - it would be good to explain using accounts of real events.
- Two specific incidents occurred in North Cork in September 1920, the area and time where Elizabeth Bowen based her novel, that directly echo violent events in the novel. You must write detailed reports on these events.
- In The Last September the war does not interrupt the social life of those in the house. You need to also write about social and sporting events that were happening in Cork to give balanced picture of what life was like.
Your product and roles
You need to discuss with your teacher whether you are going to make a written report, a radio programme or a TV documentary with the information you gather.
Whichever you choose, you'll need to work out, as a team, who will search and gather what information. You'll need to allocate which stories are to be covered by each team member and how long each article should be.
You might assign roles like editor, sub-editor, image researcher etc.
Next StepSmart web searching
You are searching the WWW for very specific information and need to search in a smart way. Use this tutorial to quickly pick up tips on how to 'smartsearch' and recognise quality information online.
Critical reading
The War of Independence is an event in Irish history about which people still feel very passionate. As journalists, you need to look out for bias, and be dispassionate and balanced. Read this article about an event that happened in September 1920. What do you think of the use of language? Recognise the bias and be conscious not to emulate it in your writing.
During the War of Independence, Cork was divided into three different Brigade areas. On the other side of the divide, there were the R.I.C, the Black and Tans, and the British Army. Wikipedia has good information on the strength in numbers of these forces and their casualties. The war took the pattern of terror attack and reprisal, with fighting scattered throughout the county. The I.R.A and its enemies: violence and community Cork, 1916-1923 is on Google Books - so you can keyword search the text of the book.
For news from 1920s Cork, you will have to be ingenious. The archives of Irish newspapers are not free, but newspapers from other countries do cover Irish stories. For example, here is an article from September 28th from the Ashburton Guardian about an 'Explosion in Cork'. It was found by using the Advanced Search in the Google News Archive.
Some Cork stories in September 1920 were making international headlines, not least the hunger strike of the Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney.
Next StepUseful resources:
- Google Books
- Google Scholar
- Villanova University's digital Irish Press is VERY useful. To search it you need to click on 'Internet Explorer' or 'Firefox' depending on which browser you are using.
- Irish History Online will direct you to useful books and articles that you may be able to find free online.
- This War of Independence History Links Page should be useful
Illustrating your stories is very important, as images have immediate impact and .... a picture can speak a thousand words!
Think about the different kinds of images you can use. By 1920 photographs were commonplace. Artworks were also being created in response to the political situation. Watch Éimear O'Connor describe the circustances surrounding the painting of 'The Men of the South'.
Google Image Search has become very sophisticated. You can choose the size and kind of images you want to find. Use the same smart searching criteria you use for the Web.
The National Library of Ireland have a fantastic collection of online digital photographs you could search for images of Cork.
You might enjoy looking at some early film footage of Cork. Here is Grand Parade in 1902 and film footage of Terence McSwiney's funeral in 1920.
Next StepYou can download a Microsoft Word Template for creating a newspaper.
This video explains how to use Microsoft Word Templates. Alternatively, build your own paper in Word - or by had with scissors and glue!
