Impressions of partners, Jordan and Michelle

Jordan has many links to and interests in Irish culture. He is drawn to Ireland, based on his chosen image, by the cultural recreation that typically involves drinking and music making. I know that Jordan is a percussion player, so his musical background may have something to do with his interest in Irish music. However, he is also drawn to Irish culture because he appreciates the literature and history, including genealogy, from Ireland. Jordan claims to know little about Ireland but has a very great interest in it so I can assume that he has an avid curiosity that will make this class very interesting for him, as a musician, part-Irishman, and poetry reader.

Michelle, judging by her image and poem, is interested in Irish culture on a very personal level. She not only wants to know how the average Irish citizen behaves today or in 1893; she is apparently curious about individuals and how they coped with their changing surroundings. Michelle wonders how the man in her image is reacting to the modernization of his village and interprets her chosen poem to mean that the author is trying to go back to a simpler time. Michelle’s fascination with contrast also appears in her personal statement when she says that she was attracted to Irish music because it was different from the Mozart and Beethoven that she was accustomed to hearing. I believe that her desire to learn from people as they react to change will open many opportunities for her to learn in this class, since we will be studying one of the most constantly shifting cultures in the world.

Valerie