Guidance for students

• Introduction: Set up Friel's main argument about the interplay between language and colonialism. Clearly present your thesis.
• Body Paragraph 1: Analyze the mapping project (the Ordnance Survey) as a metaphor for colonial control. Consider the differing perspectives of Lancey and Yolland regarding the renaming process.
• Body Paragraph 2: Discuss how the relationship between Yolland and Máire highlights both the potential and the challenges of cross-cultural communication. What does their romance reveal about language as both a connection and a barrier?
• Body Paragraph 3: Investigate the character of Manus, Owen, or Hugh as a representation of a specific response to cultural and linguistic displacement. How does their reaction reflect a larger political or philosophical viewpoint?
• Conclusion: Contemplate Friel's overarching message: is the play ultimately pessimistic about cultural survival, or does it imply resilience? Use textual evidence to back up your perspective.

Assessment Focus

Argument, textual evidence, analysis of dramatic technique, and comprehension of historical/political context.

In your essay, you should:

• Analyse how Friel employs the mapping project as a symbol of colonial control and the suppression of Irish heritage.
• Explore the connection between language, place, and identity through key characters like Manus, Owen, Maire, and Captain Lancey or Lieutenant Yolland.
• Discuss how Friel portrays the tension between progress and modernity (represented by the National School and English as a language of opportunity) and the need to preserve Gaelic tradition.
• Reflect on the dramatic irony of the play being written in English while set in an Irish-speaking community, and what this reveals about the irreversible nature of linguistic loss.
• Support your argument with detailed references to specific scenes, dialogue, and dramatic techniques.

Assessment Focus

Sustained argument | Close textual analysis | Understanding of context (19th-century Ireland, colonialism) | Evaluation of dramatic form and language