Information Inquiry of Wales

Curriculum connection

2007-10-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Wales and her history is perfect fit for the Geography and World history Standard 7: Conflict and Cooperation. This standard explores the human and geographical influences that cause conflict. The Welsh were isolated by their mountains for many years. While the Romans, Vikings and Anglo-Saxons tried to conquer them, the Welsh remained autonomous. As a result the Welsh culture and language grew stronger and stronger. When the English finally conquered Wales, conflicted ensued for generations. Wales provides a perfect case study on the development of nationalism and the conflict it creates.

For older students (high school) the study of Wales would fit nicely. In conjunction with the English teacher students can read Welsh literature and poems. In history class, students can learn the back round information of the story. When the section is complete, students will create their own fiction about Wales.

Younger students can also benefit. Children in the 4th through 5th grades can read the Mabinogion, a Welsh folklore book and create their own illustrations of the stories. Wales offers plenty of opportunities for study and creativity.

My final part of this project is personal connection. Before I began this project, I always felt that my final product had to be a paper, bibliography or presentation. Now I realize that there are other valuable ways to disseminate information. Traditional methods of communicating research, cannot adaquately convey emotion. Welsh literature and history is full of emotion, mostly sadness, an annotated bibliography, paper or presentation, simply would not have been adequate. I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog and being patient.

theresa

I wish upon a star!

2007-10-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more time for this project. Of course, who doesn't. Every time I do a project I feel in order to do the subject justice, I need to study it for a year, at least! More time was not an option. My assignment, however, does have many strengths. The end project is creative and I enjoyed writing it. It was the first time I have ever written a poem, so guys go easy on it. The information I found was interesting and the books I read wonderful.

One of the weaknesses and challenges was time, as I have already mentioned. Also, it was hard to incorporate information into the poem. While I discussed earlier that a poem was good at conveying emotion, it is challenging to incorporate facts into poems. Next time I will definitely start earlier and research how to write a poem.

I feel my inquiry is very much like many of the inquiry experiences of those children who would come to the library. I remember as a student, my research took so many twists and turns, while my mind wondered. I remember making up stories about the information I had found. But I don't believe many students think to create stories or poems with their findings.

Everybody, let's do the Welsh Wrap!

2007-10-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

Now I am finally at the wrapping and waving part of my project. According to Annette Lamb wrapping an waving involve deciding how to share the information that you found. In the beginning I wanted to do an annotated bibliography of Welsh literature. Then I found many good books that I could never read in time. Therefore, I decided to write a story. I changed my mind again. A story would convey the necessary information, but not the emotion. Welsh history is filled with sadness. I felt a poem, would more accurately represent my information. In addition to my poem, I created a chart of Welsh and other Celtic languages. The chart shows that Welsh is the most widely spoken Celtic language in the world today. I also created a word search with help from teach-nology. Below is my poem.

Decay, pallid clouds hover, a dreary mist, a pungent odor wet and corroded,
I, once glorious and green, moans, shrieking, chiseling, hammering,
The mine within in me, now a hollow memory.

Millions of years, I was molded by the earth,
Out of the dust she rose and witnessed the greatness and sorrows of her people,
The Celts tamed the mountain ranges, filled the valleys with song and traversed the seas,
Romans, Angles, Saxons and Normans raided the countryside,
The Romans established Caerwent and Carmarthen,
The Angles, Saxons, and Normans purged the countryside of her honor.

Out of the darkness a great kingdom,
Gruffudd ap Cynan and his son Owain surrounded me with greatness,
Poetry, music filled my ears,
Life replaced death, knowledge replaced ignorance.

My earth was tainted once more,
Succession struggles, King John’s interference,
Lamentations, Lamentations,
Llewellyn ap Gruffudd conquers all of Wales,
Lamentations, Lamentations, Death, Demise,
Edward II, 1284, rummaged and rampaged, scourged and raped my soil.
Wales, promised a king who was born in Wales and spoke no English,
In return, gained a royal, Edward

1586, full union did occur with England,
Wales, laws, customs and language threatened,
Goodbye Gwynedd, goodbye Llywelyn,
Goodbye Kings of old, rest in peace,
May your voices carry over the mountains and fill the people with your spirit.

Coal, discovered, in my bowels,
Wrenching, blinding pain,
Frenzied picks, axes, clanging, clamoring, digging through my intestines,
Sludge fills my face and corrupts my soul,
What was once green, is now dead, dead…

Now I am alone, except for the trapped souls within me,
Their songs, their energy, their joys and sorrows, entombed in my labyrinth.
At night I can hear voices, haunting and taunting my sorrows.
My bare stomach growls, I look to the moon and weep.

Bibliography:

http://virtualinquiry/ws.htm

Llywelyn, Dorian. (1999) Sacred place, chosen people : land and national identity in Welsh spirituality, Cardiff : University of Wales Press.

Wiggle, Wiggle

2007-10-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

I am now on the wiggling/weaving aspect of my project. According to Annette Lamb at http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/ws.htm, wiggling is the process after research where one evaluates content and decides what to do with that content. Weaving consists of organizing ideas, creating models and formulating plans.

I began my search on the Internet. I know I said I wasn't going to use it, but there is good information if you know where to look. In L401, we learned how to evaluate web content. Below is the list:

Who is the author? What are their credentials? Are they representing a reliable source?
When was the page last updated?
Is any strong language used?
Does the website cite their sources? What are their sources?
Is the information well organized?
Are the opinions of the author in line with what others in the field argue?

Using these criteria, I began with the question how many people speak Welsh? Apparently over 582,368 people still speak some Welsh. I decided to compare this with other Celtic languages in the British Isles. Gaelic has 200,000 speakers, Gallic 60,000 and Cornish 3,000-5,000. Welsh is still going strong in Wales and I even used a chart. Unfortunately I was not sure how to post it on my blog. I e-mailed my professor, so I hope to have it up soon.

The rest of my information will be organized as a story and then hopefully a quiz to see if everyone was paying attention. I hope to post my story online.

I decide on a story, because I am good at writing stories and people enjoy reading them. I also feel people will remember the information better in story form. I will keep you informed.

http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/cynnwys.php?pID=faq&faqID=20&langID=2&search=x

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaels

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

A change of pace!

2007-10-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Annette Lamb in her 8W's model, published in the book, The Blue Book of Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy, commented that in the webbing stage one question may lead to another. Initially, I wanted to compile an annotated bibliography of Welsh litereature and film. I researched IUCAT and found some interesting prospects.

While literature is vital, I felt that inorder to give an accurate annotated bibliograpghy I would have to read all these wonderful books. I wouldn't mind doing that, but it would take an enormous amount of time. Therefore, I have decided to research the questions I asked in the wondering phase. I am actually excited about changing the pace a bit. I decided to present my information in a for of a story, but more on that later.

Inorder to find this information, I could always use the internet, but at times it is difficult to determine what information is correct. I will rely on the interney some, perhaps I will the ask an expert function Annette Lamb sugested. I believe, however, my best bet is to use Almanacs, books and articles about Wales.

I will search IUCAT, then some of the electronic journals we have. For some of the information I may use a good old encyclopedia. Now I will set off on my quest. Wish me luck!

Callison, Daniel, Lesile Preddy (2006) The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy, Libraries Unlimited Westport Conn.

Can anyone read Welsh?

2007-09-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'm back to bring all of you more webbing about my project. After I posted yesterday I went to IUCAT. I typed in "How Green was my Valley." Yes, I have already read this wonderful book, but I thought I could use some of the subject headings. The subject headings were not helpful, so I typed in Welsh literature. A book called the Mabinogion appeared. It looked like a collection of Welsh folktales. OK, I thought, I have to check this out. One of the subject headings was Tales--Wales, so I double clinked on it.

My search produced "The Celtic Legends of Glamorgan," and Culhwch and Olwen: an edition and study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale." The rest of the results were in Welsh, or I think they were in Welsh. Anyways, if anyone out there can read Welsh? Anyone? I think I hear crickets.

That's actually another question I have, "how many people in the world still speak Welsh?" I believe it is more than the number who still speak Gallic (the language native of Scotland) and Cornish( the language from Cornwall).

I digress, back to my search for Welsh literature. Since the IU System didn't seem to have many Welsh books, I went to OCLC's WorldCAT. I entered in Tales--Wales and found the Oxford Guide to Welsh Literature. I was excited and it is even in our own library. Tomorrow I am going to look through it and discover more Welsh literature.

A tangled Web We Weave.

2007-09-17T06:47:00.001-07:00

Webbing is the next phase of my project. According to Annette Lamb, the webbing process includes locating, searching for and connecting information. I am doing Welsh literature. I first identified Welsh literature and film I had already heard about. I only know of one book so far, "How Green was my Valley," by Richard Llewellyn. I had heard about when I was a little girl and remembered it when I became obsessed with Wales. I immediately went to the library and checked it out. No surprise the book was readily available.

At work, I work at a library, we discuss the books we are reading. When I told people about my latest book, not one person had heard of it. I found this disturbing because the book was made into a movie in 1939 or 1940. It was such a good movie, it won Best Picture, beating about Citizen Kane. Yes, you heard right, Citizen Kane, AFI's best movie of all time.

The book is about a young boy named Huw (pronounce Hugh) Morgan. His father and brothers are all coal miners. However, young Huw is bright and is sent to a government school. The Welsh language is forbidden, only English is to be spoken. Huw learns this the hard way and receives several beatings. At one point in the novel, Huw, witnesses another student being punished for speaking her own language of Welsh. The little girl beaten and bruised, is thrown out to the school yard with a heavy sign hanging around her neck cutting through her flesh. The sign reads, "I will not speak Welsh."

Another interesting scenes in the novel takes place between Huw and his teacher. Huw's teacher is Welsh, but covers his Welsh accent and degrades the Welsh tongue and people. Never a moment goes by without him reminding Huw that he despises the Welsh. Huw asks him why does he hate himself so much. The teacher replies he had the unfortunate accident of being born in Wales. He is English through and through. Huw doesn't understand his disgust.

I will continue my search for more Welsh literature and provide updates!

Lamb, Annete http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/ws.htm
Llewellyn, Richard (1940) How Green was my Valley, New York : Macmillan Co.

I wonder!

2007-09-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Now I am at my wondering phase of my project. According to Daniel Callison in, The Blue Book: On Information age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy, humans are naturally curious. The tasks, according to Callison, is to question and then refine your questions.

I wonder a lot about Wales. I wonder about her history, culture and literature.

Who are the Welsh and where does their history begin?
How did they become dominated by England?
How have they dealt with the English and others?
How has the landscape of Wales affected her peoples?

Many people have commented that they don't know much about Wales, unfortunately neither do I. I find this disturbing because I was both a history major and I am into genealogy. I feel there is a huge gap in my knowledge about history.

I once took a graduate level history class on colonialism. One of our papers had to be on a group that has been dominated by another. These groups were dubbed "the others." My paper was on Christian Missionary Women in China, who were treated horrifically by Americans and the Chinese. So what is my point, the history about "the others," is hard to find. Often any attempt to articulate their nationalism and identity have been thwarted by their oppressors. It may be difficult, at times to identify the Welsh voice. The English, of course have much to say about their neighbors, but it is doubtful that it is totally accurate.

I feel that through Welsh literature and film, I can get a glimpse of the history, culture and the relations between the Welsh and her oppressors. I have always felt that literature and film should be used often in history class. Literature is like a photograph, it paints a picture of a certain time and place. The authors values are forever frozen in time, giving an information inquirer an opportunity to glimpse the past.

Film, does the same, but since some are visual learners, watching a film is more effective than reading a book. Therefore, I am going to create an annotated bibliography on Welsh literature and film.

Callison, DAniel, Lesile Preddy (2006) The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy.

Information Inquiry One: What shall I question?

2007-09-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, anything, any topic I want. I could do a lot of things. I am interested in books, movies and sports.

I am not really interested in inquiring about my hobbies. Currently, I am searching for a job. I will graduate in December with my degree in Library Science, maybe I can do an information inquiry about job searching. That is dull, and painful. Never Mind!

I went on my honeymoon recently. My husband and I never got to have our honeymoon when we married last October. We traveled to England, Ireland and Wales. Ireland was beautiful and I dubbed it "Middle Earth." Apparently Ireland is now the wealthiest country in the European Union. Who knew? Aren't the Irish suppose to be poor?

I am a quarter Irish, I could do an inquiry about Ireland, but it seems overdone. The Irish are no longer hated but celebrated, not poor, but wealthy. I'm sorry, but I like an underdog.

England was wonderful, beautiful scenery and London was exciting and cosmopolitan. Again I'm not feeling a great need to research England.

Wales, however, is a different story. When I was a little girl my mother told me I was 1/8th Welsh. Apparently my great grandmother was born in Swansea on the coast. "What and where is Wales," I thought?" I looked on my globe and spotted Wales. Wales shares an island with England and Scotland. Scotland is the head, England is the body and Wale is the stomach. This satisfied me for many years.

On our honeymoon, we drove through Wales and spent a night in Cardiff. Wales, with her mountains and valleys was gorgeous. Her people were friendly and Cardiff lively, but not to crowded. I learned from our tour guide that Wales is economically depressed. The coal mines have been shut down and not much industry has come to Wales such the 1980's.

As I said I love an underdog and the Welsh are still struggling. After we came home from our trip, I became obsessed with Wales. I read and rented "How Green was my Valley," and "The Englishman who went up a Hill but came down a Mountain." My husband has been patient with this last obsession. He considers it more tolerable than my Jane Austin and Lord of the Rings obsessions.

Anyways, I figured Wales would be perfect for an information inquiry. I decided to compile an annotated bibliography of Welsh literature and film. I feel this would be ideal for teachers who want to teach their students about Wales and her people.

Theresa Bruno