Trim

Today, after landing in Dublin and getting my bearings, my husband drove us to Trim where we toured Trim Castle, largest Norman castle in Ireland) also the setting for Mel Gibson's Braveheart). But for me the highlight will be tomorrow going to discover where Jonathan Swift lived and worked. His love, Stella, had a cottage here too. My students read A Modest Proposal about the Irish potato famine. I will look for ways to bring true stories from Ireland back to use in that unit. They also might read Gulliver's Travels as well. Speaking of Gulliver's Travels, I heard a program on NPR related to sleep, the mind, little people, and Jonathan Swift. Seems he believed little people emerged into a world he could observe during his sleep. He would fall asleep in a certain position in order to rouse them. These nightly events led to Gulliver's Travels.