57% Irish is the story of a man who has been given the responsibilty of developing a test. However, this is not just a simple test, this is a test to determine how "Irish" someone is. This test is to be used to determine who is Irish enough to stay, and who must be forced to leave. This test is made up of many different components, and it measures how one responds to certain things that they are seeing. The way they respond, according to the main charcater's original hypothesis, determines how Irish they are.
The reason this story is called 57% Irish is because when the main character gave the test to a native Irishman, the man scored 57%. However, when the test was given to someone that was not of Irish decent, they scored a lot higher, which asked the question, is the test really legitimate, and can it be trusted?
In the middle of this story of the test, there is a sub plot between the main character and his Russian girlfriend. The main character has a child with his girlfriend which forces him to ponder the question, is the child Irish or not? When it is determined that the child will most likely have to leave the country if its mom is found not to be "Irish" enough, the main character decides to take the child's fate into his own hands. He ends up changing the test so his girlfriend, and more importantly their child, can stay in the country.
So my main question that I have is this:
Do you believe the "Irish Test" was a good indicator of how "Irish" someone was, and whether they should be able to remain in the country or not?
If you do belive it was, how do you explain the foreigner getting a better score than the native Irishman?
Funny how you are judge on the percent of irish you are based on a test, then in the end of the day the rules are bent for the main character's russian girlfriend.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the irish test is accurate in determining how irish someone is. It seems absurd to let someone in because of how much they scored on a test. When he changes the test, to help his son and the mother of his kid, it proves how stupid the test was. You can't just have a test and than alter it to benefit you.
ReplyDeleteThe "Irish Test" is not a good indicator in determining how "Irish" someone is. Ray uses the reactions of the people pertaining to certain things, such as Robbie Keane's goal against Germany and other videos. The average Irishman scored 57%, while the non-Irish scored a higher grade. I believe there is no way to measure how Irish you are and it is unreasonable to make people's citizenship depend on this test. Ray decides to change the test when he is troubled by the thought that his child may not be Irish.
ReplyDeleteI agree and believe that the Irish test is not a good indication of figuring out if someone is Irish. I agree with Jessica and think that you can not really define someones culture. To each person their own. People act a certain way and do certain things because of what they feel is their culture and race. One can not go about in figuring that out, and more definitely not through a test.
ReplyDeleteI agree and believe that the Irish test is not a good indication of figuring out if someone is Irish. I agree with Jessica and think that you can not really define someones culture. To each person their own. People act a certain way and do certain things because of what they feel is their culture and race. One can not go about in figuring that out, and more definitely not through a test.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, this whole excerpt talks about the "perfect" irishman, and in order to be that perfect person one must be 57% irish. However, the satirically written excerpt fails to show this off when the exam is rigged and people from multiple nations are deemed perfect irish men. The funny part is what was made as a test to see who's actually irish became like a test of humor and "graphic" knowledge. Instead of testing real life subjects, individuals were given various images and things to view and their reaction would determine their nationality. However, this test was a big fail in the end when it failed to bring in the true irish and instead brought in immigrants from other nations to occupy that one.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, this whole excerpt talks about the "perfect" irishman, and in order to be that perfect person one must be 57% irish. However, the satirically written excerpt fails to show this off when the exam is rigged and people from multiple nations are deemed perfect irish men. The funny part is what was made as a test to see who's actually irish became like a test of humor and "graphic" knowledge. Instead of testing real life subjects, individuals were given various images and things to view and their reaction would determine their nationality. However, this test was a big fail in the end when it failed to bring in the true irish and instead brought in immigrants from other nations to occupy that one.
ReplyDeleteThis short story sheds light of the silly things we as a society do to categorize people. We feel as if everyone must have a label. In this story, the focus is whether or not someone is Irish enough to the government's liking.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the test is not an accurate way to establish whether or not someone is Irish enough to remain in the country. Wouldn't someone want to be closer to 100% Irish rather than 57%?
The Irish Test is not an accurate indication of whether someone is Irish or not. The test is just another way for others to judge one another. There is no exact definition of one’s culture because every person is unique and the way they choose to view things is completely up to them. Having differing perspectives doesn’t make one any less Irish.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the Irish test was a good indicator of how Irish someone is. The Irish test was a video that one would watch and by examining the reactions of the person watching the video, this would determine how Irish you were. I agree that you cannot measure how Irish one is because everyone has a different definition of what it means to be Irish. This test is not a good way to determine whether or not someone should be a citizen or not.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the Irish test was a good indicator of how Irish a person is. There is no way to actually test how much nationality a person has. Each person is different as stated above. The test is unfair and shouldn't be a way to determine who should live in the country. In the end, the maker of the test realizes the fact that this test is not an efficient way to determine who can stay and who cannot.
ReplyDeleteThere is no proper way to test how ethnic someone is. In many ways the test of national pride could be seen as a barometer of closed-mindedness. Each person may and usually does embrace another part of their unique nation and or culture. It is cringe-worthy to operate under the idea that one person alone could determine one's ability to live in a nation. Ultimately one should create a test that determines how global a person is. The ability to fit in globally would make an ideal candidate to make a difference locally.
ReplyDelete