Beowulf – Songs of Ancient Heroes Setting Conflict (external & internal) Epic Alliteration Imagery Kennings Foil Symbolism

Cinderella

Exposition

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

Resolution

Dramatic Plot Structure

1. Exposition

2. Rising Action

3. Climax

4. Falling Action

5. Resolution

Beowulf – Songs of Ancient Heroes Epic – long, narrative poem that recounts the

adventures of a hero – narratives about larger than life characters.

Hero is a great leader and identified with particular people or society

Hero does great deeds and often includes upper and lower worlds

Hero does great deeds in battle or undertakes an extraordinary journey

Involves God or other supernatural beingsStory is told in heightened language.

Journal and Short Answer Responses:Beowulf -- Find examples of Alliteration and Kennings in

the epic story of Beowulf. Why do you think it is important to Beowulf

and to his image as an epic hero that he meets Grendel without a weapon? What symbolism do you see in the uselessness of human weapons against Grendel?

What do you think of the way women are portrayed in (or absent from) Beowulf? (48)

--from Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel (textbook page 17)

Songs of Ancient Heroes.

And sometimes a proud old soldier

Who had heard songs of the ancient heroes

And could sing them all through, story after story,

Would weave a net of words for Beowulf’s

Victory, tying the knot of his verses

Smoothly, swiftly, into place with a poet’s

Quick skill, singing his new song aloud

While he shaped it, and the old songs as well.

 

Beowulf - 3 Week Common Assessment

2011-12In what ways is Beowulf a model of leadership for our own times? In what ways do his traits and skills fail to translate to our own times? Support your response with details from the epic poem.

Gene Roddenberry – Star Trek Crew 1976

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

Buck Rogershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Rogers_in_the_25th_Century_(TV_series)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

Flash Gordon TV/Comics

Star Trek – Beowulf Making the Connection

Gene Roddenberry (1921 – 1991) - Star Trek’s creator and noted visionary, futurist, nicknamed the

“Great Bird of the Galaxy.” Former Airline pilot, police officer, writer Star Trek Original Series 1964, Next Generation,

Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise (Prequel to Original Series)

NASA posthumously recognized Roddenberry’s contribution to space exploration and is ashes were taken into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1992. Gene Roddenberry finally voyaged into the final frontier.

Journal and Short Answer Responses:Beowulf --

Compare and Contrast Star Trek Voyager episode, “Heroes and Demons” with the epic story of Beowulf.

Does Beowulf remind you of any heroes from history, current events, books, television, or movies? Who? What similarities do you notice among them? Just as important, how are they different?

Beowulf Check Test

1. Using his ancestral sword, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother.

2. Beowulf carries Grendel’s head to King Hrothgar and returns home with many fine gifts.

3. Beowulf becomes king of the Geats.

4. After Beowulf’s weapons fail him against the dragon, his men rush to help him.

5. Beowulf names Wiglaf as his successor to the throne.

Answer Key: 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F 5. T

The Head of Humbaba from Gilgamesh:

A Verse Narrative retold by Herbert MasonJournal:

Why does Gilgamesh kill Humbaba even after Humbaba offers to serve him?

Enkidu tells Gilgamesh not to trust Humbaba. Humbaba has tried to kill Enkidu.

After listening to the this epic narrative verse:

1. Does it remind you of any details in Beowulf’s story?

2. Does the story have anything to say about people today?

The Head of Humbaba from Gilgamesh:

A Verse Narrative retold by Herbert Mason1. Gilgamesh is frightened when he hear

Humbaba coming.2. Humbaba has never been appreciated by

the gods he works for.3. Humbaba attacks Enkidu first.4. Humbaba offers to serve Gilgamesh instead

of the gods.5. Gilgamesh lets Humbaba escape.Answer Key: 1. T 2. T 3. T 4. T 5. F

Making the Connection: Star Trek and Beowulf - Great Bird in the Galaxy

Star Trek Voyager: Heroes and Demons

Written by Naren Shankar, Directed by Les Landau.

The Gift of Story – ChaucerLiterary Vocabulary

Characterization Frame Story Allegories Inferences Drawing Conclusions Speculation Metaphors Irony Personification Context Clues Syntax Diction Idioms Satire

Federigo’s Falcon from the Decameron by Giovanni BoccaccioRead this tale looking for clues to medieval values:

Courtly loveGood manners

1. What conflict does Monna Giovanna face? Do you approve of the way she resolves it?2. Situational Irony occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or of what would be appropriate.—How is this meal an example of situational irony?3.What other stories have you read in which a gift intended to please someone turns out to be exactly what that person does not need or want?4.What does the role of the brothers suggest about the status of women at this time?

1. Alliteration2. Making Predictions3. Allusions4. Word Origins 5. Theme6. Epic Simile

Essential Vocabulary for The Fall of Satan from Paradise Lost

by John Milton:

7. Drawing Conclusions

8. Repetition

9. Irony - (dramatic)

10. Images

11. Paradox

12. Analogy

The Fall of Satan, Paradise Lost

http://www.search.com/reference/Satan

Satan (noun) (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell synonyms:

Satan, Shaytan, Old Nick, Devil, the Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Tempter, Prince of Darkness

Reading Check/Assessing Learning Quiz:

Answer True (T) or False (F)

1. Satan had been one of God’s favored angels.2. Satan was very ugly, with red skin and horns.3. When Satan says “[F]arthest from him is best” (I. 247), he means that the rebels can do as they please when away from God.4. Satan rebels because God made him a slave.

1. T 2. F 3. T 4. F

The Fall of Satan from Paradise Lost

by John Milton:

Essential Vocabulary:1. Allusions2. Mock Epic3. Wit/Humor4. Prefix/Suffix5. Antithesis6. Interpreting7. Tone

Elements of Literature: Wit: Ne’er So Well Expressed

True wit is Nature to advantage dressed: What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed.

Alexander Pope page 533

From The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

8. Epic Simile

9. Satirical

10. Iambic Pentameter

11. Inverted Sentence

12.Blank Verse

Introduction and Biography of Virginia Woolf page 1122Essential Elements:1. Persuasive Message/Argument2. Tone3. DictionReading Assessment:

1. For what purpose does Woolf invent Judith Shakespeare?2. Why does Judith run away to London?3. According to Woolf, how does the repressed genius of women

show itself in the Elizabethan age?4. How does the world treat male writers and female writers

differently, according to Woolf?

Shakespeare’s Sister from A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolfpages 1122- 1129 (Includes: Votes for Women).

Rabindranath Tagore Let this be my last word, that I trust in thy love.Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 - 7 August 1941) Indian philosopher, poet; winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.; also known as Rabi Thakur.Quotes by Tagore:My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy; yet I come

to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted.

All the great utterances of man have to be judged not by the letter but by the spirit — the spirit which unfolds itself with the growth of life in history.

The meaning of the living words that come out of the experiences of great hearts can never be exhausted by any one system of logical interpretation. They have to be endlessly explained by the commentaries of individual lives, and they gain an added mystery in each new revelation.

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