Day 3: English Literature 1.General discussion of Beowulf reading…thoughts? Ideas? Lines 1-13: Structure and set up (sentences? pauses?), enjambment, reading aloud, tone, mood, good vs. evil 2.Add to Literary Terms Log: protagonist, antagonist, characterization (direct and indirect), conflict (internal and external), mood Reminder: If you run out of time to complete lit term entries, please complete as homework. 3.Beowulf study guide assigned (due ___) 4.Discuss Beowulf so far (through page 34—notes on following slides) Listen to Beowulf in Old English (slide 6) 5.Continue discussion of Beowulf through battle with Grendel 6.An EPIC Connection: Writing about Beowulf Open lit terms logs and use definitions of epic/epic plot/epic hero to help formulate your response. 7.Homework: Finish Beowulf reading guide, part 1; Finish reading Beowulf by pages and (reading guide for part 2 assigned Friday, due Monday) English Lit

Learning Targets Students will be able to draw connections between Anglo-Saxon culture/history with concepts in literature presented in Beowulf. Students will be able to apply literary terminology to examples in the text.

Setting the Scene: The Mead Hall

Grendel Attacks the Danes Page 24: Lines 1-29 read aloud – Why was Grendel angry? – Was retribution necessary? All wrongs must be righted, according to A/S beliefs – Christian elements? Page 24: Lines read aloud (hear the alliteration?) Line 60+: “So Herot/ stood empty, and stayed deserted for years,/ _____ winters of grief for Hrothgar, king/ Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door/ By hell-forged hands.” Line 64-66: “His misery leaped/ The seas, was told and sung in all/ men’s ears: how Grendel’s hatred began,/ how the monster relished his savage war/ On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud/ Alive, seeking no peace, offering/ No truce, accepting no settlement, no price/ In gold or land, and paying the living/ For one crime only with another.” – Grendel did not operate according to “rules” of Anglo-Saxon society When quoting poetry, indicate the end of a line with a “/”

The Coming of Beowulf Line 90+: “In his far-off home Beowulf…heard how Grendel filled nights with horror/ And quickly commanded a boat fitted out,/ Proclaiming that he’d go to that famous king…So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find,/ The bravest and best of the Geats, fourteen in all.” Line 113+: “The wind hurried them over the waves,/ The ship foamed through the sea like a bird…and then they gave thanks to God for their easy crossing.” – What literary device is used here? – Christian references: Christian narrator The Danish watcher, shaking his heavy spear, questions who this group of men are, saying “Speak, say/ Exactly who you are, and from where, and why.” Line 197+, page 28: Approaching Herot (Danish King Hrothgar’s mead hall). Flyting: Page 29, line 228+ (Anglo-Saxon bragging that contains two parts: the résumé of past accomplishments, pledge of future action)

Beowulf’s Battle with Grendel Out from the marsh, Grendel moved quickly through the cloudy night, sliding silently, shrouded in mist. He journeyed straight to the door, then snapped it open. He saw the hall crowded with sleeping warriors and his heart laughed (lit term: ___), he relished the sight. Line 293: Foreshadowing “But fate intended Grendel to gnaw the broken bones of his last supper.”

Grendel Attacks Herot …little does he know Beowulf is inside 1E&feature=relmfu 1E&feature=relmfu

Beowulf’s Battle with Grendel He snatched the first Geat he came to, ripped him apart, cut his body to bits, drank the blood from his veins and bolted him down, hands and feet… Then he clutched at Beowulf with his claws and was instantly seized himself, claws bent back as Beowulf leaned up on one arm. That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime (kenning), knew that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder. Grendel’s one thought was to run from Beowulf.

Beowulf’s Battle with Grendel Herot trembled…the floorboards swayed. There were horrible shrieks of pain and defeat…. All of Beowulf’s band…their courage was great but all wasted. They could hack at Grendel from every side, but their points could not hurt him. That sin-stained demon had bewitched all men’s weapons. Grendel grabbed for Beowulf, but Beowulf grabbed back. Grendel twisted in pain, and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder snapped, muscle and bone split and broke.

Beowulf’s Battle with Grendel Grendel escaped to his den, his miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh. Then old and young rejoiced and rode slowly toward Herot again. They swore that nowhere on earth or under the spreading sky or between the seas, neither south nor north, was there a warrior worthier to rule over men. The people in Herot celebrated, and Grendel’s arm was hung high from the rafters like a trophy (simile)

Beowulf’s Battle with the Dragon Please read pages for our next class meeting and continue working on the reading guide (due ____). This is the story of Beowulf’s challenges later in life, after returning home from the Grendel escapade. The story ends with a section called “The Funeral Fire.” This is Beowulf’s funeral and the end of his story.