8/14

BW Get your notebook. Write “8/14/14” in the upper right-hand corner of a new page or the back of the one from yesterday. Task: Use the following syntax (sentence structure) from Beowulf to capture a trait about yourself: “There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.” EX: There was Ms. Brooks, pedagogue of many pupils, a reader of book-pages, prattling among peers.

Mead Hall

Features of the Epic (1)Epics are usually long. – Remember: Beowulf is over 3000 lines. The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid are even longer than that! (2)They are written in verse (poetry). – This means there is a formal rhythm to the lines. (3)They begin “in medias res,” which is Latin for “in the middle of things.” – Remember: The first word of Beowulf is “so…”

Features of the Epic (4)Epics chronicle the experiences of high- born people—kings and princes—never those of common people. – Why do you think that’s so? – The central character in an epic is the hero.

Features of the Epic (5)The action of the epic is wide in scope—it may cover many lands both real and imaginary—and is comprised of episodes requiring superhuman strength and courage. – Why do you think that’s so?

Features of the Epic (6)The epic also features supernatural beings—gods, monsters, and everything in between. The gods usually help the hero. This feature has a formal name— “deus ex machina,” meaning “God from the machine.” This means basically that the gods play a part in the otherwise random- and meaningless- seeming affairs of (great) men.

Literary Terms For Beowulf

Taking Notes The following literary techniques will deepen your understanding of Beowulf and enrich your reading generally. You will have an opportunity later to write these definitions down, but for now just annotate your own text (underline the lines referenced and write the technique in the margin).

Alliteration The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words in a series …Behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere (lines 24-25).

Assonance A poetic pattern by which same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables end with different consonant sounds …So the Lord of Life, The glorious Almighty, made this man renowned. Shield had fathered a famous son: Beow’s name was known through the north (lines 16-19)

Assonance …So the Lord of Life, The glorious Almighty, made this man renowned. Shield had fathered a famous son: Beow’s name was known through the north (lines 16-19)

Foreshadowing The presentation of information in such a way that prepares readers for later events The hall towered, its gables wide and high and awaiting a barbarous burning (lines81-83).

Juxtaposition The placement of two ideas side-by-side in such a way that foreshadows later events, creates an ironic tone, or signals the passage from the literal realm into the symbolic or allegorical. Where would you break up the following passage in terms of the change of mood?

Juxtaposition Nor did he renege, but doled out rings and torques at table. The hall towered, its gables wide and high and awaiting a barbarous burning. That doom abided, but in time it would come: the killer instinct unleashed among in-laws, the blood-lust rampant. (lines 80-85)

Juxtaposition What event does the previous passage seem to foreshadow?

Kenning A picturesque (creative) phrase used to replace or supplement a simple noun “Spear-Danes” = Danish warriors A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbor, ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince (lines 32-33).

Metaphor Strictly defined, a comparison between two things when “like” or “as” is not used Loosely defined, a figure of speech in which one object is identified with another, and the qualities of the one object are given to the other

Metaphor …and the clear song of a skilled poet telling with mastery of man’s beginnings, how the Almighty had made the earth a gleaming plain girdled with waters; in His splendor He set the sun and he moon to be earth’s lamplight, lanterns for men, and filled the broad lap of the world with branches and leaves… (lines 90-97)

Metaphor …and the clear song of a skilled poet telling with mastery of man’s beginnings, how the Almighty had made the earth a gleaming plain girdled with waters; in His splendor He set the sun and the moon to be earth’s lamplight, lanterns for men, and filled the broad lap of the world with branches and leaves… (lines 90-97)

Metaphor Where do see the first type of metaphor? What two things are being compared? Where do you see the second type of metaphor? What two things are being compared (hint: one is stated, the other implied)? What qualities are being given to the one that is stated?

Scop An Anglo-Saxon court poet, meaning that he occupied an official position of importance in the king’s retinue.

Understatement A common figure of speech in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of what is being talked about “That was one good king” (line 11).

Allegory A story in which the characters and action are largely symbolic.

Allusion A reference to a person, place, event, or work of art that the writer thinks the reader would recognize

Anti-Hero A protagonist that lacks the typical qualities of a hero

Archetype A character type or plot pattern that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore.

Caesura A dramatic pause

Epithet An adjective used to point out a characteristic of a person or thing. A Homeric epithet is often a compound adjective, which requires a hyphen: “swift-footed Achilles.”

Hyperbole A gross (as in very big) exaggeration

Simile A comparison between two things in which “like” or “as” is used

Symbol An image that has meaning beyond the literal

Stanza A grouping of two or more lines of verse (poetry) in terms of length, metrical form, and (often) rhyme scheme