1. Beowulf I. Discuss the research topic of last week “What is epic?” Epic is a long narrative poem about a noble character’s heroic actions(heroism).

2. Chapter 2 The Norman Period William the conquer Harold dead

3. Ⅰ.Characteristics: 1)the characters are of noble birth. Should the story of a common person be mentioned in the epic, his name never is told. 2)The scene/the setting involves a large scale and is magnificent\sweeping. 3)Their heroic actions are very significant determining the fate of the whole people, the whole nation or the course of the history. 4)The divine, semi divine, or supernatural forces are involved. 5)The style is elevated with some set phrase, or formula speaking of the high communal benefits.

4. II. Historical background of the Norman Period Literature a. Norman society a. Norman society b. its languages b. its languages c. the literature of the period c. the literature of the period Next

5. Norman society After the battle of Hastings in After the battle of Hastings in which the last Saxon King Harold was defeated by Duke William of Normandy, England was conquered by a Germanic people. The Norman conquest in 1066 which the last Saxon King Harold was defeated by Duke William of Normandy, England was conquered by a Germanic people. The Norman conquest in 1066 accelerated the development of feudalism in England. accelerated the development of feudalism in England. Harold dead

6. The social hierarchy: most of the people were serfs, permanent servants of Norman lords most of the people were serfs, permanent servants of Norman lords King barons knights serfs

7. The church: owned vast tracts of land, had its own separate legal system, its own taxes and communicated with ecclesiastical leaders in Rome without consulting the king or ministers. It supervised the education of most of the people who were educated, and continually competed in political matters with civil authority. owned vast tracts of land, had its own separate legal system, its own taxes and communicated with ecclesiastical leaders in Rome without consulting the king or ministers. It supervised the education of most of the people who were educated, and continually competed in political matters with civil authority. Thus the medieval society was made up of three blocks: the nobility, composed of a small hereditary aristocracy, whose mission on earth was to rule over and defend the political body; the church, whose mission was to look after the spiritual welfare of the body and everyone else, the large mass of commoners whose work was to provide its physical needs. Thus the medieval society was made up of three blocks: the nobility, composed of a small hereditary aristocracy, whose mission on earth was to rule over and defend the political body; the church, whose mission was to look after the spiritual welfare of the body and everyone else, the large mass of commoners whose work was to provide its physical needs.

8. languages FrenchLatin Old English

9. the literature of the period: 1.Religious literature: a. Types or genres: books and lyrics; b. subject matters 2.Secular literature: romance and the influence of French literature

10. The themes of the medieval romances: i. Romances comprise a large fraction of the secular Middle English literature that has been preserved. Many of these are simplified adaptations of French poems, recounting in an amusing style the adventures of knights whose ideal qualities are courage, honor, courteous behavior, justice and readiness to help the weak, especially ladies of noble birth in distress. Thus knights whose high oaths bind them to fidelity to God and king, truth to their ladyloves, etc are commonplaces of romantic literature.

11. ii.The characteristic spirit of many romances, aristocratic and popular alike, involves the proving of a knight’s worthiness through noble character and deeds rather than through high birth, and in this respect romances reflect the aspirations of a lower order of the nobility to rise in the world.

12. Ⅰ.Discuss the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and implication of the story. Discussion:

13. Points that should be paid attention to in the discussion: a. The literal story. b. What does such a story reveal figuratively? c. How do you look at the presentation of the hero Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Does he represent the chivalry codes of the time?

14. Ⅱ.Discuss what the students have prepared in the after class time after the first hour’s lecture about this chapter. Why was romance the type of Why was romance the type of literature that was popular in the middle ages(Why did romance took the place of epic and became the popular genre in the middle ages )? literature that was popular in the middle ages(Why did romance took the place of epic and became the popular genre in the middle ages )? It reflects the time spirits of the early feudal age.… the spirit of chivalry