w4 Literature Beowulf introduction

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Lesson aims: 
1. Finding out why most of the stories are told by your teacher and / or read in modernised versions. 

2. Beowulf: getting to know some basic details about this story. 

3. Dating Beowulf (no not going out for beer and pizza with the guy). 

4. Stylistic elements in Beowulf

5. Beowulf: a storyline. Getting the whole story together. 

How far back in time could you go and still understand the English that people are speaking and writing?

1. A thousand years
2. A hundred years
3. Depending on how good you are at English: between 200 and 400 years
4. I don't even understand what they're saying now.

Were you right?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Almost
4. Not even close

Now read pages 7, 8 and 9. There will be a few questions after that. 

Beowulf is …..

1. a sonnet
2. a frame story
3. an epic poem
4. an allegory

Beowulf is written in

1. Old English and alliterative verse
2. Middle English and alliterative verse
3. Old English and rhyme
4. middle English and rhyme

Alliterative verse means that ….

1. there is a set pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
2. nobody understands what the poem is about
3. words in a sentence have the same vowels
4. words in a sentence begin with the same consonant

The hero of the story 

The monster that must be defeated

The name of the king Beowulf sets out to help

The second monster that Beowulf has to fight

The name of the mead hall that is being terrorised by the monster

The third monster that Beowulf has to fight

Heorot

Beowulf

Grendel

Grendel's mother

Hrothgar

A nameless dragon

Which of the lesson aims have we not yet met?

1. Why we do not read the original versions
2. Stylistic devices in Beowulf
3. Dating Beowulf (no, not…)
4. Putting together an overview of the story.

Your assignment: 

Based on what you've watched, write down the most important elements of the story in the order in which they happen. 

Let's start with: Beowulf hears there is trouble in Heorot and sets out to save the day.