October 31st, 2013

10/31/13

In Class:
Journal--  Reflect on a conflict in your life (past or present). What forces are at odds?

Reviewed and discussed "Judith."
  - Biblical stories adapted as Old English poetry were often re-shaped to present a similar story with themes and ideals to which Anglo-Saxons could better relate. Details, language, and underlying themes could be modified by poets to reflect more specific goals and, of course, to close the gap between Germanic heroic tradition and Christianity.

Noted three crucial aspects of Old English poetry, particularly Beowulf:
oral tradition: the practice of verbal storytelling as a means to preserve culture.
  - Oral poetry is, by nature, bound to change. The poets would intentionally alter the words and story to appeal to a different audience or create a different message. The poets would also unintentionally modify the stories: consider a game of 'telephone' in which words and ideas can be distorted, modified, or changed entirely. Additionally, since these poets would memorize thousands of lines, they would inevitably make mistakes.
  - Beowulf was composed several hundred years before being transcribed; even then, it is theorized that at least two poets contributed to the transcription. Therefore, the Anglo-Saxon community modified and re-shaped the story over the course of several hundred years, making it more powerful and relevant to them.
alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
  - The use of frequent alliteration helped poets memorize the epics. Most extant poetry from the Anglo-Saxon era uses alliterative verse.
  - Due to the common use of alliteration, we can see very interesting names attributed to characters in order to fill out alliteration. Rarely is Beowulf referred to as just "Beowulf," but also as "son of Ecgtheow," "the Geats' lord," "Hygelac's kinsman," etc.
appositive style: the practice of using common descriptive phrases to rename the subject of the sentence. E.g., Chase, the mighty Anglo-Saxon Lit. student, driver of Jeeps, did his homework.
   - This style is very common in Old English poetry, as well. It helps the poets create stronger meter and alliteration, which is again helpful for memorization. The strange sentence syntax it creates (see example sentence above) is typical of ancient Germanic poetics.

Distributed Beowulf and first reading assignment -- line 210 by Monday.

Exit ticket: Write a sentence that uses at least two instances of alliteration.

Homework:
Read through l. 210 of Beowulf by Monday.
Catch up on any missing work.