Example Outline for Final Project Essay

Shane Abrams

I. Introduction

            A. Introduce text(s) – Beowulf and “The Dream of the Rood”

B. Describe historical circumstances: most literacy lay with the Christian monks in the Middle Ages.

C. Thesis statement: The integration of Christian ideas, values, and stories in Old English poetry demonstrates an attempt to reconcile Anglo-Saxon heroic ideals with Christianity.

II. Body Paragraph 1 – Christian imposition in Beowulf

A. Explain the idea of Christian imposition: overlaying Christian ideas in a non-Christian text.

B. Note historical paradox: Christianity was not widespread during the time Beowulf is set.

C. Quotes for support:

“And may the Divine Lord / in His wisdom grant the glory of victory / to whichever side He sees fit” (685-7).

“The truth is clear: / Almighty God rules over mankind / and always has” (700-2).

“So may a man not marked by fate / easily escape exile and woe / by the grace of God” (2291-3).

“Sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed / offerings to idols, swore oaths / that the killer of souls might come to their aid / and save the people. That was their way, / their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts / they remembered hell. The Almighty Judge / of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, / Head of the Heavens and High King of the World, / was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he / who in time of trouble has to thrust his soul / in the fire’s embrace, forfeiting help; / he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he / who after death can approach the Lord / and find friendship in the Father’s embrace” (175-88).

D. Explain and connect quotes to thesis: connecting wyrd to Christian destiny; denying paganism in favor of Christianity; portraying Beowulf as a pious warrior.

III. Body Paragraph 2 – “The Dream of the Rood”

A. Explain the portrayal of Christ as hero as means to reconcile Germanic heroism with the life of Christ.

B. Quotes for support:

“Then the young Hero stripped himself—that was God Almighty—strong and stouthearted. He climbed on the high gallows, bold in the sight of many” (28).

“I trembled when the Warrior embraced me” (28).

“…they set there the Wielder of Triumphs” (28).

“The Son was victorious in that foray, mighty and successful” (29).

C. Explain and connect quotes to thesis: connecting bravery, might, and victory to Jesus’ story; elne mycle.

IV. Conclusion – Reconciling Christianity with Anglo-Saxon culture

            A. Re-state thesis

B. Although the imposition and interpretation of Christianity is obvious to us now, it made bigger waves in the original time period. One of the foundational elements of every culture is storytelling; therefore, the use of Christian ideals in Anglo-Saxon stories was very influential in the evolution of Anglo-Saxon culture.

Works Cited

Beowulf. Trans. Seamus Heaney. New York: Norton, 2000. Print.

“The Dream of the Rood.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8^th ed., Vol. A. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: Norton, 2006. Print