Unit One: From Legend to History Anglo-Saxon Literature

What did Anglo-Saxons Value? Religion Religion helped unify the cultures. Religion gave them a similar identity. Leaders Their successes were honored with epithets. Land and Power They continually invaded and conquered to acquire more land. (land = power) Bravery/Prowess/Trust Honored heroes with gifts, oaths of allegiance, or power of leadership (and eventually legacy of lit.)

The First “English” Epic Beowulf The First “English” Epic

Refresh Your Reading Skills Use context clues and marginal notes Consider the cultural connections Paraphrase Summarize Apply literary terms Prepare to take notes over the first chapter,“The Monster Grendel.”

Divide Your Paper into Two Columns under the title “The Monster Grendel.” Paraphrase Summary

“The Monster Grendel” Paraphrase A monster in the darkness growls impatiently against the scop’s song, a song that reminds mankind how God created the Earth, separated land from oceans, created the sun and moon, and inhabited it with natural beauty and people who loved it then as they do now. Just like their forefathers, Hrothgar’s men lived happily until this monster, Grendel, stirred. Grendel, who haunts the moors and the wilderness, lives in a hell on earth as an outcast. He is a distant descendent of Cain, man’s first murderer who was banished by God and eventually bred evil in the world. Cain’s descendents became the spirits, fiends, goblins, and other forms of evil that forever oppose God’s Will and are continually defeated.

“The Monster Grendel” Summary Grendel, a descendent of Cain’s demon spawn, growls in anger while the scop recounts Grendel’s wicked heritage for Hrothgar’s men.

Conclude your notes for pages 21-23 independently Conclude your notes for pages 21-23 independently. Check your work with a classmate when announced.

Now it’s time to transition from reading for general comprehension to reading with critical thinking skills such as: application of cultural details and recognition of literary devices.

Literary Devices Epic and Epic Conventions (6) Opening statement of the theme; Appeal for supernatural help in the telling of the story (an invocation); A beginning in medias res; Long lists, or catalogs, of people and things; Accounts of past events; Descriptive phrases such as kennings, Homeric similes, and Homeric epithets (such as “wide-wayed city” and “clear-voiced heralds” in the Iliad)

Additional Literary Devices (Apply the terms in bold print; define all terms as homework) Epic Epic conventions Epithet Allegory Allusion Archetype Caesura Kenning Alliteration Lyric Poetry Narrative Poetry Scop

Discussion of “The Monster Grendel” Recognizing and Applying Cultural Connections The narrator’s word choices make reference to two types of people. Who are they? (cultural connection) Answers: pagans and Christians Which belief system or heritage influences the narrator? Answer: a Christian influence Describe the narrator’s tone (or attitude) toward the subject of God? Answer: “God” is spoken of with reverence, helping us to see he is a Christian, and perhaps more modern, narrator who wrote down the epic.

“The Monster Grendel” Recognizing and Applying Literary Terms Summary Grendel, a descendent of Cain’s demon spawn, growls in anger while the scop recounts Grendel’s wicked heritage for Hrothgar’s men. Scop/Cultural Element (lines 4-5, p. 21) “the harp’s rejoicing/Call and the poet’s clear songs, . . .” Cain and Abel, God: Christian elements (lines 21-23) “[Grendel parents are descendents] of Cain, murderous creatures banished/By God . . .” “The Almighty” (line 24); “the Lord’s Will” (line 28-29): Christian elements

Now Modify Your Notes. Rename the columns with the headings listed Now Modify Your Notes. Rename the columns with the headings listed. “The Arrival of the Hero” Summary Literary Terms …

“The Arrival of the Hero” Summary Literary Terms

“Unferth’s Challenge” Summary Literary Terms

“The Battle with Grendel” Summary Literary Terms

“The Monster’s Mother” Summary Literary Terms

Now that you understand how to read Anglo-Saxon literature and how to apply literary terms, you are capable of tackling college-level reading and writing assignments. Well done!!! DCHS