106-013 Beowulf

Usually 12.5 points of first year English and completion of 106-024 Introduction to Old English A and 106-029 Introduction to Old English B.

This is an advanced course in Old English in which the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf will be read in the original. Students completing this subject successfully will have achieved a deeper understanding of the subtleties of Old English, enabling them to perceive rhetorical figures, formal structures and narrative strategies in medieval literature; will have an understanding of the perceived essential elements of Western epic and of how new works in the tradition draw upon and/or work against generic expectation; and will have studied the impact of Christianity on the traditional pagan Germanic heroic ethos.

• have the ability to develop critical self-awareness and the capacity to shape persuasive arguments;

• have the ability to apply research skills (especially in library and online resources) and critical methods to an emerging field of inquiry;

• have the ability to communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately, both in writing and in group discussions;

• had detailed readings of a range of texts in different media;

• have the ability to think critically about the relations between academic and popular forms of knowledge of the past.

A journal of 2000 words 50% (due at the end of semester) a 2000 word essay 50% (due mid-semester). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed.

• B Mitchell & F Robinson, Beowulf. Blackwell 1998.
• R Liuzza, Beowulf. Broadview Press 2000.