Scribe Notes: Wednesday 1/28/09

Agenda:
1- Beowulf:
-Old English
-Prologue
-Part 1-10

HW:
1- Vocab ex 4
2-finish reading parts 1-10, answer question
(projects due next Monday)

We began class with a discussion about Literary Epics, and what it is that makes a literary epic a literary epic. We looked at several books including The Aeneid, The Oddysey, and Beowulf, and came up with a list of similarities. We also took notes, included below. After that we looked at Old English. Sister Salma gave us a sheet with the prologue to Beowulf in Old English on one side and translated into modern English on the other. We humorously attempted to read it, but failed miserably. So instead, we listened to a recording of the prologue read in Old English. After this, we began talking about the prologue, and we discussed the questions we answered for homework last night, and this is where we ended class. For homework, we should do vocab exercise 4. We should also read parts 1-10 of Beowulf and answer the questions on the worksheet that Sister Salma gave us. Also, we have a project to work on, defined on the bottom of the worksheet, due next Monday.

NOTES ON LITERARY EPICS:
A literary epic is:
-an oral tradition repeated through time until finally being written down
----> ex: The Bible, Gilgamesh, The Odyssey
-long narrative poem celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero
-reflects values of society
----> Ex: fairy tales-Little Red Riding Hood teaches us, "Don't talk to strangers."
-contains a hero who is stronger, braver than anyone else, and exemplifies the traits admired by the people
----> Ex: strength, skill in battle, courage, loyalty, generosity, etc.
-tells of a hero's journey in which he has to save people
-written in a serious poetic style
----> alliteration
----> kenning: using compound words to describe (and substitute) the original noun ex: whale road= sea
-author is usually anonymous