After learning about what poetry has evolved into, we should take a step back and look into its older forms. When talking about poetry written in English we cannot avoid mentioning Beowulf, the oldest poem written in English; well, Old English to be exact, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. Check out below how English would have sounded if the French hadn’t invaded and exerted their influence. English when it was a purely Germanic language: The epic poem of Beowulf tells the story of a heroic warrior, and later king, called Beowulf who battles with a monster named Grendel, with Grendel’s revengeful mother, and with a dragon guarding a hoard of treasure. The story is set in Scandinavia in the 6th century while the oldest preserved manuscript is from the 10th century. They author is unknown. The poem was also adapted into a movie with Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother. One of the things that makes Old English poetry unique is the use of kennings. "What might a kenning be?", wondered no teenager ever :). Well, I'm going to tell you regardless. A kenning is a figure of speech that uses compounds (hyphenated words) to, instead of simply saying a word, allude (*to hint at*) to it in a roundabout (*zaobilazni*) and clever way. They are similar to riddles in a way. For example, some kennings from Beowulf are: the “whale-road”, to mean/allude to the sea, the “battle-sweat” to mean/allude to blood, the “sky-candle”to mean/allude to the Sun While it may seem to you that kennings have fallen out of use, this isn’t actually the case, and kennings still used in English, for example: Tree-hugger- environmentalist Pencil-pusher- a clerk or office worker Four-eyes- a bespectacled person Breadwinner- someone whose salary supports the family Skyscraper (nebogrebač) - a very tall tower !!!!!!!! The assignment for today is: 1. to watch the video above and 2. to complete the educaplay task on Beowulf. Use this PIN: 000935 to log into the task. Use your real name (or sign in) so I can monitor your work. game.educaplay.com/ (Deadline 28 April) !!!! Alternative Poetry Project (2nd Option) - MODERN BEOWULF ASSIGNMENT For those of you who prefer older forms of poetry, you'll be given an option to write a modern retelling of one the fundamental poetic works (Beowulf, Shakespeare's Sonnets No. 130 or No.18, Poe's Raven) in the English language instead of writing and presenting a slam poem (through different media). Today, I'm going to give you the guidelines for creating a MODERN RETELLING of BEOWULF if you decide to do that project instead of the Slam Poetry one. On Tuesday, after presenting Shakespeare's Sonnets, I'll do the same for the Bard's poetic works, and on Wednesday I'll present guidelines for the modern take on Poe's Raven. Overall, you'll have 4 possible projects to choose from. **** Since you're unable to understand Old English and the translation of Beowulf is too long, I advise you find a copy of the movie Beowulf (from 2007) to watch/stream if you decide to do this project. Modern Beowulf Assignment (OPTION II) Beowulf is one of the oldest stories in the English language. However, the basic story--good versus evil--has been repeated again and again. For this assignment, you are to modernize the story of Beowulf, up to his defeat of Grendel. To do so, you will need to place Beowulf in modern times, of course. However, there aren’t many guys running around in armor with swords these days. Beowulf will need a job. Hrothgar will become something important to today’s society. Grendel will be someone who threatens them (s/he or it cannot be a monster in the conventional sense of the word). One important aspect of the story WHY Grendel attacks Hrothgar's mead-hall (*skandinavski dvor). The most obvious motive for Grendel's attack is envy and a sense of exclusion. He hears the laughter in the mead-hall, hates the Danes and their merry-making from which he is excluded, and resolves to kill them. Even slaughtering thirty does not satisfy him and he returns night after night to drown his misery in blood. Since he is always an outcast, however, the misery remains—no matter how many he kills. (Grendel is basically an extreme version of a PARTY POOPER with a more complex motivation) Beowulf will need to defeat him somehow. He does not have to kill Grendel in your story. Think of an interesting, funny, or just an ordinary job. (Try to be creative. Grendel does not have to be a robber or a terrorist.) Another important aspect of Beowulf is the way in which it is told/ written. For this assignment, you should use three kennings to refer to Beowulf and three to refer to Grendel. Have fun with them. Think of the job you have assigned to Beowulf, and what his responsibilities are. A cabbie: “Beowulf, tourist-driver.” (a kenning) A cashier: “Beowulf, change-giver.” (a kenning) You may wish to be more serious, too. Pick whether you want to be serious or funny. It is your choice. You should also describe what the modern-day Beowulf and Grendel look like. Does Beowulf still look like a warrior? Or like an ordinary guy? You can retell the story from Grendel's perspective. You can write the story in verse. --- WORD COUNT: It has to have a minimum of 200 words (but not more than 300). Write your assignments in a Word document. Use a spellcheck. I beg of you.
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