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Journal: 4-5 sentences. Who is your favorite hero? (real or make believe). Beowulf Background Information. EPIC: long, narrative poem that celebrates the deeds of a legendary or heroic figure
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Journal: 4-5 sentences Who is your favorite hero? (real or make believe)
Beowulf Background Information • EPIC: long, narrative poem that celebrates the deeds of a legendary or heroic figure • COMMON FEATURES: hero battles forces that threaten the order of his world; story is told in a serious manner – in special elevated language
Characteristics of the Epic Hero • The epic hero typically saves people by engaging the enemy in single-handed combat. • The hero is not only better than others, but he/she is often the best in the world. • The hero is courageous and physically or mentally strong. • The hero is seeking fame and is larger than life. • The hero usually displays proof of his victory. • The hero exists for the sake of the community or society.
View video clip about heroes. • http://blog.ed.ted.com/2014/08/07/what-makes-a-hero-3-ted-ed-lessons-about-fictions-finest-figures/?utm_source=TED-Ed+Subscribers&utm_campaign=b4eb7c919e-2013_09_219_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1aaccced48-b4eb7c919e-46626821
Take a minute to think… • List as many modern day heroes that you can think of, real people and fictional characters.
Take a minute to think… • List as many modern day villians that you can think of, real people and fictional characters.
Literary Terms to Know • Kenning: two word, poetic renamings of people, places, and things (ex: whale’s home instead of sea) • Caesura: rhythmic breaks in the middle of lines, where the reciter could pause for breath • Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds • Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds
Epic Boast • A proclamation of things a character has done or will do in the epic
Thane • A warrior or retainer who follows and fights for his lord.
Comitatus • An agreement made between a lord and his thanes, in which the thanes swear to defend a lord to their death, while he provides them with protection and a share of his wealth and weapons
Mead • A fermented beverage made of water and honey, malt, and yeast
Oral Tradition • A process by which songs, ballads, folklore, and other material are transmitted by word of mouth. The tradition of oral transmission predates the written record systems of literate society.
Alliteration • Alliteration occurs when the initial sounds of a word, beginning either with a consonant or a vowel, are repeated in close succession.The function of alliteration, like rhyme, might be to accentuate the beauty of language in a given context, or to unite words or concepts through a kind of repetition.
Lament • A lament is a song or poem expressing grief or regret. Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. It is sometimes also called a dirge.
Scop An Anglo-Saxon poet - The scop fulfilled many roles in an Anglo Saxon tribe. Among those functions were: • court singer • tribal historian • genealogist • teacher • composer • critic • warrior • traveler and reporter
Elements in Beowulf • Christian and Pagan
Pagan • Paganism is a catch-all term which has come to bundle together (by extension from its original classical meaning of a non-Christian religion) a very broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices that are usually, but not necessarily, characterized by polytheism (belief in more than one god)
Paganism video clip… • https://youtu.be/c0B-5U7kaME
BATTLES • Get progressively harder • Involve epic struggle • Requires the reader to accept certain “impossible” things – breathing under water, etc.
Mock Epics • Satire or a parody of a serious epic or epic hero • Some Modern examples include: Inspector Gadget, Get Smart, American Dad, Pink Panther, Naked Gun, The Tick, Johnny Bravo, Spaceballs
Our Text • Only includes selected episodes from the original epic poem • Translated by Burton Raffel from Old English to Modern English • Beowulf is the oldest existing text in English- it was recorded sometime around 750 A.D.
Text. . . Continued • Original text was partially destroyed by fire when the library where it was housed burned • In 2000, The Beowulf Project was instituted. The manuscript was fed into a computer and the missing characters were replaced.
KENNINGS • Kenning is one of the literary devices popular in the Anglo-Saxon Old English poetry tradition. • Kenning- a literary device in which a noun is renamed in a creative way using a compound word or union of two separate words to combine ideas.
KENNINGS • If you call school a “scholar’s home” then you have created a kenning. • If you tell your friends that your parents are the “car loaners” then you have created a kenning.
Assignment : Consider carefully how you could creatively rename each of the following through the use of the kenning technique. 1. a teacher2. a bus driver3. firemen4. television5. meatloaf 6. police7. pop tarts8. music9. love10. computer
Create 5 additional kennings of your own. (#11-15)Turn in today’s work when you are finished or finish for homework as needed.