ENGL 105, Fall, 2012, Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 1
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Announcements:
 Supplemental Instruction with Janice Robinson:
1. Purpose and benefits; overall approach and goals.
2. Day and time for SI meetings: Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30 PM in SG 136. Attend
one every 3 weeks.

Be sure that you are enrolled in the class.
More interpretation and analysis of Anglo-Saxon Literature of the Warrior.
These two poems, and some riddles, are from the Exeter Book (ca. 960-990).
 “The Wanderer” (ca. 900) Background Information:
http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/wanderer.htm
o Poem: http://www.anglosaxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=wdr
1. Identify the two speakers of this poem.
2. What lamentations does the poem express? Give examples.
3. What consolation does the poem express? Give examples.
4. What themes do you interpret?
5. Show how the poem presents both pagan and Christian perspectives.
 “The Seafarer” (Poem and Background Information:
http://elfinspell.com/EarlyEnglishSea-Farer.html
o Poem in OE and ModE: http://www.anglosaxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=Sfr
1. Give an impression of the speaker of the poem as a person. What is he
like?
2. What is the speaker’s situation? Describe examples of the suffering that
the speaker notes in the early parts of the poem.
3. How does the speaker’s situation change as the poem continues?
4. How does the focus of the poem alter in its second part? Give examples of
the speaker’s sudden emphasis on life and beyond.
5. Note one or more themes of this poem.
 note: the modern poet Ezra Pound translated the first 99
lines of the poem in his own way:
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html/1807/4350/poem1
664.html
Analysis of selected works from Literature of the Priest.
Background Information on The Venerable Bede:
http://www.nndb.com/people/761/000094479/ and
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02384a.htm
ENGL 105, Fall, 2012, Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 2
 Bede, “Bede’s Death Song” http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/bedesdeath-song
1. Interpret the message presented in the poem.
2. What does this message indicate about Bede’s perspective(s) on life
and death?
3. Note the use of caesura or pause, meaning the separating of each
line into two parts, usually couplets. What effects does the caesura
have?
 Bede, excerpt from The Ecclesiastical History of England (selected from
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book1.html )
o For example, Chapters 25-27 on St. Augustine
1. Note examples and what they indicate about Bede’s portrayal of the
history of England—what priorities are evident, for instance?
 Also—Aelfric, Excerpt from Lives of the Saints: “The Passion of Saint
Edmund, King and Martyr”
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/870abbo-edmund.asp
a. Note the heroic portrayal of St. Edmund: what are his qualities?
b. Note the anti-Semitism that is evident in the portrayal, which was
common even among scholars at the time (e.g., “The Life,” para. 5).
 Anglo-Saxon Riddles from
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/english/beowulf/riddle.htm Solve the riddles and
explain your reasoning.
 “A wonderful warrior exists on earth. Two dumb creatures make him grow bright
between them. Enemies use him against one another. His strength is fierce but a
woman can tame him. He will meekly serve both men and women If they know
the trick of looking after him And feeding him properly. He makes people happy.
He makes their lives better. But if they let him grow proud This ungrateful
friend soon turns against them.”
 “My home is not quiet but I am not loud. The lord has meant us to journey together.
I am faster than he and sometimes stronger, But he keeps on going for longer.
Sometimes I rest but he runs on. For as long as I am alive I live in him. If we
part from one another It is I who will die.”
1. Comment on the effectiveness and relative level of sophistication of the
riddles.
2. Note the subject matter of the riddles and what that says about the people
who devised them.
Exam 1 Information
 There will be a couple of Identifications of passages from our readings, or
both. Your job here is to name the title of the work from which the passage
comes.
Example:
ENGL 105, Fall, 2012, Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 3
a. Identify this passage:
He was the mightiest man of valor
in that same day of this our life,
stalwart and stately.
 The main part of the exam is an essay addressing a topic that involves one
or more of the readings we have completed so far. You’ll state a thesis and
then support it with relevant examples from the readings.
Prompt Format:
 Write an essay of about 250 words or more that exemplifies _______ in AngloSaxon literature. Use examples from two of the readings to support your thesis.
Reading List for Exam 1—print out and bring copies:
“Caedmon’s Hymn”—will be printed on the exam
Beowulf
“The Wanderer”
“The Seafarer”
“Bede’s Death Song”—will be printed out on the exam
Next Time: Exam 1. Bring readings, a bluebook, and pens.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Please Attend the SI and follow the GCC Code of Student Conduct (see the
syllabus). Everyone needs to be respectful and participate actively. Paper
printing is very limited in the labs (10 pages max). See me for help and for any
issues you have with the class.
Exam 1 (Anglo Saxon Literature) in class. If you are absent today, contact me ASAP.
Depending on the nature of the absence, a makeup exam (equivalent but not identical to
today’s exam) can be arranged within a week of your return in the Assessment Center.
 Later this semester, we will read Cymbeline, then go see it at A Noise Within
Theatre! Which day and time are best for most of you?
o Thursday, October 25, 8:00 PM
o Friday, October 26, 8:00 PM
o Saturday, November 2, 8:00 PM
o Sunday, November 3, 2:00 PM
For Next Time: Read Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (in textbook; general index
available at http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm )
 General Prologue (interlinear translation):
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/gp-par.htm
ENGL 105, Fall, 2012, Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 4
Other Assigned Selections in Side By Side
·
The Knight’s Tale: http://www.librarius.com/canttran/knighttrfs.htm
·
The Miller’s Prologue and Tale: http://www.librarius.com/canttran/mttrfs.htm
·
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale:
http://www.librarius.com/canttran/wftltrfs.htm