Course Description
The poem in the original Old English, with attention to important critical studies.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
In addition to fulfilling all the undergraduate requirements
for the class, graduate students will:
1. Develop a familiarity with appropriate secondary material,
and demonstrate this expertise in different ways (for example,
through the construction of annotated bibliographies, through
in-class presentations, or through the development of
pedagogical tools for undergraduates)
2. Become aware of professional issues within the scholarly
field (for example, by reading book reviews or attending
conferences in the field)
3. Draft, write, and revise (in consultation with the
instructor) a 20pp. essay with the potential for publication
Athena Title
BEOWULF
Undergraduate Prerequisite
ENGL(LING) 4060/6060 and two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every odd-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Course objectives: At the end of the course, students, having read and translated the poem, will be able to discuss Beowulf (orally and in writing) with a considerable degree of critical sophistication, to reread it with pleasure, to read and enjoy other works from the period, and to converse with fellow students about texts and issues related to the subject matter of the course.
Topical Outline
Topical outline: The main topic will consist of the poem Beowulf, to be read outside of class and discussed in class, examined in the context of the times and the circumstances of its composition. Students will work their way through the entire poem during the semester and periodically will perform a number of graded tasks, including some combination of tests and out-of-class papers.