TravelingChris Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I am unfortunately going to be directing the study of British Lit with my 11th grader. THis will be a solely read and discuss class as she is doing a separate writing class. I figure I will start with Beowulf and go on to selections from Canterbury Tales (and hope she remembers our field trip there). She read a translation of Beowulf back in 6th grade and really enjoyed it. I am not a big fan of epic poetry so if I am to read it, I want it as painless as possible. Also if people have recommendations on the Canterbury Tales, I will take that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Get the audio of Seamus Heaney reading his translation of Beowulf (and get his translation in book form too - you could probably get it from the library. The audio is slightly abridged). This will be not only painless but highly enjoyable. Then use this Glencoe guide http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/beowulf.html as a study guide. Voila! Beowulf is short and should only take a couple of weeks to study. As for the Canterbury Tales, I have never liked them very much! I'd pick a couple of the least coarse ones, read them aloud to each other (get a translation you like; I'd just look through the bookstore or library) and then use another online study guide (maybe get the translation the study guide uses.) I taught British Lit to a group of high schoolers a couple years ago using the Lightning Lit program from Hewitt. If you google that you'll come up with the correct website. It had lots of writing in it and so you probably don't want to expend the money on it if you're not teaching writing along with the lit. If I were you, I'd just rely on internet resources. When I was research Brit Lit, I found lots of them! Do a little exploring; there are wonderful resources out there waiting to be googled! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 We read the Seamus Heaney translation aloud together, along with a The Great Books study guide for Beowulf, and really enjoyed both! We read about 10 pages a day, and, what with also doing the study guide, Beowulf took us about 2-1/2 weeks to complete. If doing it silently and independently, I think an 11th grader could read it in one week, plus add 2 days for discussion/writing about it. Below is a past thread with a more specific schedule break down, if it helps. Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D. Reading Schedule for Beowulf? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105543&highlight=Beowulf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 We read the Seamus Heaney translation aloud while we listened to the audio. One of our favorite books! It took about 30-4 min a day, for about 3 weeks (4 days a week) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I am unfortunately going to be directing the study of British Lit with my 11th grader. THis will be a solely read and discuss class as she is doing a separate writing class. I figure I will start with Beowulf and go on to selections from Canterbury Tales (and hope she remembers our field trip there). She read a translation of Beowulf back in 6th grade and really enjoyed it. I am not a big fan of epic poetry so if I am to read it, I want it as painless as possible. Also if people have recommendations on the Canterbury Tales, I will take that too. My only rec. for Beowulf is to get one that is written in verse... to wait until a good stormy day...snuggle up and read it aloud...in the dark w/ a flashlight...and get the feel for how it was spoken long ago. So creepy...so scary.... So FUN!!!! My kids love Beowulf! ~~Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Yep, Seamus Heaney is the way to go. His translation is just lovely--my 7th grader found it quite doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outtamyshell Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 He includes the original text as well. It's great to see it. We also found a great Teaching Company lecture at the library about Epic poetry and listened to the lecture on Beowulf. I never thought I would like Epic poetry until I heard that! The best part was when he read some of the old english Beowulf - at least I THINK it was old English. It was so rough and beautiful and tied in well to his lecture on the northern European environment and its affects on their literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) I looked at the Seamus Heaney translation a few years ago, and I decided that neither my kids nor I was going to read that. If you use this translation, unless you are good with the older English translations, I'd definitely go with the audio tapes. My older 2 kids did not do Beowulf...but I found that my Norton's Anthology included it, and its translation was by E. T. Donaldson. I read this straight through as did my youngest child--and I really loved the book!!!! http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Norton-Critical-Editions-Donaldson/dp/0393096874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249415150&sr=8-1 FWIW, Jean Edit: You can "Look Inside" of the 1st pages for both translations at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-New-Verse-Translation-Bilingual/dp/0393320979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249415571&sr=8-1 Edited August 4, 2009 by Jean in Wisc Added another url Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.