MTH2 CAC - PROF STACEY KLEIN
Pre-requisites: 01:350:101 OR 102 OR 103; OR 01:355:101 OR 102 OR 103
This course has two goals: 1) to improve students’ reading skills in Old English, the language written and spoken in England from roughly 450 to 1100 AD; and 2) to develop skills in critical thinking and writing that are necessary for undertaking large-scale research projects in literary studies. We will focus mainly on Beowulf, the longest surviving Old English poem, and a text that has been treated from almost every critical perspective imaginable. Inhabited by monsters, pagans, and a hero whose fame derives from both his handgrip and his kindness, Beowulf offers extraordinarily rich ground for exploring the language and culture of England before the Norman Conquest of 1066. Seamus Heaney’s prize-winning translation has recently brought Beowulf into the midst of popular culture. However, Beowulf has occupied a central place in the canon of English literature for quite some time, and thus offers an excellent springboard for thinking about broader issues within literary studies, such as why we read certain texts rather than others, what we hope to gain from reading, and how modern ideas about reading and interpretation might have differed from those held in earlier historical periods.
Attendance Policy: Students are required to attend class having prepared the assigned translations.
Means of Evaluation: translation assignments, oral presentations, several short response papers (2-3 pp), one longer seminar paper (15 pp), and one exam |
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