Music to my ears: I got back to school from my meeting just after school let out, and spoke briefly with the substitute teacher. She had nothing but praise for your behavior today. That makes me happy. Thank you.
The downside, of course, is not your fault--we'd just gotten all caught up to be at the same place, and 3rd period could not take the test today because of the unexpected fire alarm (and the LONG time you were out there). I wanted everyone to be "on the same page" in terms of how much time you would have to think seriously about potential written questions. Now, if I post the general topics here that that I will draw on, 3rd period would have extra time and everyone else would have to prepare over the week-end.
SO--here's the deal. 3rd WILL have the objective part on Monday, of course. In 1st and 5th, I will make the out-of-class assignment (that will take about 15 minutes) and then you will move on to the minor wrap-up pieces for the Anglo-Saxon unit.
Then, on Tuesday, EVERYONE will take the written part on the same day. We have 50 minute class periods that day, and I really didn't intend for the writing to take a full 55 minutes anyway.
HERE ARE THE TOPICS YOU SHOULD STUDY.
For the paragraph responses: you will write on TWO, and they will be worth 10 points each. However, there will be only three to choose from on the actual test!
- briefly showing exactly how/why Beowulf fulfills the requirements of an epic, using the fuller definition from the hand-out, not merely from your book. Your response should refer to several specific features of the poem.
- illustrating from the text three solid examples of wergild
- be able to provide some significant solid details about specific settings in the poem that relate to the overall concepts of good and evil. I would probably ask for one (good) or the other (evil)--not leaving it up to you. And the degree of detail you are able to provide would be really important
- define comitatus and think about DIFFERENT situations that could be used to illustrate the presence or the break-down of this standard
For the multi-paragraph response (presumably from two to four, though the number of paragraphs should depend on organization and development, not overall "length"). Note that there seems to be some overlap with topics given above. You can't double-up. Either the test itself won't have overlap, or if it does as choices, you can't write on the same topic twice.
- Comitatus--I could ask for a fuller application to the poem--either because I didn't ask it in the short one, or that you would know you can't write about it twice.
- Setting--I could ask a longer question about setting--comparing/contrasting two settings, for example, in terms of their significance in understanding characters, values, ultimate meaning, or whatever else you see as important purpose or effect
- Consider the apparent values of Anglo-Saxon culture by looking at the culture of the warrior or followers of a king or other leader. Be as specific as you can.
- DIGRESSIONS--some critics have established as many as 16, but some are really minor, and others (like the story of the swimming contest with Brecca) are so integral to the main story that they probably shouldn't be considered digressions in the first place. I could ask something about digressions that show something specific, or ask why some particular digression seems to be included, or . . .the point is, review the digressions that are told either by the scop or related by specific characters. Main ones to consider: the stories concerning Sigmund, Finn, Hermod, Thrith, Herdred, or one of the stories concerning Higlac (you could focus on just a couple of these for review--I'm just giving examples)
AGAIN, you will only get TWO options for the longer question. You won't have as many options as are listed here!
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