Unit Outline: Anglo-Saxon Period
(449-1066)
Objectives (Big Ideas)
Text Readings:
Germanic Invasions (pg. 2-3)
Anglo-Saxon Civilization (pg. 3-5)
The Establishment of Christianity (pg. 6-7)
Anglo-Saxon Literature (pg.7-9)
From Beowulf, (intro pg. 11)
“The Coming of Grendel” (pg. 12)
“The Coming of Beowulf” (pg. 17)
“Unferth’s Taunt” (pg. 19)
“The Battle with Grendel”(pg. 23)
Summary of Beowulf’s Last Two Adventures (pg. 27)
“The Burning of Beowulf’s Body” (pg. 28)
Key people/events/concepts:
Jutes William the Conqueror
King Arthur Beowulf Poet
King Alfred Scop
Normans Danes & Geats
Britons Angles/Saxons/Jutes
Literary Terms:
epic
Heroic tradition
Elegiac tradition
kennings
caesura
alliteration
allusion
- What are the key historical events of the Anglo-Saxon period?
- What are the major elements of Anglo-Saxon Culture (including values, lifestyle, history, and language)?
- What are the various characteristics of earliest literature in general and Anglo-Saxon poetry in particular?
- What are the qualities of the epic hero?
- What does it mean to be a hero in modern day culture? Who are some modern epic heroes?
- How are the elements of Anglo-Saxon culture represented in Beowulf (the first major work of the period)?
Text Readings:
Germanic Invasions (pg. 2-3)
Anglo-Saxon Civilization (pg. 3-5)
The Establishment of Christianity (pg. 6-7)
Anglo-Saxon Literature (pg.7-9)
From Beowulf, (intro pg. 11)
“The Coming of Grendel” (pg. 12)
“The Coming of Beowulf” (pg. 17)
“Unferth’s Taunt” (pg. 19)
“The Battle with Grendel”(pg. 23)
Summary of Beowulf’s Last Two Adventures (pg. 27)
“The Burning of Beowulf’s Body” (pg. 28)
Key people/events/concepts:
Jutes William the Conqueror
King Arthur Beowulf Poet
King Alfred Scop
Normans Danes & Geats
Britons Angles/Saxons/Jutes
Literary Terms:
epic
Heroic tradition
Elegiac tradition
kennings
caesura
alliteration
allusion