GERALD RICHMAN'S ACADEMIC PAGE: Seminar for Freshmen 166 Beowulf: From Germanic Poem to Hollywood

<http://webcas.cas.suffolk.edu/richman/SF/index2008.html>

GOALS, TEXTS, SCHEDULE, READING JOURNALS AND RESPONSES, MIDTERM PAPER, FINAL EXAM, GROUP PROJECT, GRADES

Last updated . This site will be updated throughout the semester, so consult it regularly.

Email	Voice Mail	Fax	Office	Office Hours
grichman@suffolk.edu	(617)573-8279	(617)624-0157	Fenton 227	MW 12:00-1:00, M 2:30-3:30, and TTH by appointment

FALL 2008

SF 166 B Beowulf: From Germanic Poem to Hollywood TTh 10:00-11:15 Sawyer 323

GOALS

To follow the Beowulf story from its Germanic origins to 2008, including the text of the only surviving manuscript of the poem (about 1000 A.D.); the rediscovery of the poem in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and its celebration as a Germanic equivalent of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey; J. R. R. Tolkien's mid-twentieth century scholarly and creative adaptations; John Gardner's shift from the human to the monsters' perspective; and late twentieth and early twenty-first century adaptations of Beowulf in graphic novels, films, and computer games.

To explore the appeal of the old story to different cultural moments over a span of more than a thousand years.

TEXTS

Beowulf. Adap. and ill. Gareth Hinds. 1999. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick P, 2007.

Beowulf: A Verse Translation. Trans. Seamus Heaney. 2000. Ed. Daniel Donoghue. New York: Norton Critical Edition, 2002.

Beowulf on Steorarume (Beowulf in Cyberspace). Ed. Benjamin Slade. <http://www.heorot.dk>.

Gardner, John. Grendel. 1971. New York: Vintage, 1989.

Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit (any edition)

---. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (any edition)

In addition to the readings, the main resources for the course will be this syllabus and the online platform Blackboard, accessed through Campus Cruiser at <http://www.suffolk.edu/campuscruiser/index.html>. To access Blackboard, you must turn off Pop-Up Blockers.

SCHEDULE

DATE	READING	WRITING ASSIGNMENT
September 4	Introduction
September 9	Beowulf 1-85; "Old English Language and Poetics" xv-xxii; Hinds	Journal 1
September 11	Beowulf 86-188; Hinds	Response 1
September 16-18	Beowulf 189-835; Hinds; Tolkien, The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter VI "The King of the Golden Hall"	Journal 2 Response 2
September 23-25	Beowulf 836-1250 (and pp. 89-91); Hinds; John Leyerle, "The Interlace Structure of Beowulf" (Norton Critical Edition, pp. 145-52; skip pp. 130-43, but read the summary paragraph before section III, p. 144)	Journal 3 Response 3
September 30	No class: view podcast	Journal 4
October 2	Beowulf 1251-1903a; Hinds; Jane Chance, "The Structural Unity of Beowulf: The Problem of Grendel's Mother" (Norton Critical Edition, pp. 152-67)	Response 4
October 7-9	Beowulf1903b-2509; Hinds; Roberta Frank, "The Beowulf Poet's Sense of History" (Norton Critical Edion, pp. 167-81)	Journal 5
October 9	No class: view podcast	Response 5
October 14-16	Beowulf 2510-3182; Hinds; Thomas D. Hill, "The Christian Language and Theme of Beowulf" (Norton Critical Edition, pp. 197-211	Journal 6 No Response Midterm Paper
October 21-23	J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit;	Journal 7 Response 7
October 28	The Hobbit, animated film, Dir. Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. 1977	Journal 8
October 30	J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	No Response
November 4-6	J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; film dir. Peter Jackson. 2002	Journal 9 Response 9
November 9	Draft of Project Paper	Group Discussion Board
November 11	Veterans Day Holiday	No Class Responses to Drafts
November 13	John Gardner, Grendel	Journal 10 No Response
November 18-20	John Gardner, Grendel; Grendel Grendel Grendel. Dir. Alexander Stitt. 1981 (animated film)	Journal 11 Response 11
November 25	Beowulf films
November 27	No Class	Thanksgiving
December 2	Group Presentations
December 4	Group Presentations
December 9	Group Projects	Blackboard
December 11	Final Exam	1:00-2:50

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES

Education requires active participation of the whole class. We all have the obligation to contribute to the education of others in the class as well as our own. The only way to accomplish this is to attend class regularly, read texts carefully before class, complete assignments on time, bring books to class, and contribute to the discussion.

Before each class, post to Blackboard a Journal or Response writing assignment designed to provoke discussion and to provide practice in written analysis. These writings will be graded mainly for insight, originality, and supporting evidence.

A Midterm Paper and a Final Exam will provide the opportunity to review and pull together the work of the whole semester.

Students with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities, who wish to request accommodations to ensure full participation in this and other courses, should contact the Office of Disability Services at (617) 994-6820.The office is located at 73 Tremont Street, 7th floor.

Attendance

• Education is a contact sport. If you are not in class, you can not contribute to your own education and that of the other students; therefore, more than four absences during the semester will lower your grade. If you miss more than six classes, you will be in danger of failing the course and should speak to me about your options.

• If you miss a class, you are responsible for the material discussed in that class. Go to Lectures in the left-hand menu in Blackboard to view podcasts of classes. This is the closest you can come to experiencing classes that you miss, but podcasts are not as good as the real thing because they will not record most of the contributions of your fellow students and will not allow you to contribute questions and comments in the heat of discussion.

• But attendance in itself is not sufficient. Your grade will also be based on the quality of your participation. Bring your books to class.

• Please come to class on time prepared to stay the whole period. It is very annoying to the class if students are constantly coming and going. (Let me know, of course, of special circumstances.)

• Please turn-off cell phones and pagers!

Late Assignments

• More than three late assignments during the semester will lower your grade.

• You are responsible for all the material covered in class. Late Journals and Responses should reflect but not simply repeat class discussion, and will be graded accordingly. Better late than never, however.

• To pass the course, you must complete every assignment. Please speak to me if you are having trouble keeping up with readings and written work.

Class Web Site

• The syllabus, daily class materials, all assignments, exams, internet readings, and other resources are available on the class web site.

• Check the web site regularly for changes and addition of new resources.

• If you have any suggestions for adding to and/or improving this page, just let me know. Your contributions are welcome.

Email

• All students are expected to check their Suffolk email regularly for official communcations from the University and me.

• If you prefer to use another email account (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.), forward your Suffolk email to this account by setting up a forwarding file. Log in to your Suffolk email account and click on Options from the top menu and then Forwarding in left menu.

• Remember to change this file if you change email accounts.

Revision

• You may revise any assignment within two weeks of receiving my comments and the grade.

• If you correct the mechanical errors (typos, spelling, punctuation, grammar, conventional formats) using Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual, I will raise the grade by half a grade (from, say, B to B+).

• If you strengthen your ideas, add clarifying details and supporting evidence, and improve the organization, there is no limit to the change of grade.

• The revised grade will replace the initial grade.

Grading

Course Requirements	Percentage of Grade
Journals and Responses	35%
Midterm Paper	10%
Final Exam	10%
Group Project	35%
Class Participation	10%