Welcome to my Homework Blog
September 8-September 11, 2009

Grade 9:
We are beginning a unit on Short Story.
Notes to study on Short Story:
A short story is a literary genre, in which a lesson is to be learned, or a discussion is to be created, through the actions of characters, in a specific setting.

The four elements that must be present are: plot, character, setting and theme.

Plot: is the storyline, or actions of the characters. There are four parts to plot:
1. Introduction: an introduction introduces the characters, introduces the setting, and gives background information.
2. Development: is the conflict of the story. There are two main types of conflict:
a. External Conflict
i. Man versus man
ii. Man versus nature
iii. Man versus society
b. Internal Conflict
i. Man versus himself

3. Climax: is the high point of interest in the story, and the point of no return—things cannot go back to the way they were.
4. Conclusion: ends the story line, ties up loose ends, and answers the readers’ questions.

Character: There are two types of character: Flat and Round.
Round characters are fully developed. The reader knows much about the character. A character sketch could be written about the character.
Flat characters are stereotypical characters who are in the story only to interact with the main character.
There are five ways to develop characters:
· By what they says
· By what they do
· By what others say
· By what the author says
· By how the characters interact with others

Setting: There are three parts to setting:
Time: when the story happens
Place: where the story happens
Atmosphere: the mood of the story

Theme: The theme is the moral or lesson of the story. The reason the story was told in the first place.

Point of View: There are three points of view:
1stperson: considered reliable. “I”
3rd person: He, She, John
Omniscient: All-knowing, or God-like.

Symbolism: When something tangible (something we can see, feel, describe) represents something abstract ( an idea, or concept that is not tangible). We try to explain the unexplainable, i.e. Death, or love, with something we understand—the colour black, the grim reaper, or a heart or rose.

I need a writing sample from students in week one. On Friday, 9 Edwards will write an essay in class, and on Monday, 9 Norman will write an essay in class. The topics for this assignments are:
Write a personal essay of 300-400 words in formal English, on one of the following topics:

1. What are the three most important qualities of a friend?
2. What are your three most important qualities of character?
3. What are three qualities you want in a job?

Grade 12:
We are beginning our units on English Literary Periods. Here are notes to study for the first quiz:
Literary Periods and their dates:

Celtic period: up to 35 BC: no significant English literature remains
Roman Period: 35 BC to AD 410: no significant English literature remains
Circa means around this date. In other words, no specific date

I. Anglo Saxon Period: AD 449-AD 1066
II. Anglo-Norman Period: AD 1066-circa AD 1350
III. Age of Chaucer: circa AD 1350-AD 1400
IV. Revival of Learning, also the Renaissance: AD 1400-AD 1558
V. Age of Elizabeth: AD 1558-AD 1603
VI. Age of the Stuarts, also Puritan Age: AD 1603-AD 1660
VII. Restoration Period: AD 1660-circa AD 1700
VIII. 18th Century: circa AD 1700-AD 1837
IX. Romantic Period: AD 1798-AD 1837
X. Victorian Period: AD 1837-AD 1901
XI. 20th Century: AD 1901-AD 2000
XII. Post Modern Period, also Present Day: AD 2000-present

Notes on the Anglo-Saxon Period
Old English:

Anglo-Saxon Period: AD 449 to A.D.1066

The name Anglo-Saxon denotes two of the Germanic tribes—Jutes, Angles and Saxons that came to England after the Romans left in A.D. 410.
The Angles came from the place Angeln, hence their name. The old Saxon word angul or ongul means hook, and the English word angle is used in the sense of fishing. Saxon comes from seax, or sax, meaning a short sword, so Saxon means the swordsman. The Angles were the most numerous of the conquering tribes, so the new land became known as Anglalond, changing to Englelond, and then England. By the year AD 1000, these people were referred to as Anglisaxones, that is the Saxons of England, to distinguish them from the Saxons of the Continent. King Alfred referred to his beloved “Englelond” and his brave “Englisc”. The name Anglo-Saxon was first used by William Camden in his History of Britain.
The literature of the period sprang from two sources:
1. Secular works, from the minstrels, or scops of the day, and
2. Religious writings, from the monasteries.
We have only a few works remaining from this period. Most works were destroyed by the invasions of Vikings during the 8th and 9th centuries. The works that we have come to us in the following manuscripts:
Exeter’s Book: The poetry, in the Exeter Book's 131 surviving parchment leaves, is the largest collection of Old English literature we have, found in the Exeter Cathedral library. The Exeter Book is our only surviving source for most works it contains, the most famous of which are "The Wanderer," "The Seafarer," "Widsith," "Wulf and Eadwacer," "The Wife's Lament," and a great collection of the witty riddles at which the Old English poets excelled.
The Junius MS (Manuscript): Of the four surviving manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon poetry, MS Junius 11 is the only one which is illustrated. This tenth-century manuscript contains four poems based on the Old and New Testaments: Genesis A and B, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan. It was given by Francis Junius in 1677 to the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
The Vercelli Book, is named after the location in which it was discovered, in Vercelli, Italy, where it seemingly arrived in the twelfth century. It was 'discovered in the nineteenth century when a German, Friedrich Blume, who was looking for legal manuscripts, came across it. Its 135 leaves, written by a single scribe, contain next to a group of homilies 6 poetic texts, including The Dream of the Rood and two poems ascribed to Cynewulf, namely The Fates of the Apostles and Elene.
MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv ("Beowulf" and "Judith"). The sole surviving manuscript, in which Beowulf was copied along with Judith, belongs to the tenth or early eleventh century. Although written in Late West Saxon, which was the literary koine of the period, the poem is presumed to have originated either in Northumbria or Mercia. Generally called the Beowulf Manuscript, and also containing three prose pieces (The Passion of St Christopher, The Wonders of the East, and The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle),
Secular Works:

The greatest work of the time was Beowulf, author unknown. This is the first English epic—some consider the greatest epic—in our literature. This work was written about A.D. 700, determined by the values and image of life that are presented in the poem. The only surviving copy of the poem in presently in the British Museum—the manuscript Cotton Vitellius A xv. This copy of the poem was almost lost in a fire in 1731, while being housed in Ashburnham House in London. The edges of the manuscript were scorched in the fire, then it was allowed to deteriorate for another 150 years. Fortunately, two copies had been made of the original manuscript before the fire; if this had not been done, some words at the edge of the manuscript would have been lost forever.
The poem is about the hero, Beowulf, who saves King Hrothgar from the ravishings of the monster, Grendel. Beowulf then fights Grendel’s mother. He becomes king and rules wisely, until he dies at the end of the poem fighting a dragon, once again defeating evil. The poem is a mixture of pagan and Christian values.

Other secular works that still remain are:
“Widsith”, the wide goer or wanderer, is the oldest work in English. It expresses the wandering life of the gleeman, earning his living by his singing.
“Deor’s Lament” This picture of the Saxon scop is of a man living in sorrow, realizing that at any time a better poet may supplant him.
“The Seafarer” This poem shows the hardships of the ocean life, and deals with allegory, in which the troubles of the seamen are symbols of the troubles of life.
“The Fight at Finnsburgh” is a fragment of fifty lines, discovered on the inside of a piece of parchment drawn over the wooden covers of a book of homilies. It is a war song, describing the defense of a hall by Hnaef.
“Waldare” the story of Walter of Aquataine, escaping form Atilla the Hunn.

Christian Writers and Their Works:

Two schools of influence spread Christianity in England:
Under the leadership of Augustine of Rome, this influence spread in the south and center of England, especially in Essex. It founded schools and partly educated the poor people, but produced no lasting literature.
The other influence came under the leadership of Aidan, from Ireland, (which country had been a center of religion and education for all Western Europe. The monks of this school laboured mainly in Northumbria, and therefore this literature is called the Northumbrian School. The work was centered at Whitby. The three greatest writers are Bede, Cædmon, and Cynewulf.
Bede (673-735): known as the Venerable Bede, (Venerable means worthy of respect) is generally called the “Father of our English Learning,” yet, he wrote almost exclusively in Latin. His most important work is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Not only is this an historical account, but also contains stories of saints and missionaries. His last work was a translation of the Gospel of Saint John into Anglo-Saxon, but this translation has been lost.
Cædmon: (circa 664) nicknamed the Anglo-Saxon Milton, his greatest work is Paraphrase, the story of Genesis, Exodus, and a part of Daniel. (This work may be the work of more than one writer.)
Cynewulf: (circa 750) Wrote The Christ, a story of Christ’s birth, ascension to heaven, and a rendition of doomsday (The Book of Revelation; Juliana; The Fates of The Apostles and two epics, Elene (the story of finding the true cross) and although not signed by Cynewulf it is attributed to him, and Andreas (the story of St Andrew rescuing his comrade, St. Matthew, from cannibals, by crossing the sea. The shipmaster, who sails the boat, is Christ in disguise.)

Another person of influence on English Literature was King Alfred (848-901), known for his translations. King Alfred was the fifth son of the previous king. Not expected to be king, he was well educated. After his four older brothers died, some in battle, he found himself king. His country was being invaded by the Vikings, and everything in their path was destroyed. After Alfred the Great pushed back the Danes, who destroyed all manuscripts of the day, he set about to educate his people. He translated Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and he began The English or Anglo-Saxon Chronicles; each year, scribes were to write of the important happenings of the year, work which was carried on after his death, until a hundred years after William the Conqueror. From a literary point of view, little happened of significance during the last two hundred years of the period.
Historically, King Edward (a.k.a. Edward the Confessor—saints who were canonized were either martyrs, who were killed for their faith, or confessors, who died naturally) was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon King, ruling from 1042-66. Edward had many ties with the Normans, having lived there with his parents. He died without an heir, and named Harold as the next king. Harold was crowned January 6, 1066, after the Witan—a council of noblemen and bishops had met on January 5th, to choose a king, from possible candidates: William of Normandy, to whom supposedly Edward had pledged succession in 1051, as he was the great-nephew of Edward’s mother, Emma (William was the grandson of Emma’s brother); Harald Sigurdsson, king of Norway, later called Harald Hardrada--meaning Harold the hard ruler; Tostig Godwinson, (a brother to Harold Godwinson who became king); and Harold, Godwinson, a brother to Edward the Confessor’s wife, who received the vote of the Witan, The period ended with the invasion of William of Normandy in October 1066, which was well chronicled in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.