For Wednesday: Beowulf, Part III

There are no questions for Wednesday's readings; try to finish the poem and when you get to class, you will have an in-class writing question waiting for you based on the third part of the book.  This will count for your daily response, which will be your last one this week.  On Friday, I will discuss art and 14th century life, which will help introduce our second book, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

If you  have to miss class on Wednesday, feel free to e-mail me and I can give you the in-class response questions. Otherwise, see you on Wednesday.

BONUS: Just for checking the blog, I've included a link below for those of you in class who are interested in classical music (okay, probably all 1 of you).  The American composer, Howard Hanson, who was of Scandinavian descent, wrote many pieces inspired by his ancestral heritage.  One of them is this massive work for chorus and orchestra, A Lament for Beowulf, which tries to capture the feel of the Anglo-Saxon world in colorful, dramatic music.  If you like the music from Lord of the Rings composed by Howard Shore, you'll see where he 'borrowed' many of his ideas.  The piece is long--about 20 minutes--so watch as much as you care to, or none at all.  It's just for fun, though I think it's a fantastic piece of music.  The video is pretty static, just the orchestra playing, so go do something else while you listen.