The English 400 students studied Beowulf, an Old English Epic poem, this semester. The study, led separately by teachers Mary Quinn and Brian Weilert, began in January and ended on February 6. Beowulf has been studied in past years by the English Department in similar courses and analysis.
“We chose to study Beowulf because it is the first Epic Hero and an Epic narrative that spans a culture as well as the iconic hero,” Mary Quinn, English 400 teacher, said.
The students read Beowulf and then worked in groups to bring the story to life and teach the class about the Anglo Saxon culture, language and customs just to name a few.
“Beowulf was at times tough to understand, but was mostly interesting,” Joey Goode, senior, said.
As the study came to a close, students were assigned to complete a project that interpreted the Epic poem. Project ideas spanned from movies, for those with videographer skills, to a more artistic choice of comic strips and board games, and also to a strictly educational idea-powerpoints.
“Sydney Dixon, Josie Keegan, and I made our project into a movie trailer, which was a reenactment of the final battle of Beowulf,” Mitchell Caldwell, senior, said.
The majority of English 400 students found Beowulf interesting, yet unlike anything they had ever read. The English 400 Department plans to study Beowulf again in future years.