Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Beowulf #1: Introduction

Beowulf is hard, Shakespeare hard. Both take a lot of time and attention to understand what is really being said. But when it comes to Shakespeare, that effort is rewarded with something akin to gold. With Beowulf, however, it feels a little more like unearthing a fossil. You know you found something valuable, even priceless, but it’s hard to know exactly what.

As the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language, Old English really, and with an oral tradition dating back to the fifth or sixth century, it feels worlds away from today. In fact, we knew nothing of this story until 1731 when it was found amidst the wreckage of a fire. Tucked away on some back shelf of Ashburnham House in London, who knows how long it would have remained hidden if not for that fire.

Beowulf Mask by Student

Since then, scholars have translated and transliterated Beowulf dozens of times. For an eager student, going through the stylistic differences and tonal shifts of each would be fascinating, if not fun. But for many, just reading one of these translations would feel tiresome.

Now, I’m not judging one way or the other. I like this stuff. As a seventh grade teacher, I also like giving my students a work that will immediately pull them in. That’s why I was so excited when I found Ian Serraillier’s version, Beowulf the Warrior. It’s a faithful text, written as much for a child as an adult, complete with blank verse, and full of literary elements. To return to our previous fossil analogy, it reads more like the dragon than the dragon’s bones.

Better still, it sounds like the dragon!

True to the oral tradition from which it came, Serraillier’s retelling makes a hauntingly beautiful read-aloud. Its primordial pulse paints my students’ faces with fascination and suspense when we read something like:

“Tricked of his treasure, angrily he prowled

Over the headland, sniffing the ground, devouring

The track of his enemy—but none could he find. At nightfall,

When the daystar was darkened, the candle of the world snuffed out,

Revengeful, riotous with rage, he went forth in flame,

Breathing out ruin, snorting hurricane.”

And just like that, the whole class begins to wonder if dragons really did exist!

Beowulf is more than fantasy, however. It is also a window into the past, showcasing what people of the early Middle Ages valued, believed, and loved. This includes not only the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples of Europe who were the focus of the tale, but also the Anglo-Saxons who eventually claimed the story as part of their cultural heritage.

Whatever your interest in Beowulf—anthropological, literary, or just plain old fun—this blog series has something for you. You’ll meet our title character, his three beastly foes, and a few other important figures. We’ll also analyze the plot and a number of significant motifs. Here is the line-up:

I. Characters

II. The Fight with Grendel

III. The Fight with Grendel’s Mother

IV. The Fight with the Fire Dragon

V. Motifs

Whether you read Serraillier’s retelling or one of the originals, I hope this series helps transport you to the world of Beowulf and unlock its mysterious beauty.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Literacy, Wisdom, and Virtue #2: Reading Aloud

Words are meant to be spoken. Yes, we write them and read them, but that is really a secondary function. A writer says the words in his head as he composes, just as a reader hears the words in his head as he reads. Thus, even the written word is a type of long-distance conversation.

What’s more, there is something about the sound of writing that either attracts us or repels us.

Just watch the face of a little child when he hears a well-read story. His eyes light up with understanding. His face smiles along with excitement or drops with sadness. He nods to show agreement or frowns to show objection. He feels like he is in the story, like the author wrote it just for him. He thinks about every word and asks questions whenever the reader pauses to take a breath. He is quite literally trying to speak to the author.

Clearly, reading aloud is as instinctual as it is meaningful. All of us want to hear words so we can really listen to them. For that reason, classical educators rely heavily on various types of reading aloud.

Teacher-led

One of the most obvious strategies is teacher-led read-alouds. There are many variations of this depending on the age group. For middle school students, I find it best to have them read along in their books while I read to them. I make a point of modeling critical thinking by pausing frequently and asking questions about the text. My goal is for students to learn how to engage the story deeply by showing them what an internal dialogue with a story looks like.

When reading “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, I might say something like, “I wonder why he uses bridle in this verse…Can you think of a homonym that we might substitute…Yes, bridal, as in getting married!…What message is Tennyson trying to convey about how the Lady of Shalott feels?…Yes, she wants to find love!”

Another good thing about reading aloud to students is that it establishes a proper pace for them. It slows down the reading process for those who are inclined to speed ahead and pushes others forward who might generally lag behind. As the adage goes, it keeps everyone on the same page, which is very important for generating insightful discussion.

But that does not mean it forces an artificial equilibrium in the classroom. Rather, it scaffolds the learning process in a wonderful way. “Developing” readers get a keener understanding of the text and increase their comprehension. Meanwhile, “advanced” readers are able to more critically analyze the underlying meaning and extract its wisdom.

Likewise, everyone benefits from hearing the appropriate pronunciation of words, use of pauses, and tonal inflections. It shows students what the words are supposed to sound like, which can be difficult when reading is done only in one’s own head. Teacher-led read-alouds model what students should be aspiring toward.

Student-led

But exclusively reading aloud to students is not productive in the long-run. They must also read-aloud themselves. This helps students develop their reading fluency and hear what their own voice sounds like. To this end, it allows them to “check” their own reading in a much more accurate way than simply hearing their voice in their head.

As we all know from experience, something might sound better in our heads than when spoken. So, if we want students to develop to their best potential, they need the most accurate measure of their progress, which comes from reading aloud. They need to hear their own voice, not an idealized internal version of it.

Paired with this, of course, is the teacher’s ability to assess the student. Only by hearing a student can the teacher know where he is struggling, help him master tough words, and point out the right places to pause and inflect.

I once heard an educator say that students should never be forced to read aloud since some are so uncomfortable doing so. I strongly disagree with this view. Well-intentioned as it may be, I think it is a tremendous disservice to students because it denies them a premium opportunity to improve their reading.

What’s more, I think it’s fairly easy to establish a respectful, loving reading culture in a classroom where students feel encouraged and supported. At the outset of the school year, I let my students know that everyone will read throughout the day (and not in a “popcorn” fashion). When called upon, the student stands, and everyone else reads along silently. No one but me is allowed to correct a student.

Some students will always be more comfortable than others, but the inability to “opt-out” and the insistence on a respectful reading culture helps everyone feel “safe.” As the school year progresses, struggling readers improve, gain confidence, and realize that everyone mispronounces words and needs help.

Choral Reading

A variation of student-led read-alouds is choral reading, which consists of the teacher reading aloud along with the whole class in one voice. This is one of my favorites. It lets everyone practice reading at the same time, which is very efficient. Additionally, it provides “cover” for struggling students by letting their mistakes blend into the chorus of voices. Plus, since the teacher is reading, too, the students have a good model to follow along with. Although the teacher cannot as easily hone in on individual mistakes, students automatically self-correct.

Blended Read-Aloud

Another variation is to employ a little bit of each strategy, kind of like the “I read; we read; you read” approach taught in conventional teacher education classes. For example, the teacher might start off reading aloud a chapter in King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table. Then, once the setting and tone are established, turn it over to students for individual read-alouds or choral reading.

Assessment

It is helpful to remember that reading aloud to and with students does not ensure comprehension. Many times have I read and discussed passages with students and felt they understood it only to realize that some number were still grasping with concepts and ideas.

That is where assessments come in handy. They can be in various formal and informal formats, but they should definitely be completed independently. For example, a student might check in verbally with a teacher through a simple conversation, narrate a story in verbal or written form, answer a reading guide, complete a journal entry, or something similar. I like using a combination of all of these with the various Great Books my students read. More on assessments, including examples, in the next post!

Not only does the assessment give the teacher much needed insight into a student’s progress, but it also compels the student to articulate his ideas. After all, that’s the goal—helping students to understand and form their own ideas in the process.