Old English
C Stevenson
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
*
Pre- or corequisite: ENH2020
* Exemption with permission of the head of
department.
Objectives Students taking this subject should develop skills in reading and analysing the language of Old English at a basic level, with a consequent capacity to read in their original language the literary texts prescribed for study; a broad knowledge of the historical and cultural background of these texts; knowledge and understanding of Anglo-Saxon literary genres and in particular the nature of and conventions used in hagiography, heroic poetry (both secular and religious), and the Old English elegy.
Synopsis A study of the language and literature of Anglo-Saxon England. After an intensive introduction to the Old English language, the subject will cover a number of prose texts with cultural and historical significance (selections from The Anglo-Saxon chronicles, Alfredian texts, Aelfric's Life of St Edmund). The second half of the subject concentrates on Old English poetry, both secular and religious (`The Battle of Maldon', `The Dream of the Rood', `The Wanderer', `The Seafarer', and the shorter elegies).
Assessment second year Two exercises (1500 words each): 25% each
*
Essay (2500 words): 40%
* Seminar assessment (500 words): 10%
* An
optional examination (3 hours) may replace up to 40% of the written work.
Assessment third year Two exercises (1500 words each): 25% each
*
Essay (2500 words): 40%
* Seminar assessment (500 words): 10%
* An
optional examination (3 hours) may replace up to 40% of the written work
*
For the essay: students doing the subject at third-year level must write a
comparative essay which covers two of the set texts, while at second-year level
students need write on only one of the set texts.
Prescribed texts
Crossley-Holland K The Anglo-Saxon world OUP, 1984
Noble J and Moore B Old English texts Monash U, 1990
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