Overview and Background: Unit: The Epic

Carla Simmons : Cheney USD 268

Art, Drama, Music. English. : English : English IV

Cheney : Grades 12 - 12 : Aug. - Jun.

Title:	The Epic
Topics:	Epic Literature, Beowulf
Time Frame:
Start Date:	-
Status:	Revised
Date Revised:

Other Designers:

Summary:
This is the first unit in a study of English literature. Students read selections from Beowulf (found in virtually all British literature anthologies) and study the various elements that make up an epic. They will also read the novel Grendel to compare point of view.

Print Materials Needed:
Beowulf (use selection from literature book)
Grendel by John Gardner
Movie/book/video game of student's choice (teacher approval required)

Resources:
Costello, Mary Enda, et al. British Literature Volume 1: Beginning to Romantic Era. The Center for Learning, Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, 1985.

Gardner, John. Grendel. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Raffel, Burton, trans. Beowulf in Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.

Resource Attachments:

Internet Resource Links:
Link 1:http://www.lnstar.com/literature/beowulf/
Link 2:http://www.georgetown.edu/irvinemj/english016/beowulf/beowulf.html

Notes:

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

State:	KS       3
Title:	Literature
Standard(s):	The students identify a wide variety of genres in various forms.

Understandings:
user	Overarching Even though times change, literary forms do not. Unit Certain characteristics are common to all epics. Different points of view can affect perception of events.

Essential Questions:
user	What are the basic characteristics of an epic? What does Beowulf have in common with more modern heroes? What popular stories (movies/books/games) have an epic format? How does seeing a story from the antagonist's point of view change your perception of it?

Knowledge and Skills:

Knowledge
The epic has specific characteristics still used in literature today.
Changing the point of view of a story can alter the reader's perception of it.
People today can identify with a story that is thousands of years old.
Epic format continues to be used in literature and other entertainment formats.

Skills
Analyze the elements of an epic in modern and ancient works.
Organize ideas into a coherent message that the average reader can understand.

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

Assessment Summary:
Students write an essay comparing Beowulf and Grendel to a modern epic of each student's choice (popular choices are Star Wars and any of the Star Trek series). Key Criteria are definitions of the various elements of the epic supported with specific examples including quotations from the written works. Rubric includes all the traits from the Six-Trait model. In addition to content, place emphasis on sentence fluency and word choice because these essays can get very choppy and redundant if the students are not careful.

Task/Prompt: Storyteller

Type:Performance Task

Topics: Epic

Summary:

Print Materials Needed:

Resources:

Resource Attachments:

Internet Resource Links:
Link 1:
Link 2:
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Link 5:

Notes:

Student Directions:
You are the scop (historian/storyteller) for your tribe. Write a message to an Anglo-Saxon tribe explaining how a modern work that you choose contains the same characteristics of the epic that Beowulf has. Be sure that you support your message with specific examples, including quotations from the work.

Other assessment evidence to be collected:
Selected Response/Short-answer test/quiz
	Quizzes on reading Study guide to assess point of view

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

Learning Activities:

1. Show clip and discuss the film 13th Warrior (it's based on Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead, which is based on Beowulf). What characters, plot points, themes does this have in common with other popular movies and books?
2. Tell students they may have to watch a movie such as 13th Warrior on their own time as part of this unit.
3. Use study guide to help students through reading of Beowulf.
4. Read Grendel; compare his reactions to the events to those of the people in Beowulf.
5. Quizzes on reading
6. Use/adapt graphic organizer from Costello (see above) to compare Beowulf and modern epic.
7. What movies/books/games that you like are similar to Beowulf?
8. Essay (Performance Task): Paragraph comparing point of view in Beowulf and Grendel