Jessie Gordon

1.

• Voluspa is a mythological poem because of the features of gods and sons of the gods for example, “Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake. Midgard’s defender dies triumphant but the human race no longer has a home: nine steps beyond the Serpent’s body, Thor, wounded, walks in pride. (Bellows, 1936 p. 4)”
• Volsunga Saga is a legendary saga because it is a medieval prose narrative that recounts the exploits of a hero or a family. “‘Speak Fafnir, and say, if thou art so exceeding wise, who are the Norns who rule the lot of all mothers’ sons’” (Morris and Magnussun, 1888, p. 10).
• Beowulf is an epic genre usually has a hero that is well-known with mighty strength, and a narrator. “The wide kingdom reverted to Beowulf. The ruled it well for fifty winters, grew old and wise as warden of the land until one began to dominate the dark, a dragon on the prowl from the steep vaults of a stone-roofed barrow” (Heaney, 1999, p. 4)...
• The Hobbit is an epic high fantasy because there is use of magic and involves a sort of quest. This quote illustrates this, “for Bard at once had speedy messengers sent up the river to the Forest to ask for the aid of the King of the Elves of the Wood, and these messengers had found a host already on the move” (Tolkein, 1937, p. 240)...
  
  
  2. Some features of secondary orality preserved in Voluspa is an emergence of individual identity when writing comes into the picture because information can be recorded and analytic thinking can be used that is not used in oral culture. For example, Voluspa preserves features of primary orality by using evidence of “wars of words, eg as riddle or song contests, name-calling, and bragging…. Writing subdues the constant verbal jousting of oral cultures” (Ong, 1982:43-45). Orality is also homeostatic according to Ong, “Constant adjustment to maintain equilibrium or homeostasis. Writing records things but creates a desire for novelty and constant change” (Ong, 1982:46-49).
  
  
  3. A central incident that happens in Voluspa, Voluspa Saga, Beowulf, and The Hobbit is someone that becomes a hero due to fighting a large, evil creature such as a snake or dragon, and uses swords or arrows to kill the creature.
  In Voluspa, "Far-famed Thor, the son of the Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake.... Midgrad's defender dies triumphant, but the human race no longer has a home: nine steps beyond the Serpent's body, Thor, wounded, walks in pride" (Ong 1948, p. 3).
  In Beowulf, " A dragon on the prowl from the steep vaults of store-roofed barrow where he guarded a hoard" (Heaney, 1999, p. 5). "After many trials he was destined to face the end of his days in the mortal world; as was the dragon (Heaney, 1999, p. 6).
  In Volsunga Saga an example is, "So whines the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank it up to the hilts" (Morris and Magnussun, 1888, p. 9).
  In The Hobbit, "Then Bard drew his bow-string to his ear. The dragon was circling back... Fire leaped from the dragon's jaws. He circled for a while high in the air above them lighting all the lake... then he swooped straight through the arrow storm, reckless in rage" (Tolkein, 1937, p. 235)...
  4. Tolkien was influenced by Norse mythology and draws on the Old Norse and Old English texts in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. For example, he was heavily inspired by Volsunga Saga and the myth of Sigurd and Gurun. The figure of Gandolf is influenced by the Norse deity Odin, and "promotes justice, knowledge, truth, and insight" (wikipedia.com).
  6. Thor has become widely known in the modern world from the movie that brought the old god to real life. Thor has appeared in countless comic books, Marvel movies, and video games. Thor still represents the son of Odin in the modern world, with being the god of thunder, tall and strong, with a magical hammer. Thor still represents Old Norse Mythology through the use of these.
  
  
  References 
  Heaney, S. (1999). Beowulf: a new translation. United States: W. W. Norton & Company
  
  
  J. R. R. Tolkien's influences. (2019, February 20). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien's_influences 
  Morris, W. & Magnussun, E. (1888). The Story of the Volungs (Volsunga Saga). London: 
  Walter Scott Press.
  
  
  Tolkein Gateway. (2019). Language of Dale. Retrieved from: 
  http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Language_of_Dale
  
  
  Toklein, J. R. R. (1937). The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. United Kingdom: Allen & 
  Unwin.
  
  
  Tolkein, J. R. R. (1954). The Lord of the Rings. United Kingdom: Allen & Unwin.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Week 10-12

Modernism

What does The Wasteland mean (Lol)?

OK, well, let's unpack that:

1. How has it been interpreted? Use citations.

2. What are some of its key features?

3. In what ways has it been influential??


PoMo

1. What common qualities do the "Beats" share? Why were they so-named?

2. On what grounds was Ginsberg's HOWL accused of being obscene, and on what grounds was it defended?

3. In what ways are Beat poetry and rap linked?

4. How was Bob Dylan's song Master of War involved in controversy during the Bush administration?

5. What were the links between black protest music and revolutionary political movements, such as the Black Panthers, in the 1960s and how did things play out then and into the 1970s?

6. Identity some linked themes in rap of the 1980s from the period of the previous questions.

7. What kinda protest song/rap/other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?

Week 7-9

1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.

2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?

3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...

4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).

5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).

7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling? 

Week 4-6

1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero"...

2.  The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist.  Why might they believe this?  Do you agree?  Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.

3. Hahn's essay (see critical reader) on The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle identifies the motif of the loathly lady, but arguably it has a different purpose than asserting the feminine.  What does he think the function of the story is?

4. In the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?

5. Discuss what you think is the most striking or outrageous example.

6. What does Revard (1997) suggest about the relationship between language, sex, power and transgression in the English Renaissance? 

Week 1-3

1. What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?

Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Remember to give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc).

2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?

3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to cite from the original texts).

4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.

5. Discuss how Tolkien's use of "tradition" (e.g. older literary sources) differs from the techniques and agendas of modernism (see Week 7 in your Reader).

6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?

7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ? [Subject to viewing]

8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc).