Welcome to English Literature 12 at Navigate School!

Please note that this First Assignment is a requirement to be registered in the course.

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Instructions: This assignment is intended to take approximately 8 - 10 hours to complete. It is worth 10% of your final grade for the course, so please be sure to complete it carefully.

Read each question carefully before answering.
Answer all questions to the best of your ability, and in your own words. Plagiarized assignments will not be accepted, and you will not be registered in the course.
Take your time and explore all of the resources. You will receive a higher mark on this First Assignment if you include your learning from the readings and resources provided.
Contact the English Literature 12 teacher for help if you need it. Teacher contact information can be found on the Navigate website
When you have completed this assignment, attach it to your registration form or submit it as an attachment to an email to:

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Welcome to English Literature12 at Navigate!

Here is theFirst Assignment that you need to complete in order to be registered in English Literature 12. Until this assignment is submitted, and passed, your registration request will not be finalized. Once you have downloaded this assignment, you may save it on your computer to complete when you have time and then submit when it is complete. Please take the time to do a thorough job as this first assignment will count for 10% of your overall mark.

Here is some background on your Lit 12 Course:

It consists of 4 units of study and 4 unit tests

Middle Ages and the Elizabethan Age
Renaissance and the Enlightenment
The Romantic Age
The Victorian Age and the 20th Century

Each unit ends with a test, but there is NO FINAL EXAM.

As you work through these 4 units of study, you will be asked to read a wide variety of literature from different time periods and you will need to demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze and mimic different forms of literature. Everything is directed towards generating a better understanding of the wide range of literature that has been a part of Western culture throughout the past thousand years, but if you would like to pursue an alternative route to gaining this understanding then please discuss it with your teacher.

In an ideal world we would just sit around and read the literature and have Socratic discussions on the merits of different writers, but it is a necessary evil to allocate marks to you work. So here is how your marks will be tabulated:

First Assignment 10%
Assignments 55%
Tests 35%

Now the last piece of information before you hit information overload is that you will have 6 months to complete your course. If you are not actively working towards completing your course in this time then you may be assigned an incomplete failing grade and your course will be closed.

Now to move past all of the mandatory bureaucratic information and on to the assignment…..

Section A –Beowulf(18 marks)

Where else shall we start than by studying the first epic poem in the history of English Literature? While the poem was estimated to have been written in the 3rd or 4th Century, the oldest surviving manuscript was written around the 11th Century. It is the story set in Scandinavia involving two of the local nations, the Geats and the Danes. In a time when relations between cultural groups usually involved violence and warfare, Beowulf is upheld as an epic hero as he voluntarily helps others overcome a monster that has plagued their village.

A more thorough analysis and a translated copy of the manuscript can be found here:

Please use this link to review the history of Beowulf, and read the manuscript to the end of Beowulf’s battle with Grendel and then complete the assignments below. If you feel the need, you can do further research into the tale of Beowulf on the internet as there are numerous resources devoted to the tale of Beowulf and Grendel.

In a complete paragraph response and written in a formal analysis, discuss the statement below. You can either agree or disagree with the statement, but you need to support your stance with examples from the story.

Beowulf is an epic hero.

The goal of this assignment is to gauge your ability to comprehend English Literature and write a formal analysis. It should be written in paragraph form, and it should have a formal tone of voice which means:

No slang words
No personalized “I” statements
Do not write the phrase “In this paragraph…” (I can see it is a paragraph, don’t state the obvious)
In general just remember who your audience is, your teacher, and try to write both intelligently and thoughtfully

Your response will be an analysis of the story, so remember to do the following:

Use quotes from the story to support your ideas.
Take the time to brainstorm and figure out a clear and concise thesis that will be at the start of your response. A thesis is a robust topic sentence that tells me what you are going to prove in your paragraph.
Make sure your main body is focused on answering the question.
At the end of your paragraph, have some form of concluding statement that connects to your thesis statement from the beginning and summarizes what you discussed. You can also add in something that is more universal or a message about life in general as revealed through the actions of Beowulf.

And last, but certainly not least, how long should it be? One solid, long paragraph of about 8-10 sentences.

On the following page is the marking rubric I will use to assess this assignment, and most of your formal written assignments that you will write throughout the course. Please look at the rubric carefully as it gives you a number of pointers on what elements of your writing I will be focusing on and what my expectations are.

Insert your Beowulf response for Section A here.

Marking Key for Paragraph Assignment on Beowulf
Below Expectations / Minimally Meets Expectations / Meets Expectations / Exceeds Expectations
rm

Structure of a paragraph
Connections between ideas
“How you say it…”

No topic sentence and unfocused
No concluding sentence that summarizes points
No varied sentence starters
Short, choppy sentences

Topic sentence is vague or too brief and may summarize story
Concluding sentence is weak
Ideas are not well connected to topic sentence
Little variety in sentence structure

Clear, focused topic sentence
Sentence structure and style have some variety
Concluding sentence summarizes and revisits topic sentence
Main body clearly supports main ideas

Robust and well written topic sentence
Varied sentence structure adds to flow
Strong transitions between ideas
Intro and conclusion are thoughtful and have sense of purpose

Content

The information you use to prove your point
“What you say…”

No quotes or quotes are too long and irrelevant
Not focused on the topic
Plot summary
Ideas not well develop

Quotes are not well integrated
Quotes not connected to topic
Ideas are underdeveloped and not explained well
Too much plot summary not enough analysis

Quotes are relevant and well integrated
Ideas are well supported and focused on topic sentence
Has some depth of ideas

Engaging and thought provoking ideas
Clear sense of purpose and direction
Often has an element of uniqueness
Quotes expertly integrated and add to the flow of writing

Conventions

Grammar
Spelling
Diction (words used)

Errors make writing difficult to follow
Avoid the following grammar errors:
Comma splice and run-on sentences
Capitalization
Apostrophes
Has not edited work to catch obvious errors
Slang (colloquialisms) have been used
Diction is simple and lacks variety
Used personalized statements (I, we, you, us…)

Some grammar mistakes but errors are not distracting
Diction is appropriate and varied.
Appears to have been edited.

Few if any spelling or grammatical errors
Diction is intelligent and varied
Diction adds to overall tone of writing.

Section B – Grendel Point of View Piece (18 marks)

The tale of Beowulf is largely written from the point of view of the Danes and Geats as it recounts the story of Beowulf “saving” the Danes from the violence of the creature Grendel. Unfortunately these types of heroic epic tales never tell the story from both sides. Now is the chance to reflect on things from the point of view of Grendel.

In modern English, but in a format similar to the original, rewrite the story from the point of view of Grendel.

Here are some things to think about before you start:

I do not expect you to write something of the same length, but it should fall in the range of 600-700 words.
This is a creative writing piece, so you have the freedom to be creative in your approach and language.
Try to get into the mind of Grendel and why it would seek to harass the Danes. Take the time to reflect on what he would be like as a character

Your Grendel point of view assignment will be marked on the following 6 point holistic scale:

6 / Writing is fully imagined and well-crafted. Accomplishes the purpose with originality and maturity. Uses effective vocabulary and sentence variety. Voice and tone engage the audience throughout. Structure is effective and the writing as a whole appears effortless. Errors are not distracting.
5 / Writing is clearly imagined and crafted. Has a clear sense of purpose. Appropriate word choice and sentence variety. Voice and tone generally engage the audience. Structure is effective and the writing demonstrates control. Errors are not distracting.
4 / Writing is generally straightforward and clear, with some imagination and sense of purpose. Basic vocabulary, some sentence variety. Attempts to engage the audience, but lacks a consistent voice. Structure may be formulaic. Errors generally do not impede meaning.
3 / Writing is formulaic or undeveloped, with little imagination or sense of purpose. Limited vocabulary and sentence variety. Lacks a sense of audience and voice. Structure may be weak. Errors may distract and impede meaning.
2 / Writing is hard to fathom with no clear purpose. Colloquial vocabulary, weak sentence structure. Writing reflects little understanding of language conventions. Inappropriate tone or language for audience. Structure may seem illogical. Frequent noticeable errors interfere with meaning.
1 / Writing is not developed. Has no discernible purpose. May be too brief to accomplish the task. Lacks structure. Frequent serious errors.
0 / No attempt to address the assignment..

Insert your Grendel point of view assignment for Section B here.

Section C – Composition (18 marks)

English Literature 12 is not an easy course to complete as it does involve a large amount of reading difficult literature and writing multiple paragraph responses to the literature. It is not a course for the weak of heart, but when you enjoy literature it can be a very fulfilling course as having an awareness of the history of literature will help you in many facets of your education and life in general. So what I would like you to do as your final task in this first assignment is to tell me about why you have decided to take this course.

In a multiparagraph composition with not less than 600 words, write an explanation as to why you have decided to take English Literature 12 as a course.

Some things to think about that might lead you in the right direction:

Reflect on why you might love literature and enjoy reading
What can be learned from studying the classics and how could it help you in other areas of your study
Be honest. If you are hesitant about taking this course, then voice your concerns but do it in a thoughtful and intellectual manner. Think about why…..

You will be marked on the following holistic key, so please look it over before starting.

Insert your multi-paragraph composition for Section C here.