Catching Up

Thursday/Friday
1) know the term ubi sunt (a feature of lyric poetry that reinforces the tone of an elegy--mourning lost things from the past (kings, warriors, tangible aspects of culture, intangible values of a culture) bye asking essentially "Where is/ Where are. . . ." various things from the past that no longer seem present.
2) Continue to practice finding the elements of Anglo-Saxon poetry (caesura, kennings, alliteration, assonance) by examining the texts of each poem closely
3) Know the overall situations of the speakers in both "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer."

If you were absent, you need to do some questions on "The Seafarer."  You can access them here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARigzimXmDnvZGZ0dzhmcGhfMTNmOXFyaDhjOQ&hl=en

TODAY IN CLASS
We read the rather cryptic translation of "The Wife's Lament" in the text book (pp. 25-26), then students read a different translation (hand-out) by Michael Alexander called "The Wife's Complaint."  Finally, students answered questions about the content/motivation/character of people referred to in the poem.  You can access these questions here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARigzimXmDnvZGZ0dzhmcGhfMTRkaDdmdDhjZA&hl=en

Some people finished these in class; everyone should be no more than 10 minutes from finishing.  You will have that much time at the start of class on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday--there will be INDIVIDUAL work on comparing translations and making a case for the one you prefer.

PERSONAL ESSAYS and the SENIOR PROJECT
All students should have their personal essay second drafts back and should be working on the final draft.  Hand-outs include the cover sheet (see me if you were absent) and a general info sheet, including DUE DATES and CRITERIA FOR A FIRST-RATE ESSAY.  You can access it here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARigzimXmDnvZGZ0dzhmcGhfMTBmeDZ6OThkcg&hl=en

And the Senior Project material is due to the Career Center by Oct. 30.  Don't wait until the 30th to get approval from me . . . it might not pass muster.