Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf'
I can describe some key features of Anglo-Saxon culture and how these are reflected in ‘Beowulf’ and I can explore the structure of the narrative in ‘Beowulf’.
Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf'
I can describe some key features of Anglo-Saxon culture and how these are reflected in ‘Beowulf’ and I can explore the structure of the narrative in ‘Beowulf’.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Beowulf was written by Anglo-Saxons in England about events in Scandinavia.
- The story refers to some historical figures, but lots of the story is fictional.
- In Anglo-Saxon society, warriors were highly respected. We can see evidence of this in 'Beowulf'.
- The overall story focuses on the 'problem' of Beowulf's quest for fame.
- The story is made up of three mini-stories, each with their own story structure.
Common misconception
Pupils may find it difficult to see the distinction between the overall story structure and the structure of the mini-stories.
As pupils will be writing events from only one mini-story in this unit, focus on the idea of each of these as a complete, resolved story in itself. The larger, overall structure is less significant for our writing in this unit.
Keywords
Anglo-Saxons - the European people who settled in what is now England, following the end of Roman occupation
Culture - the ideas, customs and behaviour of a particular people or society
Story structure - the underlying structure of a narrative that gives it a logical and coherent order
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
with his bare hands
with a sword he finds
with a dagger