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Fall 2004

©D.W. Mosser

Daniel Mosser

ENGL 4124

CRN 95666

Office Hours: 10:30-12MW& by appt.

Office: Shanks 229

(540) 231-7753

Class time: 2:30-3:45 MW

Classroom: TORG 2060


This syllabus is located online at:

http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/exper/mosser/classes/4124.04/4124.html

It will be updated as warranted.

 Description

Learn to speak, read, and write the ancient language of Tolkien's Riders of Rohan: Old English. Learn the secrets of harnessing the magic of the Mandrake root (eat your heart out, Harry Potter!). Read all about the Apocryphal adventures of Matthew and Andrew in the City of the Cannibals!


This course has both literary and linguistic objectives. Students will gain sufficient proficiency in reading Old English to be able to read literary texts; they will acquire an understanding of the sounds and structures of Old English and how it relates to succeeding developments in the language; and they will see Old English in its proper perspective: not as an extinct foreign language but as a stage in the development of our own speech.


Students will be evaluated through quizzes, daily in-class translation, a midterm, and a final exam. (Graduate students will write an 8-10 pp. paper in addition to the above.)

Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English, 6th ed. (Blackwell)
Suggested but optional:
Hall, Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
Online Text
Daniel W. Mosser, The Evolution of Present-Day English

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Class e-mail list: oe.04@wiz.cath.vt.edu

 Requirements

Quizzes (7, lowest grade dropped, 5 points each)

30%

Midterm Exam

15%

Participation (in-class translation, questions, discussion)

30%

Final Exam

25%

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 Schedule

[Tentative]

Monday, August 23

Introduction to Course

Wednesday, August 25

"Brief Overview"; Chapter 1: "Preliminary Remarks on the Language"; Chapter 2 ("Orthography and Pronunciation"); Practice sentences, Part 2.1, pp. 171-172

Monday, August 30

"The Beginnings of English in England"; "The Fall of Man (Genesis 3:1-19)" (174-176)

Wed., September 1

"Outside Influences"; Pronouns (Ch. 3);

Monday, September 6

Quiz 1; "Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-19)" (178-180)

Wed., September 8

"Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-19)" (handout)

Monday, September 13

Strong Nouns, pp. 20-30; "The Mandrake" (handout)

Wed.,September 15

Quiz 2; pp. 35-41, verbs; "The Mandrake"

Monday, September 20

"A Colloquy on Occupations"

Wed., September 22

"A Colloquy on Occupations"

Monday, September 27

Quiz 3; Conjugation of Strong Verbs, pp. 43-45; "A Colloquy on Occupations"

Wed., September 29

Weak Verbs, pp. 46-50; "A Colloquy on Occupations"

Monday, October 4

Quiz 4; Anomalous Verbs, pp. 51-53; "Cynewulf and Cyneheard," pp. 208-211

Wednesday, October 6

"Cynewulf and Cyneheard"

Monday, October 11

Midterm Exam

Wed., October 13

Adjectives; pp. 30-35; "Cynewulf and Cyneheard"

Monday, October 18

"Selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," pp. 212-215

Wed., October 20

Quiz 5; "Selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," pp. 212-215

Monday, October 25

"Grimm's Law and Verner's Law," pp. 41-43; "Selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," pp. 212-215

Wed., October 27

Syntax: Word-Order, pp. 61-65; " Bede's Account of the Poet Cædmon," pp. 220-225

Monday, November 1

Syntax: Sentence Structure, pp. 66-70; " Bede's Account of the Poet Cædmon," pp. 220-225

Wed., November 3

Quiz 6 ; Syntax: Noun Clauses, pp. 71-75; " Bede's Account of the Poet Cædmon," pp. 220-225

Monday, November 8

Syntax: Adjective Clauses, pp. 75-81; " Bede's Account of the Poet Cædmon," pp. 220-225

Wed., November 10

Syntax: Adverb Clauses, pp. 81-88; "Riddles," pp. 231-234

Monday, November 15

Syntax: Adverb Clauses, pp. 88-96; "The Seafarer," pp. 276-282

Wed., November 17

NO CLASS (I will be at a conference--Happy Thanksgiving)

November 20-28
Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 29

Syntax: Adverb Clauses, Partaxis pp. 96-103; Syntax: Concord, pp. 103-108; "The Seafarer," pp. 276-282

Wed., December 2

Quiz 7 ; Syntax: Verbs, pp. 108-116; "Beowulf's Fight with Grendel," pp. 283-290

Monday, December 6

Syntax: Prepositions, pp. 116-117; "Beowulf's Fight with Grendel"

Wed., December 8

Classes End

Wed. , Dec. 15

4:25-6:25PM Final Exam (NOTE CORRECTION!)

 

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Panel from the Ruthwell Cross with a runic text of the Dream of the Rood carved at the edge. [back] For more on the Ruthwell Cross, click here.