BRITISH LITERATURE

(SECONDARY)

ESSENTIAL UNIT 1 (E01)

(The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods)

(July 2014)

Unit Statement: What makes a hero? Does fate control our lives? Can people live up to
high ideals? In this unit, students consider these guiding questions with a focus on Old
English and Medieval British literature in the years between 449 and 1485. This unit
culminates in a literary analysis which uses evidence from a text to answer one of the guiding
questions or a topic selected by the teacher.

Essential Outcomes: (all must be assessed for mastery)

1. The Student Will define and apply the following key terms and concepts: alliteration,
ballad, caesura, epic, hero, kenning, meter, repetition, and rhyme.

2. TSW analyze how an author’s choices concerning the structure of specific parts of a
text contribute to its overall structure and meaning.

3. TSW summarize the text of Beowulf or Canterbury Tales.

4. TSW develop a thesis statement from which to write a cohesive piece of writing
about either Beowulf or The Canterbury Tales in response to one of the guiding
questions or a topic selected by the teacher.

5. TSW use valid reasoning and relevant evidence to support the claims made in
TSW#4.

Practiced/Ongoing Skills: (development is ongoing)

1. The Student Will initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative

discussions.

2. TSW determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multi-meaning words and
phrases.

3. TSW demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and

usage when writing and speaking.

4. TSW develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, and
rewriting his or her work.

5. TSW use technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback,
including new argument or information. It is suggested, but not required, that
this work be published on a teacher or student blog.

Key Terms and Concepts:

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Alliteration – Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Ballad – A ballad is a dramatic story told in song using the language of common people
usually featuring four line stanzas called quatrains.

Caesura – Caesura is a pause dividing each line, with each part having two accented syllables
to help maintain the rhythm of the lines.

Epic – An epic is a long narrative poem that traces the adventures of a great hero.

Hero – A hero is a legendary figure who performs deeds requiring courage and strength.

Kenning – Kenning is a metaphorical compound word or phrase substituted for a noun or name,
which enhances meaning (for example, “mankind’s enemy” used in place of Grendel).

Meter – Meter is the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry.

Repetition – Repetition is a technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for
emphasis or unity.

Rhyme – Rhyme is words in which accented vowels and all succeeding sounds are identical.

Suggested Professional Materials for Teachers:

Holt McDougal’s British Literature, pages 20-289

6+1 Writing Rubric or Common Core Standards Writing Rubric

Other materials and/or rubrics selected by teacher

Suggested Student Materials:

Holt McDougal’s British Literature

Additional Resources:

Grendel by John Gardner

Note: this work may not be appropriate for less mature or culturally conservative students,
and the teacher should use appropriate judgment when considering the use of this text.

Technology Links:
Destiny Webpath Express (found in school library)

MLA Formatting and Style Guide, Purdue Online Writing Lab

<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/>

The British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog

<http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2013/02/beowulf-online.html>

Geoffrey Chaucer online

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Copyright © 1988-2014
<http://geoffreychaucer.org>

The University of Virginia Medieval Links

<http://xroads.virginia.edu/~public/tucker/medlink.htm>

Suggested Assessment Tools and Strategies:

1. Attached rubric or teacher-generated rubric that assesses all essential outcomes (TSWs);

2. Creative writing assignment related to the text, such as write your own “Canterbury
Tale” or rewriting a scene from Beowulf from Grendel’s point of view;

3. Research related to the text (for example: what did a pardoner, prioress or cleric do?)
resulting in a creative presentation (museum tour, TV talk show, film, art project,
etc.) to be presented to the class;

4. Reading response notebook which lists elements of the text read and the student's
response to the text in which the student considers the guiding questions mentioned in
the unit statement: What makes a hero? Does fate control our lives? Can people live
up to high ideals? Note: The students would benefit from a teacher model of what is
expected in a reading response notebook;

5. Teacher generated tests specific to the text;

6. Shared inquiry or Socratic discussion monitored by the teacher in which students use
student or teacher-generated questions as a basis to ask questions raised while reading
the text. Teachers are especially encouraged to have students address the guiding
questions using textual evidence to support their answers; and

7. Student debate or speech in which students take sides about an issue raised in the text.

RUBRIC FOUND ON FOLLOWING PAGE…………………………………….

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 Suggested Unit Evaluation Rubric – BRITISH LITERATURE - E01

Student name:___________________________________ Date: ___________________

 To receive a ‘B’ in the unit a student must demonstrate ‘B’ level mastery of all
TSWs.
 To receive an ‘A’ in the unit a student must demonstrate ‘A’ level mastery on at
least 2 of the 2 ‘A’ level mastery identified TSWs.
Note: Teachers may choose to use their own rubrics, however all TSWs must be assessed.
TSW A level mastery B level mastery Notes
1. define and apply key Key terms and concepts are
terms and concepts. defined and used correctly.

2. analyze how an Analysis mentions Analysis mentions the text

author’s choices
concerning the structure
of specific parts of a text
contribute to its overall
structure and meaning.
specific textual examples and shows an understanding
and makes explicit the of the ways in which those
ways in which those choices contribute to the
choices contribute to the structure of the text.
structure and meaning of
the text.

3. summarize the text of Summary is accurate.

Beowulf or Canterbury
Tales.
4. develop a thesis The thesis statement is
statement from which to focused, arguable,
write a cohesive piece of appropriate to the
writing about either assignment, expressed in a
Beowulf or The single complete and concise
Canterbury Tales in sentence, and addresses one
response to one of the of the guiding questions or
guiding questions or a a topic selected by the
topic selected by the teacher.
teacher.

5. use valid reasoning
and relevant evidence to
produce a piece of
writing supporting the
claims made in TSW#4.
The student writing The student writing proves
proves the thesis the thesis statement, is well
statement, is well researched, and organized.
researched, and
organized. The textual
evidence is arguable and
specific.

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Copyright © 1988-2014