Take notes chapter by chapter. I recommend taking two pieces of
unlined paper and holding them horizontally. Fold the papers into
thirds. You'll end up with twelve columns, a column for each chapter.
When deciding what to take notes on consider the relationship of the chapter...
* to the original Beowulf story (What stays consistent? What is changed or added?),
* to the zodiac symbols (How are they significant? What are they doing there?),
* to other repeated images (look for patterns!), to particular characters (their philosophies and actions),
* to Grendel's psychological development (Think of him as a child growing into young adulthood. How does he change? Why?),
* to John Gardner's overall exploration of the questions, If we cannot know for sure the purpose and meaning of our lives, what kind of meaning and purpose should we assert? And what are the implications of that choice for ourselves and others? Or to put it a different way, how should we live? Should we invent values and try to live up to them or should we accept the world as meaningless and strive for personal gratification?
*to the ways the book itself enacts or embodies storytelling as a way of creating meaning and purpose by shaping experience with imagination.
What argument does Gardner seem to make in the novel? And how does he make the argument?
Things to remember: the book begins in spring in the twelfth (and last) year of Grendel terrorizing the humans. Each subsequent chapter moves one month forward* in the twelfth (and last) year of Grendel war with the humans. The narrative, however, also includes flashbacks to the years before the beginning of Grendel's raids on Hart hall in chapters 1-5 and to years during his attacks in chapters 6-8. Consider cyclical time and linear time.
*Chapter 1: late March until late April (Aires, the ram), Chapter 2: late April until late May (Taurus, the bull), Chapter 3: May/June (Gemini, the twins), Chapter 4: June/July (Cancer, the crab), Chapter 5: July/August (Leo, the lion), Chapter 6: August/September (Virgo/the virgin), Chapter 7: September/October (Libra, the scales/the balance), Chapter 8: October/November (Scorpio, the scorpion), Chapter 9: November/December (Sagittarius, the centaur [halfman & halfhorse] archer), Chapter 10: December/January (Capricorn, the horned goat/the sea goat), Chapter 11 (Aquarius, the water-bearer/the cup-bearer), Chapter 12 (Pisces, the fish)
You'll need to have read the first six chapters (at least) by Friday, January 6 (the epiphany) and have finished the whole book by Thursday, January 12. (Remember that the personal essay--described in a previous post--is due on Wednesday, January 4.)
When deciding what to take notes on consider the relationship of the chapter...
* to the original Beowulf story (What stays consistent? What is changed or added?),
* to the zodiac symbols (How are they significant? What are they doing there?),
* to other repeated images (look for patterns!), to particular characters (their philosophies and actions),
* to Grendel's psychological development (Think of him as a child growing into young adulthood. How does he change? Why?),
* to John Gardner's overall exploration of the questions, If we cannot know for sure the purpose and meaning of our lives, what kind of meaning and purpose should we assert? And what are the implications of that choice for ourselves and others? Or to put it a different way, how should we live? Should we invent values and try to live up to them or should we accept the world as meaningless and strive for personal gratification?
*to the ways the book itself enacts or embodies storytelling as a way of creating meaning and purpose by shaping experience with imagination.
What argument does Gardner seem to make in the novel? And how does he make the argument?
Things to remember: the book begins in spring in the twelfth (and last) year of Grendel terrorizing the humans. Each subsequent chapter moves one month forward* in the twelfth (and last) year of Grendel war with the humans. The narrative, however, also includes flashbacks to the years before the beginning of Grendel's raids on Hart hall in chapters 1-5 and to years during his attacks in chapters 6-8. Consider cyclical time and linear time.
*Chapter 1: late March until late April (Aires, the ram), Chapter 2: late April until late May (Taurus, the bull), Chapter 3: May/June (Gemini, the twins), Chapter 4: June/July (Cancer, the crab), Chapter 5: July/August (Leo, the lion), Chapter 6: August/September (Virgo/the virgin), Chapter 7: September/October (Libra, the scales/the balance), Chapter 8: October/November (Scorpio, the scorpion), Chapter 9: November/December (Sagittarius, the centaur [halfman & halfhorse] archer), Chapter 10: December/January (Capricorn, the horned goat/the sea goat), Chapter 11 (Aquarius, the water-bearer/the cup-bearer), Chapter 12 (Pisces, the fish)
You'll need to have read the first six chapters (at least) by Friday, January 6 (the epiphany) and have finished the whole book by Thursday, January 12. (Remember that the personal essay--described in a previous post--is due on Wednesday, January 4.)
No comments:
Post a Comment