Farewell, First Quarter!

This week, we bid a fond (and for some, a frantic) farewell to the first quarter, and welcome the second quarter of the year.  One of the highlights of the first quarter was a tableaux project that the seniors worked on in groups. A tableau is a form of enactment in which a “frozen” scene or pose is presented, to capture a relationship or moment. It's also a creative way of interpreting a piece of literature, in that it challenges readers to retell a story through image and gesture while communicating the main themes of the text.  Students collaborated with each other to create a series of five to six "essential" scenes from the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. 

Here are a few glimpses of the English 12 classes at play work: 

 "A powerful monster, living down / In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient..." (1-2).  Grendel, a "sin-stained demon", emerges from the depths to wreak havoc on humanity.    

"He slipped through the door and there in the silence / Snatched up thirty men..." (36-37).  Grendel visits the vulnerable Danes in the mead hall for his usual midnight snack. 

"Hell-forged hands" (66): some students got particularly creative with props (even though props weren't required).  Note Grendel's claws and the (detachable) arm that he eventually loses. 

Beowulf to the rescue!  He "heard how Grendel filled nights with horror / and quickly commanded a boat fitted out" so that he could travel to the land of the Danes (112 - 113).

"Hail, Hrothgar!" (142). Beowulf arrives in Herot and informs Hrothgar, king of the Danes, that he is there on a monster-hunting mission. Hrothgar (obviously relieved) welcomes Beowulf and holds a banquet to honor him. 

Beowulf is victorious, defeating not only Grendel, but Grendel's mother as well.  "Then the Geats' brave prince entered / Herot, covered with glory for the daring / Battles he had fought" (589-600). 

 Alas, even heroes like Beowulf are mortal.  "He'd reached the end of his days, their mighty / War-king, the great lord of the Geats, / Gone to a glorious death " (868 - 870).

Bravo, English 12!