Anglo-Saxons Pt 2 - Day 5 - Acting out "The Seafarer"
"This tale is true and mine."
Anglo-Saxons Part 2 -Acting out "The Seafarer": The second time (after their Beowulf plays) that the students will get up and act out a text. This time is different in a couple of important ways - 1) They haven't seen the poem before 2) They are also (on their own time) working on their Illuminated Texts - and though this exercise is physical, not electronic - the idea is the same - to explicate a poem through movement.
Lesson Overview
See my Lesson Notes - PDF - the notes appear directly on the Reading.
No quiz today! The students will be looking at this epic Anglo-Saxon poem "cold". They will get into groups - be given a part of the epic poem - and then each group will act it out (in order) so we get the complete poem - the complete story. In my classroom, I had a few props, some sound effects, and I projected a background of the waves breaking against the rocks - all aimed at getting us in the mood, while keeping our focus on the very human elements of this poem.
One key prop is a large white robe. This robe will be worn by the student who is "the seafarer" in each group. As one group ends and another begins, they need to come up with a clever transfer of the robe and a seamless transition of the story (poem). I also had a blue water light that shown from my ceiling - really giving everything the look of water.
Here are some instructions taken directly from the handout (see below): "As you prepare your lines for performance consider the following…
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: Every action, every way you read the line and what the people do while lines are read should somehow make the words of the poem more clear to the audience.- THINK of this as a Living, Breathing, ILLUMINATED TEXT – you are doing the Illuminating for us.
-- Don’t be afraid to be bold – creative – have the audience be seabirds, have the narrator be a town of folk – Make your lines of the poem CLEAR to us. BIG OVER the TOP actions are great – engage us. Stay serious."
After the student performances, you should go over specific lines and parts of the poem with whatever time you have left. See my lesson notes for parts that I thought were the most important and worth going over.
In this reading and notes, one can see the genesis of the lesson over a number of years. First it is divided up - then what is important here - what are the big ideas, the connections to other things we have done - to things that we will do. See above andthe student handout below for more instructions on the actual lesson
Handout (with the poem & student instructions)
Docx PDF This handout includes the Burton Raffel translation of "The Seafarer" as well as the instructions for the students in actually acting out the poem. Note how it is put in terms of their Illuminated Text project - with the hope that this will further inspire them on the work that they are doing on that - and convince them for once and for all - that it is about the "idea" not the technology.
Power Point (to go over poem AFTER performance)
This presentation is great for quickly (you won't have much time after student rehearsals and the performance of the poem) going over the most crucial parts of the poem. I also bring back some of the things we've done before including Toni Morrison's essay on "Grendel's Mother" - trying to once again make the point of exactly how much these ancient poems still have to say to us.
Audio Visual Content
A background video to play behind the students' performance - with the sight and sound of waves to add some depth to the poem and to echo what the words are saying. Remember to keep the volume low as you don't want to drown out the students' voices.
I also have a simple background image (nonmoving) Presentation as well.
Related Illuminated Texts
BoemanL_WebsterN_TheSeafarer.mp4"The Seafarer" Illuminated Text by L Boeman and N Webster
What a beautiful job these students did - this is from the first part of the poem and they really make the text - as with the performances done in this lesson - come alive.
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Video
What's Next
"The Wanderer" Student Essay Performance Task - I only used this lesson once or twice which is a shame. It has a very well-thought-out essay prompt and is in the form of a state (lllinois) assessment - thereby giving them more practice. Finally, it does what we've been doing all year - comparing modern and ancient texts - and seeing how little things have changed.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Our last encounter with the Anglo-Saxons. Well, not really, the students have their Illuminated Text presentations. But - the timing and nature of this exercise are designed to end the unit - where we began. These very old texts are able to speak to us in a way that some mediocre modern texts cannot. It is so fashionable to throw out (of the curriculum) anything older than 20 years - and we are doing such an incredible disservice when we do. The titular character of "The Seafarer" has so much in common with our current students: isolation, alienation, feeling apart, being on a long unknown journey, being told that the world was better in the "good ol' days". Not that much has really changed.