Lesson Overview 

Ah - an opening lesson of an opening novel.  If you want to see more of why I chose Grendel go here.  But for now, we have arrived.  It is the first book that we will go over in class - and like first impressions; opening discussions are so darn important.  Get the students excited here - and they will stay excited for the rest of the novel (and hopefully for the rest of the year as well).  I want to go over some themes (though I never call them that) - go over what happens (the most important thing of all) - bring in as much of what we learned and talked about with Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons.  And to acknowledge the very real amazement on the part of so many of this students at how this novel - based on this ancient text, has so much to say to them - and correspondingly how those ancient texts (that these modern books are based on) have so much to inform these books.  See my lesson notes for detailed instructions on how I ran the discussion (Ringmaster Scotese) - as well a sample of my reading page (with notes) to see the basis of the discussion.  Though Chapter 2 was usually assigned for this day (with a weekend to read); the discussion only covers Chapter 1 - but by doing it that way - it helps spread out the reading homework.

There are so many important ideas that are covered in this discussion (see my lesson notes).  These include the ideas of cause and effect (in fact this will be brought up for the rest of the school year - with students often (on their own) referencing Grendel and this opening chapter).  The ideas that we go over in class will also serve as a partial basis for their own reading (though of course I hope their lives and experience will be the major framework for their reading. 

Please note the lesson ends with the question - "Where have you possibly seen this scenario before - that Grendel finds himself at the end of the chapter - maddened by humans misunderstanding of what caused him to kill so many of them (he was hungry) and their response to sing joyous songs....  Though I ask students to not give that answer away until I play the music (see below in AudioVisual Content); there is always a look of recognition over many of their faces.

Thoughts on the Lesson 

An opening lesson sets the tone for the rest of the novel.  It is so important to bring the teacher's excitement and bring that to the rest of the class.  In my mind, anyway - I always see students very happy and excited to have read and to talk about this book.  It comes as a surprise to them.  A different kind of choice for their English class.  Some of the ideas that we cover in this opening discussion - "Cause" and "Effect"; "Rejection"; feeling apart from the rest of Society will resonate deeply with the students.