Extra Credit Opportunities,

Here are some ways to get extra credit for your first quarter grade:

-10 pts. each. Read any other story in "unit 1" of your textbook and answer the "review and assess" questions at the end of it.

-10 pts. each. Read any "book" of Le Morte D'Arthur and write two good paragraphs of analysis about what it teaches you about Arthur and what it teaches you about chivalry.

-10 pts. each. Write an original, creative, funny "top 10" list like the one I did here (well, mine only has three). The subject? Anything Arthurian or Beowulf...ian.

-25 pts. each. Watch any of the following movies: Camelot (the musical), First Knight, The Sword in the Stone, Excalibur, Beowulf and Grendel. Write a two-paragraph review of what the movie teaches you about Britain that you didn't know and how one of the movie's characters appeals to you.

-25 pts. each. Write a good article (editorial, film/music review, news) for the school newspaper The Knight Insight. Get it published for extra credit!

All of these extra credit opportunities are valid for the whole year, not just for the first quarter!

Library Visit, essay 1

Search the London Times or the Boston Globe (click on Globe) or the New York Times for unique uses of your word since 2000.

Try EBSCO, which searches all magazines/newspapers at once for you. Type username/password, click on "full text periodicals" then "MAS Ultra" then search for recent articles using your word uniquely.

Go to OED.com and log in with my username/password to read more about your word if there is more to be read.

FYI: Here is the suggested outline for essay 1, draft 2:

-Intro: general to specific thesis
-Report on preliminary research/crunch #’s.
-OED definitions that are unique or different from ordinary definitions.
-OED citations from literature—what kinds of authors have experimented with or changed this word over time?
-2000àonward usage: in The London Times or other newspaper and in a modern poem/short story/novel.
-Conclusion: what is this word’s future versus English’s future as a “super-language”?

Did Angelina Jolie read Beowulf in high school?

The answer: of course! Anyone educated and good looking reads Beowulf! Even though you might need parental guidance to see it in November, you should get away from watching the trailer unscathed.

Actual lines from the movie version that don't encourage me to go see it:

"I'm Beowulf. I'll kill your monster."

"Are you the one they call Beowulf? Such a strong man you are."

"I'm a ripper, tearer, and slasher...I am Beowulf."

Old English Dictionary

Want to write more old English poems? Check this dictionary out for help...