WLIRP+Andy

World Literature Independent Reading Project Quarter 1 2009-2010 Note: In order for your book to qualify it must be by an author from a country other than the United States or the United Kingdom OR the primary setting must be outside of the United States or the United Kingdom.


 * Title: **//The Prince - The Brothers Karamazov - Beowulf*//**
 * Author: **//Niccolo Machiavelli - Fyodor Dostoevsky - Unknown//**
 * Author’s Nationality: **//Italian - Russian - Unknown//**
 * Setting (only list the primary settings): //**None - Russia - Scandinavia**//
 * Do you currently have a physical copy of the book?: **//Yes//**
 * If you do not have a physical copy, how soon can you get one? (Write “NA” if you have a copy.): **//NA//**


 * I was vacillating.

1. If you don’t already, obtain a physical copy of the book and bring it to class when instructed. 2. Become an expert on your book by the end of the first quarter. The quarter ends on October 15th, so you have about seven weeks to complete the book. Keep in mind that you will be reading this book in addition to assigned readings for class, so when the homework load is light read your book. This is also the book you should use for KIS Reads. 3. Read actively by taking notes in the book (use Post-its if it’s on loan), and make sure you understand the main conflicts, how the characters develop, and any major themes. 4. At the end of each weak, write a 100-200 word reflection about your reading. Use your notes or post-its for ideas. 5. Your book will be the basis of a writing project at the conclusion of the first quarter, so keep track of the book.
 * Directions:**

Reflection, Week Three

The process thus far has been somewhat tedious, though not because of the book itself. A concatenation of completely unforeseeable incidents has led to a relatively late commencement of the project. So, evidently, I have not been able to adhere to my plan in the way that I had anticipated. I have only been able to read the introduction of the story. In essence, it is a disquisition on the lives of Machiavelli and his contemporaries. As I have not yet dived into the actual story, a controversial political treatise that has captivated and appalled audiences for half of a millennium, there is not much I can reveal. Then again, I now have a repository of arcane information at my disposal.

Reflection, The End

The moment in which I had completed Beowulf was a numinous one. I was nonplussed by my feat. It was arduous, interminable, and debilitating, but I had persevered! I realized immediately that this could benefit myself in innumerable ways. It will evidently boost my self-esteem. This incident will probably cause years’ worth of self-adulation and complacency. No longer will I wake in the night, suffering from paroxysms of insecurity and self-deprecation! I have been extricated from the pusillanimous, diffident shell of my former being. This has imbued within me a sense of audacity. I can, yet again, look myself in the mirror without excoriating whatever I see!

Outline for Beowulf

I. Introduction A. Background 1. Transpires within Scandinavia 2. Grendel terrorizes Hrothgar’s kingdom B.Plot 1. Beowulf, the rapacious son of one of Hrothgar’s friends, endeavors to extricate the kingdom of Denmark from its predicament, evidently anticipating remuneration for his travails. 2. He accosts Grendel, who is rendered moribund and duly retreats. a. Festivities and carousals ensue! Hrothgar proffers numerous extravagant benefactions to Beowulf, all of which he accepts. 3. In a paroxysm of petulance, Grendel’s mother attempts to requite the wrongs Beowulf had inflicted. a. She is pursued by Beowulf, who avers that he is indifferent to death. b. The subsequent scene is a disconcertingly macabre telling of the altercation between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. It concludes with her decapitation. c. Decades into the future, Beowulf is a venerable king. Lamentably, he is accosted, and subsequently killed, by a dragon.

II.Compare/Contrast with Romeo and Juliet

A. Familial themes are prevalent in both stories. The relationship that Romeo and Juliet endeavor to cultivate throughout the play is encumbered solely by their respective families. Beowulf, on the other hand, had capitalized on the amity his father had established with Hrothgar, a foreign king, and it benefited him greatly. These two scenarios are almost antithetical, considering how, with the former, “family” was an encumbrance, where as, with the latter, it was advantage. B. Both transpire in remote, obscure locations. Romeo and Juliet takes place in Italy, while Beowulf takes place in Denmark. What is ironic, if not fortuitous, is that (allegedly), both were written in areas other than their setting. Both Shakespeare and the anonymous author of Beowulf had composed their respective masterpieces within the English region. C. While this may pertain more to Beowulf than to Romeo and Juliet, many would concur that both stories have been eulogized for factors other than the plot. If one were to contemplate upon this from a contemporary perspective, they are rather generic stories. Of course, this could be because of the prominence they had attained in their respective timelines, and thus were emulated for subsequent centuries. But, if one were to disregard that self-contradicting sentence for a moment, they would see that extraneous factors of these masterpieces were accountable for the approbation, if not adulation, that they have garnered over the years. Beowulf is one of the first English stories to have been transcribed in history. Romeo and Juliet is the quintessential tragedy, albeit with (gratuitously) romantic themes. Despite the saccharine dialogue, the excessive sentimentality of the characters, and the coquettish pubescents, it is still a tragedy. And yet, while I do hope that I am not stigmatized as a philistine after this, I must say that the ending is not exactly lachrymose. In fact, until observing Olivia Hussey’s portrayal of Juliet, I had not shed a single tear. The story was impeccably written, evidently, but that in itself will not satiate audiences.

III. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages concomitant with reading Beowulf. A. Disadvantages 1. The story itself is somewhat generic, considering the characters and plot. 2. There are some exceptionable portions of the story that will probably harrow those who are incapable of differentiating fact from fiction. B. Advantages 1. It is evidently one of the first stories of the English language, so one can anticipate a very edifying narrative that is clearly illustrative of society during that time. 2. The professor who translated the poem has been the recipient of high approbation and critical acclaim for his work. 3. The disquisition at the beginning of the novel expatiates on Beowulf and its prominence in a comprehensible manner.