Posted: May 23rd, 2015

Leadership

Study Books Used in Class:
Beowulf, trans. Heaney (Norton 9780393320978)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. Merwin (Knopf 9780375709920)

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, trans. Coghill (Penguin 9780140440225)
Description:
Write a full essay supported by historical information presented in class and examples/quotes from the texts we have read: Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Canterbury Tales. Please be sure to include citations for all source material. For chaucer, choose individual Tales, and use several, so that you prove that your inferences are true throughout Canterbury Tales.)

TOPIC:
Leadership has always been highly valued, but its definition and purpose/s in society have altered over time. How are the stories of great leaders in Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and Chaucer used to model behavior, build a society’s identity, show the social values of society (including how it uses/questions/values violence), etc? Use historical context and the literary texts we have studied to examine the evolution of values from anglo-Saxon Britain to the very modern sensibility shown in Chaucer.