Humanities 9: Mr. Pomeroy

Society of Beowulf Pathfinder

"Beowulf: sole surviving manuscript," British Library, Cotton MS Vitellius A. XV, f.132. Copyright, The British Library Board.

Understanding the society in which Beowulf was written will give you a setting and background knowledge for interpreting and analyzing the epic poem.

You have been assigned to one of the topics below. Research your topic and find the suggested details. You are not limited to these items, however. Find out as much as you can.

Turn in a one page paper and be prepared to take up to 2 minutes to tell your classmates what you learned.

Since the information you are required to find is strictly common knowledge, we are not requiring you to cite your sources in a formal way. Include the title of the databases you used at the end of your paper. NOTE: You may NOT use sites from the free Web, such as Wikipedia.

If you have questions about note taking or using the databases, ask Ms. Jansen.

Topics

Old English: What was Old English, its origins, dates, authors, works, significance etc?
Anglo-Saxons: Who were they, where did they come from, what did they do, when did they live, etc?
Sutton Hoo: What is it, where is it, why is it important, who was involved, etc?
Christianity in England: When did it arrive, who brought it, what was there before, what was its popularity in 1000 when Beowulf was written?
History of England in 1000: What was England like in 1000, who ruled, wars, quality of life, etc?

Resources from St. Andrew's subscription databases
(You may NOT use sites from the free Web, such as Wikipedia.)

Try these keywords (depending on your topic) when searching the online databases (you typically won't use capital letters when searching).

When using keywords in a search field, omit words such as "in, and, on" and so forth. Just type in the important words. For example: type christianity england instead of christianity in england

You do not need to (nor should you) use capital letters when searching. You will typically get better results if you use all lower case.

old english, origins, dates, authors, old english literature

anglo-saxons, anglo-saxon people, anglo-saxon society, anglo-saxon history

sutton hoo, vikings, viking ships

christianity england 1000, christianity history england

england history, england society

All of these reference databases are available on our Subscription Database page:

Encyclopædia Britannica: use the version "for high school students and up"
Gale: Student Resource Center Gold
SIRS Knowledge Source: Click SIRS Renaissance
ProQuest eLibrary
EbscoHost: MagillOnLiterature Plus (click on MagillOnLiterature in the list of databases) for Old English literature, not for other historical information
EbscoHost: History Reference Center (click on History Reference Center in the list of databases)

Don't neglect to look at the related links and various other links that come up for each search.
Printing: Always use the Print option on the page when you are printing from these databases. You get a cleaner copy that is easier to read and make notations.
Be patient! Try several different searches. Don't give up!
See Ms. Jansen for passwords for home use or pick up a flyer in the library or if you need help using the databases.

[Help with citing sources] [Form for note taking]

Humanities 9: Mr. Pomeroy

Topics

Resources from St. Andrew's subscription databases (You may NOT use sites from the free Web, such as Wikipedia.)

Resources from St. Andrew's subscription databases
(You may NOT use sites from the free Web, such as Wikipedia.)