Raising the Dead (Languages, that is...)

I am a huge fan of Chaucer's blog posts and tweets. When he made this post earlier in the month celebrating "Whan that Aprille Day," I knew I wanted to find a way to participate. No longer in the classroom, I struggled with a way to encourage the revival of dead languages. My Master's work focused on Anglo-Saxon riddles, and I wrote an article for publication focusing on a tale in Canterbury Tales, so those languages in particular hold much interest for me, and I am focusing on these two languages. Kenneth Burke once wrote in Counterstatement that remoteness from what is being studied can impair the ability for the audience to connect with the text. This means that students enter already predisposed to find no relevance in older languages or their stories. We have to work that much harder to not only find the relevance, but also to hopefully inspire a love for these languages.

With that in mind, I wanted to post this week about ways to participate in "Whan that Aprille Day" within on online / blended setting for Middle / High school:

- Let students listen to the languages - Because many students read translations, they do not know what the languages sound like. Letting them hear the language, preferably more than once by someone who knows the language well enough to use inflections and emotions when reading the words, helps the students gain a new awareness of the text. Here are some options:

One example is Bagby's Beowulf. Here is an excerpt from the opening lines:

In the past, when I've shown this excerpt, my students (and my own children) were transfixed. My son watched the whole DVD. This clip gives them a sense of how this text was a story told to an audience, and it reminds them that the storytelling piece of this helped determine structure.

Michael Drout's Anglo Saxon Aloud site contains recordings of Drout reading Anglo-Saxon texts and includes poetry, prose, saints' lives, and more.

For Middle English, examples include this video from historyteachers introducing Canterbury Tales with a recitation of the prologue:

Another approach with a direct recitation of Chaucer can be seen at this site, which was an early entry celebrating "Whan that Aprille Day." Finally, there is the rap:

After viewing some recordings, the students can make their own and include an excerpt from the original language. Like the last two videos, the students can strive to bring the context for the recitation into a more contemporary setting that shows the relevance. For Middle English, the students can consult the pronunciation guide here.

- Exploring manuscripts - This site allows viewers to explore manuscripts. I think letting students see how the original works look on the page, when possible, provides another opportunity for the students to connect with the text, author, and audience. This site offers ideas for teaching with manuscripts. Finally, this site uses Thinglink to introduce the Anglo-Saxons, but I think that Thinglink would be a great place for students to analyze a manuscript or images of a manuscript. I could see an image from Chaucer's prologue with an analysis of the pilgrim and the devices Chaucer uses in his description.

- Progression of translations - Some frozen texts can be examined as the language changes over time. By looking at the progression of language, students can visually watch the words change and morph into modern wording. This site from Rice shows the progression of the Lord's Prayer from Anglo-Saxon to modern English. When there is no ready-made progression, even a dual language text can remind students of the original language while reading a translation. Here is one for Chaucer's Prologue and here is one for Beowulf.

- A study in translation - The act of translation requires the translator to make choices. Students often do not notice the choices involved in the translation of a text because they only see one translation. Starting with a read of the original text (preferably something short like some of the Exeter Riddles), students would then examine 2-3 translations of the riddle. Together, they would then discuss how choices made by the translator produced different meanings or different perceptions of the riddle. Because riddles require thoughtful translation in order to solve the riddle, they prove a good resource. Here is a riddle read aloud:

Here is one translation of Riddle 5. Here is another translation of Riddle 5 without the answer. Here is a third one. I'm not as big a fan of this one because it places the answer at the top, which is something the Exeter book does not do.

For Chaucer, here is a recitation of the description of the Pardoner from Chaucer's Prologue to Canterbury Tales:

The description contains a modern translation, but one can be found here and here as well. Discussing the nuances involved in translation is a great way to encourage language and build commentary about specific language choices. To extend the presentation of The Pardoner further, students can look at his relic trade. What would be a modern example? Do we still have relics? Do some still try to sell fake relics? A clip from Pawn Stars showing how we value items held or written by important people and the forgery surrounding those items can help put this in perspective.


I can't wait to see Twitter tomorrow and find out how others are celebrating #whanthataprilleday.