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The Right Curriculum of Senior English: Beowulf or World Literature?

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The Right Curriculum of Senior English: Beowulf or World Literature?
The Ohio Department of Education is proposing to broaden English IV to world literature. This would mean either removing or condensing British Literature. Should Beowulf be kept in the curriculum of senior English, or should it be replaced with world literature? Beowulf is one if the many stories that is read in senior English across the state. It is a tale describing a time of heroes and fantasy. Beowulf should be kept in English literature. It is a truly tremendous story. It entails three battles between a mighty hero named Beowulf and a trio of unworthy foes. The first battle is fought against a monster named Grendel. Winning the battle easily, Beowulf goes on to kill Grendel’s mother, and so on to killing a dragon, thus ending his life at the end of the last battle. Beowulf is a great example of British literature, making it a must have in English IV. British literature is a documentation of how we came to be. It is where we started out; America wouldn’t be America without England. “Inspiring” is one of the words that come to mind after reading this epic poem. It is one of those magnificent heroic stories where the hero conquers the evil beans. The unique thing about this particular one is the fact that Beowulf actually passes away. He dies a very noble death after an epic battle with a dragon. This unexpected turn of events makes this story utterly beautiful in a special way. One interesting lesson that this masterpiece tells is that no matter how good something could be it could seize to exist within minutes. Honestly, this is an important lesson for everyone to learn: always stay on your toes. Translation is often key when going from older English to the English we use today. Beowulf is extremely well translated. Often times the words are translated, but they don’t mean much until you review all of the things you read about. For instance, when we read Romeo and Juliet, it took quite some time because of all of the reviewing. This is the case with
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