Question needed to be answered: Linguists observe that it takes 500 to 1000 years for languages to split and lose mutual intelligibility.
By the end of this course we will have covered 1300 years of literature in four distinct phases of the English language – that’s almost enough time for Old English to have great granddaughters!
Has the literature changed with the language?
Is there mostly change, or is there some noteworthy continuity?
Compare and contrast two or three texts from non-consecutive units (1 and 3/4 or 1/2 and 4), with a special focus on how the story is told or the poem is constructed.
That words are different is obvious – look deeper, into plot structures, themes, motifs, and the like.
From unit 1, use the poem by Emily Dickenson 712: Because I could not stop for Death
From unit 4, The Pearl Poet, “The Christmas Game” from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
