Mr. Hobbs' Beowulf

Original Date: Fall 1992

I received my Beowulf soundtrack in the mail a few days ago and have been listening to it every day. The composer, Alan Silvestri did his homework because the beats of the tracks evoke the same feeling as drum beats of how the original epic poem was performed. How do I know this? Well... listening to the music took me back into the 12th grade... Mr. Hobbs' English 12H class to be exact. I sat in the front (either 2nd or 3rd row) on the left side of the room (Mobile 1).

In that class, we really went in depth and dissected every little bit of this poem. Here's a list of 10 Beowulf notes/theories from Mr. Hobbs in 1992:

• Didactic poetry... meant to instruct.
• Life & death theme; a cycle of kings.
• Beowulf's tragic flaw is hubris, the sin of pride.
• Grendel was a descendant of Cain.
• The swimming race with Brecca foreshadowed the underwater battle with Grendel's mother.
• Grendel's mother's lake represented the mouth of Hell.
• The dragon symbolized punishment for the sin of pride.
• The 3 battles were an allegory to Beowulf's 3 stages of life.
• Hygelac, Beowulf's King was an actual historic figure who died in 521ad
• Christian allegory of the coming of Christ, resurrection and eternal salvation for the 3 battles.

Mr. Hobbs taught the most interesting literature lessons. Before having him as a teacher, it was one of my weaker subjects (B-A range). I didn't get straight A's until my interest increased during the 11th grade in Mr. Hobb's 11R class. He then put me in his 12H class the next year where my A streak continued.