Ye Olde Language Classe
by Alice Hixon, Class of 2012 - 26 Jan 2009

For three good weeks in the fall the freshmen and sophomores explored the crooks and crannies of language, and all its layered history, with Mrs.
Robbins. We started off with the origin of language, and moved through the many dialects and styles of verbal communication.

Starting around 30,000 BCE we learned about our early ancestors. Then we read the legend of Gilgamesh, the pompous and ignorant king, and his dear friend Enkidu, in their battles with life, death, isolation, and grief.
Then we moved through the times of Angles and Saxons and the early
centuries of the English language. We read the poem of Beowulf. We
grappled with the various themes and identities, as did the characters in
the story.

Then we moved on to reading the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey
Chaucer, and enjoyed all his tricky rhyme schemes.

Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue - English and How It Got That Way has
shown us all the wiggle room and loose ends in the English language.

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