Who is the Pearl-poet? How do ideas about his life and interpretations of his poems shape our understanding of his work in late-medieval England-and beyond? In Becoming the Pearl-Poet: Perceptions, Connections, Receptions, readers can explore the world of this extraordinary, fourteenth-century writer. In Part I, "Perceptions," five scholars give insightful literary analyses of the narrative poems attributed to the poet: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and St. Erkenwald. In Part II, "Connections," six scholars examine connections between these diverse poems, focusing on authorship, ecology, material culture, sartorial adornment, shields, and the poet's pastoral theology. In Part III, "Receptions," scholars consider the illustrations of the Pearl Manuscript (British Library MS Cotton Nero A.x), the poet's cultural situatedness in the Northwest Midlands and Ricardian court, his religious contexts, later translations and paraphrases of his work, and his medieval and modern audiences. Intended for students and scholars alike, this book encourages readers to gain a deeper understanding of the Pearl-poet and his world, learning many new things and enjoying old things in a new way.

This book enhances our understanding of the exquisitely beautiful, fourteenth-century, Middle English dream vision poem Pearl. Situating the study in the contexts of medieval literary criticism and contemporary genre theory, Beal argues that the poet intended Pearl to be read at four levels of meaning and in four corresponding genres: literally, an elegy; spiritually, an allegory; morally, a consolation; and anagogically, a revelation. The book addresses cruxes and scholarly debates about the poem's genre and meaning, including key questions that have been unresolved in Pearl studies for over a century: * What is the nature of the relationship between the Dreamer and the Maiden? * What is the significance of allusions to Ovidian love stories and the use of liturgical time in the poem? * How does avian symbolism, like that of the central symbol of the pearl, develop, transform, and add meaning throughout the dream vision? * What is the nature of God portrayed in the poem, and how does the portrayal of the Maiden's intimate relationship to God, her spiritual marriage to the Lamb, connect to the poet's purpose in writing? Noting that the poem is open to many interpretations, Beal also considers folktale genre patterns in Pearl, including those drawn from parable, fable, and fairy-tale. The conclusion considers Pearl in the light of modern psychological theories of grieving and trauma. This book makes a compelling case for re-reading Pearl and recognizing the poem's signifying power. Given the ongoing possibility of new interpretations, it will appeal to those who specialize in Pearl as well as scholars of Middle English, Medieval Literature, Genre Theory, and Literature and Religion.

This book enhances our understanding of the exquisitely beautiful, fourteenth-century, Middle English dream vision poem Pearl. Situating the study in the contexts of medieval literary criticism and contemporary genre theory, Beal argues that the poet intended Pearl to be read at four levels of meaning and in four corresponding genres: literally, an elegy; spiritually, an allegory; morally, a consolation; and anagogically, a revelation. The book addresses cruxes and scholarly debates about the poem's genre and meaning, including key questions that have been unresolved in Pearl studies for over a century: * What is the nature of the relationship between the Dreamer and the Maiden? * What is the significance of allusions to Ovidian love stories and the use of liturgical time in the poem? * How does avian symbolism, like that of the central symbol of the pearl, develop, transform, and add meaning throughout the dream vision? * What is the nature of God portrayed in the poem, and how does the portrayal of the Maiden's intimate relationship to God, her spiritual marriage to the Lamb, connect to the poet's purpose in writing? Noting that the poem is open to many interpretations, Beal also considers folktale genre patterns in Pearl, including those drawn from parable, fable, and fairy-tale. The conclusion considers Pearl in the light of modern psychological theories of grieving and trauma. This book makes a compelling case for re-reading Pearl and recognizing the poem's signifying power. Given the ongoing possibility of new interpretations, it will appeal to those who specialize in Pearl as well as scholars of Middle English, Medieval Literature, Genre Theory, and Literature and Religion.

"Comprehension From Context" is a three books series covering KS1-KS2+. The series uses two methods to evaluate the reader's overall understanding of each of the stories, which are wide and varied including fiction and non fiction.Firstly, students complete the cloze exercises by using a list of given words to complete the text. Reading stategies such as context clues, syntactic and semantic skills and word recognition are developed as students select the correct word to write into each gap so the story 'makes sense'. Once the story is complete, students read the story in full and answer comprehension questions at three levels of difficulty - literal, inferential and evaluative.

"Comprehension From Context" is a three books series covering KS1-KS2+. The series uses two methods to evaluate the reader's overall understanding of each of the stories, which are wide and varied including fiction and non fiction. Firstly, students complete the cloze exercises by using a list of given words to complete the text. Reading strategies such as context clues, syntactic and semantic skills and word recognition are developed as students select the correct word to write into each gap so the story 'makes sense'. Once the story is complete, students read the story in full and answer comprehension questions at three levels of difficulty - literal, inferential and evaluative.

It is hard to overstate the importance of learning and retaining the basic sight words to the level of instant recognition of a good start in learning to read. This Read more...graded photocopiable resource series uses large and small motor activities and sentence reading and writing activities with contextual clues to introduce basic sight words. Book 1 covers the 45 words detailed in the National Literacy Strategy to be taught in YR. Books 2 and 3 each cover half of the 113 words required to be learned in Y1-Y2. The activities repeat, so that for each word students' independence is quickly achieved making the activities ideal for groups and independent work during the Literacy Hour. Activities can be built into a book that children can use as an independent reading resource.

Actively listening for information is an essential skill for all students and is one that needs to be developed and practised - it doesn't just happen. The exercises in this two-book series require the listener to actively listen for information in each story. The student shows that they have understood and processed this information by adding information onto the picture that accompanies each story. Students may need to add colour to the picture or they may need to add into the picture an item that is referred to in the story but not included in the picture. For each picture (24 per book) there are two stories or a story and a set of instructions at two levels of difficulty so each picture can be used twice.

Actively listening for information is an essential skill for all students and is one that needs to be developed and practised - it doesn't just happen. The exercises in this two-book series require the listener to actively listen for information in each story. The student shows that they have understood and processed this information by adding information onto the picture that accompanies each story. Students may need to add colour to the picture or they may need to add into the picture an item that is referred to in the story but not included in the picture. For each picture (24 per book) there are two stories or a story and a set of instructions at two levels of difficulty so each picture can be used twice.

"Comprehension From Context" is a three books series covering KS1-KS2+. The series uses two methods to evaluate the reader's overall understanding of each of the stories, which are wide and varied including fiction and non fiction. Firstly, students complete the cloze exercises by using a list of given words to complete the text. Reading strategies such as context clues, syntactic and semantic skills and word recognition are developed as students select the correct word to write into each gap so the story 'makes sense'. Once the story is complete, students read the story in full and answer comprehension questions at three levels of difficulty - literal, inferential and evaluative.

The annual volume of new work on all aspects of the fourteenth century, including England's overseas interests, from English and American scholars. New research on aspects of the politics and culture of fourteenth-century England includes close studies of political events such as the quarrel of Edward II and Thomas of Lancaster and Bishop Despenser's Crusade, fresh considerations of the political and cultural context of English royal tombs and the Wilton Diptych, a number of important analyses of regional politics and regional culture in Bristol, East Anglia and Winchester - all with implications forthe bigger picture - and a discussion of late medieval French attitudes to the deposition of Richard II; that and studies of the war with France and the Bishop of Norwich's attack on Flanders carry the focus beyond the shores ofEngland. Contributors: MARK ARVANIGIAN, JANE BEAL, KELLY DEVRIES, ALASTAIR DUNN, DAVID GREEN, ANDY KING, CHRISTIAN D. LIDDY, LISA MONNA, ANTHONY MUSSON, MARK PAGE, DAVID M. PALLISER, CRAIG D. TAYLOR, KRIS TOWSON,

This collection of 40 psalm-poems includes praises and laments as well as psalms of creation, psalms of ascent, and a black-and-white reproduction of the medieval Psalter Map. A study guide for small groups seeking to relate their poetry reading to scripture and their spiritual lives follows the main text. Enjoy!

A collection of poems about birth in the U.S., Uganda, and the Philippine Islands -- in homes, hospitals, and birth centers -- addressed to babies from the perspective of the midwife who helped to welcome them into the world

A collection of poems about journeying from the midwest to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado--attentive to birds and birth, to love, loss and new life--in awareness of the Presence of the Holy One

A collection of poetry about childhood, a blended family, children, friendships with women, relationships with men, and the most important connection of all: the shining one between the poet and her God

A collection of poems reflecting on the intimate moments of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding ...on the bringing forth of new life in America and around the world, the grieving over childbearing losses, and the memory of the mythic births ...and on the joy of babies, mothers, fathers, families and the work of midwives

a sonnet sequence by poet Jane Beal meditating on the life of birds and the life of the spirit ...beautifully illustrated with 10 black-and-white plates of flying birds by illustrator Barbara Holthuis

a collection of haibun and haiku celebrating the life of birds and their spiritual significance in our shared human experience

This poetry collection celebrates soulmaking, the journey of transformation, by following the path of the butterfly: greening as a caterpillar, cocooning in chrysalis, opening to the world, flying in the air, and sky-dancing-in-sunlight.

The moving, richly allegorical poem Pearl was written in Middle English by the anonymous author who likely also penned Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In it, a man in a garden, grieving the loss of a beloved pearl, dreams of the Pearl-Maiden, who appears across a stream. She teaches him the nature of innocence, God's grace, meekness, and purity. Though granted a vision of the New Jerusalem by the Pearl-Maiden, the dreamer is pained to discover that he cannot cross the stream himself and join her in bliss-at least not yet. This extraordinary poem is a door into late medieval poetics and Catholic piety. Part 1 of this volume, "Materials," introduces instructors to the many resources available for teaching the canonical yet challenging Pearl, including editions, translations, and scholarship on the poem as well as its historical context. The essays in part 2, "Approaches," offer instructors tools for introducing students to critical issues associated with the poem, such as its authorship, sources and analogues, structure and language, and relation to other works of its time. Contributors draw on interdisciplinary approaches to outline ways of teaching Pearl in a variety of classroom contexts.