How Long to Read How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems

How Long Does it Take to Read How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems?

It takes the average reader 4 hours and 9 minutes to read How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems by Daniel Donoghue

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

The scribes of early medieval England wrote out their vernacular poems using a format that looks primitive to our eyes because it lacks the familiar visual cues of verse lineation, marks of punctuation, and capital letters. The paradox is that scribes had those tools at their disposal, which they deployed in other kinds of writing, but when it came to their vernacular poems they turned to a sparser presentation. How could they afford to be so indifferent? The answer lies in the expertise that Anglo-Saxon readers brought to the task. From a lifelong immersion in a tradition of oral poetics they acquired a sophisticated yet intuitive understanding of verse conventions, such that when their eyes scanned the lines written out margin-to-margin, they could pinpoint with ease such features as alliteration, metrical units, and clause boundaries, because those features are interwoven in the poetic text itself. Such holistic reading practices find a surprising source of support in present-day eye-movement studies, which track the complex choreography between eye and brain and show, for example, how the minimal punctuation in manuscripts snaps into focus when viewed as part of a comprehensive system. How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems uncovers a sophisticated collaboration between scribes and the earliest readers of poems like Beowulf, The Wanderer, and The Dream of the Rood. In addressing a basic question that no previous study has adequately answered, it pursues an ambitious synthesis of a number of fields usually kept separate: oral theory, paleography, syntax, and prosody. To these philological topics Daniel Donoghue adds insights from the growing field of cognitive psychology. According to Donoghue, the earliest readers of Old English poems deployed a unique set of skills that enabled them to navigate a daunting task with apparent ease. For them reading was both a matter of technical proficiency and a social practice.

How long is How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems?

How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems by Daniel Donoghue is 245 pages long, and a total of 62,475 words.

This makes it 83% the length of the average book. It also has 76% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 5 hours and 41 minutes to read How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems aloud.

What Reading Level is How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems?

How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems?

How the Anglo-Saxons Read Their Poems by Daniel Donoghue is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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