Introduction
St Bede begins his famous ‘History’, written in AD 731, with an open letter to the King of Northumbria, Ceolwulf, explaining that history, rightly told, teaches us to refuse the evil, and choose the good. King Ceolwulf later resigned his throne to become a monk, and a saint.
I WARMLY welcome the genuine eagerness with which you not only apply yourself to listen most attentively to the words of Scripture, but also make the effort to acquaint yourself in detail with the sayings and doings of earlier generations, and particularly the famous men of our own nation.*
For if history relates good things about good men, the attentive listener is stirred to imitate what is good; whereas if it records the evil done by wicked men, the listener or reader who is of a religious and devout disposition, keeping his distance from whatever is harmful and corrupting, will himself be all aflame to pursue, more skilfully than before, those things which he knows are good and worthy in God’s eyes.
Translated from the Latin
That is, the Kingdom of Northumbria, at its height a kingdom reaching from the what would now be Hull in the south to Edinburgh in the north. See A map of the Kingdom of Northumbria ca. 700. As a very young child, Bede was sent by his well-to-do parents (they lived on Church land) to study at the Benedictine monastery of St Peter in Monkwearmouth, a few miles northeast of Durham just across the River Wear from what is now Sunderland. He subsequently moved to the monastery’s sister house of St Paul at Jarrow, today a suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Précis
St Bede wrote to Ceolwulf, the King of Northumbria, in 731 to explain the purpose of his History of the English Church and People. After commending the King for taking an interest in Scripture and in Northumbrian history, he assured him that the examples set by history’s heroes and villains would inpire him to choose rightly between good and evil. (60 / 60 words)
St Bede wrote to Ceolwulf, the King of Northumbria, in 731 to explain the purpose of his History of the English Church and People. After commending the King for taking an interest in Scripture and in Northumbrian history, he assured him that the examples set by history’s heroes and villains would inpire him to choose rightly between good and evil.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, not, ought, since, unless, until, whereas, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 All. God. Worthy.
2 Good. Much. Whereas.
3 Doing. Himself. Reader.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
d (11+3)
ado. aid. aide. audio. die. do. doe. due. duo. idea. ode.
ad. adieu. id.
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