Allegory. An allegory is a work in which each element symbolizes, or represents, something else. As you read, try to determine what part of this historical writing presents an allegory.
Aim. A writer’s aim is his or her purpose, or goal. People may write with the following aims:
• to inform (expository/informational writing)
• to entertain, enrich, enlighten, and/or use an artistic medium, such as fiction or poetry, to share a perspective (imaginative writing)
• to make a point by sharing a story about an event (narrative writing)
• to reflect (personal/expressive writing)
• to persuade readers or listeners to respond in some way (persuasive/argumentative writing)
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Most notable among Bede’s works is the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, or Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Bede’s five-book Latin history of the Church in England covers the period from Cæsar’s invasion of Britain (55–54 bc) to his own time (the history was finished around ad 731). King Alfred considered the book important enough to have it translated into Old English, the language of the common people. “The Conversion of King Edwin” comes from Book II of Bede’s history and relates the process by which Christian missionaries converted the Anglo-Saxon kings. The selection shows the dramatic contrast between the Anglo-Saxons’ grim view of the afterlife and the positive alternative offered by the missionaries.
Copy the following cluster chart onto your own paper. As you read, try to determine with what aims Bede wrote “The Conversion of King Edwin.”
Write about a time when someone persuaded you to change a belief.
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