Kennings: Taught in Memes

What is a kenning?

"A kenning is the process of using a two-word phrase in the place of a one-word noun.

Kennings were first used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry. The famous Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf uses many kennings, for example:

Body – bone-house
Sword – battle-light
Ship – wave-floater
Sea – whale-road"

“What Is a Kenning?” TheSchoolRun, www.theschoolrun.com/what-is-a-kenning.

Examples from Beowulf

“Les 10 Animaux Les plus Grands Du Monde.” Planeteanimal.com, www.planeteanimal.com/les-10-animaux-les-plus-grands-du-monde-1603.html.

Whale-road

sea, river, or body of water. Literally refers to the 'road' that a whale would use to travel, meaning water (line 10)

“COD GALBEN De Ceaţă În Mai Multe Judeţe. Vizibilitatea Este Redusă.” Romaniatv.net, 4 Nov. 2018, www.romaniatv.net/cod-galben-de-ceata-in-bucuresti-si-in-noua-judete-vizibilitatea-este-redusa_446171.html.

Cloud-murk

fog. literally like clouds on the ground that make it murky and hard to see (line 714)

“Medieval Saddle Types - Bing Images | Zadels | Pinterest | Horses, Saddles and Horse Saddles.” Pinterest, co.pinterest.com/pin/355221489348362530/.

battle-seat

the saddle used to ride on a horse. literally refers to seat that a person would be seated on during battle, as they fought on horses medieval times (1038)

Meme Examples

Memes that focus on the literal names of objects are very similar to the kennings used in Beowulf. They combine two potentially unrelated nouns to form a new compound noun that acts as a metaphor or analogy for the nouns purpose. Cat-puppies make sense because people will understand the relationship between kittens, cats, and puppies. Kittens are to cats as dogs are to puppies. They have the same relationship. Gloves are to fingers as pants are to legs. Bread is not normally thought of as raw because it must be baked, but it essentially can be thought of as the raw form of toast. French fries are sticks of cooked potato, hence the name potato-sticks.

Better Names for Things. Know Your Meme, Literally Media Ltd., 2016. https://knowyourmeme.com/users/brad--12.

“5 Ways to Use Memes with Students.” ISTE, www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=858.

Create Your own Meme

Use memes to engage your students. Create memes that visually depict the kennings and use them as a tool to explain the meaning to students. They will understand it more clearly and be more engaged this way.

Use meme-generators

Sites like imgflip can help you create memes to use in your classes

“Meme Generator.” Laundry Viking Meme Generator - Imgflip, imgflip.com/memegenerator.

Why memes?

Meme's are a great way to engage students with the material. They are familiar with the format and enjoy it in their free time. It uses technology and builds off of relationships and associations that the students already understand. Plugging in academic information to an existing format will help students master the content by scaffolding the information with an understandable format. Students are able to learn more when either the skills or the format are accessible. When both the format and skills are unfamiliar and challenging, students need more time to grasp both.

Universal Design for learning

UDL is good for students because it allows alternative methods to:

Have information presented
Demonstrate skills
Interact with material

“Meme Generator.” Laundry Viking Meme Generator - Imgflip, imgflip.com/memegenerator.

How to use in a classroom:

Retelling a story
Vocabulary words
Interesting Graphics
Making analogies
Study tools
Content posters

Exceptional Learners

This can be one way to alternate assignments for students who have learning exceptionalities. Using memes can provide an alternative way of assessing students. Providing multiple methods for each of the three domains of UDL can support students who have learning differences by allowing them to engage with the information visually. The blend of visual and textual information can help students who are weaker in other areas of learning. This can be a way of individualizing assignments.

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