What's in a name?

Names were a big deal during the Anglo-Saxon times and in Beowulf.  So where did Beowulf’s name come from?

 Beowulf = Bee-Wolf ( a kenning = BEAR)

Henry Sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name Beowulf  in Old English means “bee-wolf” or “bee-hunter” and that it is a kenning for “bear”. This etymology is mirrored in recorded instances of similar names. Biuuuwulf is recorded as a name in the 1031 AD Liber Vitae. The name is attested to a monk from Durham and literally means bee wolf in Northumbrian. The 11th century English Domesday Book contains a recorded instance of the name Beulf.

Just for kicks, you can write your names in runes after checking out Beowulf's family tree. H'okay?

(See what I did there? Because there are all those "H" names? Get it?)

So names were pretty crazy, but also pretty important. Is this also true still in our society today?    Think about it: Where did you get your name?  What weight has your name been given through-out your life?  Has your name ever brought you privilege or the cause of a negative situation?  What name would you rather have?  Do you have a nickname?  How/why did that come about?  Will you change your name after marriage?  What do you think of the increasingly popular option of a woman (man?) retaining her (his) childhood family name?  What about double or hyphenated last names?  

Here's what your second post should include: 

1) In a paragraph, explore the meaning you find in  your name. It can be your first, your last, or even a nickname.  How does that name define you? Or does it?

AND

2) Anna Quindlen, in her essay "The Name is Mine", remarks,"there are two me's, the me who is the individual and the me who is a part of a family of four..." To that same end, some say that Beowulf is a story of a dual ordeal: an external battle with vicious opponents and an equally important battle with human tendencies. Everyone experiences such moments of awareness.  In another paragraph or two, think about those times when you have been "two," and explore the dilemma posed by being an individual and, at the same time, a part of a larger whole. 

Atta girl, Atwood...

Margaret Atwood is a poet and historian as well as a successful novelist.  Of special interest (and specifically mentioned in the Epilogue) are:
-  the government's regime in Iran in the 1980′s (and now- it hasn’t changed!)
- Romanian policy under President Ceaucescu regarding the birthrate in Romania
-  the influence of the American right-wing Christian community on politics (again, this is just as true now as it was in the 1980′s). 
What I find most interesting about Atwood is how she manipulates real events with her imagined fiction to create a powerful identity for the "others"...no, not these others but this.

So here's what you need to do:
First, check out photographer Wing Young Huie's work( http://www.wingyounghuie.com/ ) and blog( http://know.wingyounghuie.com/ ) and select one of his pieces to use in your first(!) post.

Then, provide a summary of your selected photograph that includes: 
- The document itself—make sure the author, the date, and  the place of publication are included
- A denotative examination of the text (little picture- what do we see on first examination?)
- A connotative examination of the text (big picture- what do we "discover" by looking deeper?)
Finally, respond to the following: How do Wing Young Huie (in your selected photograph) and Margaret Atwood (in The Handmaid's Tale) present the concept of "othering" through  image, layout/format, language, and/or color? You may compare the two texts/approaches, contrast, or both. 

*You might choose to consider one or more of the following:  stereotypes, popular culture, elections, legislation, public information, the diversity of audiences, use of style and register,  forms of bias, deliberate manipulation of audience, and the selection of text type*