Polo, Farr, Zamora
English IV
Fall 2015
Grendel Major Exam – Study Guide
I. Quote Bank: Identify the speaker, the philosophy, or motif.
II. Philosophy “I create the whole universe, a blink by blink.”
III. Speaker “Connectedness is the essence of everything.”
IV. Speaker “He told how the earth was first built…”
V. Speaker “My advice to you, my violent friend is to seek out gold and sit on it.”
VI. Speaker “Poor Grendel’s had an accident.”
VII. Speaker “talking, talking, Spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams between myself and all I see.”
VIII. Speaker “We can give you such piles of treasure….that I have nothing left to pay an army with. Then you’ll be safe.”
IX. Motif “…all they killed, cows, horses, men, they left to rot or burn…”
X. Motif “They watch on, evil, incredibly stupid, enjoying my destruction.
XI. Speaker ”Lo, we have heard the honor of the Spear Danes, Nation-kings in days now gone. How those battle-lords brought themselves to glory.”
XII. Speaker “I resolved absolutely and finally, to kill myself…but the next instant, for no particular reason, I changed my mind.”
XIII. Speaker “Nobody in his right mind would praise violence for its own sake regardless of its ends!”
XIV. Speaker “We took swords with us, swimming one handed, to fight off whales.”
XV. Speaker “ Except in the life of a hero, the whole world’s meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what’s possible. That’s the nature of a hero.”
XVI. Philosphy “…I ground my teeth on my own absurdity. Whatever their excuse might be, I had none, I knew: I had seen the dragon. Ashes to ashes. And yet I was teased-tortured by the red of her hair…”
Philosophies in Grendel – know definition
· Orphism
· Sophism
· Old Testament – Vengeful God
· Nihilism
· Machiavellianism
· Existentialism
Questions
1) In what point of view is Grendel written?
2) In what point of view does Grendel speak ?
3) What is Rhetoric?
4) What characters represent Rhetoric?
5) What is an allegory?
6) Explain Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
7) Explain the Genesis story.
8) Explain the significance of Grendel’s “fall” at the end of chapter 4. Be sure to explain the visual significance of the space in text on the last page of the chapter.
9) Explain Red Horse’s political ideology.
10) The allusion to winter symbolizes what?
11) Explain Grendel’s relationship with his mother.
12) How does Grendel’s relationship with his mother change from the beginning of the book to the end?
13) Why is the Shaper’s death important and what does it symbolize?
14) What is ironic about Ork’s belief that Grendel is “The Great Destroyer?”
15) How does Grendel divide the world?
16) Explain the biblical significance of the following repeated symbols:
· Tree
· Snake
· Apples
17) Explain the relationship between Beowulf and Grendel.
18) Explain how the plot in Grendel is circular.
19) Explain Wealtheow’s calming effect on Unferth.
Characters
· Grendel
· Beowulf
· Hrothgar
· Dragon
· Grendel’s Mother
· Wealtheow
· Shaper
· Unferth
· Hygmod
· Red Horse
· Hrothhulf
· Ork
Themes
· Art & Society
· Rhetoric
· Death
· Language & meaning
· Morals / Morality
· The nature of existence
· Religion
· Perspective
· Time & Space
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