BEOWULF – RELATED READINGS

Shrink Lit, “Anger” & excerpt from Grendel

WRITING TO LEARN

Please take out a piece of paper to write on which

will be turned in. Put your name on the top. Label it

“Beowulf Related Readings.”

Write legibly and in complete sentences.

Be prepared to share your responses in a class

discussion.

Save this paper for the next class period. It will be

collected later.

“BEOWULF”

by Maurice Sagoff

from ShrinkLits: Seventy of the World’s Towering

Classics Cut Down to Size

P. 155

Answer the following questions as fully as possible

in the time given.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the effect of Sagoff’s use of everyday modern situations

and contemporary language in this poem? Use examples to support

your response.

2. Literary Concepts: Pun and Parody A pun is a play on

multiple meanings of the same or similar-sounding words; for

example, “The octopus went into battle well armed” plays with

armed meaning “having limbs” and armed meaning “having

weapons or armor.” Identify the puns in this parody (a literary or

musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely

imitated for comic effect or in ridicule; a feeble or ridiculous

imitation). How do they contribute to the tone of the poem?

“ANGER”

from The Seven Deadly Sins by Linda Pastan, a series of

poems about the seven types of human behavior that the

medieval church condemned as the seven deadly sins: do

you know them?

anger, pride, envy, lust, gluttony, greed, and sloth

P. 177

Answer the following questions as fully as possible in the

time given.

3. Why do you think the speaker is afraid or unwilling to

let her anger out?

4. How does the anger in described in the poem differ

from or resemble the various forms of anger described in

Beowulf? Explain.

5. Making Connections: In your experience, is it better to

hold strong emotion inside or to let it loose? Cite examples

in your response to support your answer.

GRENDEL

by John Gardner, an American writer

Told from Grendel’s point of view, first person

As you listen to the audio version of the beginning

of the book for as far as we get today, respond to the

following prompt:

6. How does this story affect your feelings about

Grendel? Explain.

FROM GRENDEL

Take out the paper you were working on last class

to finish and hand in today.

P. 149

Listen as we read and answer the following

questions, labeling them by number. (Again, write

legibly and in complete sentences.)

6. Continued. As you read, add to and finish your

response to number 6: How did this story affect your

feelings about Grendel? Explain.

7. How does this selection portray Grendel’s personality

and motives? • Consider his feelings, his shock on encountering Beowulf,

his confusion during and after the battle with Beowulf, his calls to his mother, and the final line that he whispers to the animals.

• Cite evidence from the text in support of your response.

8. Why do you think Grendel insists that his death is an accident?

9. Literary Concept: Point of View. Grendel is told in first-person

point of view, which is a narrative told in the voice of the main

character. How is this selection’s point of view significant? Explain.

10. Do you think Gardner’s Grendel is an accurate rendition of the

character that appears in Beowulf? Why or why not?

11. How does this selection reflect attitudes and values of today’s

world? Use details from the text in your answer to support your

answer.