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.