Beowulf Reading Check/Practice TestName:
ANSWER KEY - Answers highlighted or in Red

  1. Grendel, we are told, is related to:
  1. Hrothgar
  2. Satan
  3. Cain
  4. Edgetho
  1. What does Beowulf bring back from the underwater lair of Grendel’s mother:
  1. Grendel’s arm
  2. Grendel’s head
  3. what’s left of the sword he used to kill the monster
  4. both b and c
  1. In this line, “Lo, we have listened to many a lay,” which letter sound is being alliterated:
    ______The letter L______
  2. A clever compound word descriptive comparison, such as whale-road for the sea, is called a(n):
  3. kenning
  4. caesura
  5. metaphor
  6. scop
  7. In the speech Wiglaf delivers to his comrades, the Geats, he is motivating them to a call to action, and shaming them for their cowardice. He declares he would rather burn and die than abandon his lord. This shows the epic hero trait of __Loyalty______, and it foreshadows what possibility for Wiglaf? ____Enduring______Fame and _____Honor______and _____Royal______Generosity______.
  8. Beowulf comes to Hrothgar’s aid:
  9. To gain fame
  10. To help people in trouble
  11. To repay a favor Hrothgar had done for his father Edgetho
  12. All of the above
  1. What is the Anglo-Saxon word for “fate”? And did “fate” rule their lives? T or F

______WYRD______

  1. What does Grendel’s arm hanging from the rafters in Herot symbolize? (2pts)

Victory and defeat of the evil monster; peace being restored to Heorot and the Danes; Good overcoming Evil; success of Beowulf

  1. What does Beowulf face in his third adventure? ____DRAGON______

And - True or False -Beowulf is 50 years older in this task?

  1. How were stories passed down during the Anglo-Saxon period?
  2. Internetb. written booksc. oral tradition
  3. What two languages combined to make up Old English?
  4. Latin + Germanb. Celtic + Germanc. Latin + Anglo-Saxon
  1. Look at the attached picture from the Beowulf graphic novel interpretation. Evaluate how any two epic hero and/or epic poem characteristics are exemplified in this graphic and explain. BONUS (2pts) – how is the motif of light and dark images used to help us visually interpret and enhance the universal theme of good vs evil? (Use your notes.) (5pts)

You should have identified superhuman strength displayed by our hero Beowulf – takes that kind of strength to defeat a supernatural monster that no other man has been able to beat…

Supernatural creature – Grendel – not a normal, natural creature – mythical with witch like powers to cast spells; connected to hell

Courage and Honor – Timeless values of an epic – courage to face the monster alone, honor in standing up for his people, defending them, winning

(Ideas of society) Loyalty – to his lord and leader and people by defending them against this creature

Universal theme – good over evil – hero Beowulf defeating evil Grendel

Motif: hero is lighter in color and is over top of the dark evil monster – so the use of light and dark contrasted with the light over the dark helps illustrate the theme of good over evil (good is in light and darkness connects with evil and is on bottom)

  1. British history, culture, and literature was shaped by a series of invaders with varying cultures and languages.
    Those invaders were:

–_____Celts (Celtic)______(speaking Gaelic)

–____Romans______(speaking Latin)

–______Germans/Anglo-Saxons______(speaking German)

  1. Britain's new language then became _Latin______+ _____German______=

Anglo-Saxon/or Old English.

  1. Since the only people who could read or write during the Dark Ages were priests, and since Beowulf has some Christian elements in it, we assume that the person who wrote the story down was a ______Christian______.
  1. Despite Beowulf’s Christian elements, it is still considered a __pagan______ tale.
  2. Define alliteration and give your own example: (2pts)

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of successive words and phrases
Keely kept a kooky kangaroo in her kitchen.

  1. Define kenning and create your own example of a kenning for a sled.(2pts)

A descriptive compound word phrase used in place of a single noun

Computer= portable brain
sled= snow slider

  1. Define hyperbole and create your own example.(2pts)

An over exaggeration used for effect or emphasis

I am so hungry I could eat my hand.
The room is colder than the North Pole.

  1. Read the passage below and identify (underline and label) one example of alliteration, a kenning, and hyperbole. (3pts)

“He leaped into the lake, would not wait for anyone’s alliteration= yellow
answer; the heaving water covered him
over. For hours he sank through the waves; hyperbole
at last he saw the mud of the bottom.
And all at once the greedy she-wolf kenning = for Grendel’s mother
who’d ruled those water for half a hundred
years discovered him, saw that a creature
from above had come to explore the bottom
of her wet world. She welcomed him in her claws,
clutched at him savagely but could not harm him,
tried to work her fingers through the tight
ring-woven mail on his breast, but tore
and scratched in vain.”

  1. Using your epic hero slideshow note packet and text, explain (with support from your notes and text) how Beowulf “fits the mold”; how does Beowulf exemplify an epic hero; be specific in your explanation? (5pts)

Beowulf is physically and socially imposing in stature (his size and abilities are above all others, and his legend goes before him), his style is grand yet simple (humble – think of battle with dragon), his story is vast – involves more than one country; he faces supernatural creature like dragons and Grendel, he embodies the ideas of his society – loyalty (think of his loyalty to Hrothgar and his own king, and people), he has courage and honor (in all his battles)

Bonus:
What is a scop? A storyteller

Why are there Christian references in the story we read today? Because Christian Monks translated the story and blended in their own beliefs and faith to make it relevant to their audience and acceptable