Apply critical reading, research, and writing skills through frequent written work. Pick one of the questions below. Write a one-paragraph (five to nine sentence) response to one of those questions. Must be done in 8 hours.
Beowulf
1. Does your emotional experience of the poem conflict with your understanding of its themes?
2. What does it mean to say there are monsters? In other words, what do monsters represent in this poem?
3. Why use an epithet? A kenning?
4. What is the role of art, including poetry, in the poem?
5. Is there a tension between the values of these warrior peoples and the suggested Christianity of the poet?
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors, ed. Stephen Greenblatt (W. W. Norton, 9th edition, 2013). ISBN 978-0-393-91963-9
