These are questions from beowulf

Question

1.  lines 1372–1376, describe how the setting affects plot development in the scenes in which Beowulf, Hrothgar, and the search party hunt for the home of Grendel and his mother. Highlight and annotate textual evidence to explain your ideas.
2. How would you describe Beowulf’s code of behavior? How does the character of Beowulf affect the plot? Highlight and annotate textual evidence in lines 1390–1393 to explain your ideas.
3. Highlight a word that is unfamiliar to you and that is interfering with your comprehension of the text. Then use one or more strategies to determine the meaning of the word. Write a definition of the word, describe how you determined the word’s meaning, and explain how knowing the definition helps you better understand the text. Use the annotation tool to write your response to these questions.
4. Find an example of hyperbole associated with Beowulf’s sword. Highlight evidence in the text and use the annotation tool to explain how the passages you’ve chosen propel the plot forward.
5. Recall the unit’s Essential Question: Where does history end and legend begin? Beowulf features both historical and mythical elements. What inferences can you make about medieval Scandinavia based on the poem? In the poem, where does history end and legend begin? Highlight textual evidence and make annotations to explain your ideas.

Answer 1

Hello Kychelle,

I'm not going to give you the answers here, because people learn best when they work through problems themselves. Notice that the prompts keep referencing "your" ideas, and #3 is a word that's unfamiliar to you!

I strongly recommend Ruth Johnston's A Companion to Beowulf, Greenwood Press (2005). It's a wonderful resource for anything related to the culture, language, and times surrounding the epic.

1. Remember that the poet can use foreshadowing and imagery
2. Consider the heroic ethic of the Greeks vs the Scandinavian values as we know them
3. This depends on the translation you are using, but there are usually plenty of oddities, e.g. "ring-whorled prow", and some archaic words like "wallstead"
4. Remember that hyperbole is "the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech". This shouldn't be hard to find!
5. Johnston's book will be especially helpful here.

All the best!

Ken