
Monica L. answered 05/15/20
Experienced English Literature Teacher and Tutor
Hello! The first thing I would do to analyze the semantic fields surrounding war, blood, and death in the battle of Maldon and the use of these lexical items would be to pull out the specific diction used to discuss these topics. For instance, in the first two stanzas I would look at the following:
warriors
stout courage
would not suffer cowardice
beloved hawk
waver at war
After pulling out a complete list of the word choice used to discuss these topics, I would sort the words in two ways: by which discuss each of the semantic fields you need to analyze, and by patterns you notice that start to show how the author is using those words to influence the meaning and tone of the poem.
Once you have identified some categories to discuss, I would begin to analyze the use of the words and how they help shape the meaning of the poem.
I hope this helps provide some guidance. If you need more assistance I would be glad to walk through the process with you; send me a message with any questions or to set up a session. Best of luck!