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English Beowulf
Beowulf Study Guide
Question | Answer |
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How can the reader tell that Beowulf is a legendary story? | The hero is described as someone greater than all other men. |
Why does Beowulf sail with his chosen companions to Hrothgar's kingdom? | to help Hrothgar by destroying a monster. |
Which of the following line from Beowulf contains an example of kenning? | "...I have come so far./ Oh shelterer of warriors and your people's loved friend./ That this one favor you should not refuse me..." |
From which fact can the reader infer that Beowulf is honorable? | Beowulf refuses to use weapons because Grendel uses none. |
What does this line mean? the monster's thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws. | He has intelligence. |
At the end of the battle, the poet attributes Grendel's defeat to | God's power. |
Which of the following best summarizes the theme of Beowulf? | Valor will triumph. |
Which is the best paraphrase of the following passage from the poem? So the living sorrow of Healfdane's son/ Simmered, bitter and fresh, and no wisdom/ Or strength could break it: that agony hung/ On king and people alike... | Hrothgar felt a strong and unending sorrow that he had no power to overcome. It affected both him and his subjects. |
Wiglaf thinks he and his comrades should help Beowulf fight the dragon because | in the past they had promised to repay Beowulf's kindness with their lives. |
When the dying Beowulf gives Wiglaf his gold necklace, the gesture means that | Beowulf is passing on the rulership of Geatland to Wiglaf. |
Which of the following lines from Beowulf comtains an example of a caesura? | "...Burns like a torch. No one knows its bottom..." |
Which is the best paraphrase for this passage from the selection? -Then the sword/ Melted, blood-soaked, dripping down/ like water, disappearing like ice when the world's/ Eternal Lord loosens invisible/ Fetters and unwinds icicles and frost... | Beowulf's bloody sword became liquid the way ice and frost do when God warms and melts them. |
Why is it ironic that after his death the Geats build a tower to memorialize Beowulf? | Most of the Geats had deserted him in battle. |
Which phrase best paraphrases the underlined words in this quotation from the poem? ...they could hack at Grendel/ From every side, trying to open/ A path for his evil soul, but their points Could not hurt him. | To kill him. |
When used to describe Beowulf, the phrase "noble protector of all seamen" is an example of | a kenning. |
Grendel's arm hanging in the banquet hall of the Danes might be described as for the evil he had done. | reparaion(payback) |
When Beowulf requests that he alone "May purge all evil from this hall," what does he mean by purge? | cleanse. |
Which of the following passages contains an appositive phrase? | "...sailors/ Have brought us stories of Herot, the best/ Of all mead-halls, deserted and useless..." |
Which words from the following passage form an appositive phrase? ...A deer,/ Hunted through the woods by packs of hounds,/ A stag with great horns, though driven through the forest/ From faraway places, prefers to die/ On those shores,... | "A stag with great horns" |
Which of these words best fits the image of the dragon presented in this quotation? ...The dragon/ Coiled and uncoiled, its heart urging it/ Into battle... | writhing. |