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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Beowulf do when he sees Grendel's body in the lair?

2. How does Hrothgar describe the Grendel lake?

3. When Grendel's blood turns the lake red, what do Hrothgar and his men assume?

4. When Beowulf blows his horn, what rises up out of the Grendel lake?

5. Inside Grendel's mother's lair, what upholds the weight of the water?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hrothgar serves to magnify Beowulf's heroism. In what ways does he do this? What are the aspects of his personality or the actions he takes that show the reader how truly heroic Beowulf is?

Essay Topic 2

When Beowulf dies, he leaves no heir to reign in his place. Instead, he has only a kingsman to take the throne. What does the passing of the kingdom to its next ruler in this manner represent in terms of the changes taking place in the author's world?

Essay Topic 3

Each of Beowulf's three foes fall along a scale ranging from completely monster to the most human-like. Place the foes in order of least human to most human and discuss the characteristics of each in terms of their animal and human characteristics.

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This section contains 243 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample