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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Grendel want to know that the dragon won't answer?

2. What can no longer harm Grendel after his visit with the dragon?

3. Which race does the harper say creatures like Grendel come from?

4. Who is Grendel’s only friend?

5. What animal is the speaker shooing away in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What entices Grendel to Hrothgar's hall? Why is a part of him swept up in the merriment?

2. Describe the hairless man and his function in the group.

3. Describe the arrangement between Hrothgar and his closest neighbors.

4. Describe the firesnakes. What sort of creature do you think they are?

5. Describe how the men look the very first time Grendel sees them.

6. Discuss what the dragon tells Grendel about the thoughts of men. Who brings connectedness to these thoughts?

7. The dragon talks about fate, free will, and the consistency of time but encourages Grendel to change something. How does the dragon not heed his own advice?

8. Describe how the bull fights in Chapter 2.

9. What is the dragon’s dictum? How does he play out this dictum?

10. Discuss Grendel's personal transformation during and as a result of his first raid.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Now that Grendel has been terminated as a threat to Hrothgar, what other threats does Hrothgar now face? Are these threats easier to handle than Grendel? Do you think that Hrothgar should have been more concerned about his political position rather than Grendel's raids?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Grendel’s observation that animals see life without observing it. According to Grendel, animals make no distinctions in their lives. What implications does this hold for men? For Grendel himself?

Essay Topic 3

Use what you know of Grendel's mother and her relationship to her son to speculate about what she will do when she discovers the harm done to her son. Do you think she would be upset? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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