Beowulf Literary Elements

What is Theme?

• the character’s background

• When and where a story takes place

• A universal message about life that can apply to anyone, anywhere, anytime

• Items or characters that represent larger ideas and concepts

Which type of characterization is when you describe a character's mental interior?

• Physiological

• Psychological

• Sociological

Which answer choice is an example of sociological characterization?

• “But Wyrd denied it,/ and victory’s honors.”

• “Higlac’s Follower” & “I drove/ Five great giants into chains, chased/ All of that race from the earth.”

• “But Higlac’s follower remembered his final/ Boast and, standing erect, stopped/ The monster’s flight […]”

What is the climax in Beowulf?

• Beowulf kills Grendel & Grendel’s Mother/ is named King

• Beowulf fights the Dragon and is injured

• Wiglaf brings Beowulf the treasure

• Beowulf dies a hero and is buried in a funeral pyre

Which quote contains an allusion?

• “Bloody the blade: he was blithe of his deed/ Then blazed forth light.”

• “But fate, that night, intended/ Grendel to gnaw the broken bones Of his last human supper. Human/ Eyes were watching his evil steps,/ Waiting to see his swift hard claws.”

• “Bright within/ As when from the sky there shines unclouded/ Heaven’s candle.”

• “That was their way,/ And the heathen’s only hope, Hell/ Always in their hearts, knowing neither God/ Nor His passing as He walks through our world, the Lord/ of Heaven and earth […]"

What is a motif?

• A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc. in a literary work

• Items or characters that represent larger ideas and concepts

• a related series of incidents that build towards the climax

• Hints in the text of what is to come

Identify an example of foreshadowing in Beowulf

• “Long while of the day/ fled ere he felt the floor of the sea./ Soon found the fiend who the flood-domain sword-hungry held these hundred winters,/ greedy and grim, that some guest from above,/ some man, was raiding her monster-realm.”

• “But fate, that night, intended/ Grendel to gnaw the broken bones Of his last human supper. Human/ Eyes were watching his evil steps,/ Waiting to see his swift hard claws.”

Identify an example of personification

• Up from his swampland, sliding silently […]”

• “Tore its fasteners with a touch/ And rushed angrily over the threshold.”

• “Bright within/ As when from the sky there shines unclouded/ Heaven’s candle.”

• “Death’s cold grip”

What is an epithet?

• A comparison using like or as

• Repetition of the same consonant sounds anywhere in the word

• an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned

• Saying less than reality in order to emphasize the emotion of a situation

What quote is an example of situational irony?

• “Mid the battle-gear saw he a blade triumphant,/ old-sword of Eotens, with edge of proof,/ warriors’ heirloom, weapon unmatched”

• “To many it seemed/ the wolf-of-the-waves had won his life.”

• “No small band of men had gathered to hear Beowulf’s boast.”

• “thus he moaned his woe,/ alone, for them all, and unblithe wept/ by day and by night, till death’s fell wave/ o’erwhelmed his heart.”