Anglo Saxon Background and History / Lit Devices

Which of the following quotations from Beowulf contains alliteration?

• “Murderous flames, spreading them everywhere.”

• “But war could have followed.”

• “The ancient blade broke, bit . . ., drew blood”

• “The monster came quickly toward him.”

Which of the following quotations from Beowulf contains a kenning?

• “And all at once the greedy she-wolf”

• “At last he saw the mud of the bottom.”

• “Woven metal had not helped”

• “the steel-edged blade lay where / He’d dropped it.”

Alliteration and kennings were poetic devices of particular importance to Anglo-Saxon

• writers

• mythic heroes

• historians

• oral poets

Instead of being unified by rhyme, Anglo-Saxon poetry is most commonly unified by alliteration

• in the first line of each stanza

• in the refrain

• in both halves of a line

• in the first half of each line

Which of the following phrases contains alliteration?

• a low tone

• east and west

• chirping baby birds

• all old actors

A line of Anglo-Saxon poetry commonly includes all the following except

• a caesura

• at least two alliterated words

• two distinct halves

• at least two kennings

A kenning is a special type of

• rhyme scheme

• symbol

• irony

• metaphor

An example of a modern-day kenning is

• back road

• firetrap

• close call

• well-deserved rest

Which of the following phrases from Beowulf is an example of a kenning?

• "ring-giver"

• “Victories in other wars”

• “failed him, deserted him”

• “excellent sword”

Using kennings gave oral poets the opportunity to

• give hidden compliments to the king

• add dramatic gestures to the verse

• teach culturally important lessons

• think ahead as they composed