View a FREE sample

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 call the words of the blind man in Chapter 3?

2. What color does the narrator say Hrothgar's beard is?

3. What does the Shaper sing of that upsets Grendel?

4. What is the dragon sitting on?

5. Who is Grendel’s only friend?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Discuss Grendel's mother and how she differs from her son.

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

4. Discuss the significance of Grendel's speech about heroes existing only in poetry.

5. How does Grendel's existence hinge on Hrothgar's survival?

6. How does Grendel's meeting with the dragon help him define his role in the world of men?

7. Describe how the men act/talk in the mead halls. What is the function of this behavior?

8. Does Grendel have delusions about his own intelligence?

9. How does the story of Finn foreshadow what could happen with Hrothgar's truces with Hygmod and Ingeld?

10. How does Grendel feel about the brainless ram?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what Grendel comes to realize while hanging in the tree. Why is this realization important? How does this realization shape Grendel’s actions?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think that Grendel continues to update the reader on the dragon? Why does Grendel refer to the dragon by smell? How does Grendel’s relationship with the dragon evolve in the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,109 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample