beowulf journey to grendel's mother

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Early British Survey

Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother

Summary of Beowulf

In the epic poem Beowulf , written by an Anglo-saxon poet, the titular warrior and king of Geatland Beowulf searches for the legacy that will cement his name as a hero. Throughout the poem he undergoes many battles with monsters that later creates his everlasting legacy. The first quest he encounters helps Hrothgar, the King of Danes, to defeat the terror of the monster Grendel. Eventually, Beowulf defeats Grendel in a battle at Herot Hall. Despite the defeat, Grendel’s mother then attacks Herot Hall, which leads to the following quest of conquering her as well in her cave with her own sword. The final quest takes place many years later as he must confront a dragon in his realm of Geatland. The dragon loses the battle, but unfortunately Beowulf loses his life after the quarrel. Regardless of his death, the people commemorate his name because of all he did.

Religious Shift during Beowulf

During the creation of this epic poem, a reformation of religion occurred. A religious shift from Paganism to Christianity drastically impacted the synthesis of Beowulf and the monsters that he encounters. Within the Christian religion, negative perspectives towards women and sex arose as the church taught “that a spiritual man should practice self-denial and the repression of all things of the body so that he might approach a state of purity while women, the weaker sex, were incapable of such self-restraint and must be controlled by men” (Ewing 14). Meanwhile, in Paganism, women were “near equal companions to males in their lives, such as husbands and brothers” (Fell).  As stated previously, the monster represents the society’s conflicts at the time. After Beowulf’s first victory against the monster Grendel, he faces his mother. With that said, Grendel’s Mother takes the brunt of the representation of the religious and social changes within the Anglo-saxon time period as she represents the clash of both religions.

Textual Analysis

Once Beowulf’s conquest of Grendel occurred,

“…it became clear, Obvious to everyone that the fight once the fight was over,  That an avenger lurked and was still alive, Grimly biding time. Grendel’s mother…” (1255-1259)

The first name that describes Grendel’s mother is: ‘avenger’, which implies the pre-christian ideals of a pagan society as “revenge was powerfully built into Anglo-Saxon cultural expectations:  if someone killed one of your family members, you were obligated to return the favor by killing them or one of their family members” (Oldrieve). However, only a few lines later, the mention of Cain appears–a Christian figure–as the narrator states, 

“[Grendel’s mother] had been forced down into fearful waters, The cold depths, after Cain had killed  His father’s son… And from Cain there sprang Misbegotten spirits, among them Grendel” (1260-1266)

The narrator associates Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve and the killer of his brother, with Grendel and Grendel’s mother, which adds to the blending of both religions found in Grendel’s mother. To add on to the conflicting ideals of both religions represented in Grendel’s mother, she ultimately ends up expressing a monstrous idea from both religions.

View Through Christian Lens

 In Christianity, as men view women as temptresses, Grendel’s mother embodies that characteristic as she lures Beowulf into her cave in the ‘fearful waters’. The underwater cave symbolizes both fertility and femininity, drawing Beowulf in to defeat the temptress. The word fearful that associates itself with the cave adds to the idea that where femininity resides men should be afraid of it. In order to defeat her, however, Beowulf uses a phallic symbol: “a blade that boded well/ a sword in her armory…so huge and heavy of itself/ only Beowulf could wield in it battle” (1557-1562). The sexual connotations of the battle leads to the idea that Grendel’s mother personifies the sin that women provide within Christianity.

Views Through Pagan Lens

On the other hand, Paganism, and the idea of revenge leads to reading Grendel’s mother not as a sinful temptress, but as an empathetic mother who lost her son. As Paganism is a polytheistic minded religion, one of the goddesses they worshipped is the goddess Danu. Danu “is often honored as a primal mother, or progenitor of life” (Daimler). Motherhood is already seen as the only name the monster is honored as is ‘Grendel’s mother’. This idealization of motherhood shows when the narrator states: “his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief racked and ravenous” (1276-1277). Playing on sympathy, the grief-stricken mother who lost her son shows strength in wanting revenge. To finalize the idea that Grendel’s mother resembles the progenitor of life, symbols of earth are attached to her cave. A cave serves as an embodiment of a womb, where originally both her and Grendel reside. Moreover, the cave’s location resides deep underwater which is closer to the core of the earth, which adds to the characteristics of Grendel’s mother representing the pagan goddess of Danu. Her death by Beowulf alludes to the end of Paganism and to the birth of Christianity.

As this period of time in the 6th century of England went through an important religious change of Paganism to Christianity, Grendel’s mother plays an important role in the epic poem Beowulf as she embodies the cultural rift and blends them together to create the monster she is.

Bibliography:

Daimler, Morgan. Pagan Portals- Gods and Goddesses of Ireland. A Guide to Irish Deities. John Hunt Publishing, 2016

Ewing, Doris. “The Fall of Eve: Racism and Classism as a Function of Sexual Repression.” Race, Gender & Class. , vol. 7, no. 1, Institute for Teaching and Research on Women, Towson State University, 2000.

Fell, Christine E., et al. Women in Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell, 1987.

Oldrieve, Dr. Susan. “Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Life.” Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Life , homepages.bw.edu/~uncover/oldrieveintro.htm.

Satan and Sin

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• I'm supposed to write a comparison of Hektor and Achilles from Homer's The Iliad, but I don't know where to start.
• How do you pronounce quay ? And what does it mean, anyway?
• What are some examples of paradox in the novel Frankenstein ?
• In Ivanhoe, what does mammock mean?
• What does rummage mean?
• Is a mummer some type of religious person?
• Some guy I don't like told his friend I was acting all demure. What does that mean?
• When I complained about our cafeteria food, my biology teacher told me he wished they'd serve agarics. Was he talking about some kind of dessert?
• Where did the name Of Mice and Men come from?
• What genre would you consider the book, The Outsiders ?
• In Fahrenheit 451, why would a society make being a pedestrian a crime?
• What does the phrase, a worn-out man of fashion" mean from Jane Eyre ?"
• Is sagacity a medical condition?
• My teacher told me I was being obdurate. Was that a compliment?
• What motives inspired Iago to plot revenge against Othello?
• Who was the first king of Rome?
• What does enervate mean?
• What is a parvenu ? I saw the word in William Makepeace Thackeray's book Vanity Fair.
• Is salubrity somehow related to being famous?
• Do capers have something to do with cops?
• What's the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?
• In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce uses the word pandybat . What's a pandybat?
• Does the word inexorable have something to do with driving demons out of a person?
• Do people who prognosticate have some sort of special power?
• What is a hegemony, from James Joyce's Ulysses ?
• What are fallow fields ? I'm a city gal who heard the term at a 4-H fair and just read it in Anna Karenina.
• What's the difference between parody and satire?
• Lord of the Flies uses the word inimical. What does it mean?
• What does dreadnaught mean, as it’s used in Bleak House?
• I saw vertiginous in Madame Bovary. What does mean the word mean?
• What does overweening mean, in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes?
• Can you hear a dirge anyplace but a funeral?
• Does imperturbable refer to something you can't break through?
• What are the seven ages of man?
• What is a chimera , in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë?
• What's dross ?
• What is an injunction ?
• For school I had to make a Napoleon hat, which called for a cockade. What is that?
• If someone studies assiduously, does it mean they're working really hard or really slowly?
• Define mood as it relates to a work of fiction. Distinguish mood from effect.
• My sister calls me the Princess of Prevarication." What's prevarication ?"
• What's turpitude, as in moral turpitude"?"
• What's the definition of tenebrous ?
• This biography I'm reading about Queen Victoria says that she refused to remove the hatchment she had for her husband Prince Albert. What does that word mean?
• What does sine qua non mean?
• What's lugubrious mean?
• What's impugn mean, from Ivanhoe?
• What does postprandial mean?
• I love reading fashion magazines and occasionally come across the word atelier. What is that?
• What does King Lear mean when he says that ingratitude is a marble-hearted fiend"?"
• What is celerity , from Ivanhoe ?
• In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , what are disquisitions ?
• What's shrive ? My neighbor said she's been unshriven for years, but I think her skin looks quite shriveled.
• What's a dobbin ?
• What's polemic ? Over winter break, my uncle told me I was polemic and asked if I was on the debate team at school.
• I came across a list of homonyms: mu, moo, moue . I know mu is Greek for the letter m , and moo is the sound cows make, but what's a moue ?
• What does trow mean?
• In Far from the Madding Crowd , what does cavil mean?
• What does Charles Dickens mean when he says “toadies and humbugs” in his book, Great Expectations ?
• Where can I find the word naught in The Scarlet Letter ?
• I found an old diary from the 1800s where the writer describes how he almost died but was saved by a sinapism . What is that?
• I know what mulch is, but what's mulct ?
• When our teacher was introducing the next reading assignment, he said we'll be using the unexpurgated version. What did he mean?
• For some reason, the word dingle sticks in my head after having read Treasure Island years ago. I never did discover what it meant. How about it, Cliff?
• In Dracula , what's stertorous breathing?
• What does philippic mean?
• I'm usually pretty good at guessing what words mean, but have no clue about exigence . What is it?
• What's doughty ? How do you pronounce it?
• What's sharecropping? I'm kind of embarrassed to ask, because it's one of those words everyone assumes you know what it means.
• I'm working on my summer reading list with Kafka's The Trial. The very first sentence uses traduce , and I don't know what that means.
• What does the cormorant (bird) symbolize in mythology?
• I saw the word badinage in the book Uncle Tom's Cabin . Do you think that's a typo that really should be bandage ?
• On a TV modeling contest, a judge said, Her simian walk is unbelievable." Was that a good thing?"
• What is the definition of adverbiously , from Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities ?
• In Oliver Twist , Dodger refers to Oliver as flash companion . Can't find a definition of this anywhere. What does it mean?
• Do elocutionists kill people?
• For my English homework, I have to write a love poem. I'm only 13 and I haven't had my first love yet. How would I go about writing about feelings that I haven't felt yet?
• Where on the body would I find my sarcophagus ?
• What's stolid ? It sounds like someone who's stupid and built solid like a wall.
• What's a wonton person?
• In which play did William Shakespeare state that misery loves company?
• What's comfit ? Is it a different way of saying comfort?
• Where did the story Frankenstein by Mary Shelley take place?
• What kind of person would a shallow-pate be?
• What are myrmidons of Justice" in Great Expectations ?"
• Faseeshis … no clue on the spelling, but I kind of got yelled at in school today for being that. What did I do?
• In The Red Badge of Courage , what's an imprecation ?
• The word portmanteau shows up in a lot of the literature I read for school assignments. It sounds French. What does it mean?
• I did something really stupid yesterday, and my grandfather told me I was hoist with my own petard." What does that mean? And what's a petard ?"
• How do you pronounce Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's early comedies?
• What's a bourse ? I read it in my finance class.
• In The House of Mirth, what are oubliettes ?
• In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, what are thimble-riggers ?
• In Wuthering Heights , what's a thible ?
• Which Hemingway story references the running of the bulls" in Spain?"
• What's a clink? My dad mentioned that his granddad was there for a long time during World War I.
• If somebody is toady," does it mean they're ugly?"
• Who said all's fair in love and war" and where?"
• Why is there so much talk about baseball, especially Joe DiMaggio, in The Old Man and the Sea ?
• In the movie Failure to Launch , there's a line that goes, Well, she certainly is yar," in reference to a yacht. What's yar ?"
• What does mangle mean in Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities ?
• I got detention because a teacher said I was being contumacious . What's that?
• What are encomiums?
• What are billets in The Three Musketeers ?
• In Orwell's 1984 , what is doublethink ?
• What are orts ? That's a weird word that reminds me of orcs from The Lord of the Rings .
• What are alliteration and assonance?
• How is John the Savage's name ironic in Brave New World ?
• What's quinsy?
• What is a doppelgänger?
• What is New Historicism?
• I found the word unwonted in a book I'm reading. Is that a typo, you think?
• In Heart of Darkness , what does cipher mean?
• In the play The Glass Menagerie, would you describe Tom as selfish?
• What does Kantian mean, from a philosophical perspective?
• What's a colonnade ? My girlfriend is freaking me out with stories of her dream wedding where she walks down a colonnade. I know this is the least of my problems, but I'm curious.
• My grandma says she knows how I feel when I knit my brows. Is she crazy?
• Why is Shakespeare's play titled Julius Caesar , even though he is dead by Act III and plays a relatively small role?
• I know bier has something to do with dead people, but what is it exactly?
• My brainy brother owns a Harley and says his girlfriend is the pillion . Is he insulting her or just showing off?
• I ran across the word mien in a book. Is it a typo?
• Is a younker a person or a place?
• Does precipitancy have something to do with the weather?
• I'm writing a grade 12 comparative essay, and I need a book that I could compare with All Quiet on the Western Front. Any suggestions?
• A friend says she suffers from ineffable sadness. What's ineffable ?
• What's a scow ?
• Is a maelstrom some kind of dangerous weather?
• What is the meaning of this saying, The cat will mew and dog will have his day"?"
• What is a paradox ?
• The Picture of Dorian Gray mentions a panegyric on youth. What does that mean?
• In Madame Bovary , what's a mairie?
• In The Kite Runner, what's palliative mean?
• So what's oligarchy ? In government class, my teacher mentioned that word when we were talking about the Blagojevich scandal in Illinois.
• Is intrepidity a good thing or a bad thing?
• My grandmother told me that she thinks grandpa should see an alienist. Does she think he's from another planet or what?
• Do you have to have licentiousness to get your driver's license?
• I ran across the word hardihood in something I read the other day. Is it some kind of clothing?
• I saw mention of haversack in my history book. What does that word mean?
• I'm guessing the word quadroon is four of something. But what's a roon?
• I'm trying to understand Shakespeare's play, King Lear . Can you explain these quotes from Act 1, Scene 1?
• In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment , what's a samovar ?
• I came across a music channel that featured tejano," and then I saw the same word when I was reading Bless Me, Ultima. What does it mean?"
• In The Awakening , there's a term prunella gaiter." I'm guessing that gaiters are a type of covering for your legs, like the gaiters I use on my ski boots to keep snow out. But what the heck is prunella? Is it a purplish color like prunes?"
• What's sedulous mean?
• In Chapter 2 of Jane Eyre , what are divers parchments ?
• A friend of mine said she hopes to get a counterpane for Christmas. What's that?
• In Wuthering Heights, what does munificent mean?
• The other day, my dad called my friends a motley crew. Is that his way of saying I should hang out with a different crowd?
• Why is there an authorship problem with Shakespeare?
• What is it called when something is out of place in time, like a jet stream in a movie about ancient Rome?
• In 1984 , does Winston die from a bullet at the end of the book or is he in a dream-state?
• I saw some old guy in a soldier's uniform selling fake red flowers. He said it was for Veterans Day. What's the connection?
• I was kind of flirting with this really cute boy when my teacher told me to stop palavering. Did she want me to stop flirting or stop talking?
• My grandmother says when she was a kid in China, she became Catholic because of the Mary Knows nuns. I tried to look that up on the Internet but couldn't find anything. Can you help?
• In The Count of Monte Cristo , does cupidity mean love? I'm guessing that because of, you know, Cupid . . . Valentine's Day.
• My theater teacher called me a name the other day. I don't think it was supposed to be a compliment. What's a somnambulist, anyway?
• Why was Tartuffe such a jerk?
• To Kill a Mockingbird has this word fey in it, but I don't know what it means. Does it mean short lived or fleeting?
• In Pride and Prejudice , what's probity" &mdash
• I never met my grandma, who my mom says lives in a hovel and wants her to move in with us. Then I saw that word in Frankenstein . What's a hovel? I thought it was like a place that had room service.
• I have a friend who said something about phantasmagoric. That's not real, is it?
• Which of the following literary devices is used in these poetic lines by John Milton?
• In Faulkner's A Rose for Emily," what does noblesse oblige mean?"
• What is love?
• What is suggested by the coin image in Book II of A Tale of Two Cities ?
• Why does Satan rebel against God?
• I'm reading Candide, by Voltaire, and one of the dudes is an Anabaptist. What's that?
• What does the poem Summer Sun" by Robert Louis Stevenson really mean?"
• What did Shakespeare want to say about his beloved in Sonnet 18?
• In Romeo and Juliet , who was the last person to see Juliet alive?
• What is the Catechism?
• What is the overall meaning of the poem Before The Sun," by Charles Mungoshi?"
• What does ague mean?
• Is there a reference to venereal disease in Romeo and Juliet ?
• What is fantasy fiction?
• What is the exposition in Othello ?
• Who is the character Susan in Romeo and Juliet ?
• What is a found poem?
• What did Alice Walker mean in the essay Beauty"?"
• Why did Dr. Frankenstein create his monster?
• What is the name of the surgeon and the English ship he's on in Moby-Dick ?
• What are the differences between an epic hero and a Romantic hero?
• In Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, does Gail Wynand commit suicide or only close The Banner at the end of the novel? I'm in a literary dispute over this!
• What did W.E.B. Du Bois mean when he wrote of second-sight?
• What is nihilism, and what should I read to get a better understanding of it?
• What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic?
• What are intelligent design and creationism and how are they related?
• What is misanthropy ?
• I would like to understand the poem Blight" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Please help."
• Can you explain the significance of the question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?""
• In Little Lost Robot," by Isaac Asimov, why have some robots been impressioned with only part of the First Law of Robotics?"
• Can you explain Cartesian Dualism and how Descartes' philosophical endeavors led him to dualism?
• When reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , what does entailment mean?
• What does ignominy mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
• What does pecuniary mean? (From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities )
• How do I analyze Kant's philosophy?
• What is an apostrophe in Macbeth ?
• Is music a language?
• Why should literature be studied?
• In the book The Scarlet Letter , what is a vigil ?
• The first week of school isn't even over yet and I'm already in trouble — I forgot my textbook at school and can't do my homework! What should I do now?!
• What are the renaissance features/characteristics in Hamlet ?
• What is the exact quote in Hamlet about something being wrong in Denmark? Something smells? Something is amiss?
• What does Utilitarianism mean, from a philosophical perspective?
• What was the form of English that Shakespeare used?
• At the beginning of Act V, Scene 2 of Much Ado About Nothing, does Shakespeare insinuate that anything is going on between Margaret and Benedick?
• What was the "final solution" in the book Night by Elie Wiesel?
• With the many novels out there, is there a database of some sort that can narrow down your choices to a specific book of interest for pleasure reading? And if not, why hasn't there been?
• How do you pronounce Houyhnhnms ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
• I just took the quiz on The Great Gatsby on this site. How can Jordan Baker be described as a professional golfer? To my knowledge, the LPGA did not form until the mid-1950s. Shouldn't she be referred to as an amateur golfer instead?
• What are the humanities?
• If Father, Son, and Holy Ghost aren't names, what is God's name?
• What classic novels take place in Florida?
• In which Hemingway short story is the saying, "Children's shoes for sale"?
• Who is the "lady" that Robert Plant speaks of in the song "Stairway to Heaven"?
• Was Odysseus the one who planned the Trojan horse, in the Trojan War?
• How do I get my smart-but-hates-to-read son interested in reading?
• Poetry gives me problems. How can I figure out what poems are about?
• How do you analyze a novel?
• What does it mean to ululate ? (From Golding's Lord of the Flies )
• Is ambrosia a salad? (From Homer's The Odyssey )
• What is a harbinger ? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
• What does it mean to be refractory ? (From Dickens' Great Expectations )
• What is a querulous kid? (From Wharton's Ethan Frome )
• What does the word runagate mean? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
• What is the word, imprimis ? (From Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew )
• What does the word alchemy mean? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
• What is an estuary ? (From Conrad's Heart of Darkness )
• What or who is a scullion ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
• What is a schism ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
• What does it mean to be salubrious ? (From Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights )
• What is a replication ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
• What is vicissitude ? (From Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables )
• Can you define indolent ? (From Wharton's House of Mirth )
• What does the word replete mean? (From Shakespeare's Henry V )
• What are orisons ? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
• What does it mean to be ephemeral ?
• What does it mean to be placid ? (From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre )
• What is a paroxysm ? (From Stoker's Dracula )
• My English teacher got really mad when I said I was nauseous . Why?
• What does it mean to be farinaceous ? (From Tolstoy's Anna Karenina )
• What does dejection mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
• What is animadversion ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
• What does it mean to be timorous ? (From Shakespeare's Othello )
• Someone called me erudite . Is that good?
• What is a mountebank ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
• What does incarnadine mean? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
• What does it mean to be puissant? (From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar)
• What is a purloiner? (From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities)
• What does it mean to be affable ? (From Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment )
• What does it mean to be ostensible ? (From Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court )
• What does compunction mean? (From Dickens's Bleak House )
• What is behoveful ? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
• What is a precentor ? (From Golding's Lord of the Flies )
• What does it mean to be loquacious ? (From Cervantes's Don Quixote )
• What does imprudence mean? (From Ibsen's A Doll's House )
• What is a conflagration ? (From Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde )
• What does it mean to be spurious ? (From James' Daisy Miller )
• What is a retinue ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
• What does the word forsworn mean? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
• What does the word hauteur mean? (From Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby )
• What are vituperations ? (From Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl )
• What are ostents ? (From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice )
• What is a sockdolager ? (From Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn )
• What does insuperable mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
• What is calumny ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
• What is an augury ? (From Sophocles' Antigone )
• What does squally mean? (From Dickens' Great Expectations )
• What does corporal mean? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
• What does it mean to be plausible ? (From Sinclair's The Jungle )
• What is a dearth ? (From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre )
• What does it mean to vacillate ? (From Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest )
• What does it mean to obtrude someone? (From Dickens's Great Expectations )
• What is a heterodox ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
• What is felicity ? (From Austen's Emma )
• What does it mean to be effacing ? (From Adams's The Education of Henry Adams )
• What is a repast ? (From Chan Tsao's Dream of the Red Chamber )
• What does insouciance mean? (From Sinclair's The Jungle )
• What is a soliloquy ? (From Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn )
• I was reading The Iliad and there's this word in it: greaves . What's that?
• What does the word prodigality mean? (From Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby )
• Is there an easy way to understand The Canterbury Tales ?
• What does the scarlet letter symbolize?
• How did Hawthorne show that Hester Prynne was a strong woman in The Scarlet Letter ?
• What purpose do the three witches serve at the beginning of Macbeth ?
• What can you tell me about Grendel from Beowulf ?
• What figurative language does Stephen Crane use in The Red Badge of Courage ?
• Why is Roger so mean in Lord of the Flies ?
• How do Gene and Finny mirror each other in A Separate Peace ?
• The old man and the young wife — what's up with story plots like this?
• What part does vengeance play in The Odyssey ?
• What kind of a woman is Penelope in The Odyssey ?
• Do fate and fortune guide the actions in Macbeth ?
• How does Frankenstein relate to Paradise Lost ?
• How has the way people view Othello changed over time?
• How does Henry change throughout The Red Badge of Courage ?
• What's so great about Gatsby?
• How is To Kill a Mockingbird a coming-of-age story?
• Why did Ophelia commit suicide in Hamlet ?
• What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter ?
• What is a slave narrative?
• What's an anachronism ?
• Doesn't Raskolnikov contradict himself in Crime and Punishment ?
• What is the main theme of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ?
• What does Shakespeare mean by memento mori ?
• What are inductive and deductive arguments?
• How does Alice Walker break the rules" of literature with The Color Purple ?"
• What role does Friar Laurence play in Romeo and Juliet ?
• Why did Elie Wiesel call his autobiography Night ?
• How does Shakespeare play with gender roles in Macbeth ?
• Where did Dickens get the idea to write A Tale of Two Cities ?
• What's the purpose of the preface to The Scarlet Letter ?
• What role do women play in A Tale of Two Cities ?
• Who are the heroes and villains in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
• What are the ides of March?
• Was Kate really a shrew in The Taming of the Shrew ?
• What role does innocence play in The Catcher in the Rye ?
• How are Tom and Huck different from each other in Huckleberry Finn ?
• What is blank verse and how does Shakespeare use it?
• How do the book and film versions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest differ?
• What is a satirical novel?
• What is the role of censorship in Fahrenheit 451 ?
• How can I keep myself on track to get through my summer reading list?
• How does Jim fit into the overall theme of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ?
• What is a major theme of The Great Gatsby ?
• How does Shakespeare use light and darkness in Romeo and Juliet ?
• Who is the narrator in Faulkner's A Rose for Emily"?"
• In Lord of the Flies , what statement is William Golding making about evil?
• How is The Catcher in the Rye different from other coming-of-age novels?
• How does Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird show two sides?
• Was there supposed to be a nuclear war in The Handmaid's Tale ? I couldn't tell.
• What is experimental theater"?"
• Does Jonas die at the end of The Giver ?
• What is an inciting incident, and how do I find one in Lord of the Flies ?
• How does King Arthur die?
• In Julius Caesar , what does this mean: Cowards die many times before their deaths
• How do you write a paper on comparing a movie with the book?
• Please explain this Kipling quote: Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.""
• What is a tragic flaw?
• What is a motif, and how can I find them in Macbeth ?
• Why didn't Socrates write any books? After all, he was supposed to be so intelligent and wise.
• Why are there blanks in place of people's names and places in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice ?
• Was Othello a king? A prince? He's referred to as My Lord" but I'm not sure of his actual title."
• I need to download some pictures of Juliet. Where would I find these?
• Why does Odysseus decide to listen to the Sirens, in The Odyssey , by Homer?
• What does prose and poetry mean? What's the difference?
• In The Scarlet Letter, why is the scaffold important and how does it change over the course of the novel?
• Why does the legend of King Arthur hold such a powerful grip over us?
• Do you like to read books?
• What are the metrical features in poetry?
• What are the riddles that Gollum asked Bilbo in The Hobbit ?
• Can you tell me what these two quotes from Much Ado About Nothing mean?
• What is connotation, and how do you find it in a poem?
• What is a dramatic monologue?
• What is formal fallacy?
• In the movie Dead Poets Society, what are some themes and values that are relevant to Transcendentalism. What is Transcendentalism?
• Why didn't Mina Harker realize she was under Dracula's spell when she witnessed her friend fall prey to him, too? Wasn't it obvious?
• In The Three Musketeers by Dumas, Cardinal Richelieu is labeled as the villain. How could he be presented as a hero instead?
• In Romeo and Juliet , what are the different types of irony used? Um, what's irony?
• What is the main theme in Fahrenheit 451 ?
• In Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities , what fact in Book the Second: Chapters 1-6, confirms Darnay's release?
• Why is Invisible Man considered a bildungsroman?
• In A Doll's House , what risqué item does Nora reveal to Dr. Rank that eventually prompts him to disclose his own secret?
• What is a definition of short story?
• What percentage of people are considered geniuses?
• How do I write and publish my own novel?
• Do I use the past or present tense to answer this question: What is this poem about?" "
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• In what countries does Toyota produce and market cars?
• How would you use the PDSA cycle in your personal life?
• I am confused about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing negative numbers.
• Who are some famous female mathematicians?
• Given the set of numbers [7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42], find a subset of these numbers that sums to 100.
• The speed limit on a certain part of the highway is 65 miles per hour. What is this in feet per minute?
• What is the sum of the angles of an octagon?
• In math, what does reciprocal mean?
• How many grams in an ounce?
• A number is 20 less than its square. Find all answers.
• How much is 1,000 thousands?
• How do I find the angles of an isosceles triangle whose two base angles are equal and whose third angle is 10 less than three times a base angle?
• Explain with words and an example how any number raised to the zero power is 1?
• If I had 550 coins in a machine worth $456.25, what would be the denomination of each coin?
• What three consecutive numbers add up to 417?
• How many 100,000,000s in 50 billion?
• Of 100 students asked if they like rock and roll or country music, 7 said they like neither, 90 said they like rock and roll, and 57 said they like country music. How many students like both?
• What's the formula to convert square feet into square meters?
• In math, what is the definition of order of operations?
• What's the difference between digital and analog?
• What is the square root of 523,457?
• What are all of the prime numbers?
• Our teacher told us to look for clues in math word problems. What did she mean?
• How do I figure out math word problems (without going crazy)?
• What good is geometry going to do me after I get out of school?
• I keep forgetting how to add fractions. Can you remind me?
• My teacher talks about the Greatest Common Factor. What's so great about it?
• Got any tips on finding percentages of a number?
• What does associative property mean when you’re talking about adding numbers?
• How do I use domain and range in functions?
• How do I change percents to decimals and fractions? How about decimals and fractions to percents?
• What should I do if my teacher wants me to solve an inequality on a number line?
• What is a fast and easy way to work word problems?
• How do you combine numbers and symbols in an algebraic equation?
• How do I go about rounding off a number?
• What is the First Derivative Test for Local Extrema?
• Can you describe a prism for me?
• How can I double-check my answers to math equations?
• How do you factor a binomial?
• I get the words mean , mode , median , and range mixed up in math. What do they all mean?
• How do you combine like terms in algebra?
• Can you make it easier for me to understand what makes a number a prime number?
• Explain probability to me (and how about some examples)?
• Solving story problems is, well, a problem for me. Can you help?
• What's inferential statistics all about?
• Finding percentages confuses me. Do you have any tips to make it simpler?
• What's a quadratic equation, and how do I solve one?
• How do you figure out probability?
• How do you add integers?
• How do you use factoring in quadratic equations?
• What are limits in calculus?
• I've looked everywhere to find the meaning of this word and I can't find it. What's the definition of tesseract ?
• In geometry, how do you get the perimeters of a square and a rectangle?
• What is the absolute value of a negative number?
• A rectangle swimming pool is 24m longer than it is wide and is surrounded by a deck 3m wide. Find the area of the pool if the area of the deck is 324m 2 . Where do I even start to solve this problem?
• How do you classify numbers, as in rational numbers, integers, whole numbers, natural numbers, and irrational numbers? I am mostly stuck on classifying fractions.
• How do you convert a fraction to a decimal or change a decimal to a fraction?
• I am trying to find all solutions to this algebra (factoring) problem, x 3 – 3x 2 – x + 3 = 0, and I keep getting the wrong answer. Please help!
• Sometimes when I'm doing my pre-calculus homework I need help on some of the problems. Do you know where I can find help on the weekends or whenever?
• How do you convert metric measurements?
• I'm curious about converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, or Fahrenheit to Celsius. How do I convert from one to the other?
• In basic math, the fraction bar shows division. So why does this equation show multiplication instead of division? 9/9 = 1 because 1 x 9 = 9.
• I'm taking geometry and I'm having problem with the angles and the degree. Is there a way you can help me out?
• The perimeter of a rectangle is 66m. The width is 9m less than the length. What is the length and width of the rectangle?
• How many dollars are in 5,000 pesos?
• How many ounces in a pound?
• I'm having a hard time remembering percent of change. All I have is P (percent) = amount of change over original amount. Is there a better way of understanding it?
• How do I figure out tangrams?
• What are quadrilaterals?
• What is the least common multiple of 8, 6, and 12?
• How do you convert decimals to fractions?
• How did the planet" Pluto get its name? I know it's named after the mythical god of the underworld, but why?"
• What is the difference between the earth's core and its crust?
• What does gender really mean?
• What does plum pudding have to do with physics?
• What is the functionalist perspective in sociology?
• What does pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis mean?
• Why aren't viruses considered living things?
• Why does your breathing rate increase when you exercise?
• Everyone says you shouldn't clean your ears with cotton swabs because you could break an eardrum. But if you do break your eardrum, will it grow back?
• What is a mole?
• How, and why, is body fat stored?
• Where on the body do you find ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium?
• Since she was only married for 72 days, does Kim Kardashian have to give back her wedding gifts?
• In the United States, how can you get buried at sea?
• What exactly is Salvia divinorum , and is it legal?
• What is the composition and volume of whole blood?
• Should I refer to a widow as Mrs., Miss, or Ms.?
• Is it possible to catch more than one cold at a time?
• Why does the Earth have more gravitational force than the moon or some other planet?
• Did humans evolve from monkeys or apes?
• What is the largest organ in the human body?
• How did we end up with both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales?
• What is absolute zero?
• What is cell theory?
• How come when humans flatulate, it smells bad?
• How do I convert mL into µL, and vice versa?
• What is the most abundant element in the earth's crust?
• Is global warming man-made?
• What exactly is wind? And why does it blow?
• This sounds really disgusting, but I'm curious: Can humans drink animal blood, or any other kind of blood?
• Why is space exploration important?
• How is photosynthesis essential to life on earth?
• What is the highest mountain in New Mexico?
• What's the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
• Who are the unbelievers" referred to in The Koran? What is it that they do not believe?"
• What is the difference between Sunnis and Shi'ites?
• What happens when you die?
• Why is it important to memorize where the 50 states are on a map?
• What kind of endangered species are there? Can you give me some examples, please?
• It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open, so when you drive a car, is it against the law to sneeze?
• What are tectonic plates?
• I have boy trouble. I want to ask out my friend, but I am not sure he is going to say yes. Plus, he said he had a girlfriend when we talked during school. Plus, my parents don't want me to date.
• Why is the sky blue?
• Do you really shrink at the end of the day and then grow in the morning?
• What is the difference between matter" and "mass"?"
• What does "nature versus nurture" mean?
• What are closed contour lines?
• What is homeostasis ?
• What does the periodic table look like?
• Do you know anything about the law of conservation of energy? Is it really a law?
• I thought I knew what work means, but my physics teacher defines it differently. What's up with that?
• How do plants know when to drop their leaves?
• What's the surface of the moon like?
• How does the number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom differentiate it from another atom?
• How do big rocks wear down over time?
• What does genetic recombination mean?
• How has DNA matching really made big difference in finding out who committed a crime?
• What's the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
• What is incomplete dominance?
• Can hydrocarbons be considered compounds?
• Can you explain what molar mass is?
• Aren't fungi really plants?
• What information is contained in a chemical equation?
• What are the endocrine and exocrine systems?
• How do electrical charges interact?
• Are there more than three kingdoms of life? I can never remember.
• What are the characteristics of electrically charged objects?
• How does anomie theory explain deviant behavior?
• Why would anybody think there might be life on another planet?
• What are chemical solutions?
• Do you know of any way to simplify the overall subject of biochemical genetics?
• Can a loud noise really shatter glass?
• How do magnetic fields work?
• Did Clarence Darrow really call an animal in to testify at the famous monkey trial?
• What role does the thyroid gland play in the human body?
• What did Mendel discover about heredity when he was playing around with plants?
• How many laws of motion did Newton come up with, and what are they?
• What in the world is constructive and destructive interference?
• How do viruses do their dirty work?
• What do bones do, except give us a skeletal structure?
• Do all viruses look alike?
• My teacher keeps talking about solubility. What does that mean, anyway?
• How do positive and negative reinforcement work?
• How does nondisjunction relate to birth defects?
• With all the germs in the world today, how come everybody's not sick all the time?
• What is thermal equilibrium?
• How are sound waves created?
• What do taste buds look like — up-close?
• How often does an eclipse happen?
• What is the chemical composition of saltwater?
• I was told to write a 15-sentence answer to this question: When in life do you learn to expect the unexpected? I don't really know of an answer. Can you help me figure it out?
• My school is having a blood drive and I am considering donating blood. Can you tell me more about the whole process and if it is painful?
• Where can I download music for free? And if I do, is it illegal?
• How do I convince my parents to give me ten bucks?
• How should I deal with being a perfectionist?
• How do I convince my little brother and sisters to stay out of my room?
• Can you eat a rooster?
• How do I work out a problem with a teacher who loses the assignments I turn in and then accuses me of not doing the homework?
• Could a Tyrannosaurus rex kill King Kong?
• How would you describe a rainbow to a person who has been blind their ENTIRE life and doesn't understand colors?
• Will a tattoo inhibit hair growth?
• When did gays come about?
• I was wondering if the tilt on the earth's axis is important to animal life on earth. Could you explain?
• What are the four types of tissue found in the human body?
• Is there any easy" way to understand the Krebs Cycle?"
• Why are prostaglandins sometimes called tissue hormones?
• What is cell death? And what is the difference between apoptosis and necrosis?
• How do I find the molar mass of the elements on the periodic table?
• What do the symbols on the Periodic Table mean? For example, Gold-Au, Silver-Ag, Lead-Pb, Potassium-K, Tin-Sn, Iron-Fe, and Mercury-Hg, where did these symbols come from?
• How is your mind connected to your dreams? Does this have anything to do with psychology?
• What are the three main functions of the skeletal system?
• What are the characteristics of a moneran, protist, and fungus?
• Why does a placebo work? And who does it work for?
• What are two properties of metals, nonmetals, and metalloids?
• What is lymph? Is it part of the circulatory system in our bodies?
• Can there be life on Mars?
• How much of the ozone layer is left?
• Is it possible for a marine mammal to be infected with rabies?
• What exactly does the RNA do?
• What is the sperm travel process?
• What is a bacterial colony?
• Dealing with the myth of Cinderella, written by the Grimm brothers, how could you analyze it in terms of archetypes that Carl Jung used?
• What exactly is blood clotting and what are the processes involved?
• What is the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission?
• Does a person have to have the same blood type as his or her brothers and sisters?
• My teacher said that eating poisonous mushrooms can make you sick or even kill you, but that they're not the only fungus that can. What is she talking about?
• What is the chemical equation for orange juice?
• What kind of structures are opposable toes?
• What is an oral groove?
• Dogs are spayed, but humans have hysterectomies. Isn't it all the same surgery?
• What does the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) do?
• What is the angle formed by a horizontal line and a line of sight to a point below?
• After I take the ASVAB, what is my obligation to the military?
• If I choose to take the computerized version of the GRE, will I be typing or writing my analytical and issue essays?
• Are there any MBA programs that don't require the GMAT?
• Can you use a calculator on the GMAT? What are you allowed to take in with you to the test?
• Should I keep taking the GMAT until I get a good score?
• How is the ASVAB scored?
• I canceled my GMAT score right after I took the test. Now I'm wondering if I did the right thing.
• What is the ASVAB AFQT?
• Where can I take the ASVAB?
• Is it better to guess on GMAT answers or would that count against me?
• How is my GMAT score used by grad schools?
• Is it true that the writing assessment sections of the GMAT are graded by a computer?
• What kinds of scores are reported on the GRE, and how long will it take for me to get my scores?
• What do I need to bring with me to the GRE testing center?
• How are GRE scores used?
• How do I learn stuff for in-class exams?
• How do I get ready for a math test?
• Can I take a calculator to my ACT exam?
• Do you have any tips for doing well on the AP Chemistry test?
• What can I expect in the math part of the SAT?
• How can I prepare for the SAT essay?
• What is the Critical Reasoning section of the SAT like?
• Is there a fun way to learn SAT vocabulary?
• What books should I read for the AP English Literature exam?
• How can I make sure I finish the AP essay question in time?
• Since I made the soccer team, I don't feel like I have enough time to study. Do you have any study tips so I can use my time better and make sure I don't get kicked off the team for my grades?
• I'm a huge procrastinator. How can I manage my time effectively to catch up on my assignments?
• What kind or amount of note-taking is optimal? I get lost while making a notation and miss other parts of the lecture.
• I study so hard for my tests that I know I know the material, but then I always panic and bomb. How can I reduce my test anxiety?
• I do really bad on quizzes. I'm okay with tests and homework, but I do horribly on quizzes. What can I do to prepare for quizzes?
• I've screwed up horribly this semester. I always say I'm going to change my habits, but I always end up getting lazy and doing something else. I want to succeed, but how can I get rid of my own laziness?
• If you have any music or audio notes playing on tape, CD, or whatever and you fall asleep, is it true that you'll have whatever was played memorized by the time you wake up?
• I have trouble understanding a book when I read. I try to read so that I can finish the book quickly but still understand what's going on. Could you give me a few tips on how to understand a book while reading at a quick pace?
• What is the best study method when trying to cram three chapters all at once?
• What if I have a really bad memory? When I read a page of a book, I can't go back and remember it.
• Why do some teachers say light a peppermint candle? I mean, I don't think it helps you concentrate.
• I really suck at taking multiple choice tests. Do you have any suggestions for not psyching myself out before a big test?
• Is there a WRONG way to study?
• Are the math questions on the GMAT extremely difficult and complex?
• Does it matter whether I take the SAT or ACT in my junior year or my senior year of high school?
• What does AP mean?
• How can I explain to my friend what I mean when I call him tedious ?
• Does the word privations has something to do with the government?
• What's the difference between goulash and galoshes?
• What exactly is a parallel structure?
• I have a bet on this: Learnt is a real word, right?
• Is a boor somebody who boos or somebody who bores?
• Somebody in my drama club used the word ostentation the other day. What does that mean, anyway?
• Define paraphrasing.
• What's another word that means the same thing as malevolence ?
• I find the same typo in a lot of books I read. Shouldn't connexion be connection ?
• What do you call a word that only ever appears as a plural?
• What s the difference between like and such as
• Can you show an easy way to remember when to use I" or "me" in a sentence? (And please skip the technical grammar rules.)"
• Should I say, “Can I have a banana?” or “May I have a banana?”
• Is the proper capitalization Atlantic ocean or Atlantic Ocean ?
• What does the word supercilious mean?
• Is grippe something that makes you sick?
• Does the word elucidation have something to do with drugs?
• How would you use fervid and fervent in a sentence?
• How can someone become a good writer?
• How do you cite CliffsNotes in APA, MLA, and CMS styles?
• What period in history does histrionics cover?
• People used to die from consumption. Does that mean they ate too much?
• Is it ever okay to start a sentence with the word but?
• What is the longest word in the English language?
• I'm learning English now, so I gave myself an English name — Vivi." However, an American told me that "Vivi" is not suitable for a name. There are some local reasons. So I want to know if "Vivi" really can't be used as a name."
• When writing a paper, what do I do to the title of a book? Do I underline it or italicize it?
• Please look at this sentence: Both Peter and John like soccer. Should it be: Both Peter and John likes soccer.
• What are the four genders of noun?
• What is it called when a word is the same both forward and backward?
• Do swans really sing when they die
• What does indignation mean?
• What is a pundit ?
• What is a cleft sentence
• What is the difference between narration and first person?
• Is it grammatically correct to say take some shots"?"
• My teacher thinks I plagiarized an essay; what should I tell him?
• Why do some authors use the word an before all words that start with an H? Is this form of writing correct?
• My school newspaper claimed that I am. is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Isn't Go. a complete sentence?
• How did people make up the lb. abbreviation for pounds?
• Which is correct: "if I was" or "if I were"? And why?
• How would you use the word antecede in a sentence?
• Could you please explain the difference between affect and effect ?
• How do I write a good thesis statement?
• What do people mean when they talk about information in the public domain?
• What's the big deal about plagiarism, anyway?
• Is there a difference between envy and jealousy ?
• Can you define the words prostate and prostrate ?
• What does it mean to be threadbare ?
• Is there a difference between the words ignorant and stupid ?
• I used the word reoccur in a paper and my teacher said it should have been recur . Can you tell me the difference?
• What does it mean to be flabbergasted ?
• When should I write the word lose and when should I write loose ?
• What does ad infinitum mean? (From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre )
• Do loath and loathe have different meanings?
• I got marked down on a paper for using the word irregardless . Why?
• What does it mean to be fastidious ? (From Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo )
• Do stationary and stationery mean the same thing?
• How is the word among different than the word between ?
• What is a hierarchy ?
• What is the difference between tortuous and torturous ?
• Can you help me understand the difference between the words censor and censure ?
• I get farther and further confused. Can you help?
• I can t keep principal and principle clear Can you help
• My teacher lowered my grade on a paper because I described a scene as grizzly . I thought that was a word.
• Are the words gamut and gauntlet interchangeable?
• When do I write some time instead of sometime and sometimes ?
• Can you help me figure out when to use the word lay instead of lie ?
• Can you tell me when to use faze instead of phase ?
• What is the difference between avenge and revenge ?
• What is the difference between the words precede and proceed ?
• How do I fix a run-on sentence?
• How useful are automatic spell-checkers?
• Is it okay to begin a sentence with and ?
• When is it okay to use sentence fragments?
• What is future perfect tense?
• Is it okay to split infinitives?
• Why do people often confuse than and then in writing?
• When do I use commas with clauses?
• How do I decide which type of pronoun to use when I have multiple pronouns?
• What types of words or phrases should I avoid in my writing?
• What is parallel structure in writing?
• When should I use apostrophe-S?
• What is a clause?
• I have to write an essay, and I'm having a hard time getting started. Do you have any tips?
• How can I make the most out of my first draft?
• What should I avoid when writing the conclusion of a research paper?
• Are can and may interchangeable?
• What is passive voice?
• What does it mean to be quixotic ?
• What are linking verbs?
• What does it mean to use redundant adverbs?
• How do I organize a comparison essay?
• How do I decide between who and whom ?
• How do you use possessives in front of gerunds?
• Can I end a sentence with a preposition?
• How do I decide on the scope of my essay?
• What are participles?
• What's the difference between will and shall ?
• Which adjectives can't be modified with more and most ?
• What are indirect objects?
• Should I use his , his or her , or their ?
• What's the difference between farther and further ?
• What is a storyboard?
• What exactly is a theme of a story, and how can I recognize it?
• Why is English class called English in school? English is a language, so I don't think it should be a class. Please help me understand.
• What is tone exactly and how do you find it in stories?
• Where do you start when writing a character analysis?
• What is a dynamic character? What is a static character? How are they different?
• What's the difference between description and narration?
• I don't get onomatopoeias! It's as hard to spell as it is to understand!
• What is a gothic tale?
• What is the author's style" of a book?"
• What is a one-word sentence called?
• What word class would the word Novembery fit in to?
• My instructor wrote on my paper to be careful about using passive voice. What does that mean?
• Is it grammatically correct to say, She went missing"? What is the rule?"
• I need information on the social roles of language. How are individuals judged based on their use of language?
• What is the origin of the word promotion ?
• What's a preposition?
• What are some examples of homographic terms?
• I have to write an essay for my AP world history class and my teacher said to use direct comparison, but I'm confused on what he means by that. Please Help!
• I'm reading The Scarlet Letter in my Honors AP English class and my teacher wants us to do a 5 paragraph essay. What's the best way to start the introduction?
• What are some examples of transitions that I can use in my writing assignment?
• What does APA stand for?
• In typing a term paper, what is the proper spacing after a period? I think I've read that one space is now acceptable.
• What is meant by argue your own thesis?
• How do I write an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph?
• What are easy ways to identify figurative language?
• When writing a persuasive essay, what words can take place of being verbs," such as is, are, has, be, were, and was? My teacher crossed all of those out of my paper? What words should I use to replace those?"
• I have to write a dialogue that might take place between the speakers of The World Is Not a Pleasant Place to Be" and "Where Have You Gone." What exactly is a dialogue?"
• What is the literary device of writing exactly as a character speaks, even if words are misspelled and the grammar is non-standard?
• What are the types of tones/attitudes in writing?
• What are the first-person, second-person, and third-person points of view? Which is used for formal essays?
• What is a good sentence for the word plinth ?
• What are footnotes and endnotes? How do I start off a title page?
• Why can't you be rude or sarcastic in your thesis statement?
• How do you write a paper, when the topic is yourself? How do you research that kind of thing?
• What would a raging river be like?

The cave where Grendel and his mother hide from the world is symbolic of their lives as outcasts. Hidden beneath a treacherous mere in the middle of a dark, forbidding swamp, the cave allows them a degree of safety and privacy in a world that they view as hostile. They certainly are not welcomed at Heorot, and they know it. The cave also represents their heritage. As descendants of Cain, they are associated with sorcery, black magic, demons, ancient runes, and hell itself. When Grendel's mother is able to fight Beowulf in the cave, she has a distinct advantage; his victory is all the more significant. It is not clear whether he wins because of his own ability, the influence of magic (the giant sword), or God's intervention. All are mentioned, probably because the poet borrowed from various influences in creating the poem. The cave itself represents a world alien to Heorot. One is high and bright and full of song and joy, towering as the Scyldings' greatest achievement. The other is dark and dank and full of evil, beneath a mere in the middle of a fen and the symbolic home of resentful outcasts.

A Classical Teacher's Journal

Beowulf #4: fighting grendel’s mother.

Beowulf’s fight with Grendel’s Mother picks up right where his fight with Grendel left off. Read on to see how Beowulf continues to prove himself a hero among barbarians and Christians.

PLOT SUMMARY

Exposition – the background.

Having celebrated Beowulf’s defeat of Grendel, Hrothgar ushers him off to a splendid bedroom for a much deserved night’s sleep.

Inciting Incident – The Problem

Little do they know, however, their troubles are not really over. Another monster, Grendel’s Mother, breaks into Heorot, snatches up one of the men named Aeschere, and carries him off.

Rising Action – The Build-up

When Beowulf learns of this the next morning, he immediately organizes an expedition to seek out Grendel’s Mother. No longer the fearful men they were during Grendel’s feasting days, the Danes join the Geats. Together they track Grendel’s Mother all the way to an eerie lake where they find Aeschere’s head staked on a post.

Though the surrounding terrain is frosted with ice, the lake itself is ablaze with fire and full of evil monsters. Hrothgar marks one with his bow and shoots it dead, proving that he has regained his battle prowess and still worthy to be king in his own right.

Climax – The Breaking Point

But this fight, like the last one, is really for Beowulf. He alone is brave enough to dive into the strange waters and continue the hunt for Grendel’s Mother. As he plunges deeper and deeper, he suddenly feels himself held fast by a tremendous creature with a hairy chest. It is none other than Grendel’s Mother.

She pulls him into her lair, which consists of a dry area at the greatest depth of the lake. She seems to have the advantage, being on her home turf and so full of an evil desire for revenge. But then Beowulf spots an ancient sword forged by giants with magic from the Sun and manages to kill her with it.

Falling Action – The Unraveling

As he looks around the lair, his eyes chance upon Grendel’s body. (The monster had gone home to the lair to die after his arm was ripped off). Desiring another trophy, Beowulf chops off Grendel’s head, which gushes blood all the way up to the surface.

Hrothgar sees it, assumes Beowulf was killed, and departs for Heorot. Still hopeful, the Geats remain longer and see Beowulf emerge victorious with Grendel’s grisly head.

Resolution – Problem Solved

The Danes host another feast for the Geats, showering upon them even more treasures. The monsters are dead; peace and honor have been restored once and for all. Hrothgar and Beowulf bid one another a sad farewell, now sharing a bond of loyalty and love akin to a father and a son. 

PLOT ANALYSIS

Structurally, Beowulf’s fight with Grendel’s Mother mirrors his fight with Grendel . Just swap out one monster for another, one battleground for another, and you have pretty much the same story. So why have Beowulf do everything all over again? Is it just a cheap way to stretch out the storyline and have more thrills?

Not exactly. As my students realize during our class discussions, the second fight is all about character growth . Let’s start with Hrothgar. After Grendel’s defeat, he had regained his legitimate status as king and was once again able to provide for his people in the great hall of Heorot. But it is not until the fight with Grendel’s Mother that Hrothgar proves himself strong in battle, worthy of respect and even fear. His transformation is now complete. We know that he will live out his days as a fit king of the Danes.

Let’s turn to Beowulf now. As always, he’s really the character to focus on.

Fighting Grendel is nothing to sneeze at, but it pales in comparison to fighting Grendel’s Mother at the bottom of her eerie lake. That’s because t he lake symbolizes Hell , the source of all the problems in Denmark. Beowulf dives into its very depth, kills Grendel’s Mother at great peril to his own life, and thereby cleanses the lake of all its monsters. There is nothing left to terrorize Heorot, so the Danes can sleep easy once and for all.

Figuratively, Beowulf’s role as a messianic character comes full circle when he faces Grendel’s Mother . Having previously left his father in Sweden to serve a foreign people, we now see him offer his life to save them from not one monster but all of them. When the story closes, Beowulf gets to return to his father, knowing his mission is fully accomplished. Better still, he did it all out of kindness, taking only the glory of his great deeds as a prize. Beowulf truly is a Christian-barbarian hero.  

Illustration from Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race (1910)

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