Unit 4 Test #1 Review: Beowulf, Old English Poetry, & Clauses
English II Pre-AP 2014-2015
I. Texts Covered
• Riddles
• “The Wanderer”
• “The Seafarer”
• “The Battle of Maldon”
• Beowulf
II. Test Format: Multiple choice, matching, short answer
III. Background Information
• Study your notes from the introductory PowerPoint/lecture – both the
lecture on the Anglo-Saxons and the lecture on the background to
Beowulf. You will be tested on your knowledge of this information.
• Be able to use the background information to come to logical, analytical
conclusions about the texts we have studied.
• Study the literary terms sheet for this unit and the previous unit. Be able
to apply your knowledge of these and other terms we studied during the
unit. These terms include
o Ubi sunt
o Epic
o Epic hero (incl. traits)
o Elegy
o Alliterative Verse
o Kenning
o Caesura
o Litotes
o Comitatus
o Ring Structure
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Interlace Structure
Binary Structure
Tripartite Structure
Magnetic Structure
IV. Plot and Characters
• Know what happens in the epic AND each of the poems. Be able to prove that you actually read them. If we
discussed it in class, you can rest assured it’s testable material, but be aware that anything in the reading that
we did not discuss is fair game, as well.
• Know who the important characters are, including, but not limited to the following. Be able to discuss their
qualities and relationships to one another.
Hnaef
o From Beowulf
Grendel’s
Beowulf
Mother
Freawaru
o From “The Battle
Hrothgar
Dragon
Shield
Hygelac
of Maldon”
Wealtheow
Sheafson
Bihrtnoth
Wiglaf
Unferth
Godwine
King Finn
Grendel
Godwig
Herebeald
Godric
• Be able to use your knowledge of characters and their interactions to identify quotations spoken by each.
V. Analysis
• Be able to analyze and discuss examples of literary and structural elements in each of the poems.
• Be able to discuss what the poets do in each poem. What do they reveal about things like loyalty, human
nature, etc.?
• Be able to analyze what each poet celebrates and what each poem discourages, and be able to analyze the way
in which the poet does so.
• Be able to distinguish among the different types of Anglo-Saxon verse: Riddles, historical poems, heroic poems,
and elegiac poems.
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Be able to analyze the way in which Anglo-Saxon culture is represented in the texts. This includes, but is not
limited to, information about kinship, lordship, Christianity, paganism, etc.
Be able to make connections between poems regarding characters, situations, themes, and ideas.
Be familiar with the five structural theories we discussed in class, and be able to answer questions about and
analyze Beowulf using each of those structural theories as a lens. Using ring structure, for example, be able to
analyze parallels and what meaning they create.
Be able to understand parallels that can be drawn between characters and situations within Beowulf itself.
Be able to use the traits and conventions of an epic and an epic hero to discuss Beowulf.
Be able to recall evidence from the text that you can use to support an argument about the text.
VI. Cold Readings
• Be able to analyze a poem that you have not read before and make connections to poems you HAVE read.
• Be able to analyze a poem that you have not read before using your knowledge of literary and structural
elements and Anglo-Saxon culture and history.
VII. Grammar – Clauses and Sentence Structure
• Be able to distinguish between independent and subordinate clauses, and be able to label the component parts
of any given clause.
• Be able to use your knowledge of clauses to determine whether a given sentence in simple, compound,
complex, or compound-complex.
• Be able to distinguish among noun, adjectival, and adverbial clauses.
• Be able to identify the function of a noun clause within a sentence.
• Be able to identify the word(s) being modified by an adjectival or adverbial clause, and be able to determine
what question the clause is answering.
• Know that ANY grammar we have covered this year may show up on the test, so if you need to brush up on
phrases or other grammatical concepts, now is the time!