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Grendel Assignments
Work on John Gardner’s Grendel will include the following:
Dialectical analytic journal and study questions (m)
Oral philosophy report (d)
Students will receive specific rubrics and due dates for each assignment.
If you would enjoy a fictionalized novelization of philosophies, you may want to read Sophie’s World
by Jostein Gaardner. This work is a European best seller and a relatively quick overview of
philosophies. Try not to get subsumed into this work. (This is a very scholarly joke.)
Dialectical Analytic Journal / Questions (m) due September 26
Objective: To intensely and deeply analyze select parts of a literary work.
When presenting responses to chapter quotations, the quotation (#) should be copied on one side
and the response should be presented on the other side; you may also put the quotation and your
response beneath the quotation. Questions should be labeled according to the answer in the Study
Guide Questions. The responses for each chapter=s answers should total 50-60 words, so write
concisely with well-chosen words and sentence construction.
Oral Philosophy Report (d) due September 26
Objective: To provide the class with information about the philosophy the student researched.
Several students may present the same philosophy. These reports will be 3 minutes in length,
including questions. Students in the class will practice note-taking skills to write key information.
Other Grendel assignments may include the following:
An in-class timed quiz over Grendel
AP timed writings over aspects of Grendel
Dialectical Analytic Journal / Questions (major grade)
Due September 26
The last day this work will be accepted is September 29.
STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE ENTIRE NOVEL.
CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTERS FOR RESPONSES.
Objective: To intensely and deeply analyze select parts of a literary work.
Procedure:
Keep a combination dialectical journal / study guide questions-and-answers as you
read John Gardner’s Grendel.
 For journal quotations, you may use a T-grid format with quotations and page
numbers on one side and thoughtful responses on the other side OR you may
copy the quotations and page number, skip a line, and compose your
thoughtful response beneath the quotation. Your chosen quotations
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

Penalties:
may/may not be quotations selected for your report topic. Select 2
quotations per chapter. Your analysis should be between 25 – 50 words.
For Study Guide Questions, use the question numbers from the Study Guide
to number your responses. You may answer 2 questions of your choice.
Embed your chosen questions in your answers. Your answers should be
between 60-70 words, so write concisely using good sentence construction.
This is an opportunity for you to agree, disagree, or qualify John Gardner’s
characters, philosophies, style, universal truths, and other concepts. Think
outside the box and look for big picture issues.
-10 one day late, -20- two days late, -30 three days late
Grendel Study Guide Questions
Chapter 1
1. What point of view is used in the novel? Who tells the story?
2. Compare Grendel and the ram. Why does Grendel hate the ram?
3. Note Grendel’s concern with language. Discuss the importance of this.
4. Note Grendel’s (Gardner’s) poetic descriptions, especially on pages 8-9. Why are they
appropriate for both the character and the novel?
5. Describe Grendel’s mother’s mental abilities.
Chapter 2
1. Explain the time shift at the beginning of this chapter.
2. Explain how the following statement by Grendel is the basis for his version of
existentialism: I understood that the world was nothing a mechanical chaos of casual, brute
enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that finally and
absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I was, is merely what pushes me, or what I push
against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole
universe, blink by blink—an ugly god pitifully dying in a tree! (22)
3. Describe Grendel’s first perception of men. Why does he end this first encounter with men
by saying that they are all crazy?
4. Why is Grendel confused at the end of this chapter? Why does he say “I am lack”?
Chapter 3
1. What is Grendel’s reaction to the fighting that he sees among men?
2. Describe Hrothgar’s system for building up his kingdom.
3. Why is Grendel “torn apart” by the Shaper and his poetry? How does the Shaper alter
reality?
4. Discuss the significance that the Shaper is blind.
Chapter 4
1. What does Grendel find as he approaches the mead-hall?
2. What “ancient feud” is mentioned in this chapter? How does it relate to Grendel?
3. What does Grendel mean when he says, “. . . the corpse was the proof that both of us were
cursed, or neither, that the brothers had never lived, nor the god who judged them” (51)?
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4. Why does Grendel try to be friends with the men? What is he searching for? What
happens?
5. Explain the irony of the statement, “We, the accursed, didn’t even have words for swearing
in!” (52).
Chapter 5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Describe the dragon, in terms of both physical appearance and personality.
Briefly summarize the dragon’s comments on “free will and intercession” (63).
The dragon basically believes that man’s world is built on lies. Explain.
What is the dragon’s attitude toward the Shaper?
How does Grendel fit into man’s world, according to the dragon?
Chapter 6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What charm does the dragon place on Grendel? How does Grendel discover this? Describe
his reactions.
Describe the transformation in Grendel that comes in this chapter.
Explain the connection between Grendel’s view of the world as meaningless and his violent
rage.
Why does Unferth then go to Grendel’s cave?
How does Unferth define a hero? (Find all his statements.)
How does Grendel define a hero?
How and why does Grendel make Unferth look like a fool in front of everyone?
Chapter 7
1. How is the shift in form appropriate in this chapter?
2. Why is Wealtheow given to Hrothgar? What purpose does she serve in Hrothgar’s kingdom?
How does she help Unferth?
3. Explain Grendel’s reactions to Wealtheow. Why does Grendel attack her and then why does
he change his mind?
Chapter 8
1.
Notice that the play-like form continues. Does it make Grendel more, or less, a part of the
action?
2. Describe the unrest of Hrothulf and Wealtheow.
3. How has Hrothgar changed?
Chapter 9
1. Notice the poetic opening of this chapter. How does it fit with the subject matter here?
2. Why does Grendel choose not to kill the old priest Ork, who has mistaken him for “The
Destroyer”?
3. How is corruption among the priests suggested?
4. At the end of this chapter, what do Hrothgar and Grendel have in common?
Chapter 10
1.
Why does Grendel kill the goat?
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2. How does Grendel react to the Shaper’s death?
Chapter 11
1. Notice how many specific references to the epic are contained in this chapter. List three.
2. Grendel describes Beowulf or the stranger as “an outsider not only among the Danes but
everywhere” (154). What do Beowulf and Grendel have in common?
3. Why is Grendel uneasy about Beowulf?
4. Why does Grendel think that the stranger is insane? (162)
5. Explain the meaning of the last line in the chapter: “It is time” (166). Go beyond the
obvious.
Chapter 12
1. Why is Grendel terrified of Beowulf’s words?
2. Why does Beowulf make Grendel sing? Of what must he sing?
3. The novel ends with an ironic explanation and blessing (or curse): “Poor Grendel’s had an
accident. . . ./ So may you all” (174). Explain whether you find the ending optimistic or
pessim8istic.
Final Questions
1. Have Grendel’s questions about life and meaning and reality been answered? Explain.
2. Is Grendel a hero? Explain.
3. Describe your feelings toward Grendel and his adventures now that you have finished
reading the novel. How is he an appropriate character for the twenty-first century?
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Grendel Oral Philosophy Report
(daily grade)
Everyone should be ready on September 26.
Objective:
To provide the class with information about the philosophies used in the Grendel
chapters.
Procedure:
Select your Grendel chapter (not #1).
Answer the Study Guide questions.
Think about the focus character, the philosophy, and the Zodiac sign.
Research your topic in the library and at home. These are excellent sites:
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
www.iep.utm.edu
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
www.plato.stanford.edu/contents.html
The Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind. Ed. Chris Eliasmith
www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/MindDict/index.html
Catholic Encyclopedia (for theology)
www.newadvent.org/cathen/
Prepare a 3 minute oral report for your class.
You may want to prepare a handout, a poster, or a PowerPoint presentation.
Requirements: clear definition of your philosophy
Key tenets of this philosophy
Identification of important philosophers and their works
Specific details from the chapter in Grendel that show how this philosophy works
Presentation
3 minutes in length (-5/-10 if too long or short)
Clearly audible and articulate voice
Clear presentation of information
Information points
Definition / 20
Key tenets / 30
Important philosophers + works / 20
Relation to Grendel chapter / 30
-20 no Grendel quotations
-20 garbled presentation
Penalties: grade of zero if you are not ready to present when it’s your turn
-10 if you are absent when it’s your turn (We’re counting on you!)
Everlasting enmity of your classmates who are counting on you to explain your
chosen philosophy – no one wants to look up all of them!
You will be the subject of scorn at your class reunions.
Bonuses:
knowledge of a specific philosophy (They have college classes in this!)