Kayla Stevens AP Lit Comp: August 2012

Accolade: any award, honor, or laudatory notice: The play receivedaccolades from the press.
Acerbity: sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste.
Attrition:a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength: Ourclub has had a high rate of attrition because so many member have moved away.
Bromide: a person who is platitudinous and boring. The history teacher is mudane and bromide.
Chauvinist :a person who is aggressively and blindly patriotic, especially one devoted to military glory. The man who paints his body red white and blue is a chauvinist.
Chronic:constant; habitual; inveterate. I have a chronic hiccup.
Expound:to set forth or state in detail. I expounded my story to my peers.
Factionalism:of a faction or factions.
Immaculate:free from fault or flaw; free from errors. The house was so clean it looked immaculate.
Imprecation:the act of imprecating; cursing. Imprecation is forbidden in PG movies.
Ineluctable: incapable of being evaded; inescapable. The prison was ineluctable.
Mercurial:animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted. The senior class was unusually mercurial in zero period.
Palliate:to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate.
Protocol: the customs and regulations dealing with diplomaticformality, precedence, and etiquette. The millitary protocol is to wear your uniform at all times.
Resplendent:shining brilliantly; gleaming; splendid. When i washed my car is was resplendent.
Stigmatize:to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon. To disobey your elders in chinese tradition is to stigmatize your family.
Sub rosa: confidentially; secretly; privately. The couple dated sub rosa.
Vainglory:excessive elation or pride. The school body had great vainglory for their school.
Vestige: a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is nolonger present or in existence. A tombstone is a vestige.
Volition:the act of willing, choosing, or resolving. Coming to an agreement at the end of an arguement is a volition.

I worked alone on these questions. I used the book and "No Fear" Sparknotes to help me better understand the story. It took me about 2 hours to finish the entire assignment.

1. It was unusual that Shield was an orphan beforehe became the ruler of Danes. His funeral included his men sending his body outto see with jewelry and gold and great riches which was lost at sea with hisbody. Shield was Hrothgar’s great grandfather.

1. Hrothgar was going to go up against Grendel. Beowulf attacked the monster and succeeded inkilling him. The attacks lasted for, my best guess, about an hour. The responseof the Danes was joy for this man who had cleansed their halls. They showeredhim with praise and gifts.

1. Beowulf goes to Hrothgar’s aid to bring him apeace of mind and peace of land.

2. They met on of Hrothgar’s guards. He freaks out and is appalled by the fact thatthey arrived armed and unauthorized. They tell the guard who they are and whatthey have come to do.

3. He is Wulfgar. He tells them that he will tellhis ruler of their mission and return with the answer. He tells Hrothgar thatthey seem like good warriors and comments specifically on Beowulf, saying helooks like a “true hero.” I am not surprised that Hrothgar knows Beowulf sowell. He seems like an intelligent, wise man.

4. Beowulf tells Hrothgar of his intentions inDanes and basically lists off his resume. Hrothgar sent gifts to Wylfings tohelp Beowulf’s father’s country and settle a feud and his father swore to beloyal to him.

1. Unferth accused Beowulf of competing against hisfriend Breca just to show everyone that he could win. Beowulf told him that thecompetition had been planned since they were kids and that he had to fight ofsea monsters in order to stay alive. He had made that strip of ocean safe forsailors. He tells Unferth that he is responsible for the death of his ownfamily and will “pay for it in hell.”

2. She is passing around a cup of ale so that everyman could drink.

1. Usually heroes prepare for battle by prepping theirarmor and weapons. Beowulf hands over all of his armor and weapons to a servantbecause he says that since Grendel doesn’t use weapons to fight, then neither willshim.

2. When Grendel enters Herot he is attacked byBeowulf. Beowulf fights hand to hand. When Grendel tries to leave, Beowulfsimply latches onto his arm and with his mighty strength breaks the monstershand. Grendel does not escape. Beowulf lets him go. And he leaves his armbehind.

1. Hrothgar is very grateful and he hangs Grendel’sarm on the wall in honor of what Beowulf has done. He offers to love him like ason so that he will have everything available as his own son would. He saysthat Beowulf’s honor will live forever. Unferth is silent and now understandsthat Beowulf is as powerful as everyone says.

2. The story is basically two tribes are fightingand one side can make peace if they give the other side riches and house theruling family for the winter. Instead the one side burns the ruler and his sonand has the wife watch. This says that no one during this time listened to theopinions of women.

3. She asks Hrothgar not to adopt Beowulf becauseshe wants one of her sons to be his heir. Beowulf gives the necklace to hisuncle who died while wearing it in battle. She asks Beowulf to be good to hersons.

4. Men slept there probably because they were toodrunk to travel safely. It was a bad idea because the fates had some grim planfor them all.

1. Grendel’s mom came to avenge her son’s death. Noit is not. Grendel had come to avenge Cain’s death/banishment.

2. Hrothgar is upset and doesn’t understand why Godkeeps putting these misfortunes upon him. Grendel’s mother has killed one ofHrothgar’s closest friends.

3. The mere is like a swap but it is filled withevil sea monsters. It is the place where Grendel and his mother lived.

1. Beowulf tells Hrothgar to be calm and that if hewere to die in this battle then Hrothgar should give the riches to his men andto his brother back home.

2. He prepares knowing that he has a low survivalrate. He takes Unferth’s sword with him.

3. Grendel’s mother feels Beowulf entering herterritory and she goes to confront him. It is surprising how many othermonsters live down there.

4. He drops the sword to fight bare handed as hehad done before.

5. The Geats armor saved him. The armor is verystrong and her blow with the sword was off just a little bit so it didn’t penetrateas she had intended.

6. Beowulf cuts off her head. He uses the swordEotens. When she dies, Beowulf sees Grendel’s body so he decided to avenge allthe men that he had killed and he decapitates Grendel. The sword melts when itdetects the monster’s blood. Beowulf only decided to take Grendel’s head andthe hilt of Eotens.

7. Nobody expected him to return but his men wereoverjoyed when he resurfaced.

1. Beowulf gave Hruthgar the hilt of the sword.

2. Seek virtue. He tells him about Hemerod’s ruleand how he treated his people poorly and was bloodthirsty. He tells him thisbecause he does not want Beowulf to act this way when/if he becomes ruler ofthe Danes. He gave Unferth his sword back.

1. Hrothgar predicts that one day Beowulf will be aruler and his people will not be able to ask for a better leader when theirland comes under attack.

2. Hygd is Hygalac’s wife. She is thoughtful andgenerous unlike Modthryth who would have a man killed if he dared to look ather in the face.

3. Beowulf gives an accurate account of hisadventure, just with less detail.

4. He gives the necklace to Hygd. Hyglelac giveshim a sword, land and a house.

1. 50 years later. Hyglelac had died. A dragonseeks vengeance for a stolen goblet

2. The dragon is angry because a man stole his cup.The man took the cup because he was using the den for a hideout and the dragonscared him while he was holding the goblet so he ran out with it in hand. Anancient lord had left the treasure there and had asked to earth to hold it forhim since he was the last of his race and would soon die.

3. The dragon destroyed and burned everything inhis sight looking for the thief.

4. Beowulf believes that God was punishing him. He ordersa new shield because he planned to fight the dragon. He will fight as he didagainst Grendel and his mother. He knows that he will die in this battle and sowill the dragon.

5. He died in battle. Queen Hygd did not believethat her son was fit to run the kingdom so she offered it to Beowulf. He declinedand instead advised her son as he grew strong enough to lead the people on hisown.

6. Heardred was killed in battle against the Swedes.

7. Many men come with him, but only one stays tohelp fight.

8. He was killed by a dragon. It drove his fatherinsane because he could not kill the one who killed his son. There was muchconflict and fighting between the Swedes and the Geats after he died. Beowulf avengedHyglelac’s death by killing Onela, the Swedish queen.

1. He tells his men to wait and see who emerges thevictor.

2. Beowulf’s sword is ineffective. And his men retreatto save their own lives. Wiglaf was the only man who stayed to help. He thinksabout all the good things that his king has done. He tells the others that itwould be better to die fighting than to return home with their weapons still inhand. He then goes and stands next to Beowulf on the battlefield.

3. Beowulf’s sword shatters and the dragon biteshim on the neck. Both men had killed the beast.

4. He asked Wiglaf to go get the treasure and bringit to him. Beowulf is happy that he finally got to see such a treasure. He wantsa mound to be made in his name so that whenever people pass under it they willthink of him.

1. When the companions return, Wiglaf is trying torevive Beowulf. He scolds the men for their lack of bravery and tells them thatthe treasure will be of no use to them because they will lose the loyalty ofothers and live a life of shame.

2. The messenger tells the city EVERYTHING. The Swedesand the Geats had gotten into a huge battle, but the Geats came out victorious.Ongentheow is killed. The messenger says that all the treasure will be burnedwith Beowulf.

3. He tells everyone that “one man’s decisions canbring suffering to many.” He talks about Beowulf’s last wishes and what a greatwarrior he was.

4. They pushed the dragon’s body off the cliff andinto the sea.

5. During and after the funeral, they built thememorial mound that Beowulf had asked for. It took them 10 days.

6. The description is accurate of Beowulf sayingthat he was eager for glory, heroic, generous and the most loving king. It isnot one that you would typically hear of a military hero. They are usually notdescribed as loving and generous, even if those are traits of the hero.