English Beowulf

Description:	Beowulf Study Guide
Category:	Quiz Bowl
Created by:	victoria18 on 2009-09-30

Question	Answer
How can the reader tell that Beowulf is a legendary story?	The hero is described as someone greater than all other men.
Why does Beowulf sail with his chosen companions to Hrothgar's kingdom?	to help Hrothgar by destroying a monster.
Which of the following line from Beowulf contains an example of kenning?	"...I have come so far./ Oh shelterer of warriors and your people's loved friend./ That this one favor you should not refuse me..."
From which fact can the reader infer that Beowulf is honorable?	Beowulf refuses to use weapons because Grendel uses none.
What does this line mean? the monster's thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws.	He has intelligence.
At the end of the battle, the poet attributes Grendel's defeat to	God's power.
Which of the following best summarizes the theme of Beowulf?	Valor will triumph.
Which is the best paraphrase of the following passage from the poem? So the living sorrow of Healfdane's son/ Simmered, bitter and fresh, and no wisdom/ Or strength could break it: that agony hung/ On king and people alike...	Hrothgar felt a strong and unending sorrow that he had no power to overcome. It affected both him and his subjects.
Wiglaf thinks he and his comrades should help Beowulf fight the dragon because	in the past they had promised to repay Beowulf's kindness with their lives.
When the dying Beowulf gives Wiglaf his gold necklace, the gesture means that	Beowulf is passing on the rulership of Geatland to Wiglaf.
Which of the following lines from Beowulf comtains an example of a caesura?	"...Burns like a torch. No one knows its bottom..."
Which is the best paraphrase for this passage from the selection? -Then the sword/ Melted, blood-soaked, dripping down/ like water, disappearing like ice when the world's/ Eternal Lord loosens invisible/ Fetters and unwinds icicles and frost...	Beowulf's bloody sword became liquid the way ice and frost do when God warms and melts them.
Why is it ironic that after his death the Geats build a tower to memorialize Beowulf?	Most of the Geats had deserted him in battle.
Which phrase best paraphrases the underlined words in this quotation from the poem? ...they could hack at Grendel/ From every side, trying to open/ A path for his evil soul, but their points Could not hurt him.	To kill him.
When used to describe Beowulf, the phrase "noble protector of all seamen" is an example of	a kenning.
Grendel's arm hanging in the banquet hall of the Danes might be described as for the evil he had done.	reparaion(payback)
When Beowulf requests that he alone "May purge all evil from this hall," what does he mean by purge?	cleanse.
Which of the following passages contains an appositive phrase?	"...sailors/ Have brought us stories of Herot, the best/ Of all mead-halls, deserted and useless..."
Which words from the following passage form an appositive phrase? ...A deer,/ Hunted through the woods by packs of hounds,/ A stag with great horns, though driven through the forest/ From faraway places, prefers to die/ On those shores,...	"A stag with great horns"
Which of these words best fits the image of the dragon presented in this quotation? ...The dragon/ Coiled and uncoiled, its heart urging it/ Into battle...	writhing.