Unit 1- Lit 12

2.) Beowulf was kind of hard to follow at first, but once you get deep into the story you understand it better. I found the story quite intriguing! It had certain aspects that kept you guessing and some that surprised you. Beowulf had this tone that just made you want to know how the story would end.
Pieces of the story that stuck out the most to me were his background history, battles, and his death. The battle against Grendall was one of my favorites. Grendall was introduced as this powerful and gruesome, fearless murderer, but when he faces Beowulf we see the coward side of him. What’s really unique about the Grendall battle was that Beowulf defeated him with his bare hands. They said Beowulf had the strength of 30 men but that was unbelievable.
I also enjoyed the battle against Grendall’s mom and Beowulf. The head of Beowulf’s sword couldn’t pierce her skin but an enchanted sword could. I admit Grendall’s mom got the best of Beowulf at first but in the end Beowulf succeeded. After defeating the mother, Beowulf’s finds Grendall’s body and cuts off his head as a gift for
Hrothgar. It’s a little much but Grendall was a very evil being.
I think that in the end, Beowulf may have been a little loony. He should have really thought about the situation before jumping so quick to fight the dragon. I believe his pride got the best of him. Maybe after his many years of victorious battles he began to take it to the head.
The Anglo-Saxons were unique people also. They may have been unorganized but they managed to hold on to England. I understand why the most important people of their time were the warriors and the bards. The warriors were desperately needed if they wanted to withhold their treasures and keep what was theirs.
Reading these passages really helped refresh my memory of ancient history and look back on the time of many brave heroes.

3.) The warriors and the bards who recited poetry and tales, that usually featured violence were most important to the Anglo-Saxons. Beowulf would have been very important in that time. He was a very successful warrior and he acted as a bard at certain moments when he gave speeches and such to the Danes.
I dont think the Anglo-Saxons would have approved of Beowulf fighting the dragon, however. The Saxons worshipped the dragon, fore it was the guardian of all treasures and warrior graves. In Beowulf, the dragon was guarding a heap of treasures, the Saxons saw the dragon as a very important religious figure.
4.) Like modern hero stories, Beowulf fights to protect the innocent from evil, but in the end Beowulf kind of turns to the other side and protects the villain. ---Beowulf fights to protect the Danes from Grendall and Grendall’s mom, but in the end of Beowulf fights the dragon because the dragon attacked the Geats after a thief stole the dragon’ scup. It looks as if Beowulf switched sides. Beowulf reminds me of Spiderman almost. At one point of time Spiderman was thought out to be a criminal by the authorities, but he is still rejoiced by the citizens of the city.
5.) After so many years of victorious battles, I think that Beowulf let his pride get the best of him. After all, the dragon had a justified reason for attacking the Geats. It was the thief who needed to be punished.
God could have been angry with Beowulf for what he had become. After a lifetime of battling evil, Beowulf could have forgotten the real reason why he had made it through so much. After all, Beowulf himself thought he had enraged God, by breaking a commandment. He may have broken the very first commandment “You shall have no other gods before me.” Beowulf seemed to have enjoyed the thrill of fighting so much that he had began to worship it almost or maybe since he had won so many battles, he may have thought of himself as a god.
6.) Beowulf helped me meet all of the standards, to say. I can identify evidence in a poet genre, relate literature to different periods, I can write in an organized fashion, and so forth. It isn’t necessary hard to do all of those things, but it isn’t easy either. You may be able to identify evidence in a poem but it may be hard for you to then use that evidence to relate the poem to things from different periods of time. Unit one, to me was more like a challenge. I had to challenge my mind to understand what I was I doing and what I reading. Completing this unit has taught me more than other literary assignments have in my earlier years.