Grendel

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Why doesn’t Grendel name himself?

A) He doesn’t view himself as important.

B) He has a name given by his mother.

C) He views himself as part of nature.

D) He wants to be an unidentified killer.

2. Why is it significant that the Danes name Grendel?

A) He targets them while ignoring others.

B) He has no language for communicating.

C) He personifies their battle with evil.

D) He destroys their forested home.

3. Which idea of Grendel’s shows him to be an existentialist?

A) He believes in God and redemption.

B) He struggles with meaning in his life.

C) He practices a natural version of religion.

D) He acts as a god over the Danes.

4. What speaks to Grendel’s vulnerability?

A) His attacks on Hrothgar’s hall

B) His empathy for the ram

C) His sympathy for the bull

D) His appreciation for poetry

5. What motif is suggested by the presence of a ram and a bull?

A) Astrology

B) Astronomy

C) Astrophysics

D) Aeronautics

6. What does the meadhall symbolize for the Danes?

A) Cowardice

B) Reward

C) Fear

D) Optimism

7. What is Grendel’s relationship to the biblical Cain?

A) Cain is punished by God.

B) Cain is isolated from society.

C) Cain is misunderstood.

D) Cain is forgiven by his family.

8. What is the novel’s climax?

A) Grendel’s awareness he is replaceable as a brute existent

B) Dragon’s explanation of time as something ongoing

C) Unferth’s entrance into Grendel and his mother’s lair

D) Hrothgar’s offer of reward and praise for Grendel’s death

9. What does the Dragon say is the unifying characteristic of all creatures?

A) Fear

B) Desire

C) Greed

D) Hunger

10. What is the effect of the story’s nonlinear structure?

A) It emphasizes Grendel is not human.

B) It emphasizes time is linear.

C) It contributes to the theme of hopefulness.

D) It contributes to theme of meaninglessness.

11. Early in the novel, why does Unferth try to kill Grendel?

A) He wants to be remembered as a hero rather than a kin killer.

B) He hopes his heroic act will convince Hrothgar to reward him.

C) He wants to avenge his brother’s death by killing Grendel.

D) He hopes to achieve stature in the meadhall, where he is lowly.

12. Why does Grendel view humans as the true monsters of the novel?

A) They bicker among themselves when drunk on mead.

B) They reject the old gods in favor of Christianity.

C) They use women as a form of reward during battles.

D) They are disrespectful and cruel toward each other.

13. Why does Grendel think religion is a corrupting force?

A) It relies on casting creatures like Grendel as evil.

B) It gives humanity a false sense of meaning.

C) It leads to wars as people battle over land.

D) It drives wedges between peasants and warriors.

14. Why doesn’t Grendel name Beowulf?

A) It insults and angers Beowulf.

B) He knows he is related to Beowulf.

C) He wants Unferth to name him.

D) It diminishes Beowulf’s glory.

15. In what way does Grendel finally achieve meaning?

A) He is immortalized in this novel.

B) The new Shaper will sing of his death.

C) Beowulf will tell Grendel’s story.

D) He too becomes guilty of fratricide.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the purpose of the shift to dramatic script in Chapter 8?

2. Chapter 10 ends with the Latin phrase Nihil ex nihilo, which translates as “nothing comes from nothing.” Why does Grendel utter these words prior to his meeting with Beowulf?