Grendel: essential questions, what to do when reading, what to look for in each chapter

Read, take notes, and be prepared to relate your reading & notes to the big questions in class on Friday.

Think about these issues and questions. Apply them to yourself and apply them to Grendel.

Thinking about life's "meaning"

* What exactly do we mean by the questions, "What is the meaning of life?" or "What gives life meaning?" or "How do you find meaning in life"? (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy suggests, "Perhaps when we speak of “meaning in life,” we have in mind one or more of these related ideas: certain conditions that are worthy of great pride or admiration, values that warrant devotion and love, qualities that make a life intelligible [make sense], or ends [goals or purposes] apart from base pleasure that are particularly choice-worthy.")

* To what extent is finding meaning (or making meaning out of life and what life gives us) a necessary human act? To what extent is finding or making meaning foolish, absurd, even fraudulent?

* What are some of the different ways people find meaning in life or make meaning out of life? 

* How is the particular way a person finds or makes meaning significant? How might the way a person finds meaning in life affect the person's inner life and outward actions? How might it affect the person's life path? How might it affect others?

Thinking about nihilism and nihilistic existentialism

* Why might someone reject the ways others find meaning in life? Why might someone mock those who try to create meaning? Why might we see existence as just existence—a string of purposeless, random, accidental events? 

* If a person rejects the possibility of a meaning in life, how might this affect the person's inner life and outward actions? How might it affect the person's life path? How might it affect others?

What to do while you're reading...

• Look for what stands out. What is strange? Eccentric? Difficult? What is interesting? Vivid? Suggestive? Emotionally affecting? What is significant in relation to the questions? In relation to the human dilemma? In relation to cultural and historical issues? Take notes.
• Look for patterns—repetitions, connections, similarities, contrasts—within the text. (What words and images repeat? How do these repetitions help develop themes? What characters are similar? How does the author draw our attention to those similarities? What characters are different? How does the author draw our attention to these differences? What emotions, ideas, concepts recur and contrast?) Take notes on the patterns.
• Look for connections to other texts (Beowulf, Hamlet, Lord of the Flies, "On Seeing England for the First Time," Present Shock, etc.). Take notes on the connections to other texts.
• Look for connections to your prior knowledge and experiences (schema). Take notes on these connections.
• React personally. Note what you think and feel about particular statements, characters, events, etc. Write down your thoughts and emotional reactions.

 In chapter 1 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language
Grendel's attitude to the ram (Aires), other animals, and plants
Grendel's attitude toward spring
Grendel's attitude toward humans and "theories" (killing them and their response to Grendel killing them)
Grendel's experience with the chasm
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 2 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language
Grendel's relationship with his mother and the "large old shapes"
Grendel's experience with the bull (Taurus)
Grendel's thoughts about his encounter with humans (and his thoughts about the differences between humans and other animals)
How all of this affects Grendel's self-image and world-view
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 3 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language
Grendel's thoughts and feelings about human nature and human civilization while watching Hrothgar expand his kingdom and power (& how might this be related to Beowulf)
Grendel's thoughts and feelings about human nature and human civilization while listening to the Shaper (& how might this be related to Beowulf)
References to twins (Gemini)
How all of this affects Grendel's self-image and world-view
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning
 

In chapter 4 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language
Grendel's thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to the stories told by the Shaper (particularly the one about the brothers--& how might that story be related to Beowulf) and in response to how humans treat him and each other
References to crabs (Cancer)
How all of this affects Grendel's self-image and world-view (pay especial attention to the imagery associated with Grendel's feelings--and the "presence" he feels)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 5 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language and the dragon's language
How Grendel gets to the dragon (How does Gardner suggest both that he is in Grendel's mind and a being separate from Grendel? Why might Gardner do this? How is this like and unlike Simon's encounter with the Lord of the Flies?)
What the dragon says, how he says it (both the abstract language and the imagery), how it relates to Grendel's situation, how Grendel reacts, etc.
References to lion-like qualities (Leo)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning
 
In chapter 6 pay particular attention to...
How/why Grendel becomes a murderous monster (and what that has to do with dragon, the shaper, and Grendel's experiences with humans)
Grendel's language and Unferth's language
Unferth's beliefs (and Grendel's mockery of those beliefs)
Apple imagery (allusion???)
References to virgins (virgo)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 7 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's language (particularly the way he plays with language) and the structure of the chapter (Weird things start to happen. Why?)
Wealtheow (What is her back-story? What way(s) of finding/making meaning does she emobdy? How does she affect Grendel and others including Unferth? What other characters does Grendel compare her with?)
References to balance (libra: balancing scales) 
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 8 pay particular attention to...
The structure of the chapter (Whose language does Grendel seem to mimic?)
Red Horse and Hrothulf (what ways of making/destroying meaning do they represent? how might their ways of thinking and their relationship be related to Grendel and the dragon?)
Hrothgar (what is happening with his kingdom? what is the significance of the dream that Grendel imagines for him?)
References to scorpions (Scorpio)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning
 
In chapter 9 pay particular attention to...
The suggestive, symbolic imagery at the beginning of the chapter (A "hart" is a red male deer and is the name of Hrothgar's meadhall.)
Ork and the Priests (How do they represent ways of making meaning? How does Grendel respond? How is this response similar to and different from his response to the Shaper, Unferth, and Wealtheow?)
References to Sagittarius (half-man, half-horse archer)
 in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 10 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's attitude. What has happened to the "strange joy" Grendel experienced in chapter 6?
The Shaper and Grendel's Mother
References to Capricorn (horned goat)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 11 pay particular attention to...
Grendel's attitude. What has changed?
The Strangers [Geats] (How is the stranger, the Beowulf-figure, characterized? Note the suggestiveness of the imagery. Note the echoes...] How do the other characters respond to the stranger? Each response is revealing.)
References to water (Aquarius: the water-bearer)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning

In chapter 12 pay particular attention to...
How the battle between Grendel and the stranger is suggestively depicted (Note the imagery. What does the particular imagery suggest?)
(Grendel has mocked and debunked others' ways of making meaning; how does the stranger mock his mocking, attack his nihilism, and make a counterargument?) 
How previous moments in the novel are echoed here
References to fish (Pisces)
in relation to life's meaning or lack of meaning