The Beginning

of English
Literature:
The Old
English Period

By: Ms. Carmela Dinglasan

OBJECTIVES:
– Identify the Anglo-American literature
– Read the “The Story of Beowulf: A Summary”
– Relate the topic into real life situations by
providing a scenarios
– Identify the plot of the story and present it in
the class
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

–Are “heroic” qualities

universal and timeless?
–Why is it important to study
the old English period?
Q AND A
1. At the beginning of the poem, a great hall is
described. What is the name of the magnificent mead
hall that is being terrorized nightly by an orge?
A. Grendel
B. Heorot
C. Hyath
B. Heorot
2. Who is Beowulf?
A. The king at the beginning of the poem.
B. A young warrior in Geatland (southwestern Sweden)
who comes to the Scyldings' aid, bringing with him 14 of
his finest men.
C. A monster
B. A young warrior in Geatland
(southwestern Sweden) who comes
to the Scyldings' aid, bringing with
him 14 of his finest men.
3. Who is Hrothgar?
A. The aging king who Grendel has menaced for
12 years
B. The young warrior whose father saved the king
C. The name of the mead hall where the story
takes place.
A. The aging king who
Grendel has menaced for
12 years
 4. After Beowulf is king for a number of years,
something shatters his peace. What shatters
Beowulf's peace?
A. Another king
B. A dragon
C. A war
B. A dragon
5. How does the poem end?
A. Beowulf is mortally wounded. Dying, Beowulf leaves his
kingdom to Wiglaf and requests that his body be cremated in a
funeral pyre and buried high on a seaside cliff where passing
sailors might see the barrow. The dragon's treasure-hoard is
buried with him.
B. Beowulf kills Wiglaf and the dragon, and rules for another 50
years.
C. The dragon kills Wiglaf and Beowulf.
A. Beowulf is mortally wounded. Dying, Beowulf
leaves his kingdom to Wiglaf and requests that his
body be cremated in a funeral pyre and buried
high on a seaside cliff where passing sailors might
see the barrow. The dragon's treasure-hoard is
buried with him.
Characters:
– Beowulf - The protagonist of the epic, Beowulf is a Geatish hero
who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire-
breathing dragon.
– King Hrothgar - The king of the Danes. A wise and aged ruler,
Hrothgar represents a different kind of leadership from that
exhibited by the youthful warrior Beowulf. He is a father figure to
Beowulf and a model for the kind of king that Beowulf becomes.
– Grendel - A demon descended from Cain, Grendel preys on
Hrothgar’s warriors in the king’s mead-hall, Heorot.
– Grendel’s Mother - An unnamed swamp-hag, Grendel’s mother
seems to possess fewer human qualities than Grendel, although
her terrorization of Heorot is explained by her desire for
vengeance—a human motivation.
– The Dragon - An ancient, powerful serpent, the dragon guards a
horde of treasure in a hidden mound. Beowulf’s fight with the
dragon constitutes the third and final part of the epic.
SETTING:
–The action happens in the
land of the Danes and the
land of the Geats.
PLOT
EXPOSITION-
–Grendel terrorizes Heorot
for 12 years.
RISING ACTION
– Beowulf arrives to fight the monster.
– Beowulf kills Grendel.
– Grendel's mother arrives to avenge his
death.
CLIMAX
–Beowulf kills
Grendel's mother.
FALLING ACTION

–As king, Beowulf

fights, kills the
dragon.
RESOLUTION
–Beowulf dies
from his injuries.
REFLECT…

“GOOD CONQUERS
EVIL”
GROUP ACTIVITY
– Group 1- Characters and Setting
– Group 2- Plot (Exposition, Rising
Action, Climax, Falling Action,
Denouement/Resolution)
– Group 3- Themes and Moral Lesson