Maximizing My

Strength
MODULE 1 LESSON 2
 Lord Jesus, I thank you for this opportunity to
study which others may not have. Help me to
give my best in whatever I do. Give me the

Student’s grace to manage my time well – to balance

‘’study and play.’’ Help me set aside distracting
thoughts and to have focus especially during
Prayer exams. Do not let me fall into temptation of
cheating and making ‘’short cuts’’ in order to
attain my goals. Instead, let me accept the fact
of life that nothing of worth comes easy. Let
me value the knowledge and wisdom imparted
to us by our teachers and to appreciate their
efforts and concern. Teach me to learn the
lessons of life itself that I may live not only for
myself but for others. Amen.
YOUR JOURNEY

“ Character cannot be developed in

ease and quiet.
Only through experience of trial
and suffering
can the soul be strengthened,
ambition inspired and success
achieved.”
- Hellen Keller
Maximizing means “making the best use
of” and this is what you must do with your
strength. This happens when you focus on
the areas you are most skilled, talented,
and strong in while avoiding your
weaknesses.
This week’s lesson will unfold one’s
greatness and heroic acts which will
lead you to discover your hidden
potentials and develop skills for the
realization of the world’s ultimate goal-
positive transformation.
 YOUR INITIAL TASKS

Let’s begin the lesson by working on the first two

activities to guide you in your journey throughout
the lesson.

TASK 1 HIT THE HINTS

A. Study the following photos. Do you know the characters in

the photos? In your group, list down the traits common to the
characters in the photo collage.
Line from the Song What do these lines mean to you?
Write your answers in your notebook:
B. Answer the following questions to get to
know our characters better.

1. Who among the characters do you like

most? Why?
__________________________________
___

2.Do you have what it takes to be like any of

them? Why do you say
so?_______________________________
___

3. Based on their characteristics and

intentions, what name could be
associated with them?
TASK 2 SAY THAT AGAIN
A. Listen as your teacher plays a recorded song three times. Write
down at least three lines from the song that captured your attention.
Once you’ve written them, work with a partner and discuss how you
understood each line.

Line from the Song What do these lines mean to you?

Line from the Song What do these lines mean to you?

Rewriting lines from songs, poems,
stories, and other articles is one way
of paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is often
defined as putting into your own words
texts that are originally from the author.
It will make us our own ideas as
inspired by other people’s work and
will keep us from plagiarizing other’s
works.
Here are examples of paraphrasing taken from Harry Potter,
Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings.

ORIGINAL PARAPHRASED

“Happiness can be found,

even in the darkest of times,
if one only remembers to turn
on the light.”
-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban
Quote by Aldous Dumbledore
There is happiness
even during the most
challenging times
and we only need to
look at the bright
side.
“To the glistening eastern sea, I give you
Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great Presenting the kings and
western woods, King Edmund the Just. queens of Narnia: Queen
To the radiant southern sun, Queen Lucy the Valiant, King
Susan the Gentle. And to the clear Edmund the Just, Queen
northern skies, I give you King Peter the Susan the Gentle, and
magnificent. Once a king or king of King Peter the
Narnia, always a king or queen of Magnificent. They will
Narnia. May your wisdom grace us until forever be kings and
the stars rain down from the heavens.” queens of Narnia and
-Chronicles of Narnia (Quote by may their wisdom be with
Aslan) us until the end of the
world.
 In the common tongue it reads, “
One Ring to Rule Them All. One Ring There is one ring to rule, to find,
to Find Them. One Ring to Bring to bring, and to bind all evil.
Them All and In The Darkness Bind
Them.”
The Lord of the Rings
Quote by Gandalf
C. With the tips and examples given to you on paraphrasing, be ready to
listen to another record song, write down two lines from it which you like the
most, and paraphrase them.

Lines from the Song Your Paraphrase

1.

2.
 Lines from the Your Paraphrase
Song
1.

2.
 YOUR TEXT
TASK 3 ATTACK THOSE WORDS

Beowulf is admired for the richness of its poetry. About

a third of the words in Beowulf are words known as
Kennings. Kennings combine two words to create an
evocative and imaginative alternative word.

Form groups of four. Explain the Kennings in the tic-tac-toe board.

Choose three Kennings in a row to explain. You must all do those in the
center.
 TIC-TAC-TOE

1 2 3
battle-sweat evil-doer horrible hermit
Slaughter-dew life-evil devil from hell
sin-stained demon
4 5 6
battle-dress dragon-slayer ring giver
mail-shirt war trooper’s leader gold giver
fighting-gear chief of the strangers
7 8 9
wave floater whale road
swirling surf light of battle whale’s way
swan road
Read the epic poem Beowulf which deals with the war and
adventure. It is said to be the greatest poem ever written
in a modern European language four centuries before the
Norman Conquest. Beowulf shows an interplay of
Christian and pagan beliefs. The original writer remains
unknown.

It has been said that Burton Raffel’s translation from the

original Old English is the most celebrated and most read
by students and general readers alike.
Grendel’s
Mother
 THE BATTLE WITH GRENDEL
From Beowulf
Translated by Burton Raffel
Epic 4

Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty

Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill

Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.

He moved quickly through the cloudy night,
Up from his swampland, sliding silently
Toward that gold-shining hall. He had visited Hrothgar’s
Home before, knew the way-
 But never, before nor after that night,
Found Herot defended so firmly, his reception
So harsh. He journeyed, forever joyless,
Straight to the door, then snapped it open,
Tore its iron fasteners with a touch

And rushed angrily over the threshold.

He strode quickly across the inlaid
Floor, snarling and fierce: His eyes
Gleamed in the darkness, burned with a gruesome
Light. Then he stopped, seeing the hall
Crowded with sleeping warriors, stuffed
With rows of young soldiers resting
together.
And his heart laughed, he relished the
sight,
Intended to tear the life from those
bodies
By morning; the monster’s mind was hot
With the thought of food and the feasting his belly
Would soon know. But fate, that night, intended
Grendel to gnaw the broken bones
Of his last human supper. Human
Eyes were watching his evil steps,

Waiting to see his swift hard claws.

Grendel snatched at the first Geat
He came to, ripped him apart, cut
His body to bits with powerful jaws,
Drank the blood from his veins, and bolted
 Him down, hands and feet; death
And Grendel’s great teeth came
together,
Snapping life shut. Then he stepped to
another
Still body, clutched at Beowulf with his
claws,
Grasped at a strong-hearted wakeful
sleeper
 - And was instantly seized himself, claws
Bent back as Beowulf leaned up on one arm.
That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime,
Knew at once that nowhere on earth
Had he met a man whose hands were harder;

His mind was flooded with fear- but nothing

Could take his talons and himself from that tight
Hard grip: Grendel’s one thought was to run
From Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there:
This was a different Herot than the hall he had emptied.

But Higlac’s follower remembered his final

Boast and, standing erect, stopped
The monster’s flight, fastened those claws
In his fists till they cracked, clutched Grendel
Closer. The infamous killer fought
 For his freedom, wanting no flesh but retreat,
Desiring nothing but escape; his claws
Had been caught, he was trapped. That trip to Herot
Was a miserable journey for the writhing monster!
The high hall rang, its roof boards swayed,

And Danes shook with terror. Down

The aisles the battle swept, angry
And wild. Herot trembled, wonderfully
Built to withstand the blows, the struggling
Great bodies beating at its beautiful walls;

Shaped and fastened with iron, inside

And out, artfully worked, the building
Stood firm. Its benches rattled, fell
To the floor, gold-covered boards grating
As Grendel and Beowulf battled across them.
 Hrothgar’s wise men had fashioned Herot
To stand forever; only fire,
They had planned, could shatter what such skill had put
Together, swallow in hot flames such splendor
Of ivory and iron and wood. Suddenly

The sounds changed, The Danes started

In new terror, cowering in their beds as the terrible
Screams of the Almighty’s enemy sang
In the darkness, the horrible shrieks of pain
And defeat, the tears torn out of Grendel’s

Taut throat, hell’s captive caught in the arms

Of him who of all the men on earth
Was the strongest.
That mighty protector of men
Meant to hold the monster till its life
Leaped out, knowing the fiend was no use
 To anyone in Denmark. All of Beowulf’s
Band had jumped from their beds, ancestral
Swords raised and ready, determined
To protect their prince if they could. Their courage
Was great but all wasted: They could hack at Grendel

From every side, trying to open

A path for his evil soul, but their points
Could not hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron
Could not scratch at his skin, for that sin-stained demon
Had bewitched all men’s weapons, laid spells

That blunted every mortal man’s blade.

And yet his time had come, his days
Were over, his death near; down
To hell he would go, swept groaning and helpless
To the waiting hands of still worse fiends.
 Now he discovered-once the afflicter
Of men, tormentor of their days- what it meant
To feud with Almighty God: Grendel
Saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws
Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at

His hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher,

But his power had gone. He twisted in pain,
And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder
Snapped, muscle and bone split
And broke. The battle was over, Beowulf

Had been granted new glory: Grendel escaped,

But wounded as he was could flee to his den,
His miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh,
Only to die, to wait for the end
Of all his days. And after that bloody
 Combat the Danes laughed with delight.
He who had come to them from across the sea,
Bold and strong-minded, had driven affliction
Off, purged Herot clean. He was happy,
Now, with that night’s fierce work; the danes