English 3 Summer Reading Assignment 2014
Grendel by John Gardner
ISBN 978-0679723110
Reading the novel
Carefully read Grendel. As you do, follow your own insights and interests, defining your own understanding of its
themes. But also consider the discussion topics listed below, some of which come to similar points through different
paths.
As you read, annotate your text. See How to Mark a Book and some sample pages from David Foster Wallace’s
teaching copies. Your copy of Grendel should be marked too. Those marks record your interaction with the text.
Reading is a contact sport.
When you arrive to class in August, you will be administered a major-grade reading test on Grendel. That test will be
designed to assess your knowledge of the novel’s facts; to gauge your comprehension and understanding of its
themes; and to measure the quality and depth of your reading. Expect matching, true-false and/or multiple-choice
questions about facts; multiple choice questions asking you to read a passage or to interpret a scene; and short
answer questions asking you to recall and comment on the novel. The test will measure your attention to the actual
text of the novel and will avoid questions answerable by merely skimming study aids. We expect you to read the
novel itself—and to read it thoroughly and well.
After that test and our discussion of the novel and a review of writing basics, you will write an essay. To prepare for
that essay as you read the novel, rely on your own knowledge and understanding, not on a “reading guide,”
especially if of the usual—and bland—variety. Learning to think for yourself and to trust your ideas is one of the big
lessons we hope to teach you. The experience of encountering the work, reflecting upon it, and responding to it in
writing is more important than parroting the ideas of others.
Below are a list of discussion topics/questions to hone your thinking. Some of these will be ones that we use in class
to facilitate class discussion.
Grendel Discussion Topics
English 3 Summer Reading 2014
-1 -
Carefully read the opening page. What is the narrative point of view? Why is that point of view important
to the novel? How would the novel be different if told from another point of view?
Who is the narrator? What immediate impressions do you get of him?
How does the novel use time? How does it mark the passage of time? How does Grendel think about
time? What references to time do chapters make? Is time part of the novel’s overall structure? How many
chapters?
Early in the novel, Grendel wants to join men. What happened?
How does Grendel understand his identity? Find his key comments. How many does he take on? Which
is the truest?
What is “Grendel’s law” (93)?
Explain Grendel’s reaction to Wealtheow (100-101). Does it show us another side of Grendel? Does it
complicate our view of him and deepen our understanding of his situation? Why does Grendel recall the
shaper’s affect on him when he thinks of her? Why does she attract Grendel so?
Characterize Wealtheow’s situation. What role does she play?
Why is Grendel’s experience while trapped in the tree trunk important?
Define the importance of Grendel’s encounter with the shaper. How does it change Grendel?
Consider Grendel’s rather negative view of men. Is he right to so harshly judge them?
Why is Grendel afraid at the opening of chapter 9?
What riddle does Grendel see in the hart as it dies (127)?
Consider Grendel’s meeting with Ork. What does Ork say about the nature of God? Do Ork’s comments
about God’s purpose remind you of what the dragon tells Grendel about his?
What does Ork name as the “ultimate evil” (132)? Why are they evil?
Define the different views: Grendel, shaper, dragon.
How does Ork define “[u]ltimate wisdom” (133)? Is he right?
Is Ork senile, his theories ridiculous? Why would the young priest have thought them “bloodless
rationalism” (135)? Does the novel contrast rationalism and irrationalism? Does it favor one over the
other?
What do you make of Grendel’s reaction to Orks comments? (And see 136.)
English 3 Summer Reading 2014
-2 -
Why is the young priest so excited by Ork’s “vision”? Why does he believe it offers hope? For what?
What does Grendel mean when he says, “And yet I am restless. I would fall, if I could, through time and
space to the dragon” (137)?
The young priest says, “The gods made this world for our joy!” (138). Grendel thinks he’s crazy. Who’s
right?
Grendel seems to have changed his mind about the dragon and the shaper. Why?
Make sense of the scene between Grendel and the goat.
Is this a keynote to Grendel: “At last, unsatisfied as ever, I slink back home” (145)? “Tedium is the worst
pain” (157)? Are these statements the core of Grendel’s plight?
Why do “strange thoughts” occur to Grendel once the shaper is dead (146)? What are those thoughts?
Are they indeed new?
What are Grendel’s values? What does he value and why? How are values important to him and in the
novel? Define the differing sets of values characters hold.
What does Grendel say about Theology on 159?
Is Unferth’s statement about the foolishness of Beowulf’s swim consistent with his earlier statements
about inner heroism?
What affect does Beowulf have on Grendel, even before he lands? List Grendel’s observations of
Beowulf. What story-telling technique is at work here?
Catch the allusion to Psalm 23 on page 170? Have there been other Biblical allusions?
Explain Grendel’s question: “Is it joy I feel?” (173).
English 3 Summer Reading 2014
-3 -