beowulf high school essay

75 Beowulf Essay Topics

Beowulf, penned at the dawn of the 11th century, stands as a cornerstone of Old English literature. This epic poem, extending over 3,000 lines and unfolding across the war-torn landscapes of ancient Scandinavia, offers a rich tapestry of themes and stylistic nuances that continue to fascinate scholars and students alike. When tasked with an essay on Beowulf, selecting an engaging topic is paramount. This article delves into potential subjects for your paper and provides guidance on choosing one that resonates with you.

Table of Contents

Tips for Choosing an Optimal Beowulf Essay Topic

Opting for a topic that genuinely piques your interest rather than a seemingly easy one can significantly enhance the quality of your research and writing. Here’s how you can make an informed choice:

• Personal Interest: Engage with topics that intrigue you, encouraging deeper thought and thorough research.
• Uniqueness: While you don’t have to select an obscure subject, strive for a fresh perspective in your discussion, ensuring your essay stands out.
• Scope: Narrow down broad topics to specific aspects, providing a clear direction for your essay and making it more manageable.

Inspiring Beowulf Essay Topics

Consider exploring various dimensions of the poem through topics such as:

• The societal roles of women in Beowulf.
• The effect of digression in enhancing the narrative.
• The relationship between warriors and lordship.
• The portrayal of traditional society within the epic.
• Character development throughout the poem.
• Lessons derived from the tales of Siegmund and Finn.
• The theme of male dominance in Beowulf.
• The significance of Hrothgar’s sermon in understanding the author’s viewpoint.
• The central role of the mead hall in the community.
• An in-depth analysis of Grendel’s character.
• Beowulf’s virtues and flaws.
• A detailed review of the epic battle between Beowulf and Grendel.
• Major themes and moral lessons in the story.
• The eternal clash of good vs. evil as depicted in the poem.
• An evaluation of Beowulf’s heroism.
• Parallels between Beowulf and the biblical Cain.
• The influence of religion in Beowulf’s world.
• The importance of lineage and ancestry in one’s self-esteem.
• Beowulf’s leadership qualities or lack thereof.
• Perspectives on treasure and material wealth within the poem.

Symbolism and Motifs in Beowulf

• The role of dragons in ancient literature and Beowulf.
• The significance of the mead hall and community bonding.
• Water’s symbolic role in Beowulf’s challenges and battles.
• The representation of light and darkness in the poem.
• The importance of armor and shields in the poem.

Historical and Cultural Context

• Beowulf’s relationship with historical Scandinavian events.
• How Beowulf reflects Anglo-Saxon values and beliefs.
• Paganism vs. Christianity in Beowulf.
• The societal structure and its influence on the narrative.
• The depiction of funeral rites and their significance.

Character Analyses

• Unferth’s role and contrast with Beowulf.
• The depiction of women: Wealhtheow and Grendel’s mother.
• King Hrothgar’s leadership vs. Beowulf’s heroism.
• The significance of Wiglaf and the idea of loyalty.
• Analyzing Aeschere’s importance to Hrothgar and the story.

Narrative Techniques and Literary Devices

• The role of the scop (bard) in Beowulf.
• The use of kennings and their impact on imagery.
• Alliteration and its rhythmic role in Beowulf.
• The function of epic similes in the poem.
• The influence of oral tradition on the narrative style.

Themes and Philosophies

• The concept of fate (wyrd) in Beowulf.
• The price of pride and its consequences.
• The exploration of mortality and legacy.
• The balance between courage and recklessness.
• Revenge as a driving force in Beowulf.

Comparative Analyses

• Beowulf and modern superheroes: parallels and contrasts.
• Comparing Beowulf to other epics like “The Iliad” or “Gilgamesh”.
• Beowulf and the Norse sagas: similarities and differences.
• The idea of the monstrous in Beowulf vs. other literature.
• Beowulf’s influence on Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”.

Broader Perspectives

• Beowulf’s relevance in the 21st century.
• The challenges and merits of translating Beowulf.
• How adaptations (like movies or novels) have interpreted Beowulf.
• The depiction of heroism in Beowulf vs. modern culture.
• The ethics and values presented in Beowulf and their applicability today.

In-depth Explorations

• The importance of loyalty and kinship in the poem.
• The nature of evil: Analyzing Grendel and his lineage.
• The concept of legacy in Beowulf’s final act.
• The depiction of aging and its impact on heroism.
• The influence of external forces, like God or fate, on characters’ decisions.

Beowulf’s Battles

• A detailed look into Beowulf’s battle with the dragon.
• Strategy and might: The takedown of Grendel.
• Psychological warfare: Beowulf vs. Grendel’s mother.
• The consequences and aftermath of each of Beowulf’s battles.
• The role of supernatural vs. human strength in Beowulf’s combat scenes.

Creative Angles for Your Beowulf Essay

Dive into the poem’s depths by examining:

• The symbolism of gold and its reflection on societal values.
• The heroic ideals embodied by characters.
• The significance of weaponry and its portrayal of strength and honor.
• Gender roles and equality in Beowulf’s era.
• The portrayal of leadership and its impact on society.
• Beowulf’s enduring strength and prowess in his later years.
• The cultural and societal norms depicted in the poem.
• The integration and importance of religious motifs.
• A critique of the society within Beowulf, highlighting admirable and disdainful attributes.
• The exploration of fictional elements within the historical context of the poem.

Concluding Thoughts on Beowulf Essay Topics

Whether you encounter Beowulf in high school or college, crafting an essay on this epic can seem daunting. However, with a topic that strikes a chord with you and a unique angle, your essay can resonate deeply and intellectually. Should you find yourself struggling, remember that professional help is just a click away. Submit an order form, and receive a top-notch, plagiarism-free essay, complete with proper citations and adherence to your guidelines.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Anonymous's Beowulf . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Beowulf: Introduction

Beowulf: plot summary, beowulf: detailed summary & analysis, beowulf: themes, beowulf: quotes, beowulf: characters, beowulf: symbols, beowulf: theme wheel, brief biography of anonymous.

Historical Context of Beowulf

Other books related to beowulf.

• Full Title: Beowulf
• When Published: Beowulf exists in a single damaged manuscript in the British Library. The manuscript was probably written in England in the early eleventh century, though the poem itself was probably first written down in the eighth century, and was passed on orally before that.
• Literary Period: Medieval; Anglo-Saxon
• Genre: Epic poem
• Setting: Northern Europe, especially Denmark and Sweden, around the sixth century
• Climax: Beowulf's final fight with a dragon
• Point of View: The unnamed speaker of the poem

Extra Credit for Beowulf

Old English Style. Beowulf is the longest poem written in Old English. Old English poetry uses alliterative meter, meaning that the stressed words in a line begin with the same sound. A line of Old English poetry has two halves, with a brief pause, called a caesura, in the middle of the line. The two halves of a line are linked by the alliteration (repetition of an initial consonant); at least three words in a line alliterate. Old English poetry also uses kennings , compressed metaphors like "heaven's candle" for the sun, or "whale's road" for the sea, or calling a woman married in an effort to gain peace a "peace weaver."

by Anonymous - Beowulf

Beowulf study guide.

Beowulf is the first surviving epic written in the English language. The single existing copy of the manuscript dates from the late tenth century, although some scholars believe it dates from the first part of the eleventh century. It is found in a large volume that features stories involving mythical creatures and people. Two different scribes copied the poem, most likely using an existing copy. Between 1066 and the Reformation, the whole volume remained in a monastic library until Sir Robert Cotton gained possession of it for his own extensive library. A fire consumed much of his library, and the volume containing Beowulf became badly charred. Today the manuscript still exists, though it is falling apart rapidly due to the charring in the fire.

We do not have any definite knowledge about the poet--indeed, we do not even know the date of the poem's composition. Through the study of Old English verse, most scholars believe that the poem was composed much earlier than the Cotton manuscript, between 650 and 800. Some words in Beowulf do not adhere to the scansion of Old English verse; however, using the older forms of the words, dating from the period given, causes the lines to scan correctly. Yet accurately dating the poem is a difficult enterprise since the poem has such a derivative quality. It is evident that the Beowulf poet wished to place his work within an even more ancient tradition. Beowulf directly uses many ancient stories that have been preserved in later texts, such as the legend of Sigemund and the account of the war at Finnesburh. In addition, the poem is written with the traditional epic diction, with whole phrases taken from the other bards who sang the legends incorporated.

Despite his borrowing from other sources, perhaps in large quantities, the Beowulf poet nonetheless manages to add his own specialized view of his characters' world. First and foremost, Beowulf's author is a Christian, and he makes the Christian world extremely visible. He alludes to Cain and the Flood; he shows the Christian God's influence upon the pagan world of the Danes. Yet he is obviously aware of his culture's pagan past and attempts to describe it in great detail through rituals, such as the elaborate Germanic sea-burials and the grand feasts in the mead-halls, and the ever-present belief in fate. Thus Beowulf's poet tries to recreate the past of his people for his people, almost with a nostalgic feeling for the bygone pagan days.

Beowulf Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Beowulf is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What lines are considered in each "cantos"?

I'm not sure what you means by "lines considered".

Beowulf Interview Questions

Why Beowulf should be hired, would of course... depend upon the job description. Beowulf is smart, creative, loyal, and innovative. He would make an excellent employee.

why do the geats carry Grendel's heavy head all the way back to Herot?

It's sort of a trophy to them.

Study Guide for Beowulf

Beowulf is an epic poem originally told in the Old English between the 8th and 11th centuries. Beowulf study guide contains literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Beowulf
• Beowulf Summary
• Beowulf Video
• Character List
• Lines 1-193 Summary and Analysis

Essays for Beowulf

Beowulf essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Beowulf.

• Christianity and Danish Paganism
• Loyalties and Abilities: The Function of Heroism in Beowulf
• "Malignant by Nature," (137) Grendel as Man's Violent Impulse
• Liuzza and Heaney's Beowulf: A Comparison
• The Image of Women in Old English Literature

Lesson Plan for Beowulf

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Beowulf
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Beowulf Bibliography

E-Text of Beowulf

Beowulf e-text contains the full text of Beowulf.

• Lines 1-193
• Lines 194-709
• Lines 710-915
• Lines 916-1250
• Lines 1251-1649

Wikipedia Entries for Beowulf

• Introduction
• Historical background
• Authorship and date

ELA Brave and True by Marilyn Yung

Beowulf Lessons for High School

Seven Beowulf Lesson Plans and Resources

It’s that time of year again for British Literature teachers. It’s time for Beowulf ! Have you started your journey into Anglo-Saxon poetry ? My usual early fall Anglo-Saxon routine culminates with a three-week unit on Beowulf followed by a short unit on The Hero’s Journey . I didn’t always enjoy teaching Beowulf . At first, honestly, it was excruciating. But over the next few years, I gained confidence, learned it was okay to not have all the answers, and have grown to enjoy the wonders of this text.

I mean, think about it. Beyond its monstrous, blood-thirsty heroic tale, this epic poem is a glimpse into the mind of a poet who lived nearly 1,300 years ago who, while living without running water, indoor plumbing, or electricity, understood how to craft chain mail armor, forge iron utensils, thrive on a barren plain, and survive at sea.

Seriously, how are we even here?!

If Beowulf amazes you and you can’t wait to start your unit (or whether it bores you to tears and you can’t wait to get it over with!), allow me to offer some ideas to enliven your Beowulf teaching.

Here are some links to my collection of blog posts on teaching Beowulf . I hope they spark your passion for this foundational text!

Revisiting Sutton Hoo Nonfiction Text Assignment

A Better Beowulf Unit Begins with Sutton Hoo

The Dark Ages discovery builds Beowulf engagement Need an awesome nonfiction text to enhance your Beowulf unit? Look no further! I have a resource for you that you really must check out. It’s titled “Revisiting Sutton Hoo, Britain’s Mythical Ship Burial.” Written by Sam Knight and published in The New Yorker (August 9, 2019), this…

When Christian Bale becomes Beowulf

Here’s another way to infuse relevance into Beowulf When you extend your Beowulf unit into a mini-unit on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, three things will happen: 1) You’ll build excitement to read an Anglo-Saxon poem so old we don’t even know exactly when it was written or by whom. 2) You’ll open students’ eyes to…

Life Lessons from Beowulf

I tried this Life Lessons in Beowulf essay with high school seniors. Here’s how it went.

A New Movie for Your Anglo-Saxon Poetry Unit

The 1-hour and 52-minute movie is captivating, and builds suspense and excitement around the very culture awash in The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife’s Lament, and Beowulf.

Three New Articles to Pair with Beowulf

Three contemporary articles to pair with Beowulf to build relevance for high school students.

Check Out The Hero’s Journey Podcast

A great supplement to teaching the hero’s journey Have you discovered “The Hero’s Journey” podcast? Subtitled “Books & Films Through a Mythical Lens,” this is a fantastically interesting podcast I used in February to supplement my hero’s journey lessons. Use the monthly show to introduce students to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey in popular movies, some…

Thanks for reading! And feel free to click on through to the posts above for fresh ideas on how to connect Beowulf to contemporary life. Despite my initial reluctance to teach Beowulf , I have grown to love its monstrous blend of violence, heroism, defeat, and remembrance.

If you have any questions about the posts above, leave a message below or via my Contact page . I’ll be glad to help!

A New Poem Activity for The Wanderer

Canterbury Tales Lesson Plan Resources

Le Morte d’Arthur Resources for High School

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FREE Beowulf Resources and Study Guides

April 24, 2014 By: amyswandering comment

Can you tell we are tackling Beowulf next week? I am amazed at the number of quality resources available for free! This list includes research pages, writing assignments, history lessons, and literature guides.

Updated 08/12/22

Beowulf Resources

Beowulf: Still a Hero

An Introduction to Beowulf

The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf

Audio – Stories of Beowulf Told to the Children by H. E. Marshall

The Making of Monsters

Reading Literature in Translation: Beowulf as a Case Study

Beowulf in Hypertext

Beowulf on Steorarume

Beowulf: A Research Guide

Beowulf Quizlet Flashcards

Electronic Beowulf

Beowulf for Kids

Beowulf Literature Guides

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4 Ways To Engage High School Students When Teaching Beowulf

Over the years, I’ve come to realize just how much I love wonder tales. And, apparently, I’m not alone. Game of Thrones , Outlander , and Bridgerton are just a few of the many famous book series turned television series that are/were wildly popular. So, when it came time to teach a unit on Beowulf to my high school students, I knew this wonder tale of old has power in it, if I could figure out a way to unlock its magic. 

Speaking of tales in an opinion piece for the New York Times , Salman Rushdie writes,

their power endures; and it does so, I believe, because for all their cargo of monsters and magic, these stories are entirely truthful about human nature (even when in the form of anthropomorphic animals). All human life is here, brave and cowardly, honorable and dishonorable, straight-talking and conniving, and the stories ask the greatest and most enduring question of literature: How do ordinary people respond to the arrival in their lives of the extraordinary? And they answer: Sometimes we don’t do so well, but at other times we find resources within ourselves we did not know we possessed, and so we rise to the challenge, we overcome the monster, Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel’s more fearsome mother as well, Red Riding Hood kills the wolf, or Beauty finds the love within the beast and then he is beastly no more. And that is ordinary magic, human magic, the true wonder of the wonder tale.

There we have it! As you can see, the power of Beowulf , like many other wonder tales, endures because these stories reveal and reflect human nature. To make a unit on Beowulf truly meaningful, we must reveal the human elements in the text that answer how ordinary people deal with the extraordinary.

Therefore, in this post, I’m sharing four ways to reveal these human elements and engage your high school students when reading Beowulf . 

1. Make Connections to Modern-Day

In this great epic poem, Beowulf solves a challenging conflict, stands up to a jealous peer, fights off several fiendish foes, and accepts his own mortality to name a few. Written as such (without the “monsters and magic”), all of these situations present the reader with real-world situations. Though they likely won’t be battling with swords and knives, high school students absolutely deal with these types of broad-life challenges.

My favorite way to reveal these connections is through a reader response lens. A reader response lens encourages students to connect personally to their reading. We can help by prompting them with questions about these situations. Specifically, topics like leadership, problem management, and heroism work well for these connections. I personally like crafting reader response prompts that students can answer as journals or in discussion groups:

• For journals, give students the prompt and have them answer individually. Then, discuss it as a group. These prompts work well given throughout the unit as bell ringers or exit tickets.
• For discussion groups, I give students several discussion questions for the group to review together. One way to add an accountability piece is to ask students to record an insight from their discussion.  

You could also pair these discussion topics with articles on the topic of leadership. This article looks at Beowulf using the Conger-Kanungo model of charismatic leadership, and this article loosely connects Beowulf to Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . These articles make for great close reading practice and discussion starters. 

2. Study Archetypes 

Another valuable lesson is making connections between character tropes in Beowulf and modern-day film and television. There are some obvious pairings, like Beowulf and Game of Thrones, that you might offer to start. Jon Snow as Beowulf; the Night King as Grendel. In addition, this is a great activity to ask students to create their own comparisons. The key is asking them to provide rationale in their comparisons.

This is a great introduction to archetypes, a universal or typical pattern found in works across time and culture. The hero and villain archetypes are two of the obvious ones. What other archetypes can students come up with?

3. Create an Epitaph

Beowulf the story and Beowulf the character have enduring legacies. One way that you can connect the power of this legacy to the plot is by asking students to create an epitaph to honor Beowulf’s life. 

I always start by showing students some examples first. Here’s my example:

A man who slew his demons without his faithful sword

And faced the mighty dragon even when he roared

He was a hero for all ages and his men all know it’s true

As he is laid to rest in a crown of virtue 

This is a great culminating activity because students can then share their epitaphs in a gallery walk or digitally in a Padlet . I love using Padlet for sharing because students can post anonymously and vote on their favorites! It makes the activity into a low-stakes, fun competition. 

4. Deconstruct the Demon

In literary terms, deconstruct means to take apart a text to its basic elements in order to expose alternative interpretations, contradictions, and otherwise reconstruct the meaning with a new lens. This task requires higher-order thinking skills to reimagine elements and reinterpret in new ways. Thankfully, with Beowulf, we have a spin-off novel, Grendel by John Gardner that establishes a new lens for analysis.

This novel retells the beginning of the epic poem to Grendel’s death from the perspective of Grendel, the monster. Grendel’s voice in this work is unique, introspective, self-loathing, and complex. In other words, nothing that you would expect from Grendel after having read Beowulf . This novel asks the question: what makes someone a monster? This is the question I like to pose at the beginning of this lesson. 

Because Grendel is portrayed as an outcast, students are able to identify motives and maybe even some blame for Grendel’s behaviors. This is when we complete our Monster Behind the Mask activity where students reimagine a scene from Beowulf from Grendel’s perspective. This is a great creative writing activity because they have to establish voice through tone. After students share their writing, we read several passages from the Grendel text, and it’s always interesting to see how the characterizations show a new interpretation for the text.

Here are some other interesting retellings of Beowulf that you may want to share with your students: 

• The novel Grendel inspired an opera about the same topic. There is a great overview from NPR that you share with your students here (8-minute listen).
• Beowulf was turned into a kid-friendly animation by a BYU animation student. Check out an overview here .  
• The article, “ Bro, This Is Not the Beowulf You Know ,” is an article that reviews the highly regarded new adaptation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley.

Putting It All Together

If you like these ideas (and you want to save a lot of time creating the activities to go along with this unit), check out my complete unit for Beowulf . It includes the activities described here, plus a teacher’s guide and assessments. 

Sources and further reading:

NPR article and podcast click on Grendel Opera

Beowulf and the Teaching of Leadership

Bro, This Is Not the Beowulf You Know

Leadership Lessons from Beowulf

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Beowulf essay

Beowulf is a beautiful tale of heroism that inspires the audience to live a heroic life without holding onto illusions and false hopes. No mortal is strong enough to win against death itself, but Beowulf has depicted how the human will can transcend and fight the battle against the worst of human fears. There are three evils that Beowulf personified: Physical, moral and metaphysical.

A descendant of Cain, Grendel is the most frightening personification of physical Evil. As the author put it, Grendel lives “in a hell not hell but Earth”. There is no actual description of Grendel and it invokes the darkness and the fear of that which is unknown to humans. Grendel is a hybrid of the worst kind. He is part human and part beast- living in the darkness- evil misfit, vicious and cruel, cannibalistic and vengeful. He has no morals and poses a physical threat to mankind. One man’s self-defense is destined in a fight against Grendel. He depicts evil as an omnipresent being and stalks all men by following them- unseen, hiding in the dark, never visible but always there. Evil is always insatiable, and there is no sin big enough. Beowulf represents all that is good in mankind, the strength and courage needed to involve Grendel in a one-to-one fight with his bare hands. Beowulf stands firm and Grendel pushes away from his powerful embrace and ultimately destroys himself.

Evil knows no end and Grendel’s mother; Heorot is the moral evil, and she attacks Beowulf the very next day. The Mosaic code, “an eye for an eye” has been depicted to perfection in this tale. Moral vengeance, the need to quench the thirst for revenge is what drives Grendel’s mother to fight. She only takes one life and then runs for her life from the hallways. There are the slight perverse twists of events, Beowulf bursts into her home, and she is waiting for him with a warm embrace. Now Beowulf is consumed with self-doubt and most of his men give up on his cause too. Now, he uses Grendel’s magic sword doused in his blood and is ultimately victorious. This victory is, in essence, Beowulf’s entry into adulthood. He now faces complex choices and decisions. The war wounds and the fact that Beowulf is a mere mortal have awakened a deep sense of righteousness in the king.

Finally, Beowulf faces the ultimate challenge and goes into battle against the dragon. It is a monster of epic proportions- one who is not a humanoid and is vicious and fearsome. The dragon personifies metaphysical evil. The physical power of this evil lies in the ability to set things on fire and to take flight at his will. It is the evil that men arouse by theft. Beowulf is no thief and has to protect and fight for the honor of his people. Old age knowledge has made him tired and slow and walked with his head held high into the last battle with knowledge that this will be his last. The rising and setting of the great human spirit, the contrast of age and the amalgam of wisdom and pride are what this tale hints at.

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May 18, 2018

Classroom Teaching Guide

Beowulf by Gareth Hinds

Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf is a new version of an ancient story. He takes the plot and characters from the epic poem and brings them to life in the form of a graphic novel. In a hundred and twenty pages, you can experience the essence of Beowulf’s extraordinary story, from his first fight with Grendel to his final fight with the dragon. With Hinds’ adaptation, the text takes the background, leaving the dark and bold illustrations in center stage. The images alone tell a harrowing story, with the text offering just enough context to highlight the gravity of every single fight.

In Hinds’ own view, working on Beowulf gave him “the chance to explore one of the traditional comic-book genres – the superhero story – in a more timeless way, without the skintight suits and some of the other wacky conventions of that genre”. The graphic adaptation is a wonderful amalgamation of old and new, a perfect tool for exploring all sorts of ideas and themes in the classroom.

Beowulf is, among many things, a testament to the power of story-telling and to the impact that certain stories have on us. It is a legendary story of resilience, heroism, and the human spirit. The original story has been used in classrooms for decades, but adding the graphic novel to the curriculum brings the possibility for all sorts of new discussions and projects.

Grade Level Recommendations

This title is best suited for older high school students or college students due to its violent images and sometimes complicated language.

Content Concerns

Beowulf is violent and bloody. While a lot of the violence is focused around the monsters in the story, there is plenty of violence against the humans in the story as well. However, if your students can handle a bit of gore, this story is a worthy read.

Literary Analysis

• When Beowulf first introduces himself, he says, “I am Beowulf, kinsman to King Hygelac. Many deeds of note have I done in my life.” Does this come off as pretentious to students, or does it potentially display a different character trait?
• What might be significant about the order in which Beowulf faces his foes? Does it matter that the dragon comes after Grendel and Grendel’s mother? Why or why not?
• Compare each of Beowulf’s foes. What is unique about each one? What might they have in common? See if your students can explore them as fully-developed characters, rather than just monsters for Beowulf to slay.
• Ask students to brainstorm why this story might be so popular, even after hundreds of years. What specific elements are appealing or classical in nature?
• What do the small amounts of text convey? Do they provide a certain tone or backdrop for the images? Does the writing feel like mythical or legendary writing, or does it feel more modern and contemporary?
• In the first two fights, Beowulf fights alone. In the final fight, Beowulf is accompanied by Wiglaf. What might be the significance of this, or of Wiglaf’s overall character?
• The three chapters in the book have titles, which can be found on Hinds’ website. Chapter 1 is titled “With Grimmest Gripe”, Chapter 2 is “Gear of War”, and Chapter 3 is “Doom of Glory”. What can students glean from these titles? Why might they have been left out of the final book?

Art Analysis

• Similar to action sequences in movies, there are long chunks of time in the book without any text. There’s just the images on the page. What effect does this have? What do these extended sequences suggest about the larger story, about the characters involved?
• The first full-page illustration we see of Beowulf is on the page opposite the Author’s Note. This illustration shows an older, beaten down Beowulf from the last chapter of the story. What effect does placing this image at the very beginning have on the rest of the story?
• Look at the image towards the end of chapter two, where Beowulf emerges from the moors covered in blood, with a broken sword and the head of Grendel in his mouth. Examine the fine details on this page, like Beowulf’s facial expression and the expression on Grendel’s disembodied head. What do these details convey? Is there more to it than abject horror?
• The last chapter of the book has a completely different color scheme than the first two. Colors are much more subdued and less numerous. What is significant about this? What might this imply about the events in that part of the story?
• Ask students to point out the images they find to be the most beautiful, as well as the most terrifying. Discuss the emotional impacts of these images.

Further Projects

• Introduce students to the Hero’s Journey, or the monomyth, which is a common template for how heroic stories are generally structured. This link may be helpful in explaining the concept of the monomyth: http://mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheHeroJourney.pdf
• Ask students to write out the elements of the Hero’s Journey that they see in See how well it fits with the structure. Does this surprise your students? Why or why not?
• Have students create their own comic strip based on another text they’ve read. It can be a single panel or a longer project, like a full page. Allow students to use their preferred mediums – some students may want to create the strip digitally or with photos rather than drawing or painting.
• Ask students to create their own backstory for one of the foes. This can be a short creative project, possibly just one or two pages in length. Have them answer what it would really be like inside the head of one of these characters. What is daily life like for them?

Further Reading

• Consider having students read a translation of the original poem in order to compare the graphic novel and a version of the original text, such as Seamus Heaney’s translation or Francis Gummere’s, which Hinds references in the Author’s Note.
• Look at Gareth Hinds’ other graphic adaptations of classics. You can compare these with their original texts, or just discuss the adaptations. Gareth Hinds’ other graphic novel adaptations include The Odyssey , The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe , Macbeth , and King Lear .
• Examine more modern interpretations of the epic poem, such as the 2007 film or the 1971 novel by John Gardner, Grendel .

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Creative local students win historical essay and video contests

RIDGEFIELD – Three high school students from Vancouver and Ridgefield displayed their creativity in winning first place in the Fort Vancouver Sons of The American Revolution Chapter’s 2024 Eagle Scout Essay, Knight Essay and youth video contests. Each contest challenged the high school students to research and write about or produce a video featuring a compelling person from the American Revolution. Each winner received a $100 award and certificate for their achievement at the local level and advanced to the state level for further competition.

Josephine Abbott, a Seton High School junior, wrote a descriptive essay about Cherokee Nation War Chief Dragging Canoe and his many efforts to lead his people during the American Revolution. Abbott’s entry in the SAR Arthur M. and Berdena King Eagle Scout Essay Contest earned a first-place finish at the local level. Abbott had a special connection to her essay subject as she is the eighth great-granddaughter of Chief Dragging Canoe. In addition to writing her essay, Abbott was required to prepare a four-generation family lineage chart and document her many accomplishments as an Eagle Scout.

Elizabeth Swift, a Ridgefield High School senior, also choose a Native American as the subject for her George S. and Stella M. Knight Essay Contest entry. Nicholas Cusick was a member of the Tuscarora tribe, which supported the American patriots’ cause during the Revolution. He served with French Marquis de Lafayette as an interpreter and guide, and for his service he was granted a pension after the war. Swift’s essay on Cusick also earned her second place at state this year and a $500 award.

Lincoln Swift, a sophomore at Ridgefield High School, used video to tell the story of Patrick Carr, an Irish immigrant and leather worker, who was one of the victims of the Boston Massacre. Swift choreographed Carr’s tragic story with the use of stick puppets. Swift’s three-minute video not only won accolades at the local level, it earned him first place in the Washington State SAR Society Youth Video Contest. Swift received a $1,000 award and certificate for first place.

“These three contests challenge high school students to research and document important events and people from the American Revolution,” said Fort Vancouver SAR Chapter President Paul Winter. “In fact, we have programs designed for students at the elementary school level up through high school. Each program encourages the students to be creative, have some fun, and, as in the case of our Eagle Scout this year, find personal connections to the struggle for independence.”

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Guest Essay

What Began as a War on Theater Won’t End There

By James Shapiro

Mr. Shapiro is the author of the forthcoming “The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War.”

Productions of plays in America’s high schools have been increasingly under attack. In 2023, Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” was rejected in Tennessee (since it deals with adultery); “August: Osage County,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, was canceled in Iowa after rehearsals had begun (the community was deemed not ready for it); and in Kansas, students were not even allowed to study, let alone stage, “The Laramie Project ,” a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard.

It should come as no surprise, then, that in the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship . Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida, new laws led to the restriction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to grades 10 through 12 and “Romeo and Juliet” could not be taught in full to avoid falling afoul of legislation targeting “sexual conduct.” Kill off young people’s exposure to theater, and you kill off a generation of playgoers, along with the empathy and camaraderie (already in short supply) that are intrinsic to theater. According to the latest report from the National Endowment for the Arts , from 2017 to 2022 the percentage of Americans who went even once a year to see a nonmusical play dropped by roughly half, from about 10 percent to less than 5 percent.

What begins as a war on theater never ends there.

The current attacks on theater in American schools have their origins in a struggle that took place in the late 1930s, when America’s political leadership believed that the arts, no less than industry and agriculture, were vital to the health of the Republic and deserving of its financial support. There was still an implicit understanding that theater and democracy — twinborn in ancient Greece, spheres where competing visions of society could be aired and debated — were mutually dependent. Funded by Congress as part of a Works Progress Administration relief bill and established in 1935, the Federal Theater Project by 1939 had staged over 1,000 productions in 29 states, seen free or for a pittance by 30 million spectators, or roughly one in four Americans, two-thirds of whom had never seen a play before.

It brought children’s plays on touring trucks to kids in crowded cities. It staged works in Spanish, Yiddish and Italian to reach immigrants. It established what it called Negro units from Hartford, Conn., to Seattle to support Black actors and playwrights. It staged Christmas plays and classics by Shakespeare and Euripides and nurtured young playwrights and directors, including Arthur Miller and Orson Welles. It brought free theater to asylums, orphanages, hospitals, prisons and veterans’ homes. It revived playgoing in rural states where the movies had all but ended it. Ten million listeners a week tuned in to its radio broadcasts. It established ties with hundreds of educational, fraternal, civic and religious groups, strengthening communal bonds.

It turned out that Americans were hungry for plays about issues that mattered to their lives, topics largely shunned by Hollywood and the commercial stage. So they flocked to see new plays about substandard housing and the plight of struggling farmers. One of the most remarkable Federal Theater ventures was a stage version of Sinclair Lewis’s novel “It Can’t Happen Here ,” in which a fascist is elected president of the United States. It opened on the same day, Oct. 27, 1936, in 18 cities across the country, and by the time it closed, more than 379,000 Americans had seen it. The cost of these thousand or so productions to taxpayers was roughly the price of building a single battleship.

The program’s popularity contributed to its undoing. Many of those in Congress who had voted to fund the Federal Theater became frightened by its reach and impact, its interracial casting, its challenge to the status quo — frightened, too, perhaps, by the prospect of Americans across racial, economic and political divides sitting cheek by jowl in packed playhouses.

Three years after the creation of the Federal Theater, Congress authorized the establishment of what would become the House Un-American Activities Committee, chaired by Martin Dies of Texas. It was to supposed to spend seven months investigating the rise of Nazism, fascism and communism in America and submit a report. The ambitious Mr. Dies, desperate to have his committee’s life extended, instead focused much of his attention on a more vulnerable target: the Federal Theater, accusing it of disseminating offensive and communistic and therefore un-American values. In the course of waging and winning this battle, he assembled a right-wing playbook so pervasive that it now seems timeless. He succeeded wildly: All Federal Theater productions were abruptly terminated in 1939, and the House Un-American Activities Committee lasted until 1975. With a nascent national theater now destroyed, targeting theater in schools was the inevitable next step for his successors, who — whether cynical politicians or school board members eager to police what offends their sensibilities — have all stolen a page from the Dies playbook.

It’s hard to imagine what America would be like today had support for the Federal Theater continued and Mr. Dies’s committee not been renewed. Counterfactual history is best left to novelists. But a more vibrant theatrical culture extending across the land might well have led to a more informed citizenry and, by extension, a less divided and more equitable and resilient democracy. What happened instead was that Mr. Dies begat Joseph McCarthy, who begat Roy Cohn, who begat Donald Trump.

Some of those familiar with this history haven’t given up. Right now, artists are preparing projects that on July 27 will open simultaneously in 18 U.S. cities and towns, much as “It Can’t Happen Here” did in 1936 . Under the rubric of Arts for EveryBody, the initiative is bringing together performers, audiences, community leaders and local officials. It is a small start and a promising one. So, too, is legislation coming before Congress, the STAGE Act of 2024, that would provide badly needed support for endangered nonprofit theaters across the land. Passing it should be a no-brainer, but there’s a likelihood that the Dies playbook will be used to defeat it. Until those in power in this country pivot from suppressing theater to investing in it, it’s not just the arts but also democracy itself that remains vulnerable.

James Shapiro teaches English at Columbia University and is the author of the forthcoming “ The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War .”

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Travel and Tourism Industry — The History of Moscow City

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