Beowulf Essay Prompts: English 4 Honors Utilize one or more of the following prompts to write a thesis-driven, coherent multi-paragraph essay on Beowulf or commentary based on an idea raised by the epic.  Look at all prompts.  They may jar an idea or two:  Critic David Wright’s contention that “as a consequence of (the hero’s) death wars and calamities must inevitably destroy the people he tried to protect, the inference is a tragic but not a merely pessimistic one”  The Poet’s use of any one or more of the following in the development of theme: symbol, metaphor, allusion, foreshadowing, irony, juxtapositions, contrasts, parallels (Make sure to emphasize the theme.)  The heroic consolation  The tragic sense of life The story as an affirmation of human effort and endurance  The thematic importance of the allegorical elements: Grendel, Heorot, etc. Emergence of civilization out of savagery  Forces—internal and external—hostile to the task of constructing meaning, purpose, and moral order (perhaps a clarification of the meaning of discernment) Anglo Saxon understanding of fate, fatalism, free will and/or Beowulf’s acceptance of the terms of Fate Beowulf’s acceptance of the terms of moral commitment Application of the Anglo Saxon understanding of fate, fatalism, free will to the human condition across time and/or cultures  Emerging conceptions of honor and/or duty Panic, hysteria, loss of faith and surrender of purpose—the human tendency in moments of crisis to lose faith and to see adherence to principle as debilitating