Theme 1: The Beginning of English Literature. Plan

Key Words and Expressions:
A huge sword, a magic weapon, arrogance, compassion, crucial, feast, folklore, glorious youth, plunder, sea monster, sinful, to become master of their own destiny, to compose songs, to devour, to sacrifice one’s life, to symbolize, violence, water witch.
Answer the following questions.
1. What can you tell about Britons and their language?
2. When was Britain conquered by Rome and what was its result?
3. Why did Angles, Saxons and Jutes fight with one another?
4. What can you tell about “scribes”?
5. Why is the Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf”called the foundation-stone of all British poetry?
6. Name the main heroes of the poem “Beowulf”.
7. Characterize Beowulf.
8. Why did Wiglaf put the blame for Beowulf’s death on cowardly earls?
9. What had Herot symbolized before the coming of Grendel? After?
10. Does the poem “Beowulf” remind you of any Russian or Uzbek epic poems?