2/6/20 Alan Peysakhov Period 8

Alan peysakhov 

Aim: How does Gardner establish tone and characterization during the expository chapter of his novel, Grendel?

Do Now: Analyze the following “I ask the sky. The sky says nothing, predictably. I make a face, uplift defiant middle finger, and give an obscene little kick” (6).

-Adam states that Grendal is extremely angry and hates everything around him. 

-Raphael said that this shows a connection between Grendel calling out to the sky and Cain calling for God after he killed his brother.

 “So childhood too feels good at first, before one happens to notice the terrible sameness, age after age” (9) 

• When you’re younger everything in the world is new to you. You are not yet used to the same old constant routine that you live by. As you age you begin seeing and living through life’s similarities everyday.
• Childhood is a time where we experience being at our most adventurous state. After living through a constant routine it can get boring. This is how Grendal felt when he had to live in the same place every day and never experienced anything new.

Philosophy Chapter 1 

Orphism: the endless cycles of life

Grendel deals death in the war with Hrothgar

He faces his mortality when he speaks of chasms

He longs for meaning, but rejects it as meaningless

He sees the funeral scene: the celebrants of cycles.

-We were asked to recall childhood events that at the time, seemed important but prove to be insignificant now.

After a few responses of the kids bringing up problems that are no longer significant to them now, Ms fusaro stated:

When we’re younger there’s always a clear next step to take and as we get older these steps are less clear. Today’s society tells you what you should do. There’s no sense of freedom because you have to follow the orphism. 

Grendal was written in the 1960s and we were asked to discuss what was going on in the World at the time.

Vietnam war 

Civil rights movement 

Cold War 

Fear of communism

We were then asked to connect John Gardeners life story to that of Grendals.

Grendel is the descendant of Cain. Cain killed his brother and we found out that when Gardner’s brother was dying he watched and didn’t do anything about it. The guilt of not trying to save him stayed with Gardner for the rest of his life. Gardner believed that he killed his brother as Cain killed him.

Reflection:

This lesson really taught us and helped us understand Grendel's point of view. Throughout his life he was ignored by his mother and the sky. We learned how Grendel was childish due to not receiving any of this attention. Through Grendel we can understand the cycle of life. It starts off as exciting and adventurous when you are younger. As you get older you can get annoyed by the constant similarities that life presents. Helping us understand the creation of Grendel through his similarities with Gardner helped us better understand Grendel as more of a human. This helped us understand that antagonist characters can relate to human actions, especially in the case of Grendel.