Terence Tan 3/2/20 Period 2 - Blog #2

3/2/20

Today in Ms. Fusaro's Mythology Class, we started with a reading check quiz on Chapter 10 of the novel: Grendel.

AIM: How does the mood shift to a sense of tragedy ad foreboding foreshadowing events to come in Grendel?

Group Work/Do Now:

-Chapter 10 incites is with two gruesome images of the mountain goat and the children who don't come in at night

-What happened in these scenes and what can be deduced about Grendel’s character from theses incidents?

-How does this affect our view of Grendel as an enlightened monster

-How does it affect our view on the darker depths of humanity?

Tracy starts off the class discussion by saying that Grendel eats the children when they go out at night, making him more evil than how he thinks he is. Justin adds on to Tracy's statement by making a reference to sports. He says that the term “Goat” refers to someone that achieves a lot and this reflects to how Grendel is unable to accept that the goat is more accomplished than he is. An important idea to take away is that Grendel is experienicng stagnation. He is bored in life and is excited even when small things happen(death of shaper). Ms.Fusaro adds on that the goat is just doing its own thing and “existing”. Grendel hates that the goat is persevering and avoiding the objects thrown at it and continues to climb up the mountain even after stones dig into his skull

We wrap up the discussion and move one to the next slide:

How does the proposal that the dragon could symbolically be the serpent/snake change our viewpoint on his perspective?

How should we interpret the death of the shaper?

Ms. Fusaro says that the shaper has crafted illusions and stories, but they are constantly altered similarly to a game of telephone. The death of the shaper is just a part of story telling and its everlasting alterations.

Why does Grendel end Chapter 10 with this statement?

Gautaman starts of the discussion by saying that grendel is hopeless and nihilistic and everything he does has no meaning. “nothing out of nothing”

Nicole adds on by saying that Grendel does things to make his life meaningful or important but is unable to do so. Sabrina wraps up and says that Grendel is trying to make unimportant things consequential. He is curious why humans care about dead people(shapers funeral) and is trying to be like humans by making meaning in his life. “Forcibly making nothing”

Then we move onto the last slide of the lesson:

What can be argued and/or established by Grendel's mother's behavior in chapter 10?

After we share our ideas with those in our groups, Henry begins by saying that Grendel’s mother has lost almost all intelligence but still has the ability to care for others(Grendel). We related this to Beowulf when Grendel's mother didn't kill all of the Danes, and instead only killed on of them. Selena follows up by saying that Grendel’s mother tries to protect Grendel from the outside. Joshua finishes by making an amazing point. He thinks that Grendel is similar to a teenage boy who refuses to listen to his mother when she tells him to stay in the cave.

Reflection: Today's lesson reinforced the idea of stagnation and nihilism. Grendel cant seem to find purpose in his life so he tries to making meaning out of things that are generally meaningless. This can be reflected to real life because people tend to make problems out of nothing because they are bored and have nothing better to do. Grendel wants to find things that are important to him or even something to care for but is sadly unsuccessful in every way. As a reader all we can do is empathize for Grendel as he has reached rock bottom, however I believe that there will be a major event that will soon occur and push forward the plot.