Multi-genre Monsters
Courtney Reger
Ballad
Reflection: The topic I chose to write about is monsters and criminals. The ballad has an ABAB format, rhyming every other line. The theme portrayed in this ballad is once a sinful deed is “tasted” one always lusts for more. Once Grendel started killing, he kept killing. Even though Grendel is killing because he is in pain, he still is killing. The ballad ends in the warriors glaring into the town waiting for Grendel to come back again.
Monsters
Usually monsters are hairy,
But this monster is covered in slime.
This monster seems to be scary,
And lives in a place full of grime.
Grendel seeks through the night,
Coming to the hall, time and time again.
Giving Herot a fright
While killing innocent men again.
The hall shouted and sang,
So he felt too much pain.
The crowd went out with a bang.
Tragically, thirty men were slain.
Grendel continued his wrath
Causing Herot to become barren.
It seemed only as a warpath
That the warriors could just glare in.
Dear Diary
Reflection: This week I chose to do a diary entry based on the “The Pardoner’s Tale.” The theme I am portraying is that greed can come back to bite people in the butt. There is not really a monster but the hunger to gain wealth theoretically creates that person into a monster. My overall topic though, is monsters and criminals. Basically, this is showing the feelings of the youngest rioter and his plan to get the gold looking back as a ghost because he died.
Dear Diary,
Today, my two older brothers and I were taking a stroll to defend ourselves against the infamous death. We have been warned to be cautious and flee from death but we do not back down. I would never show to my brothers that I was scared, but the truth is that I was scared out of my mind. Now, later in the day we came across an old man. He seemed like he thought he was a tough guy. Really, I thought he was just a fool. Yet, he did point us toward death. There was so much adrenaline running through my bones. On the way there, we found gold! How funny, we were on our way to death and found gold. I was so excited! My oldest brother asked me to go into town to buy bread wine to celebrate the findings. So I agreed, secretly stirring up a plan. I knew from the instant this gold was found that I would be the only brother walking away with this money. I have never felt so powerful. So I go to town to get the wine and instead, take a turn and buy some poison. I would be the last brother standing. All the gold would be mine. Boiling with excitement, I sped back to my brothers just to be stabbed. My master plan fell through. Death had defeated me.
-Almost victorious youngest brother
Reflection: My overall topic is monsters and criminals. The theme for this painting is that where there is a monster, there is a hero. This is an abstract painting. The wolf represents Beowulf, the green guy is Grendel, and the blue background is Grendel’s mother’s lair. This is representing the scene where Beowulf took Grendel’s arm. Also it is representing where Beowulf goes to Grendel’s mother’s lair at the bottom of the lake.
Painting
Dear Reader Letter
The reason I chose to do monsters and criminals for my theme was because I noticed the trend in Beowulf right off the bat. For example, the feud between Grendel and Beowulf immediately. In the beginning of the project I was overwhelmed with the amount of work that was needed to complete the assignment, but after getting started I realized that it was easy. I chose to do the ballad because it was required, the painting because I enjoy painting, and the diary entry because I could use my own voice. I learned how to write a ballad during this project. I felt like I did well on my diary entry because I took a spin on the youngest rioter and made some snarky remarks. One challenging thing coincidentally was the reflection and portraying my idea of a theme clearly. One thing I will do in the future is try to get my thoughts across in a concise way for the reader to easily understand.
-Courtney