82 pages 2 hours read

John Gardner

Grendel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1971

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Essay Topics

1.

Analyze Gardner’s use of humor. How does it enhance the pathos of Grendel’s experience? How does it detract from the emotion?

2.

Describe Grendel’s relationship with his mother. How might a psychoanalytic reading of the novel as a whole interpret this relationship?

3.

Some scholars consider Grendel a postmodern masterpiece. Consider the characteristics of postmodernism, and evaluate this statement.

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