Both Beowulf and Grendel

A)are epic poems written hundreds of years ago.
B)tell the story of Grendel’s encounters with humans.
C)are written in first-person point of view.
D)show the reader Grendel’s perspective on events.

Read the description of Grendel from the epic poem Beowulf.

If Grendel wins, it will be a gruesome day;
he will glut himself on the Geats in the war-hall,
swoop without fear on that flower of manhood
as on others before. Then my face won’t be there
to be covered in death: he will carry me away
as he goes to ground, gorged and bloodied;
he will run gloating with my raw corpse
and feed on it alone, in a cruel frenzy,
fouling his moor-nest.

This version of Grendel is more ________ than the version in John Gardner’s novel.

vicious
sensitive
anxious
gentle

In Grendel, John Gardner uses

first-person point of view to help readers better understand Beowulf’s feelings.
first-person point of view to help readers see Grendel’s side of a familiar story.
third-person point of view to give greater insight into all of the characters.
third-person point of view to give an impartial account of a well-known event.

The epic narrative poem "Beowulf" is a famous legendary story of how the hero Beowulf defeated Grendel and his mother and then also fought a dragon to save his people.

John Gardner re-wrote the epic poem from Grendel's perspective, giving readers a different side of the story.

1. Both Beowulf and Grendel are stories that tell the tales of Grendel's encounters with humans.

2. But the passage from Beowulf provided a more vicious version of Grendel than the way John Gardner did.

3. In Grendel, John Gardner used the first person point of view to help readers see Grendel's side of the all too familiar story.