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Reflection In The Language Of The Grendel

Decent Essays

The tone that is contained in the extract to great extent is a candid tone. The use of inverted sentence brands the candid tone to the stanzas in which they are found. For instance, “to rest had gone” communicates the original meaning as when the inverted sentence may not be in use. However, the inversion makes the stanza sound more poetic or lyrical. Another tone present in the inverted sentences is conversational tone (Lombardi). However, the conversational tone is made to sound more formal and as mentioned earlier, poetic, from the use of sentence inversion. Other tones can be derived from the message conveyed at each point in the extract. For instance, horrified tone is found in instances when the Hrothgar and his people reflect on the attacks from the Grendel. The approach Hrothgar employs to mitigate Grendel’s attacks is not at all aggressive which expresses a pessimistic tone, and further excites pity from the reader, which conveys a pitiful tone (“Literary Techniques Part 1”).

The attention in the poem is focused on the attacks of the Grendel and the consequent reaction of Hrothgar and his people which reveal predatory mood and melancholy mood respectively. Even after accomplishing a series of attacks on Hrothgar and his people, Grendel seems dissatisfied and wishes to attack them even more. At the same time, Hrothgar and his people have no power to retaliate and no option to retreat. The author shows that after the initial attack, the people contemplate the return

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