Description
I’m tasked with writing a literary analysis essay on the epic poem “Beowulf,” and I need help preparing it. This task is my first attempt at a literary analysis on a poem; I’ve always opted for other literature forms before now. Often, poems offer little content when compared with prose, and writing about them would be challenging. Should I approach my analysis on Beowulf as I would prose?
Beowulf’s author is anonymous, so there’s no way to identify his or her literary devices using prior work easily. And reading this epic poem, I discovered that its last movie adaptation told a different story and portrayed its characters in a different light. I always thought greed and fame to be Beowulf’s motivation, having seen the film first, but the poem paints another man. In the latter, his kingdom’s misfortune with the dragon isn’t his fault or a result of a lapse in judgment when he was younger. Instead, he sacrifices himself, trying to save his subjects’ lives, making him a true hero.
We also see a different side to Grendel’s mother in Beowulf epic poem. Here she’s a seductive and manipulative entity which even survives through the entirety of the story, a fortune she didn’t enjoy in the poem, having met her demise early into it. Many adaptations suffer from this problem, with moviemakers always making significant alterations to the source material.
Am I to mention the parallels or other elements between this epic poem and its movie adaptation? It’s difficult for me to write my interpretation of this epic poem without having details only applicable to the movie influencing my view. How do I write a thesis statement for my Beowulf analysis and have my audience understand my write-up’s aim from the start? I’d appreciate an essay outline, as this guide could help me prepare my points and introduce them appropriately to the reader.
Also, citing references has never been a strong suit for me; a guide to getting around would be helpful. Do I have to use a similar style to that used in prose? I welcome every and any help I can get to make this analysis essay a high-quality write-up.
