How To Compose A Great Expository Essay On Beowulf


Beowulf is without one of the most popular poems in the world. The author of the poem that was composed in the 11th century remains unknown. One of the reasons why Beowulf continues to be studied up to this day is that it has a unique structure, moral lesson and storytelling concept. For many centuries now, the poem has remained to be one of the most analyzed poems in the world. Up to this day, students are still being asked to interpret the poem so that they can show their understanding of complex poem.

If you are a student who is supposed to analyze Beowulf in your literature class and you are still struggling to understand it, there are several tips that can help you to compose a well-structured essay. One of the major advantages that you will have is that Beowulf has been analyzed for many years and therefore, you will have ample resources for your research. Here are the other steps that you will need.

  • Read the poem
  • Before you can start writing an essay on Beowulf, you will need to understand a few things about these types of texts. First, you must start by reading the poem itself and ensure that you have ample knowledge on it. One of the reasons why you need to read it is that how you understand it will determine how you write the poem. You should then decide on the main purpose of your paper. There are two kinds of expository essays that you can write on Beowulf. You can choose to write about the 3 battles or the hero.

  • Use notes to compose a thesis
  • When reading the poem, you should write some notes. You can then use these notes as the basis of writing the thesis.

  • Choose a topic
  • What you need to do is to try and critically examine one of the thematic ideas to see if it is possible to come up with a unique topic. Some of the topics that you can choose include:

    • Fight between good and evil
    • Fortune & fame in Beowulf
    • Beowulf perspective towards death
    • What role does religion play in Beowulf?

    Use modern examples to choose a topic. You should find modern examples that you can use to back the thesis. This makes the writing process easier as the topic becomes more relatable to you. You can also look at your life and see how it relates to Beowulf.

  • Read other essays on Beowulf
  • It can also be helpful to read through several other Beowulf essays before you can start writing.