Extended response possibilities: Consider the following critical views of Beowulf. Choose one statement with which you agree or disagree and support your stand with quotes, episodes, and examples from the epic. A. Beowulf presents an ideal of loyalty. The failure to live up to this ideal on the part of some of the thanes points up the extraordinary faithfulness of Beowulf.
B. Beowulf is the story of a dual ordeal: an external battle with vicious opponents and an internal battle with human tendencies of pride, greed, cowardice, betrayal, and self-concern.
C. Beowulf is the universal story of life’s journey from adolescence to adulthood to old age. The hero grows in wisdom about self and about the world through the pain and triumph of personal experience.

Read the excerpt from act 3 of a doll’s house. mrs. linde: you seemed to me to imply that with me you might have been quite another man. krogstad: i am certain of it. mrs. linde: is it too late now? krogstad: christine, are you saying this deliberately? yes, i am sure you are. i see it in your face. have you really the courage, then—? mrs. linde: i want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. we two need each other. nils, i have faith in your real character—i can dare anything together with you. krogstad [grasps her hands]. , , christine! now i shall find a way to clear myself in the eyes of the world. ah, but i forgot— how does the conflict in this passage develop a theme? mrs. linde creates a conflict by promising something she cannot give to krogstad, which develops the theme that empty promises can destroy relationships. krogstad continues the conflict by choosing clearing his name over having a life with mrs. linde, which develops the theme that you must often choose yourself over others. krogstad creates a conflict by deceiving mrs. linde about his intentions, which develops the theme that, in love, actions speak louder than words. mrs. linde resolves the conflict by committing to a new life with krogstad, which develops the theme that new beginnings are always possible.