The Literature Passage (verbal reasoning)

Introduction

You have encountered the Journey Method for reading CLT passages already. Take a moment to quiz yourself: In what sense is reading a CLT passage like a journey? How does that journey unfold? What are the major “signposts” to notice? Think about these questions, then check the spoiler below.

The Journey Method and the Literature Passage

The CLT literature passage will strike most readers as different from the other three passages, for the simple reason that fiction differs sharply from nonfiction. A literature passage does not follow the same structure as a nonfiction passage; it doesn’t unfold logically after presenting a thesis statement. A literature passage tells a story, one event organically connected to the next, and uses figurative language and figures of speech. So how do we apply the Journey Method to a literature passage?

The first thing to remember is that although the literature passage is different, it is not without structure. The excerpt the CLT chooses will still have what feels like an introduction, where you meet important characters and get some sense of the action about to ensue. If plot actions are then described, they will appear in a discernible sequence; if, instead, you find more of a dialogue or conversation, you will be able to discover the relationship of the speakers and the direction of the conversation.

To aid you in this process, you should home in on what we call the “three A’s of literature”: actors, actions, and attitudes. The actors are the characters; take time to identify them and make sure you understand which one is being described at any point in the passage. This can be more challenging than you might think; depending on the age of the passage, it may take some work to decode the language being used. The actions are the plot; what happens, in what sequence? How do the characters’ actions advance the plot?

But the most important of the three “A’s” is attitude, because the CLT will consistently ask questions to determine whether you understand the attitude, or tone, of the passage. This might be the attitude of the passage’s author toward its characters or the attitudes of the characters toward each other. Another way to describe attitude is the feeling you get from the passage. Is it dark and full of foreboding? Light-hearted and joyful? Sober and attuned to honor? Full of contempt and disapproval? All of these attitudes and more may be present; to succeed with CLT verbal reasoning, you must pay attention to the “feeling” of the passage.

Let’s observe how this works by considering the oldest existing piece of literature in the English language: Beowulf. After each stanza (there aren’t exactly paragraphs since this is poetry, but there are discernible breaks in the passage), we’ll comment on how you should be using the Journey Method at that stage.

Practice Passage

This passage is taken from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, translated by J. Lesslie Hall and found at Project Gutenberg.

The Journey Method tells us we should begin by reading closely, and the literature passage is not an exception to this rule. Who is the actor here? Who is Hrothgar? The passage requires some interpretation; even if we don’t know who the “Scyldings” are, we can draw an inference from the word “helm.” The “helm” is the steering system of the ship, where the captain stands. If Hrothgar is referred to as the “helm,” this must a metaphor telling us that he is a leader. He is “leader of the Scyldings.”

What other actors are present? Hrothgar is describing someone, called “this man” and “the merest of striplings” (this means that Hrothgar remembers this man from when the latter was very young). After referring to this man’s father, Hrothgar calls this man a “battle-brave son” and “a trustworthy friend.” Although this man has not been named yet, we can infer something from the title of the work we’re reading: there’s a good chance that “this man” is Beowulf himself.

As far as action is concerned, “this man” has been sought and has come to visit. The attitude of Hrothgar is clearly one of welcome and gratitude.

The actor here is confirmed: it’s Beowulf! Now that we know the main actor of Hrothgar’s monologue and the attitude of this narration, we can begin to move more quickly, at least until someone else begins speaking. As the journey picks up, we note broad points and look for important figures of speech. This part of the passage is more straightforward: Beowulf is a strong hero!

As Hrothgar continues to speak, we can read somewhat quickly but need to still consider the three “A’s”. A new actor is introduced: Grendel, and the attitude toward him is clear: he has “grimness”, and “assistance” is needed against him. Grendel, whoever he is, must be the enemy.

Hrothgar then finishes his speech by making a command to welcome Beowulf (there is the plural “them”, so Beowulf must not be alone). We also learn here more about the actors already present: these are Danes, and Beowulf is being welcomed to join their party.

Here is another new actor, Wulfgar, who has been sent to welcome Beowulf. He refers to Beowulf as the “East Danes’ atheling”; even though we might not know what an “atheling” is, we can guess that it’s a leader (and indeed it is: an Anglo-Saxon lord). By way of contrast, the previous portion referred to Hrothgar and his tribe as “West Danes,” so we now see we have two groups of Danes, from different parts of the realm.

The attitude is welcoming, laudatory, and heroic: Beowulf is described as “valiant” and permitted to see Hrothgar while in full armor. Wulfgar finishes speaking and Beowulf’s men advance as bidden, with the praises continuing: they are “mighty”, “excellent”, and “brave”. Once in the building with Hrothgar, Beowulf speaks.

Scanning ahead, we can see that the closing quotation marks don’t come until the end of this passage, so we can settle in, knowing that Beowulf’s speech to Hrothgar is all that remains. Having encountered all the key actors, we now see them repeated: Beowulf speaks, Hrothgar is addressed, and Grendel’s doings are brought up once again. Beowulf has heard what Grendel has been doing and has come to help.

Reading carefully, we can notice that the attitude changes somewhat with the words “empty and useless.” These words describe the “edifice”, or building, in which the heroes now stand; this should prompt us to seek out what it means for the building to be “empty and useless.” Since this building is praised and appears to be something of a warrior hall, perhaps the building is empty of warriors. (Readers of Beowulf will know that Grendel has attacked the hall and carried away many warriors, but the CLT won’t ask you anything that can’t be inferred directly from this passage.)

Even without full knowledge of what Grendel has done, we can understand that disaster has befallen the West Danes; otherwise, they wouldn’t need a hero. Beowulf, at the urging of his earls, has come to their aid.

One further note regarding attitude in this section. Note that Beowulf refers to Hrothgar as “folk leader” and to himself as a “vassal”. If you are aware that a vassal in the Middle Ages was someone who served a lord, you can infer that Beowulf, despite the accolades given to him here, is not the ultimate authority in this place. That authority belongs to Hrothgar, and Beowulf is placing himself in Hrothgar’s temporary service.

Beowulf now describes his fight with a previous foe. The identity of the actor here might seem confusing at first, since Beowulf uses the third person “his”, but reading back, we see that Beowulf’s earls are speaking and referring to their lord. Beowulf then switches to first-person, removing all doubt.

We get more action here: Beowulf has been in a “contest”, used his “strength”, and escaped from his “foes” after having “bound” them. This is a victorious warrior who has “avenged” a people known as the “Weders”. Confident in previous victories, he now plans to engage Grendel alone. Grendel is now more clearly described as “the monster of evil,” and the stage for the battle is set!

Notes

1. This note is purely for your curiosity: the “nickers”, or “nicoras”, were apparently aquatic monsters, but scholars don’t know much more about them outside of their mention in Beowulf.