Beowulf Historical Context
Published:
18. By the time the story of Beowulf was written by an unknown Anglo-Saxon poet around 700 CE, ----.
A) the poem's existence did not become widely known until 1815
B) when widespread interest in the document emerged among scholars and translators
C) the text will have been viewed as a source of information about the Anglo-Saxon era
D) its manuscript has been badly damaged by a fire
E) much of its material had been in circulation in oral narrative for many years
Animated Video Solution
The first half plays free, the full solution is in the app.
Step by Step Written Solution
Hi Elif, let's solve this multiple-choice question together. We need to find the correct phrase to complete this sentence about the epic poem Beowulf.
Analyzing Sentence Structure
Let's look at the structure of the prompt. It starts with a Time Clause: By the time the story of Beowulf was written.
The phrase 'By the time' followed by a simple past verb, 'was written', indicates that the main clause should describe an action that happened even earlier in the past.
In English grammar, when we use 'by the time' to refer to a past event, the main clause typically uses the Past Perfect tense to show that one action was completed before another occurred.
Now, let's look at our options to see which one follows this logical and grammatical pattern.
Evaluating Options
A) the poem's existence did not become widely known until 1815
B) when widespread interest... emerged
C) the text will have been viewed...
D) its manuscript has been badly damaged...
E) much of its material had been in circulation in oral narrative for many years
Option A uses the simple past 'did not become'. While factually interesting, it doesn't represent an action completed before the writing of the poem.
The rest of this solution is on Solvi
6 more steps are locked. Watch the full animated, narrated solution for free.
Snap a photo, solve any question like this.
Watch the Rest for Free
Free to download · First solutions are on us
