Then, little by little, i understood. i felt laughter welling up inside me — at the dragon-charm, at hrothgar's whispering and trembling by the meadhall door, at everything — the oblivious trees and sky, the witless moon. i'd meant them no harm, but they'd attacked me again, as always. they were crazy. and now at last the grim laughter came pouring out, as uncontrollable as the dragon's laugh . . (79).
which phrase from this excerpt most clearly evokes fear of grendel?

a. the witless moon

b. whispering and trembling

c. the dragon-charm

d. the grim laughter

Anwer:

The grim laughter

Explanation

There were signs of the scary atmosphere in the text, the dragon-charm and laughing, whispering. Whispering and trembling are referring that something is going to happen. Even though they indicate possible action, the grim laughter was uncontrollable and surprising.

The laugh was not pleasant and makes the horrifying atmosphere which makes the character is afraid of Grendel. Grim laughter is horrifying because it is unpleasant and unstoppable. It is not happy laughter, it is laughter over the situation in which the character tries to escape. The character describes these creatures like crazy, so grim laughter makes the character uncomfortable, scary and horrifying.

first of all the mood needs to be defined: it is obviously a mood of deceitful relief and serenity. why? because the cape horn is one of the most violent maritime regions of earth and although it has been left behind, it is a personification of ahab’s delirium and the fact that the end of the passage speaks about it about being “hidden” but “raving” immediately conveys the feeling the calm is not permanent but fleeting.

furthermore, the oxymoron “mild stun'sails” is the first instance of such feeling as the adjective “mild” is associated with “stunned” underscoring the fleeting nature of this “tranquil” moment. and the contrasts keep piling up, with the opposition between “dark den” and “blessed light and air” to end with the final conclusion that leaves the reader with the uneasy knowledge that this is just a reprieve.