Midterm review

English 12, spring 2012

This king united England by encouraging the use of Old English as a common language

Alfred the Great

• This ended Anglo-Saxon rule of England in 1066

• Norman Conquest

• The signing of this limited the power of the English king and gave more power to the barons

• Magna Carta

This is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “man-price,” or the price a tribe must pay for murdering a warrior from another tribe

Wergild

• this is the rigid social system that governed England in the early medieval era

• Feudalism

This conflict helped England develop a sense of national identity

Hundred Years War

• In these places, written texts were copied and preserved during the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval eras

• Monasteries

• This is the Anglo-Saxon word for “fate”

• Wyrd

• This is the Anglo-Saxon word for a travelling storyteller

• Scop

This is the word describing a group composed of a warlord and his followers

Comitatus

This was the vernacular language in Anglo-Saxon England

Old English

• Chaucer writes about this kind of trip in The Canterbury Tales

• Pilgrimage

• This is the language of the church and known by the educated elite in Anglo-Saxon and medieval England

• Latin

• This is the language spoken by the ruling class in medieval England

• French

• This is the vernacular language in medieval England

• Middle English

• The one hundred most commonly used words in Modern English come from this language

• Old English

This is a long poem telling the deeds of a hero

Epic

• This is a man who does great deeds and represents the values of his people and culture

• Epic hero

• A word or phrase used to characterize a particular person, place, or thing

• Epithet

• A phrase used in Anglo-Saxon poetry to describe a person, place, or thing

• Kenning

• This is a literary device which seems to be contradictory but is actually true in the context of the work of literature.

• Paradox

• This is a literary device directly comparing two unlike things

• metaphor

• The manuscript for Beowulf was probably written in one of these places

• monasteries

This author was born into a middle class family but worked as a page in an upper class household, thus allowing him to know about both social classes.

Geoffrey Chaucer

• This is the plot structure used for The Canterbury Tales and The Decameron.

• Frame narrative/story

• This is the language commonly spoken every day by a large group of people

• Vernacular

• This Italian work is an important source for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

• The Decameron

• This type of story became the most popular work of literature in medieval England.

• Romance

This is the code of behavior for knights in medieval England

Chivalry

• This word means “entertainment value” in Middle English

• “solace”

• This word means “lesson or moral” in Middle English

• “sentence”

This pilgrim is on the pilgrimage to Canterbury specifically to give thanks to God.

Knight

This pilgrim works with pharmacists to maximize their profits.

Doctor

This religious pilgrim has the gift of gab and loves to spend time with the wealthy people in town, hearing their confessions for a fee.

Friar

• This pilgrim has beautiful manners and cares very much about animal welfare.

• Nun

• This is a journey that is meant to show religious devotion.

• Pilgrimage

• This pilgrim loves to travel and knows the “remedies” for the pains of love.

Wife of Bath

• This man is one of Chaucer’s perfect pilgrims and spends much time traveling around his community, visiting people.

• Parson

• This pilgrim rides at the very end of the group so that he can watch everybody else.

• Reeve

• This pilgrim accepts bribes from sinners and allows them to continue sinning.

• Summoner

This pilgrim deceives people with false relics.

Pardoner

• Beowulf is an example of this kind of literary character

• Epic hero

• This is the language spoken by William the Conqueror and his nobles

• French

This character is easily influenced by his wife.

Macbeth

• This character is very eager for her husband to be king

• Lady Macbeth

• This character in Macbeth rewards Macbeth for bravery in battle.

• King Duncan

• This pilgrim carries a pillow case said to be a piece of the Virgin Mary’s veil; sings an offertory very well

• Pardoner

• This character in Macbeth flees to England for safety, and when he does, he is suspected of killing his father.

• Malcolm

• As he is dying, this character in Macbeth tells his son to revenge his death.

• Banquo

• This pilgrim has terrible sores on the face and loves to eat garlic and onions; only speaks Latin when drunk

• Summoner

• This pilgrim can sweet talk a poor widow out of her last farthing, but prefers hanging out with the rich people

• Friar

• this character in Macbeth realizes that being innocent doesn’t mean you are safe

• Lady Macduff

• “My mind is full of scorpions” is an example of this literary device

• metaphor

• “Fair is foul, foul is fair” is an example of this literary device

• paradox

• Chaucer wrote in this language

• Middle English

• In this story, young, wealthy Italians travel the countryside to escape an outbreak of the plague.

• The Decameron

• “the Almighty’s enemy,” “that shadow of death,” “shepherd of evil,” and “guardian of crime” are all examples from Beowulf of this Anglo-Saxon literary device.

• kenning

• this document, signed in 1215, became the basis for English constitutional government

• Magna Carta

• his rule began in 871, and he united the Saxon tribes of southern England and led them to victory against the Danes

• Alfred the Great

• invasion of England that occurred in 1066

• Norman Conquest

• This social system had the king at the top and serfs at the bottom, with land-owning nobles in the middle

• feudalism

• The Canterbury Tales was written in this language

• Middle English

• language that the Beowulf manuscript is written in

• Old English

• plot structure that creates a story within a story

• Frame narrative

True or false?

• Beowulf becomes king of the Danes.

• false

True or false?

• Hrothgar sends for Beowulf to help him defeat Grendel.

• false

True or false?

• Beowulf’s first important battle is with the dragon.

• false

True or false?

• Beowulf’s warriors all display great bravery in the fight with the dragon.

• false

• Beowulf is king of the Geats.

• true

True or false?

• Beowulf says Wiglaf should be king after him.

• True

• wrote an important Italian work that influenced Chaucer

• Giovanni Boccaccio

• has been to Jerusalem three times; is “skilled in wandering by the way” and wears nice clothing

• Wife of Bath

• “Children were afraid when he appeared.”

• Summoner

• practices what he preaches

• Parson

• his skinny appearance is an indicated that he is tight-fisted with money and secretive in his dealings with people

• Reeve

• has relationships with women, then finds them husbands and pays the women to keep it secret

• Friar

• embezzles from his boss and is secretly wealthy

• Reeve

• his writing helped give legitimacy and significance to Middle English

• Chaucer

• This character is killed by Macduff.

• Macbeth

• This character is tested by Malcolm to see if he is sincere and truly wants to help Scotland.

• Macduff

• This character is suspicious of the witches and believes they may be trying to cause trouble.

• Banquo

• This character tells Macbeth to be calm, friendly, and hospitable at his banquet.

• Lady Macbeth

• This character’s ghost appears at Macbeth’s banquet.

• Banquo

• This character sleep walks and makes repeated hand-washing motions in Act V.

• Lady Macbeth

• This character becomes king of Scotland at the end of the play.

• Malcolm

• This character wants revenge on Macbeth because Macbeth had his family killed

• Macduff

• This character says that he has murdered sleep.

• Macbeth

• Hecate says this character “shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear / His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear”

• Macbeth

• In Act V the doctor says this about which character: “More needs she the divine than the physician.”

• Lady Macbeth

• This is writing that exposes to ridicule the vices or follies of people or societies through devices such as hyperbole, understatement, and irony

• satire

• This is a humorous imitation of a literary work that aims to point out the work’s shortcomings.

• parody

• This author worked as secretary to a retired English diplomat and worked as a priest for the Church of England in Ireland

• Jonathan Swift

• Swift is sometimes considered a ______—someone who hates humankind—because of his harsh criticisms of society

• misanthrope

• Swift wrote satires to criticize __________, hoping to bring about change.

• a. the English government• b. the English church• c. the American government• d. the French government

• Answer: A

True or false?

• Gulliver’s Travels was written in response to an assignment from Swift’s writers group, the Scriblerus Club, to parody the volumes of travel writing (or travelogues) that were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• True

• In Brobdingnag, how does Gulliver compare to the native inhabitants?

• He is tiny, and they are huge.

• What does Gulliver describe to the king of Brobdingnag in great detail, and what does Gulliver offer to do?

• Gunpowder, and he offers to teach the king how to make it

True or false?

• Swift uses the reasons for the conflicts and wars in Lilliput to satirize the corruption of the church in England.

• false

True or false?

• When Gulliver is in Brobdingnag, and the king criticizes Gulliver’s stories about England, Swift is satirizing the corruption in English society and government.

• true