1. Duke of Normandy conquered England on October 14, 1066. From then on began the medieval period.
2. The most magnificent prose work of the 15th century is Le Morte D' Arthur concerning with Arthurian legend.
3. The only important prose writer in the 15th century is Sir Thomas Malory
4. In 55 B. C., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar, the Roman conqueror. Along with the invasion came the Roman mode of life into Britain.
5.In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of Hasting
6.The fifteenth century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English ballads
7.After the Norman Conquest, feudal system was established in English society.
8.The year of 1381 witnessed a famous peasant uprising led by Wat Tylerand and John Ball.
9.In English poetry, a quatrain is ( A ) A. a four-line stanza B. a couplet
C. a fourteen-line stanza D. a terza rima
10.Knights of the Round Table are characters serving ( C ) in legends, which depict chivalry in early literature. A. Sir Lancelot B. Sir Godwin C. King Arthur D. King Henry VIII
11.Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the ( C ) A. Renaissance period B. seventeenth century C. Middle Ages .
D. eighteenth century
12.( C ) was the greatest of English religious reformers and the first translator of the Bible.
A. Langland B. Gower C. Wycliffe
D. Chaucer
13.The story of ( A ) is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. A. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight B. The story of Beowulf c. Piers the plowman D. The Canterbury Tales
14. After the Norman Conquest, three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke ( A ). A. French B. English C. Latin D. Swedish
15.Freudianism
Key: Freudianism: Freudianism derives from Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freudianism emphasizes the importance of unconscious forces in determining the beliefs and actions of human beings. The theory also has great influence on literature in the 20th century. A lot of modern writers such as Woolf, Joyce and Lawrence are deeply influenced by Freudianism.
16. Middle English period
Key: Middle English period: The four and a half centuries between the Norman Conquest in 1066, which effected radical changes in the language, life, and culture of England, and about 1500, when the standard literary language had become recognizably modem English, that is, similar to the language we speak and write today.
17. Arthurian legend
Key: Arthurian legend: It is a group of tales (in several languages) that developed in the Middle Ages concerning Arthur, semi-historical king of the Britons and his knights. The legend is a complex weaving of ancient Celtic mythology with later traditions around a core of possible historical authenticity.
18.What is the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English language and literature?
Key: (1) During the period of the Norman Conquest, English and Norman· French existed side by side in England, together with Latin. French for quite a long time prevailed among the noble; Latin was at bigger schools and it also used in the churches and monasteries; and the lower ranks made use of English.
(2) In this period, English language had experienced gradual but radical and extensive changes. Thousands of words were borrowed from French and. through French from Latin and also Greek, but many English worlds disappeared at the same time. The English language in this transitional stage. from Old English to Modern English has generally been known as Middle English.
(3) The literature was varied in interest and extensive in range. The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of them were written in Latin of French. The prevailing form of literature in the feudal England was the Romance.
19.What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?
Key: The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:
(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.
(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.
(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.
(4) The structure is loose and episodic, an? the language is simple and straight forward.
20.What is the most important department of English folk literature? And make commentson its most famous cycle: the Robin Hood Ballads.
Key: 1) The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song, usually in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming. When it was chanted by ball-assigners, the audience joined in a refrain which usually followed each stanza. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and in them one is able to understand the outlook of the English common people in feudal society.
The subject of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters of class struggle.
2) The most famous cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary
outlaw called Robin Hood. Robin Hood, a legendary popular hero, is depicted in the ballads as a valiant outlaw, famous in archery, living under the greenwood tree with his merry men, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, waging war against bishops and archbishops, and constantly
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