The Anglo-Saxon Period I.
1. _________________ can be termed England’s national epic and its hero Beowulf—one of the
national heroes of the English people.
2. The literature of Anglo-Saxon period falls naturally into two divisions, --______ and ________.
The former represents the poetry which the Anglo-Saxons probably brought with them in the form of _______, --the crude material out of which literature was slowly developed on English soil; the latter represents the _________ developed under teaching of the monks. 3. The Song of Beowulf reflects events which took place on the ______ approximately at the
beginning of the 6th century, when the forefathers of the ____lived in the southern part of the _________.
4. The old English poetry can be divided into two groups: the __________poetry and the
______ poetry. (secular, religious)
5. ___________ is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in
the English language. (Beowulf) II.
1. _______ is the first important religious poet in English literature.
A. John Donne B. George Herbert C. Caedmon D. Milton 2. In Anglo-Saxon period, Beowulf represented the ________ poetry.
A. pagan B. religious C. romantic D. sentimental
III. Define the literary terms 1. Epic
It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual. The characteristics of the hero of an epic are national rather than individual. Typically, an epic includes several features: the introduction of supernatural forces that shape the action; conflict in the form of battles or other physical combat; and stylistic conventions such as a n invocation to the Muse, a formal statement of the theme, long lists of the protagonist involved, and set speeches couched in elevated language. Examples include the ancient Greek epics by Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser and The Paradise Lost by John Milton. 2. Alliteration
A repeated initial consonant to successive words.
The Anglo-Norman Period I.
1. In the year ________, at the battle of ______________, the Normans headed by William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxons.
2. The literature which Normans brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of _____ and ______, in marked contrast with the ___________ and ___________ of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
3. The literature of the Anglo –Norman period was of three classes: the matter of _________; matter of __________________; matter of ___________.
4. after the __________ Conquest, feudal system was established in English society. (Norman) 5. The most prevalent kind of literature in feudal England was ___________. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventure of a noble hero. (romance)
Geoffrey Chaucer I.
1. Geoffrey Chaucer, the “____________________” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London in or about the year 1340.
2. Being specially fond of the great ____________ writer Boccaccio, Chaucer composes a long narrative poem____________, based upon Boccaccio’s poem __________.
3. Chaucer greatly contributed to the founding of the English literary language, the basis of which was formed by the _________ dialect, so profusely used by the poet.
4. Chaucer’s masterpiece is _____________, one of the most famous works in all literature.
5. The Prologue is a splendid masterpiece of ___________ portrayal, the first of its kind in the history of English literature.
6. In his greatest work, The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer created a strikingly brilliant and picturesque panorama of his ________________ and his _____________.
7. Chaucer’s work is permeated with buoyant free-thinking, so characteristic of the age of _____________ whose immediate forerunner Chaucer thus becomes.
II. Define the literary terms 1. Romance
It is a literary genre popular in the Middle Ages, dealing, in verse or prose, with legendary, supernatural, or amorous subjects and characters. The term was applied to tales specifically concerned with knights, chivalry, and courtly love. Popular subjects for romances included the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, King Arthur of Britain and the knights of the Round Table, and Emperor Charlemagne. 2. Ballad
It is a lyric poem generally of three eight-line stanzas with a concluding stanza of four lines called an envoy. With some variations, the lines of a ballad are iambic or anapestic tetrameter rhyming ababbcbc; the envoy, which forms a personal dedication to some person of importance or to a personification. The ballad became popular in England in the late 14th century .
Renaissance
I. Complete the following statements with a proper word or a phrase according to the textbook.
1. The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of ________ relations and the establishing of the foundations of ____________.
2. The 16th century was a time when, according to Thomas More, “_________”.
3. The term ____ originally indicated a revival of classic Greek and Roman arts and sciences after the dark ages of obscurantism. (Renaissance)
4. ________ broke off with the Pope, dissolved all the monasteries and abbeys in the country, confiscated their lands and proclaimed himself head of ___________.
5. The old English aristocracy having exterminated in the course of _________, a new nobility, totally dependent on the king’s power, came to the fore.
6. At the beginning of the 16th century the outstanding humanist ________ wrote his Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the people’s sufferings and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.
7. Edmund Spenser was the author of the greatest epic poem of the time, ______. 8. The greatest of the pioneers of English drama was _________ who reformed that genre in England and perfected the language and verse of dramatic works.
9. William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, _____, in _______, Warwickshire.
10. _________ speaks the famous “To be, or not to be”
11. Shakespeare’s sonnets fall into two series: The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man, and the rest (except the last two ones) are addressed to _____. (dark lady)
12. The four great tragedies in Shakespeare’s mature period are _____, __________, _______ and __________. (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth)
13. Pope describe ______ as “the wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind”. 14. Of Bacon’s literary works, the most important are the _________.
II. Define the literary terms listed below.
1. Renaissance:
Renaissance, meaning “rebirth” or “revival”, marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture, architecture, and literature. From Italy the movement spread to the rest of Europe. It is a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion.
Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. The Renaissance humanist thinkers found that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. To them, nothing was impossible to accomplish. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and perform wonders.
2. Sonnet