16Th Century Poetry Essays - The Canterbury Tales,

16Th Century Poetry Part I: 1. Name three of the Germanic tribes that brought to England the dialects that make up the basis of the language we now call Old English. The Germanic tribes that brought the dialects were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. 2. Give an example from Beowulf of three of the following poetic devices: alliteration, the kenning, variation (repetition of appositives), or the litote (understatement). There are several examples of alliteration in lines 3079-3084, Nothing we advised could ever convince the prince we loved, our lands guardian, not to vex the custodian of the gold, let him lie where he was long accustomed, lurk there under earth until the end of the world. He held to his high destiny. I found lines 427-429 to be a good use of the caesura, And so, my request, O king of Bright-Danes, dear prince of the Shieldings, friend of the people and their ring of defense. The author used the kenning several times in the sentence on lines 647-651, He realized that the demon was going to descend on the hall, that he had plotted all day, from dawn-light until darkness gathered again over the world and stealthy night-shapes came stealing forth under the cloud-murk. He used dawn-light to mean morning or dusk, night-shapes to mean demons, and cloud-murk to mean fog. 3. Name three epic conventions and tell in what way each is used in Beowulf. Beowulf certainly consist of an epic journey by which Beowulf travels by sea from southern Sweden, home of the Geats, to Zealand, home of the Danes. It involves single-handed combat, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, lines 436-439. It also involved someone who was not an ordinary man, There was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, lines 196-197. 4. Name some of the types of literature Chaucer uses in The Canterbury Tales. Tell what types of literature three of the Prologues and Tales assigned for the course represent. The romance, the sermon, and the confession are all types of literature that Chaucer uses. The Pardoners Prologue and The Wife of Baths Prologue are examples of the confession. An example of the sermon is found in The Pardoners Tale. The Wife of Baths Tale is a good example of the romance. 5. Chaucer is a master of irony. Give one example of his use of each of these three types of irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational. The examples may come from any of the Chaucer selections assigned. Chaucer uses verbal irony describing the Summoner in The General Prologue in line 650, A better felawe sholde men nought finde, saying that the Summoner is a good man when he truly thinks of him as a sinner. Part I: 6. What military event, which took place in what year, made French the most widely used written language in England for over 150 years? The Norman Conquest of 1066. 7. Why is the Knight on the pilgrimage? How does Chaucer indicate this? The knight was on the pilgrimage for fun. Chaucer indicated this by telling of the knight just coming from a voyage of battle, and he now does not wear his armor. 8. In what century did the Germanic tribes whose dialects form the basis of Old English arrive in England? In the fifth century, between 450 and 600 A.D. 9. In what month did the pilgrimage described in The Canterbury Tales take place? Who wore a brooch of gold ful sheene, / On which ther was first writen a crowned A, / And after, Amor vincit omnia? Who was The holy blissful martyrThat hem hath holpen whan that they were seke? Who said, I preche of no thing but for coveitise? The pilgrimage takes place in April after the drought of March had broken. The Nonne, a Prioresse, wore the brooch of gold ful sheene. St. Thomas ? Becket was the holy blissful martyr. It is The Pardoner who says I preche of no thing bur for convetise. 10. Of whom is it said, Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous; He was the beste beggere in his hous? Of whom is it said, But greet harm was it, as it thoughte