Assignment 2 -Literature: Middle English
1. Approximately when was Middle English spoken?
Between the late 11 century and about 1470.
2. What were the major factors which let to the development and the spread of middle English?
- The introduction of the Chancery Standard,a form of London-based English.
- The works of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower.
- The introduction of English Bible and Prayer Book.
3. Match the following Old English words with their Anglo-Norman equivalent:
Pig/pork
Cow/beef
Wood/forest
Sheep/mutton
House/mansion
Worthy/honourable
Bold/courageous
4. Compare and contrast the structure of nouns,pronouns and verbs,between Middle English and Modern English.
Nouns:Midde English reatins only two distinct nouns-ending patterns from the more complwx of inflection in old English.The strong (e)splural form has survived onto Modern English.The weak (e). form is now rare in the standard language.
Verbs: The first form singular of verbs in the present tense ends in -e,the second person in -(e)st and the third person in -ep.In past tense,weak verbs are formed adding an -ed(e) or -t.Strong verbs,form their past tense by changing their steam vowel.
Pronouns:The first and second person pronouns survived largely unchanged,with only minor spelling variations.The third person,the masculine accusative singular became "him".The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into "she"
5.How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern Eenglish?
Generally,all letters in Middle English words were pronounced.In earlier Middle English all written vowels were pronounced.
6. What is the Chancery Standard,and how did it come into effect?
It is a written form of English used by government bureaucracy.It come into effect because the government needed a clear and unambiguos form for use in its official documents.
7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
It was writen by Geoffrey Chaucer.
8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journyed from Canterbury to London.
It was a group with a leader who would judge the song of the group,also they choose a " master of ceremonies" to guide them and organize the journey.
9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
Because they wanted to tell the stories with their own experiences.
10. It is thought that some of the stories in the Canterbury Tales originated in Italy. What was the name of the Ialian book and who wrote it?
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.
11. The Canterbury Tales is considerated an extremely important book both in terms of English Literature and in the history of English writing.In your ipinion,why is this book so important?
It helped to the use of the vernacular,English, rather than French or Latin.
12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.
13. Who is Sir Gawain?
Is a knight of King Arthur´s Round Table.
14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the knight of the Round Table?
It is a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green.The Green Knight offers to strike him with his axe if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day.
15. What is the similarities between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Irish tales of
cúchulainn?
Cuchulainn´s antagonist feints three blows with the axe before letting his target depart without injury.
16. What is the importance of the pentagram/ pentagle in the poem?
The poem describes the pentagle as a symbolof faithfulness and an "endless knot"
17. How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
The poet highlights number symbolism to add symetry and meaning to the poem.
18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain´s neck wound?
The neck,was believed to correlate with the part of the soul related to will,connecting the reasoning part(the head) and the courageous part( the heart)
19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation,sword of the valiant?
Sean Conery.
20. In many ways this poem is in the modern sense,a soap opera.Compare Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.
Some topics that are showed on soap operas are similar, for example the women´s ultimate power over men.