History of English and American Literature Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering major periods, authors, and literary terms from the Anglo-Saxon era through Modernism and American literature.

Anglo-Saxon Period

The historical timeframe in England spanning from the $5th$ to the $11th$ centuries.

Angles, Saxons, and Jutes

The tribes that settled in England during the Anglo-Saxon period.

Old English

The specific language used in Anglo-Saxon literary works.

Cædmon's Hymn

Regarded as the oldest extant poem in the English language.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

A written record of historical events from the Anglo-Saxon period.

Exeter Book

An Old English manuscript containing a large collection of religious and poetic texts.

Beowulf

The most famous example of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry, featuring an epic hero who eventually dies after fighting a dragon.

Who is believed to be the author of Beowulf?

Unknown

What type of hero is represented by Beowulf in Anglo-Saxon literature?

Epic hero

Which theme is most common in Anglo-Saxon literary works

Heroism and fate

Alliteration

A literary device widely used in Old English poetry describing the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Which concept reflects fate in Anglo-Saxon belief

Wyrd

Wyrd

An Anglo-Saxon concept representing fate or destiny.

Scop

A poet and storyteller in Anglo-Saxon culture.

Which value was most important in Anglo-Saxon society

Loyalty to one’s lord

What tone is typical of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry

Serious and heroic

What is the central conflict in the epic poem Beowulf?

A hero fighting monsters

What happens to the hero Beowulf at the end of the epic?

He dies after fighting a dragon

What was the name of the first known English poet

Caedmon

What musical instrument did the singer play while singing “Beowulf?

Harp

What material was commonly used to write Anglo-Saxon manuscripts? 1

Parchment

Norman Conquest

A major historical event in $1066$ led by William the Conqueror that marked the beginning of Norman influence in England.

What event marked the beginning of Norman influence in England?

The Battle of Hastings

What impact did the Norman invasion have on English society?

It caused the disappearance of English literature for over a century

Chivalric romances

A type of literature especially popular among the Norman aristocracy featuring narratives about knights, quests, and noble ideals.

Courtly love

An idealized and often distant form of love typically represented in medieval literature after the Norman Conquest.

Wace

The author of Roman de Brut who completed the first work mentioning the "Knights of the Round Table."

Alliterative Revival

The revival that influenced Middle English poetry during the $14th$ century.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The author of The Canterbury Tales, often referred to as the "Father of English literature."

Allegory

A symbolic story used in Middle English literature, such as William Langland’s Piers Plowman.

Blank verse

A poetic form defined as unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Iambic pentameter

A poetic rhythm consisting of ten syllables.

William Caxton

The first English printer, responsible for printing the first book in English in $1474$.

Humanism

A major intellectual movement of the Renaissance focusing on human potential.

William Shakespeare

The most famous English Renaissance playwright, known for writing $39$ plays and $154$ sonnets.

The Globe Theatre

A famous theatre in London closely connected with the performances of William Shakespeare.

Sonnet

A common Renaissance poetic genre that typically consists of $14$ lines.

The Age of Reason

Another name for the Enlightenment period, which took place mainly during the $18th$ century.

Satire

A major feature of Jonathan Swift’s writing used to criticize society and politics.

George Eliot

The pen name used by the Victorian writer Mary Ann Evans.

Thomas Hardy

A Victorian writer who trained as an architect and wrote tragic novels like Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Stream of consciousness

A Modernist writing style used by James Joyce and Virginia Woolf to show thoughts as they appear in the mind.

Bloomsbury Group

A group of intellectuals and writers, including Virginia Woolf, active in early $20th$ century London.

Eric Arthur Blair

The real name of the author George Orwell, who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm.

The Waste Land

A famous modernist poem published in $1922$ by T. S. Eliot exploring themes of disillusionment after war.

Metafiction

A common postmodern technique where a story acknowledges its own artificiality or structure.

William Sydney Porter

The true name of the American short story writer O. Henry.

Iceberg theory

A writing style created by Ernest Hemingway where the deeper meaning of a story is mostly hidden.

Transcendentalism

A literary movement that focuses on nature and self-reliance.