Western Lit Midterm Exam (Cedarville University - Dr. McCartney 2025)

terms and quotes for Western Literature Midterm exam

Kenning

a compressed, usually 2 word, metaphor (ex: whale-road = the sea)

En media res

begins in the middle

Kleos

hero wants glory won in battle

Xenia

hospitality to the stranger because they could be a potential god/goddess in disguise

Comedy (as in “Divine Comedy”)

not funny. Movement from chaos to order, ending with wedding (divine)

Polysemous

of many senses (first literal, second allegorical)

Contrapasso

Punishment fits the crime. The punishment of souls by a process either resembling or contrasting with the sin itself. 

Terza rima

interlocking three line rhyme scheme

Epic

Begins in the Middle
Invokes muse
Valorous Deeds
Lofty/formal style
Supernatural forces intervene
Oral
Values of Nations/Culture

Peace-weaver

Charged with minimizing feuds between tribes; married outside their own people. Presumably a difficult emotional position as they would have to make peace among former enemies and forget past injuries.

Old English

Germanic language brought by migrating Angles and Saxons.

Rightly-ordered love

evil does not have its own substantial existence but is rather a negation/perversion of good

nostos

hero wants homecoming to enjoy glory

 “Midway along the journey of our life

I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

For I had wandered off from the straight path.”

Work: Inferno

Author: Dante

Context/Setting: Beginning

Significance/Meaning: He is becoming aware that he is not going in the right direction spiritually and the “Dark woods” is a metaphor for him being in a dark place, confused about where to go.

Examples: epic, comedy: The story begins in chaos but develops into having a happy ending/en media res: Dante is middle-aged and his life is partway through/ terza rima, en media res

“The soul at birth, created quick to love, 

will move toward anything that pleases it, 

as soon as pleasure causes it to move…

Just as a fire’s flames always rise up,

inspired by its own nature to ascend,

seeking to be in its own element,

just so, the captive soul begins its quest,

the spiritual movement of its love,

not resting till the thing loved is enjoyed.

It should be clear to you by now how blind

to truth those people are who make the claims

that every love is, in itself, good love.” 

Work: Purgatorio

Author: Dante

Context/Setting: Middle. Virgil is talking to Dante about love.  They are on the terrace of the slothful.  

Significance/Meaning: He is saying that the soul is inclined to love but that does not mean that love is inherently good. It addresses those who think love is completely good or blind.

Examples: rightly ordered love: love needs to be correctly given to everything, not too much or too little to respective things, terza rima

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by

And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.

We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.

There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,

A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.

This terror of the hall-troops had come far.

A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on

As his powers waxed and his worth was proved.

In the end each clan on the outlying coasts

Beyond the whale-road had to yield to him 

And begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.

Work: Beowulf

Author: Anonymous probably Christian monk recording older pagan oral tradition.

Context/Setting: opening lines of Beowulf. Introducing the lineage of The Danes so that the reader has a better understanding of the characters the story follows.  

Significance/Meaning: Shows that the heritage of Hrothgar is important as his lineage is legendary and respected. This gives weight to the fact that Hrothgar has something to live up to as king. This section also shows that contrary to tradition, Hrothgar inherited the crown rather than won it. It also shows that this culture values kings who conquered many and had great power. 

Examples: Epic/ Kenning: Whale-road is an example of this two word description

“O flower of warriors, beware of that trap.

Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,

Eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride. 

For a brief while your strength is in bloom

But it fades quickly; and soon there will follow

Illness or the sword to lay you low,

Or a sudden fire or surge of water

Or jabbing blade or javelin from the air

Or repellent age. Your piercing eye

Will dim and darken; and death will arrive,

Dear warrior, to sweep you away.”

Work: Beowulf

Author: Anonymous Christian monk probably

Context/Setting: Hrothgar’s warning (pg 121). Beowulf just killed Grendel’s mother and they are all about to celebrate before Beowulf and his men head home. Hrothgar shares his wisdom with Beowulf.

Significance/Meaning: Hrothgar is speaking from his own experience of having great success that didn’t last. Ultimately, Beowulf doesn’t heed this warning and it leads to his death when he pridefully fights the dragon alone. 

Examples: There is an epic simile comparing strength to a flower that is at its prime but then cut down.

“Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you…. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace unless they rest in You.” (Book 1.1, p. 21)

Work: Confessions 

Author: Augustine

Context/Setting: 

Significance/Meaning:

Examples:

This quote reflects the fundamental belief that humans are created to seek and worship God, emphasizing the idea that true fulfillment and peace are found only in a relationship with the divine.

“With abandon, I uttered pitiful words: ‘How long, how long will it be ‘Tomorrow! No, the next tomorrow!’? Why not now? Why can’t this hour be the end of the disgusting state I’m in?’ I was saying these things and weeping with agonizing anguish in my heart, and then I heard a voice from the household next door, the voice of someone—a little boy or girl, I don’t know which—incessantly and insistently chanting, ‘Pick it up! Read it! Pick it up! Read it!’”

Work: Confessions 

Author: Augustine

Context/Setting: 

Significance/Meaning:

Examples:

 “But the man skilled in all ways of contending,

Satisfied by the great bow’s look and heft,

Like a musician, like a harper, when

With quiet hand upon his instrument

He draws between his thumb and forefinger

A sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly

[….] in one motion strung the bow.”

Work: The Odyssey

Author: Homer

Context/Setting: Odysseus strings his great bow to prove his identity

Significance/Meaning: This illustrates his strength and control, and sets the stage for his triumph over the suitors

Examples: Odysseus:

• Revealing himself to Penelope

• epic simile

This passage describes the skill and artistry of a master archer, comparing his ability to string a bow to that of a musician tuning an instrument. It emphasizes the ease and grace with which he performs this task, highlighting both the physical and emotional mastery involved.

“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story

Of that man skilled in all ways of contending, 

The wanderer, harried for years on end,

After he plundered the stronghold

On the proud height of Troy. He saw the townlands

And learned the minds of many distant men,

And weathered many bitter nights and days 

In his deep heart at sea, while he fought only

To save his life, to bring his shipmates home.” 

Work: The Odyssey

Author: Homer

Context/Setting: The opening lines of the epic poem

Significance/Meaning: It sets up his long and arduous journey back home after the fall of Troy. 

This section establishes the story as an epic with an appeal to the muses, a great tale of a hero and journey, and a lofty style.

Examples: 

- Emphasizing skills in both strategy and survival

En media res