English Midterm

Which were the only people to not invade England?

Greeks

After the Romans evacuated their troops, Britain was  left with…

System of roads and architecture

An important effect of Christianity spread throughout Britain was that

Monasteries no longer had to be located in Italy and France, important because they would write books and copy books in there

Celtic religion had all of the characteristics except

Worship of ancient Greek gods of wisdom

Anglo-Saxon life was dominated by

Close allegiance between leaders and their followers (feudal system; pledge to one another for it to work)

The old Anglo-Saxon religion…

Primary encouraged ethics and earthly virtues such as bravery (die in battle)

Anglo Saxon poets held an honored position in society because they…

Preserving heroic deeds in the collective memory

The Christian monasteries served Anglo-Saxon society by…

Fostering learning and preserving literary works

Through the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Alfred promoted the use of written…

Old English

The years of war between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes came to an end with the...

invasion by the Normans under William of Normandy in 1066.

What is a kenning?

A short metaphorical description of a thing in place of its name

What best describes the symbolism of Hrothgar's hall in Herot? 

Safety and community

What symbolizes Beowulf’s victory over Grendel?

His arm/claw

Why does Grendel’s mother attack Herot?

To avenge her son

What does Unferth give Beowulf to redeem himself?

The sharp sword

Who led the Norman invasion in England?

William the conqueror

What social system did the Normans bring to England?

Feudalism

Who was ranked at the top of Feudalist society?

Technically God, but if we’re saying people, King, because he chose the king

Why did lords give vassals land?

All of the above, political support, military service, and financial support

Who was last in line in this feudalistic society?

Serfs

What was a knight’s primary duty?

Protect his lord

Why were knights trained away from home?

To be sure their training was strict

The rules a knight followed when seeking a woman were called…

Courtly love

How were knights supposed to treat a woman?

Admire her from afar

Who was Thomas A. Becket

He was a priest?, was important 

Why was Thomas A. Becket killed?

King Henry said will no one rid me of this Norman Priest, then his knights took it quite literally and killed him

Why is Thomas A. Becket important to us?

The pilgrims are going to his shrine

What was recorded in the Doomsday book?

Every piece of English property

What was the code all knights followed?

Chivalry

One of the rules of chivalry was thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and thou shalt constitute by the defender of them, which means…

Be nice to those who are weaker and stand up for them

Thou shalt not recoil before thy enemy means…

Don’t be a sissy

What language was spoken by the clergy and the scholars?

Latin

What language was spoken by the nobility and showed one to be of a higher social class?

French

The emerging merchant class led to the development of…

The middle class

How did the something something like Magna Carta (formation of parliament?)

Took some power away from the king and gave it to the people

How did the 100 years war between England and France bring an end to the ideal gold knight in shining armor?

It established the yeoman, which had an armor piercing arrow

Which of the following best explains the definition of a framed story?

Like the Canterbury Tales, it encompasses other stories

In the prologue Chaucer’s goal is to…

Introduce his cast of characters

Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?

Geoffrey Chaucer

What is the Canterbury Tales written in?

Iambic pentameter

What is the rhyme scheme?

Couplets, aa, bb, cc, dd

The pilgrims begin their journey in what season?

Spring

Some signs that it is spring are…

Singing birds, warm winds blowing, and flowers blooming

The inn where all the pilgrims meet is the

Tabard Inn

The Canterbury Tales is written in…

Middle English

In the Middle Ages ___ was a sign of wealth

Being fat

It is ___ that prioress swears by saying saint Eloy, known for his refusal to swear

Ironic

The holy wars waged to return the land of Jesus to christian rule was called…

Crusades

The pilgrims agree to tell tales during the journey to…

Win a free meal and entertain one another

You know the cook’s dishes may not be quite as appetizing as might be hoped when Chaucer mentions that the Cook…

Has a large, festering sore

The Wife of Bath is a 

Veteran of several pilgrimages and marriages

The character in *The Canterbury Tales* who closely resembles Chaucer himself is the…

Narrator

In describing the individual pilgrims, Chaucer begins with the…

Knight

The unworldly student who prefers philosophy to riches is the…

Oxford Cleric

The Haberdasher, the Dyer, the Carpenter, the Weaver, and the Carpet-maker are all…

Skilled members of crafts guilds

Which profession found among Chaucer’s pilgrims can still be found today?

Parson

Chaucer’s characterization…

Uses the same basic techniques that writers use today

The member of the clergy given the most admiring, flattering description is the…

Parson

Which of the following quotations from “The Prologue” is the best example of imagery?

“Thinly they fell, like rat-tails, one by one.”

Which detail is least directly connected to characterization?

Chronology

A pardoner is an official of the

Church

The pardoner earns money from all of the following activities except

Making and selling baskets

The stories about death that the servant boy and the tavern-knave tell suggest that

Death from violence and plague is rampant

The rioters go looking for death because they

Plan to avenge the deaths of their friends

In “The pardoner’s tale,” death is portrayed as

Both a price of wickedness and an actual person

Which of the following statements best describes the end of the tale

The rioters meet death

The character who prevents a fight between the Pardoner and the Host is the 

Knight

The Pardoner’s pious reveals his

Immorality

Which of the following words best describes the Pardoner’s treatment of the Host?

Angry

After telling his tale, what does the Pardoner offer to do for his fellow pilgrims?

Sell them relics and pardons

The old man’s comment to the three rioters that Death “isn’t one to hide for all your prating” is an example of

Verbal irony

It is ironic that the Pardoner preaches against avarice, because he is

Especially greedy

What is ironic about the attitude that the old man has toward Death?

Most people seek to avoid death, but the old man looks for it.

After the rioters abandon their search for Death, they murder one another. This act is an example of

Situational irony

The knight undertakes a quest to

Learn what it is that women want most

The knight’s quest is a(n)

Task given to him by the queen

Before he sees the old woman in the woods, the knight sees

More than twenty-four ladies dancing

According to the old woman, what women really want is

Mastery over their husbands

As a reward for giving him the answer that will save his life, the old women demands

To marry the knight

The knight shows that he has learned what women want most when he

Asks his wife to decide which form she will take

The old woman makes an eloquent philosophical argument about

True and false gentility and virtue

The Wife of Bath’s philosophy of marriage shows that she

Is a strong person with a keen sense of her own rights

Chaucer’s characterizations of the Prioress the Monk, and others connected with the church are mainly

Satirical

Who narrates the tale about the knight and the old woman?

The Wife of Bath

The narrator of a story should not be confused with 

The author

Which adjective does not describe the Wife of Bath’s narrative voice?

Mournful

Which of the following quotations from “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is a couplet?

“His heart went bathing in a bath of blisses / And melted in a hundred thousand kisses…”

The Wife of Bath’s opinions suggests that she may be described by all the following words except

Modest

After William the Conqueror triumphed at the Battle of Hastings, England changed because of its

Adoption of the Norman feudal system

Feudalism’s religious concept of hierarchy featured

A caste system of lords, vassals, and serfs

In the Middle Ages, women of rank

Held social positions determined by the status of their husbands or fathers

The growth of cities in the Middle Ages led to all of the following events except the 

Rise of courtly love and a system of chivalry

The crusades influenced everyday life in England by

Exposing the English to other civilizations

The 1170 martyrdom of Thomas A. Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, led to

Greater power in England for the Church of Rome

The most positive effect of the medieval church was

The fostering of common beliefs and symbols

The signing of the Magna Carta by King John Runnymede signaled the

Renewal of order, democratic ideals

As a result of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France

The yeoman class became the backbone of England

The Black Death ultimately resulted in

Freedom for the serfs and greater power for the lower classes

Which of the following elements is usually found in ballads?

Refrain

To aid in characterization, an author might do all of the following except

Use details to heighten suspense