Final Flashcards
Tale of Genji
Lady Murasaki (Shikibu), Medieval Japan
The Pillow Book
Sei Shonagon, Medieval Japan
The Lay of Chevrefoil
Marie de France, Medieval France
The Song of Roland
Anonymous, Medieval France
History of the First Crusade
Anonymous, Medieval France
The Collection of Histories
Ibn Al-Athir, Medieval Mesopotamia
The Inferno
Dante, Medieval Italy
The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder
Anonymous, Medieval Spain
Canterbury Tales: The General Prologue
Geoffrey Chaucer, Medieval England
The Decameron
Bocaccio, Medieval Italy
Essays: Of Cannibals
Michel de Montaigne, Renaissance England
The Tempest
William Shakespeare, Renaissance England
The History of the Indies
Bartolome de las Casas, Renaissance Spain
apocalypse
(Greek: “to disclose”) Comprised of prophetic or quasi-prophetic writings which tend to present doom-laden visions of the world and sombre and minatory predictions of mankind’s destiny. Often includes a vision of heaven and hell EXAMPLES: Dante’s Inferno The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder
chanson de geste
(French: “song of deeds”)
Old French epic poems which relate the heroic deeds of Carolingian noblemen and other feudal lords. Some describe wars against the Saracens. They exhibit a combination of history and legend and also reflect a definite conception of religious chivalry.
EXAMPLES
The Song of Roland
courtly love/ fin’amor
had its origins in southern France and was celebrated in the poetry of the troubadours. It was primarily a literary and aristocratic phenomenon; it idealizes women, and often led to adulterous affairs (adulterous love was actually considered»_space;»> marriage love); worked a lot in the feudal system. Appear to be fundamental elements which are fairly universal: (1) the four marks of courtly love are humility, courtesy, adultery and religion of love; (2) the love is desire; (3) it is an ennobling and dynamic force; (4) it generates a cult of the beloved.
EXAMPLES:
Poetry: Ibn Hazm (My Beloved Comes), Judah Ha-Levi (The Apple), Guillaume IX (My companions, I am going to make a vers that is refined; Now when we see the meadows once again), Countess of Dia (Of things I’d rather keep in silence I must sing), Petrarch( Canzoniere, 1 and 3)
The Lay of Chevrefoil
essay
could be discursive, informal and intimate OR terse, didactic and aloof; can be long or short; tended towards personal and reflective informality; personal reflections; one view to the next
EXAMPLES:
Essays: The Cannibals (the term was actually coined by Montaigne)
estates satire
Traditionally, the estates of the realm are three: nobility, religious, everyone else; society was carefully structured in a hierarchical system that embraced “natural order”. Satires on the estates were a kind of exposition of the duties and responsibilities of different members and the characteristics of individual groups plus criticism of their shortcomings.
EXAMPLES:
Chaucer’s Prologue
lyric poetry
Usually fairly short, not often longer than 50/60 lines, and often between a dozen and thirty lines; and it usually expresses the feelings and thoughts of a single speaker (not necessarily the poet himself) in a personal and subjective fashion. The range and variety of lyric verse is immense, and lyric poetry comprises the bulk of all poetry. During the Middle Ages, much of it was composed by troubadours and wandering minstrils. Many of the lyric forms had specific names, and it was intended to be sung and often danced too. The Renaissance period was the great age of the lyric (i.e. people like PETRARCH)
EXAMPLES:
Look up the poet peeps
Petrarch
romance (play)
It is principally a form of entertainment. It may also be didactic but this is usually incidental. Usually concerned with characters (and thus with events) who live in a courtly world somewhat remote from the everyday. This suggests elements of fantasy, improbability, extravagance and nivety. Also suggests elements of love, adventure, the marvelous and the “mythic.”
EXAMPLE:
The Tempest
sonnet
(Italian: “little sound” or “song”)
Ordinary sonnet contains 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with considerable variations in rhyme scheme. There are 3 basic sonnets (but we only have to know one: Petrarchan). Petrarchan sonnets have an octave rhyming ABBAABBA and a sestet, rhyming CDECDE or CDCDCD, or in any combination except a rhyming couplet. The octave develops one thought; then there is a “turn” or volta, and the sestet grows out of the octave, varies it, and completes it.
EXAMPLE:
Petrarch
terza rima
(Italian: “in third rhyme”) The measure adopted by Dante for Divina Commedia, consisting of a series of interlocking tercets in which the second line of each one rhymes with the first and third lines of the one succeeding, thus: ABA, BCB, CDC. At the end of the canto, a single line rhymes with the second from last: WXYX. Terza rima was also used by Petrarch and Boccaccio. Because it is a difficult form to manage (few Italian poets have used it successfully) it has never been adopted outside of Italy. EXAMPLE: Dante Petrarch (maybe. idk about his sonnets) Boccaccio
troubadour
Poets who flourished in the South of France between c. 1100 and 1350. They were attached to various courts and were responsible for the phenomenon known as courtly love. Most of their lyrics were amorous; some satirical and political. The troubadours had considerable influence on Dante and Petrarch, and indeed on the whole development of the lyric in Europe.
EXAMPLE:
Guillaume IX
