Literature 1

Question 1

Why is the idea of “British” literature complicated?

Answer 1

Anglo-Saxons and other cultures that spoke Old English languages did not consider themselves British

Question 1

What happened to the Auburn of “The Deserted Village” (why did it die)?

Answer 1

Landlords buying out and kicking people off

Question 2

Questions that are unanswerable except to the person asking

Answer 2

neck riddle

Question 3

A poem of serious reflection usually mourning a loss of a loved one

Answer 3

elegy

Question 4

What is the Old English Alliterative Verse pattern and why was it used?

Answer 4

a. Two syllables alliterate when they begin with the same sound
b. To help remember the poem

Question 5

Purposely being unclear or riddling, typically so one can determine a multitude of scenarios.

Answer 5

Precise ambiguity

Question 6

The largest group in ancient Europe sharing language, religious beliefs, and traditions

Answer 6

Celts

Question 7

What are the characteristics of a sonnet?

A) A sonnet consists of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter.

B) A sonnet is an old poetic form that nobody uses anymore.

C) A sonnet is any poem shaped like a square.

D) A sonnet is a rhyming love poem.

Answer 7

A) A sonnet consists of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter.

Question 8

To whom is the poem “Blame not my lute” addressed?

Answer 8

A lover of the poet who has been unfaithful

Question 9

Who was Anne Boleyn?

Answer 9

Second wife to Henry VIII, later executed, along with several of her alleged lovers, for infidelity.

Question 10

What term designates unrhymed iambic pentameter?

Answer 10

Blank verse

Question 11

What seems to prevent Astrophil (Sidney) from writing a good poem to his beloved Stela?

Answer 11

The work of other poets get in the way of his own thoughts.

Question 12

What is “Whoso list to hunt” about?

A) The pleasure in romantic chases.

B) Going hunting with the king.

C) Unrequited love.

D) Being overworked.

Answer 12

C) Unrequited love.

Question 13

Why did Henry VIII break from the Catholic Church?

Answer 13

The Catholic Church did not allow him to divorce his wife.

Question 14

The second wife of King Henry VIII. She was executed under the order of King Henry for infidelity.

Answer 14

Anne Boleyn

Question 15

What story is told in “Mannerly Margery Milk and Ale?”

Answer 15

A clerk that’s known for his sexual behavior insults a barmaid for being a tease. The clerk fails as the barmaid did not give into him.

Question 16

The arrangement in which the author chooses to break each line. This is employed for more dramatic effect.

Answer 16

white space

Question 17

Short verses that use many repeating rhymes

Answer 17

Skeltonics

Question 18

A tactic often used in poems addressing love. It is part by part description of a lover.

Answer 18

Blazon

Question 19

What is unusual about the poem’s Astrophil and Stella 1 meter?

Answer 19

Each line is six feet (12 syllables)

Question 20

What is ironic about the process Sidney describes in stanza 1?

Answer 20

He criticizes people who pity themselves, but he is using pity to win over a lover.

Question 21

An attempt to blow up the House of Lords and kill James I made by unhappy Catholics. The plan was foiled when more than 36 kegs of gunpowder were discovered (guarded by Guy Fawkes).

Answer 21

Gunpowder plot

Question 22

Which of the following lines are iambic pentameter:

I. A sound magician is a mighty god

II. With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve

III. My life and lines are free, free as the road

Answer 22

All of them

Question 23

Which of the following is true of John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”?

He says his love is like a compass: it always points right at her.

He compares his feeling of love to an earthquake.

He compares his lover’s death to his own death.

He imagines them connected as if by a remarkable thin plane of gold.

Answer 23

He imagines them connected as if by a remarkable thin plane of gold.

Question 24

A name given to the early seventeenth century poets whose work is characterized by its complex and unusual metaphors, varied prosody, and frequent enjambment.

Answer 24

Metaphysical poet

Question 25

In what ways did Pamphilia to Amphilanthus challenge the traditional sonnet cycle (name several)?

Answer 25

It’s one of the first notable sonnet cycles written by a woman, which changed the dynamic around the theme of love.

Question 26

What occurs in Wroth’s opening sonnet?

Answer 26

A woman dreams about a lover and wakes up hoping it will go away

Question 27

What is unique about the structure of Wroth’s sonnet?

Answer 27

It has a 4-4-2 line structure

Question 28

What is the closing sonnet of Pamphilia to Amphilanthus about?

Answer 28

The closing sonnet relates back to the first one of the woman dreaming about a lover. She states that she no longer wants to write about love.

Question 29

In what ways does the closing sonnet of Pamphilia to Ampilanthus show a conscious looking back to the first sonnet?

Answer 29

The same central theme of love and dreams is still present

Question 30

What is a kenning?

Answer 30

A kenning is a compound expression that represents a metaphorical meaning
e.g. Sky Candle = the Sun

Question 31

Single meter, unrhymed, four stresses per line with alliteration linking each half of the line

Answer 31

Old English Alliterative Verse Pattern

Question 32

What is an epithet?

Answer 32

An epithet is an adjective that describes a specific characteristic of someone or something.

Question 33

Who wrote Beowulf? When?

Answer 33

It is not known who wrote Beowulf, and there is a dispute on when it was written (c. 700-1000 A.D.)

Question 34

What two genres are appropriate to Milun?

Answer 34

Romance and Lai

Question 35

What was the most important factor in the change from Old English to Middle English?

Answer 35

The Norman Conquest: After the conquest, official government business was all conducted in Old French. Middle English is in some ways a kind of blending of Old English and Old French.

Question 36

What languages were spoken on the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman era (c. 1066-1250)?

Answer 36

Old English
Old French
Celtic
Latin

Question 37

What is the main characteristic of a classical Romance?

Answer 37

Structural: it begins with a stable social order. Then that order is challenged and the protagonist is exiled. After a series of trials, the protagonist is able to return to the stable society.

Question 38

How does Langland’s Estates’ Satire differ from that of Chaucer?

Answer 38

Langland is more critical of society and incorporates elements of Old English Alliterative Verse. Chaucer believes that satire no longer fits the world, so he designs his own version different from Langland.

Question 39

An incidence where something is revealed in a dream that would be otherwise unavailable to the dreamer in a normal state.

Answer 39

dream vision

Question 40

A long, mournful rant/complaint

Answer 40

jeremiad

Question 41

A work of literature that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden moral meaning.

Answer 41

allegory

Question 42

What is the verse style of Piers Plowman

Answer 42

Piers Plowman uses unrhymed, alliterative verse.

Question 43

How did the view of Christ change from Anglo-Saxon times to Chaucer’s era?

Answer 43

During the Anglo-Saxon times, Christ is seen as a warrior and a representation of strength. During Chaucer’s era, Christ is seen as more of a sacrifice and someone who endured many hardships.