Assignment #3: Post-Modernist Literature
Some characteristics of the modernist literature are Realistic embodiment of social meanings, Sense of spiritual loneliness, Sense of frustration,Two World Wars' effects on Humanity.
The victorian age is characterized as practical and materialistic, most of the writers exalt a purely ideal life. It is an idealistic age where the great ideals like truth, justice, love, brotherhood are emphasized by poets, essayists and novelists of the age, Literature of this age tends to come closer to daily life which reflects its practical problems and interests. It becomes a powerful instrument for human progress and the post modernism features advanced science and information technology/cybernetics, it proposes a radical change in the social order. There cannot be one or objective reality.
* Le Carre, J. The Russia House (Britain,1989-novel)
*Chatwin, Bruce the Songlines (Britain, 1986-travel novel)
The Russia House: It has some similar characteristics with the Quiet American, it is a spy novel, but in this case it talks about another world that is a quality of the post modern literature. Both novels talk about certain political tasks. It doesn't have similarities with the Victorian era because that sort of literature was more focused on the good and bad guys, post modern literature has the same kind of guys but it shows the reality. In this book everything is based on very important information that contains political matters and the person who was in charge to make a manuscript was the owner of a publishing company. In the other four books information wasn't the center of the main story, it was only the thoughts that people have at that moment.
The Songlines: It has similarities with the Victorian era that is located in natural sets; however the diference is that the songlines novel is a combination of fiction and nonfiction. This novel is about a trip that the author made for a year where the Australian aboriginals have an important role in life. They believe that their Ancestors walked as they sang the world into creation, moving from one geographic feature or group of people to the next. According with the main theme this kind of literature show us the reevaluation with the past. There are lots of differences in this book because this is more futurist and maybe unreal instead that it talks about the real world.
jueves, 2 de diciembre de 2010
viernes, 26 de noviembre de 2010
01-Which 2 readings did you choose?
I choose these ones for me:
Eliot, T.S. The Wasteland and Greene, G. The Third Man
02. Compare (3) and contrast (3) the reading you completed with the ppts. on Modernist culture and literature.
The Third Man has meditation on disappointment and betrayal in friendship and in international politics, an intertwining of personal and historical experience.
The chapter explores the role of law in society and its relation to ethical conflicts as reflected through the prism of the film The Third Man. Third Man presents, in our eyes, the vitality of that channel, due to its rich aesthetical language and its unique representation of the ethical tensions in the modern era.
"The Waste Land” embodies other common themes the modernist literary tradition, including the disjointed nature of time, the role of culture versus nationality, and the desire to find universality in a period of political unrest.
The poem also has a number of reoccurring themes, most of which are pairs of binary oppositions. Some of the most common themes are Sight/Blindness, Resurrection/Death, Water / Drowning, Fertility/Impotency, Civilization/Decline, Love/Sex, and Voice/Silence.
While the structure, themes, and language choice in “The Waste Land” are not atypical for literature written in this time period, the poem is uniquely complex. With a careful and critical look, the poem provides the modern reader with both a glimpse of the collective psyche following World War I and an aesthetic experience exemplar of the modernist literary tradition.
The poem also has a number of reoccurring themes, most of which are pairs of binary oppositions. Some of the most common themes are Sight/Blindness, Resurrection/Death, Water / Drowning, Fertility/Impotency, Civilization/Decline, Love/Sex, and Voice/Silence.
While the structure, themes, and language choice in “The Waste Land” are not atypical for literature written in this time period, the poem is uniquely complex. With a careful and critical look, the poem provides the modern reader with both a glimpse of the collective psyche following World War I and an aesthetic experience exemplar of the modernist literary tradition
03. In your opinion, do you feel the readings you completed are very good or excellent examples of Modernist literature?
I think there are good representations, because The Third Man focuses on the complexities of life in post-war Vienna, the book exposes dilemmas that prevail in ordinary times and in functioning democracies as well and “The Waste Land”, a poem published some thirty years before, still spoke for “the time” depended on a sense that one inhabited an elastic historical period that had begun before the First World War and stretched out into some indefinite future. One's time was the culturally barren “modern” era. Even today, one finds the poem spoken of loosely as a work of “our time” or of “modern times,” usually with the implication that The Waste Land continues to give “the time's most accurate data.
04. Would you recommend these readings to your friends and family? Why/Why not?
Of course I would recommend these readings to my sister because the stories catch you, and you cannot leave them until you do not read the last line. One of the best things is that in these stories, nothing is what seems and everyone has something to hide. Moreover, these are interesting books and it is easy to read them.
martes, 21 de septiembre de 2010
Assignment # 1 Victorian Literature
1.- Which 2 readings did you select form the list?
* Irving, W. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (USA, 1820-short story) and Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness (Britain, 1899-novel)
2.- Using these readings, compare (3 examples) and contrast (3 examples) the works with the ppt. presentations on Victorian Literature and culture given in class.
According the two books their reading are based in war, ingenious, and poverty suffer in the victorian age, according of power point about Victorian Literature and Culture given in class. the culture has terrible consecuences because of the war, like poverty because territorial expansion. In a Culture where middle class increase in term of money thanks to industralization and own ingenious to. The power because main characters are chasing power to put their name in history.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Irving W. used in this tale the names of some characters and places that he already knew.
- The soldier ghost is a headless horseman whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball during the revolutionary war.
- The village is a peaceful place and people share the characteristic of good people they were pacifists, hardworker, church goer, protestan etc. the same as in the Victorian Era.
- There were a thought against immigrants. In that period they were in peace with others countries, but inside of it existed a lot of conflicts with the colons.
Heart of Darkness
- Pilgrims and characters seem to be civilized people but they were not civilized at all.
- Ambition is the reason why characters get into conflict with the rest of the world.
- It is presented the dark side of human life due poverty, bad people.
- New views on everything, new inventions and devices.
- Conrad´s deterministic thought shaped by the ideas of Darwin in the evolution of the species.
- The writer described a person or a place just as you see in a moment, things as they are.
3.- Do you feel that the readings you completed are very good or excellent examples of Victorian Literature? Why/ Why not?
I think that both books are excellent examples of the Victorian Literture. They both have the characteristics feature of this era. The have the civlil war, supersticions, the power of money, so on an so forth.
In my opinion The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow has civil wars on it and the power of money emerge, typical characteristic of this era.
Represents a great part of the society in that period but it was just fiction for his readers.
4.- Would you recommend these readings to your friends and family? Why / Why not?
yes, of course ! I would recommend these two books to all of them who loves read interesting books and who think that they can resolve the enigmas by themselves. I have a special person to recommend the works of Allan Poe that is my friend, she loves mysteries books.
On the other hand, I think both stories are kind of difficult to read, because of details and the context they were wrote in. Rip Van Winkle could be representative as a metaphor for common people and could even be a joke.
1.- Which 2 readings did you select form the list?
* Irving, W. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (USA, 1820-short story) and Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness (Britain, 1899-novel)
2.- Using these readings, compare (3 examples) and contrast (3 examples) the works with the ppt. presentations on Victorian Literature and culture given in class.
According the two books their reading are based in war, ingenious, and poverty suffer in the victorian age, according of power point about Victorian Literature and Culture given in class. the culture has terrible consecuences because of the war, like poverty because territorial expansion. In a Culture where middle class increase in term of money thanks to industralization and own ingenious to. The power because main characters are chasing power to put their name in history.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Irving W. used in this tale the names of some characters and places that he already knew.
- The soldier ghost is a headless horseman whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball during the revolutionary war.
- The village is a peaceful place and people share the characteristic of good people they were pacifists, hardworker, church goer, protestan etc. the same as in the Victorian Era.
- There were a thought against immigrants. In that period they were in peace with others countries, but inside of it existed a lot of conflicts with the colons.
Heart of Darkness
- Pilgrims and characters seem to be civilized people but they were not civilized at all.
- Ambition is the reason why characters get into conflict with the rest of the world.
- It is presented the dark side of human life due poverty, bad people.
- New views on everything, new inventions and devices.
- Conrad´s deterministic thought shaped by the ideas of Darwin in the evolution of the species.
- The writer described a person or a place just as you see in a moment, things as they are.
3.- Do you feel that the readings you completed are very good or excellent examples of Victorian Literature? Why/ Why not?
I think that both books are excellent examples of the Victorian Literture. They both have the characteristics feature of this era. The have the civlil war, supersticions, the power of money, so on an so forth.
In my opinion The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow has civil wars on it and the power of money emerge, typical characteristic of this era.
Represents a great part of the society in that period but it was just fiction for his readers.
4.- Would you recommend these readings to your friends and family? Why / Why not?
yes, of course ! I would recommend these two books to all of them who loves read interesting books and who think that they can resolve the enigmas by themselves. I have a special person to recommend the works of Allan Poe that is my friend, she loves mysteries books.
On the other hand, I think both stories are kind of difficult to read, because of details and the context they were wrote in. Rip Van Winkle could be representative as a metaphor for common people and could even be a joke.
lunes, 28 de junio de 2010
Shakespeare and Early Modern English.
1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.
It was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England .During the Great Vowel Shift,the 2highest long vowels became diphthongs and the other five underwent an increase in tongue height with one of them coming to the front.between 1450 and 1750.
2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
*Brithish English
*Australian English
*Canadian English
*American English
*Cameroon English
3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling. Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828; see American and British English spelling differences.
4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
The Sovereign states that have given to Modern English official status are: 56 aprox.
5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English, a:First language? b.Second Language?
Over 1 billion of speakers of English as a first or second language
6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
The end of the Middle English period,the latter half of the 15 century,to 1650
7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
Pronouns were much the same as today.One difrene is that my and thy became mine and thine beforewords beginning with a vowel and letter h,thus mine eyes,thine hand ,and so on.
8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
Indo-European, Germanic, West Germanic, Anglo–Frisian, Anglic.
9. Name 4 worldwide uses for modern english.
Middle English(a:) fronted to (ae)
Middle English (e:) raised to Modern English (i:)
Middle English (o:) raised to Modern English (u:)
Middle English (i:) diphthongised to (Ii)
10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of modern english around the world? Why?
In my opinion the greatest influence on the spread of modern English is the migration made it from other countries to the United States.
11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare’s writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays?.
The 3 candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays are Francis Bacon,Christopher Marlowe and Edward de Vere.
12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.
The case for Oxford's authorship is based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's letters and the Shakespearean canon; and underlined passages in Oxford's Bible that may correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.
13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.
Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.
14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon Wrawickshire,England.
15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
The Globe Theatre
16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:
"To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them.
To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream.
Ay, there's the rub,... "
In my opinion basically Hamlet’s dilemma was the pains of living v/s what could happen after death. I mean, it give information about characters or events,to explore characters's .In this soliloquy, he wonders if it is nobler to stand his misery, or to take action. That’s why we found Hamlet’s wondering if worth faces the “Sling and Arrows” or is better to die.
17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
Thomas Hardy,William Faulkner,Charles Dickens,Herman Melville,Henry Fusely.
18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?
Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; Henry VI, Part 1; Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; and Richard III.
19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?
Blank verse was Shakespeare's standard poetic form, and this is composed in iambic pentameter. This meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable
20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
Richard Burbage, William Kempe, Henry Condell and John Heminges.
21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
The War of The Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England, fought between supporters of two rival branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively).
22. - Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
The Wars of the Roses had got its name was base on a fictional scene in William Shakespeare's play because the house of York and the house of Lancaster. Both had a rose in their royal badges.where the opposing sides pick their different-coloured roses at the Temple Church.
23. - What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
The Red Rose of Lancaster
The White Rose of York
(The "red" and the "white" rose)
24. - What prompted this civil war of the houses of rose to begin?
Following the early death of Edward III's heir apparent, there was a series of wars between the descendants of two of Edward III's younger sons: the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of York because they wanted the throne of England.
25. - How did the war end?
After many battles a period of comparative peace followed, but Edward died unexpectedly in 1483. His surviving brother Richard of Gloucester first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating in government during the minority of Edward's son, Edward V, and then seized the throne for himself, using the suspect legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage as pretext. Henry Tudor (which subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years ).a distant relative of the Lancastrian kings who had inherited their claim, overcame and defeated Richard at Bosworth in 1485. He was crowned Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, to unite and reconcile the two houses.
26. - Which Kings of England were participants in the wars of the Roses?
House of York
Henry IV (1399 - 1413)
House of Lancaster
Edward IV (1461 - 1483)
It was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England .During the Great Vowel Shift,the 2highest long vowels became diphthongs and the other five underwent an increase in tongue height with one of them coming to the front.between 1450 and 1750.
2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
*Brithish English
*Australian English
*Canadian English
*American English
*Cameroon English
3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling. Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828; see American and British English spelling differences.
4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
The Sovereign states that have given to Modern English official status are: 56 aprox.
5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English, a:First language? b.Second Language?
Over 1 billion of speakers of English as a first or second language
6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
The end of the Middle English period,the latter half of the 15 century,to 1650
7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
Pronouns were much the same as today.One difrene is that my and thy became mine and thine beforewords beginning with a vowel and letter h,thus mine eyes,thine hand ,and so on.
8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
Indo-European, Germanic, West Germanic, Anglo–Frisian, Anglic.
9. Name 4 worldwide uses for modern english.
Middle English(a:) fronted to (ae)
Middle English (e:) raised to Modern English (i:)
Middle English (o:) raised to Modern English (u:)
Middle English (i:) diphthongised to (Ii)
10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of modern english around the world? Why?
In my opinion the greatest influence on the spread of modern English is the migration made it from other countries to the United States.
11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare’s writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays?.
The 3 candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays are Francis Bacon,Christopher Marlowe and Edward de Vere.
12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.
The case for Oxford's authorship is based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's letters and the Shakespearean canon; and underlined passages in Oxford's Bible that may correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.
13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.
Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.
14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon Wrawickshire,England.
15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
The Globe Theatre
16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:
"To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them.
To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream.
Ay, there's the rub,... "
In my opinion basically Hamlet’s dilemma was the pains of living v/s what could happen after death. I mean, it give information about characters or events,to explore characters's .In this soliloquy, he wonders if it is nobler to stand his misery, or to take action. That’s why we found Hamlet’s wondering if worth faces the “Sling and Arrows” or is better to die.
17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
Thomas Hardy,William Faulkner,Charles Dickens,Herman Melville,Henry Fusely.
18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?
Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; Henry VI, Part 1; Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; and Richard III.
19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?
Blank verse was Shakespeare's standard poetic form, and this is composed in iambic pentameter. This meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable
20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
Richard Burbage, William Kempe, Henry Condell and John Heminges.
21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
The War of The Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England, fought between supporters of two rival branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively).
22. - Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
The Wars of the Roses had got its name was base on a fictional scene in William Shakespeare's play because the house of York and the house of Lancaster. Both had a rose in their royal badges.where the opposing sides pick their different-coloured roses at the Temple Church.
23. - What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
The Red Rose of Lancaster
The White Rose of York
(The "red" and the "white" rose)
24. - What prompted this civil war of the houses of rose to begin?
Following the early death of Edward III's heir apparent, there was a series of wars between the descendants of two of Edward III's younger sons: the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of York because they wanted the throne of England.
25. - How did the war end?
After many battles a period of comparative peace followed, but Edward died unexpectedly in 1483. His surviving brother Richard of Gloucester first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating in government during the minority of Edward's son, Edward V, and then seized the throne for himself, using the suspect legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage as pretext. Henry Tudor (which subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years ).a distant relative of the Lancastrian kings who had inherited their claim, overcame and defeated Richard at Bosworth in 1485. He was crowned Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, to unite and reconcile the two houses.
26. - Which Kings of England were participants in the wars of the Roses?
House of York
Henry IV (1399 - 1413)
House of Lancaster
Edward IV (1461 - 1483)
jueves, 13 de mayo de 2010
Assigment : Middle English
1. Approximately when was Middle English spoken?
Middle english was spoken between the late 11th century and about 1470.
2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?
The major factors which led to the development and the spread of the Middle English was the printing press and the variation of the Northumbrian dialect spoken in the southeast Scotland was developing into the Scots language. The language of England as used after this time, up to 1650, is known as Early Modern English.
3. Match the following Old English words with their Anglo-Norman equivalent:
A. Pig - Pork
B. Cow - Beef
C. Wood - Forest
D. Sheep - Mutton
E. House - Mansion
F. Worthy - Honourable
G. Bold - Courageous
4. Compare & contrast the structure of nouns, pronouns and verbs, between Middle English & Modern English.
The grammar of Middle English is much closer to modern English than Old English. It is probably most similar to modern Dutch. In modern English we can find the disuse of the T-V distinction (thou, ye); the use of auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in interrogative sentences and the rise and fall of prescriptive grammarians.
Nouns:
The strong -(e)s plural form has survived into Modern English. The weak -(e)n form is now rare in the standard language, used only in oxen, children and brethren; and it is slightly less rare in some dialects, used in eyen for eyes, shoon for shoes, hosen for hose(s) and kine for cows
Pronouns:
The first and second person pronouns in Old English survived into the Middle English largely unchanged, with only minor spelling variations. In the third person, the masculine accusative singular became HIM. The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into SHE, but unsteadily HO remained in some areas for a long time. The lack of a strong standard written form between the eleventh and the fifteenth century makes these changes hard to map.
The overall trend was te gradual reduction in the number of different case endings: the dative case disappeared, but the three other cases were partly retained in personal pronouns, as in HE, HIM AND HIS.
Verbs:
Verbs, as a general rule, the first person singular of verbs in the present tense ends in -e ("ich here" - "I hear"), the second person in -(e)st ("þou spekest" - "thou speakest"), and the third person in -eþ ("he comeþ" - "he cometh/he comes"). (þ is pronounced like the unvoiced th in "think"). In the past tense, weak verbs are formed by adding an -ed(e), -d(e) or -t(e) ending. These, without their personal endings, also form past participles, together with past-participle prefixes derived from Old English: i-, y- and sometimes bi-. Strong verbs, by contrast, form their past tense by changing their stem vowel (e.g. binden -> bound), as in Modern English.
5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?
In general, all letters in Middle English words were pronounced. the silent letters in Modern English come from pronunciation shifts, which means that pronunciation is no longer closely reflected by the written form because of fixed apelling constraints imposed by the invention of dictionaries and printing.
for example :KNIGHT was pronounced (kniçt) with a pronounced "k" as the "gh" as the "ch" in German "Knecht", not (nait) as in Modern English.
6. What is the Chancery Standard, and how did it come into effect?
Chancery Standard was a written form of English by the government bureaucracy and for other official purposes. it come into effect because of the differing dialects of English spoken an written across the country at the time , the government needed a clear and unambiguous form for use in its official documents. Chancery Standard was developed to meet this need.
7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century.
8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
The pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society. Pilgrims would frequently journey to cathedrals that preserved relics of saints. They believed that such relics had miraculous powers. Pilgrimages also represented the mortal journey to heaven through the struggles of mortal life.
9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
Canterbury was a popular destination within England. Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been killed in the Canterbury cathedral by knights who had misunderstood Henry II's order during a disagreement between him and Thomas Becket. Miracle stories connected to his remains began to spring up soon after his death, and the area became a popular pilgrimage destination. For that reason they wanted to find the holy blessed martyr.
10.Is thought that some of the stories in The Canterbury Tales originated in Italy.
What was the name of the Italian book and who wrote it?
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
11. The Canterbury Tales is considered an extremely important book, both in terms of English Literature & in the history of English writing. In your opinion, why is this book so important?
I think it's important because it gave to the English Language, the main root of words from Old English to now. Also, The Canterbury Tale contributed to our culture and history.
12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
It's a detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behaviour for all knights in Medieval Europe.
13. Who is Sir Gawain?
Sir Gawain, the youngest of Arthur's knights round table and nephew to the king, accepts the Green knight’s challenge.
14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?
The Green night asks for someone in the court to strike him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight will return the blow one year and one day later.
15. What is the similarity between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Irish tale of Cúchulainn?
The earliest known story to feature a beheading game is the 8th-century Middle Irish tale Bricriu's Feast This story parallels Gawain in that, like the Green Knight, Cú Chulainn's antagonist feints three blows with the axe before letting his target depart without injury.
16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?
The pentangle on Gawain's shield is seen by many critics as signifying Gawain's perfection and power over evil.
The importance of the pentangle in this poem is that , because the virtues to which Gawain aspires susch as to be faultless in his five senses; never to fail in his five fingers; to be faithful to the five wounds that Christ received on the cross; to be strengthened by five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus; and to possess brotherly love, courtesy, piety, and chastity.
17.How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
The poet highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem. For example, three kisses are exchanged between Gawain and Bertilak's wife; Gawain is tempted by her on three separate days; Bertilak goes hunting three times, and the Green Knight swings at Gawain three times with his axe.
18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain's neck wound?
During the medieval period, the body and the soul were believed to be so intimately connected that wounds were considered an outward sign of inward sin. The neck, specifically, was believed to correlate with the part of the soul related to will, connecting the reasoning part (the head) and the courageous part (the heart).
19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation, Sword of the Valiant?
The actor who played in the film was Sean Connery as the Green Knight.
20. In many ways this poem is, in the modern sense, a soap opera. Compare Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.
In my opinion both are really similars, because they have romances, fighting for all those values or virtues encountered in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight poem.
Middle english was spoken between the late 11th century and about 1470.
2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?
The major factors which led to the development and the spread of the Middle English was the printing press and the variation of the Northumbrian dialect spoken in the southeast Scotland was developing into the Scots language. The language of England as used after this time, up to 1650, is known as Early Modern English.
3. Match the following Old English words with their Anglo-Norman equivalent:
A. Pig - Pork
B. Cow - Beef
C. Wood - Forest
D. Sheep - Mutton
E. House - Mansion
F. Worthy - Honourable
G. Bold - Courageous
4. Compare & contrast the structure of nouns, pronouns and verbs, between Middle English & Modern English.
The grammar of Middle English is much closer to modern English than Old English. It is probably most similar to modern Dutch. In modern English we can find the disuse of the T-V distinction (thou, ye); the use of auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in interrogative sentences and the rise and fall of prescriptive grammarians.
Nouns:
The strong -(e)s plural form has survived into Modern English. The weak -(e)n form is now rare in the standard language, used only in oxen, children and brethren; and it is slightly less rare in some dialects, used in eyen for eyes, shoon for shoes, hosen for hose(s) and kine for cows
Pronouns:
The first and second person pronouns in Old English survived into the Middle English largely unchanged, with only minor spelling variations. In the third person, the masculine accusative singular became HIM. The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into SHE, but unsteadily HO remained in some areas for a long time. The lack of a strong standard written form between the eleventh and the fifteenth century makes these changes hard to map.
The overall trend was te gradual reduction in the number of different case endings: the dative case disappeared, but the three other cases were partly retained in personal pronouns, as in HE, HIM AND HIS.
Verbs:
Verbs, as a general rule, the first person singular of verbs in the present tense ends in -e ("ich here" - "I hear"), the second person in -(e)st ("þou spekest" - "thou speakest"), and the third person in -eþ ("he comeþ" - "he cometh/he comes"). (þ is pronounced like the unvoiced th in "think"). In the past tense, weak verbs are formed by adding an -ed(e), -d(e) or -t(e) ending. These, without their personal endings, also form past participles, together with past-participle prefixes derived from Old English: i-, y- and sometimes bi-. Strong verbs, by contrast, form their past tense by changing their stem vowel (e.g. binden -> bound), as in Modern English.
5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?
In general, all letters in Middle English words were pronounced. the silent letters in Modern English come from pronunciation shifts, which means that pronunciation is no longer closely reflected by the written form because of fixed apelling constraints imposed by the invention of dictionaries and printing.
for example :KNIGHT was pronounced (kniçt) with a pronounced "k" as the "gh" as the "ch" in German "Knecht", not (nait) as in Modern English.
6. What is the Chancery Standard, and how did it come into effect?
Chancery Standard was a written form of English by the government bureaucracy and for other official purposes. it come into effect because of the differing dialects of English spoken an written across the country at the time , the government needed a clear and unambiguous form for use in its official documents. Chancery Standard was developed to meet this need.
7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century.
8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
The pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society. Pilgrims would frequently journey to cathedrals that preserved relics of saints. They believed that such relics had miraculous powers. Pilgrimages also represented the mortal journey to heaven through the struggles of mortal life.
9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
Canterbury was a popular destination within England. Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been killed in the Canterbury cathedral by knights who had misunderstood Henry II's order during a disagreement between him and Thomas Becket. Miracle stories connected to his remains began to spring up soon after his death, and the area became a popular pilgrimage destination. For that reason they wanted to find the holy blessed martyr.
10.Is thought that some of the stories in The Canterbury Tales originated in Italy.
What was the name of the Italian book and who wrote it?
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
11. The Canterbury Tales is considered an extremely important book, both in terms of English Literature & in the history of English writing. In your opinion, why is this book so important?
I think it's important because it gave to the English Language, the main root of words from Old English to now. Also, The Canterbury Tale contributed to our culture and history.
12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
It's a detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behaviour for all knights in Medieval Europe.
13. Who is Sir Gawain?
Sir Gawain, the youngest of Arthur's knights round table and nephew to the king, accepts the Green knight’s challenge.
14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?
The Green night asks for someone in the court to strike him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight will return the blow one year and one day later.
15. What is the similarity between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Irish tale of Cúchulainn?
The earliest known story to feature a beheading game is the 8th-century Middle Irish tale Bricriu's Feast This story parallels Gawain in that, like the Green Knight, Cú Chulainn's antagonist feints three blows with the axe before letting his target depart without injury.
16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?
The pentangle on Gawain's shield is seen by many critics as signifying Gawain's perfection and power over evil.
The importance of the pentangle in this poem is that , because the virtues to which Gawain aspires susch as to be faultless in his five senses; never to fail in his five fingers; to be faithful to the five wounds that Christ received on the cross; to be strengthened by five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus; and to possess brotherly love, courtesy, piety, and chastity.
17.How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
The poet highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem. For example, three kisses are exchanged between Gawain and Bertilak's wife; Gawain is tempted by her on three separate days; Bertilak goes hunting three times, and the Green Knight swings at Gawain three times with his axe.
18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain's neck wound?
During the medieval period, the body and the soul were believed to be so intimately connected that wounds were considered an outward sign of inward sin. The neck, specifically, was believed to correlate with the part of the soul related to will, connecting the reasoning part (the head) and the courageous part (the heart).
19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation, Sword of the Valiant?
The actor who played in the film was Sean Connery as the Green Knight.
20. In many ways this poem is, in the modern sense, a soap opera. Compare Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.
In my opinion both are really similars, because they have romances, fighting for all those values or virtues encountered in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight poem.
domingo, 18 de abril de 2010
OLD ENGLISH / ASSIGMENT 1b
* PART I / BEOWULF
1- When was old English spoken ?
Old English was soken between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.
2- Name 4 language groups which influenced the development of Old English.
* Latin influence * Old Norse influence
* Old Frisian influence * German influence (vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar).
3- In the phonology section, name 5 phonetical differents between old english and
modern english.
* In Old english we can find 14 vowals, now on days we only have12.
* The front mid rounded vowels /ø(ː)/ occur in some dialects of Old English.
* /w/ Old english: Velar and AproximantModer English: Bilabial and Aproximant
* /ʒ/ Old English: It wasn’t used modern English ; palatal and fricative.
* In Modern English we find eight diphthongs, in Old English it was only six.
4- Are there any similarites between Old English and Modern English? Name them.
Yes, There are some similar consonants and allophones between,
also there are similarities in the pronunciation or sound
andorthography.
5- In the Orthography section, enlarge the picture of the runic alphabet. How many
letters (runes) are there in this alphabet?
There are 34 runes in the alphabet.
6- Which epic poem was originally written in Old English?
The epic poem was Beowul.
7- In the See Also section, click on: Beowulf. Appoximately when was Beowulf written?
Beowulf was written between the 8th and the early 11th century.
8- Even though Beowulf was written in England, the story takes place in which
countries?
The story takes place in Sweden and Denmark.
9- In the poem, which 3 antagonists does Beowulf battle or fight against?
The 3 antagonists are:
* Grendel
* Grendel’s Moth
* the dragon
10- What happens to Beowulf at the end of the story?
Beowulf dies, when he was fighting with the Dragon.
11- Who was the author of Beowulf?
The author of this poem is unknown, was written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet.
The two versions was called with the same name, but in different dates.
12- What were the titles and the dates of the two film versions of Beowulf?
Beowulf (1999)
Beowulf (2007)
* PART I / BEOWULF
1- When was old English spoken ?
Old English was soken between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.
2- Name 4 language groups which influenced the development of Old English.
* Latin influence * Old Norse influence
* Old Frisian influence * German influence (vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar).
3- In the phonology section, name 5 phonetical differents between old english and
modern english.
* In Old english we can find 14 vowals, now on days we only have12.
* The front mid rounded vowels /ø(ː)/ occur in some dialects of Old English.
* /w/ Old english: Velar and AproximantModer English: Bilabial and Aproximant
* /ʒ/ Old English: It wasn’t used modern English ; palatal and fricative.
* In Modern English we find eight diphthongs, in Old English it was only six.
4- Are there any similarites between Old English and Modern English? Name them.
Yes, There are some similar consonants and allophones between,
also there are similarities in the pronunciation or sound
andorthography.
5- In the Orthography section, enlarge the picture of the runic alphabet. How many
letters (runes) are there in this alphabet?
There are 34 runes in the alphabet.
6- Which epic poem was originally written in Old English?
The epic poem was Beowul.
7- In the See Also section, click on: Beowulf. Appoximately when was Beowulf written?
Beowulf was written between the 8th and the early 11th century.
8- Even though Beowulf was written in England, the story takes place in which
countries?
The story takes place in Sweden and Denmark.
9- In the poem, which 3 antagonists does Beowulf battle or fight against?
The 3 antagonists are:
* Grendel
* Grendel’s Moth
* the dragon
10- What happens to Beowulf at the end of the story?
Beowulf dies, when he was fighting with the Dragon.
11- Who was the author of Beowulf?
The author of this poem is unknown, was written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet.
The two versions was called with the same name, but in different dates.
12- What were the titles and the dates of the two film versions of Beowulf?
Beowulf (1999)
Beowulf (2007)
If Good is by My SiDE I woN't TiRed :)
I never have been in this situation , my boyfriend is far away
I know I'll be ok because he is all the time in my heart and my mind
I spent my time just thinking about him, every single days. I'm really miss him
I just want he close where he can stay always and I can be sure that it will only get better he and me togheter I don't worry because everything is going be alright
he knows no one can get in the way of what I'm feeling.
that is a love story but some time I got tired of watting
wondering if he were ever coming around my faith in you is fading
I remember when I meet him on the out skirt of town and he said to me " keep wating for me " but he never come! so is this in my head I don't know what to think. then he call me and say to me " you'll never have to be alone I love you".
that' s all really want to know and be glad with myslef.
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