Assignment 1 Beowulf Carlos Valenzuela Villarroel

1. When was Old English spoken?
It was spoken and also written and parts of wahat are now England and Scotland, between the mid 5th and the 12th century


2. Name 4 language groups which influenced the development of Old English.
Germanic, Latin, Norse, and Celtic Influence.


3. In the Phonology section, name 5 phonetical differences between Old English & Modern English.
- In the chart of old English, the sound /ʒ/ is not included.
- Plosive velar sounds in old English are /k/ and /g/.
- In modern English they are /k/ and /y/.
- /g/ sound is not included in modern English.
- /ç/ sound is not included in modrn English.

4. Are there any similarites between Old English and Modern English? Name them.
It is believed that the word order in old English was subject-verb-object, as in modern English and the most Germanic language.

5. In the Orthography section, enlarge the picture of the runic alphabet. How many letters (runes) are there in this alphabet?
34 runes are in this alphabet

6. Which epic poem was originally written in Old English?
It was Beowulf the epic poem written in English, and one of the most important writings.

7. In the See Also section, click on: Beowulf. Appoximately when was Beowulf written?
Between the 8th and 11th century.

8. Even though Beowulf was written in England, the story takes place in which countries?
In Scandinavia.

9. In the poem, which 3 antagonists does Beowulf battle or fight against?
-Grendel
-The Mother of Grendel
-A Dragon

10. What happens to Beowulf at the end of the story?
He is mortally wounded and buried in a barrow sea

11. Who was the author of Beowulf?
Nobody knows. It is a poem of unknown authorship

12. What were the titles and the dates of the two film versions of Beowulf?
-Beowulf (2007)
-Beowulf: Prince of the Geats(2008)

Assignment 3 Shakespeare and early modern English Carlos Valenzuela Villarroel

1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.
The great vowel was the biggest change of the pronunciation of vowels in English language. It started between the 1200 and 1600.

2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
American, Australian, Caribbean, Canadian, and British

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?
America: Noe Webster
England: Samuel Johnson

4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
53 countries

5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English as a:
I. First language? Between 308 and 380 millions
II. Second Language? Betwwen 199 and 600 millions

6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
It was spoken since the great vowel shift, the latter half of the 15th century to 1650

7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
Second singular personal pronoun you correspond to Modern English but the same pronoun in Middle english correspond to thou.
The object pronoun in Middle english correspond to thee but the same object pronoun in modern english correspond to you.

8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
American, Australian, British, Canadian, Caribbean, Hiberno, Indo-Pakistan, New Zealand, Philippine, Singaporean, and South-African English.

9. Name 4 worldwide uses for Modern English.
-Internet
-Bussines
-Education
-Entertainment

10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of Modern English around the world? Why?
United States has the most powerful economy of the planet so the rest of the world uses their currency and language to get in touch with them. In my opinion that is the main reason, if you want to compite worldwide you have to speak English and buy and sell in dolars.

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?
Sir Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, 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.
-Plays
-Sonnets
-Poems

14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
In Stratford-upon-Avon.

15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
The Blackfriars indoor 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,...


No matter the problem or the circumstance you can deal with it, you can defeat yor oponent, you can with your battle.




17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
-Henry Fuseli
-William Faulkner
-Thomas Hardy
-Charles Dickens
-Herman Melville.

18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?
-Henry VI
-Edward IV
-Edward V
-Richard III
-Henry VII

19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?
-BLANK VERSE: is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme. In English, the meter most commonly used with blank verse has been iambic pentameter.
-IAMBIC PENTAMETER: one of many meters used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line.

20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
-Barbara Barrie (Sarah)
-Charles Braswell (Larry)
-George Coe (David)
-Steve Elmore (Paul)

21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
They were power struggle between two kingdoms because both kings wanted the administration of England

22. Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
Because roses represented the two royal families. White roses YORK and Red roses LANCASTER

23. What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
YORK: White roses
LANCASTER: Red roses

24. What prompted this civil war to begin?
Both families wanted to rule England

25. How did the war end?
The war ended with the victory of the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who founded theHouse of Tudor which subsequently ruled England and Wales for 116 years.


26. Which Kings of England were participants in the Wars of the Roses?
-King Edward IV
-King Henry VI
-Richard III
-Edward V
-Henry VII

Assignment 2 Middle English Carlos Valenzuela Villarroel

1. Approximately when was Middle English spoken?
Between the Norman invasion of 1066 & about 1470.
2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?
When the chancery standard began to become widespread thanks to the printing press.
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.
Nouns: Losing the rather more complex system of inflected endings in Old English, Middle English retains only two separate noun-ending patterns.

Pronouns: Post-Conquest English inherits its pronouns from Old English, with the exception of the third person plural.
The first and second person pronouns in Old English survived into 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.

Verbs: As a general rule, the first person singular of verbs in the present tense ends in -e, the second person in -(e)st, and the third person in -eþ. 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-.

5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?
Generally, all letters in Middle English words were pronounced. Therefore 'knight' was pronounced /knɪçt/, not /naɪt/ as in Modern English.
In earlier Middle English all written vowels were pronounced. By Chaucer's time, however, the final had become silent in normal speech, but could optionally be pronounced in verse as the meter required. Chaucer followed these conventions: -e is silent in 'kowthe' hanne', but is pronounced in 'straunge'.
An additional rule in speech, and often in poetry as well, was that a non-final unstressed was dropped when adjacent to only a single consonant on either side if there was another short 'e' in an adjoining syllable. Thus, 'every' sounds like "evry" and 'palmeres' like "palmers".

6. What is the Chancery Standard, and how did it come into effect?
It was a written form of English used by the government for official purposes.
7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
It was written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century
8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
We can found different kinds of pilgrims such as a knight, a priest, a yeoman, a carpenter, a miller among others.
9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
They did this journey to pay their respects to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral.
10. It 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 name of the book was “Decameron” written 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?
It was the first book of poetry that was written in the English language. This made it available to many readers--not just for rich people. It opened the doors for others to be written in English. It is a record of the roots of English language and how it has evolved.

12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
a. A collection of German folk tales, similar to Grimm's Fairy Tales.
b. A collection of Japanese ghost stories, similar to Kwaidan.
c. A detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behavior for all knights in Medieval Europe.
d. A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
c. A detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behavior for all knights in Medieval Europe.

13. Who is Sir Gawain?
He was a knight of King Arthur’s round table.
14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?
To strike him once with his axe with the condition that he 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 legendary Irish figure Cuchulainn faced a trial similar to Gawain's
16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?
The pentagram represents Gawain’s eternal incorruptibility. It receives a lot of attention in the poem. It is describes as a symbol of faithfulness and an endless knob.
17. How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
Numbers add symmetry and meaning to the poem.
18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain's neck wound?
The neck’s wound means an internal wound; it shows the Gawain’s weakness.
19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation, Sword of the Valiant?
The actor is Sean Connery.
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 both cases we have romance, bad guys, and a hero. A thing that is very easy to find in any soap opera of several countries. So as I consider the “Canterbury Tales” as one of the roots of the English language, I consider “Sir Gawain and the green knight” a kind of soap opera of the 14th century because of course the good guys win.