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.
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: 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.
Verbs: 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) 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.
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. Therefore 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 wrote the Canterbury Tales.
8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
The pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society, they believed that each relics had miraculuos powers. Also 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 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. 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 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 this book is important because it use the old english language it allow us to know about the roots of the english.
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 & behaviour for all knights in Medieval Europe.
d. A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
13. Who is Sir Gawain?
Sir Gawain is 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?
The Green Knight offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day.
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.
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. The number two also appears repeatedly, as in the two beheading scenes, two confession scenes, and two castles. The five points of the pentangle represent Gawain's virtues, for he is "faithful five ways and five times each". All five of his senses are without fault; his five fingers never fail him, and he always remembers the five wounds of Christ, the five joys of the Virgin Mary. The fifth five is Gawain himself, who embodies the five moral virtues of the code of chivalry: "friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety" All of these virtues reside, as the poet says, in the "Endless Knot" of the pentangle, which forever interlinks and is never broken.
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.
