Senior English Semester 1 Exam Study Guide

Attitude of Medieval Period

Religious, mortality

Incremental repetition

Repetition in each stanza (as of a ballad) of part of the preceding stanza usually with a slight change in wording for dramatic effect.

Fabliau

Short, realistic, popular tale which is comic and coarse

Epic Poem

a long, narrative poem which tells the deeds of a traditional of historic hero or heroes written with formal characteristics and having a noble theme. Often the culture of a country is shown:; formal characteristics include the median res (the story begins in the middle), catalogue passages, and invocation to a muse.

Elegy

a thoughtful poem on a meditative theme, usually death.

Elizabethan (Shakespearean) sonnet

ab ab cd cd ef ef gg

Spenserian sonnet

abab bcbc cdcdee

Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet

abba abba cdecde

Exemplun

An example within a moral lesson

Dramatic irony

Applied to words and actions of characters in a play who confidently expect the opposite of what fate holds in store or who say something unknowingly that anticipates the tragic outcome.

Metaphysical poetry

Complex poetry which encompasses the vastness of the universe and awareness of its complexities and contradictions.

Cavalier poetry

Light-hearted, charming, witty sometimes cynical adn licentious poetry

Pastoral poem

Lyric poetry which emphasizes shepherds and country life, usually in an idyllic (nice) manner.

Attitude of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Morality, religious

Renaissance man

Multi-talented individual who cultivates his talents to the fullest.

Attitude of Greek Period

Need to pray to God to survive

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

*THEME: ALWAYS BE HONEST* -King Arthur and his knights gathered to celebrate Christmas and new year -enormous green man barges through door who came without helmet, shield, and armour -only came with axe -King Arthur thinks he wants to duel -Green Knight authors challenge that he will give his battle ax to anyone who is brave enough to strike him. He won't move. Whoever does it has to have the same thing dine to them in one year and one day by the Green Knight. -King Arthur accepted his offer but before the king can strike the Green Knight, Sir Gawain volunteers to do it because he is the weakest and will be the least missed. -Sir Gawain struck the Green Knight and his head fell off. -Green Knight grabbed his head, leapt on his horse, and before he left reminded Sir Gawain of their agreement and told Sir Gawain he could find him in the Green Chapel -Gawain leaves at the end of the year to keep his side of the agreement. -finds a castle and the lord invites him to stay with him and his wife for a couple of days. -at the end of the day the lord and Gawain will exchange something from that day. -Gawain refuses and on the first two days only accepts kisses -On the 3rd day, Gawain refuses the lord's wife but she pressures him to accept a green sash that anyone who wears it in battle lives -He took it, hid it, and told him -when the lord returns Gawain only gives him a kiss -on New Years Day Gawain meets the Green Knight -Gawain flinches both times when the Knight goes to strike -On the third time he nicks Gawain's neck -When Gawain saw the blood, he grabs his helmet, puts it on, puts his shield in front of him, and grabs his sword telling the Knight not to strike him again -Knight tells him he's not going to -Knight tells Gawain he knows about the kisses and how he returned them but not the sash -Green Knight is the lord and tells Gawain he arranged the kisses and his wife's advances -Green Knight is convinced that Gawain is the finest man that ever walked the earth, but lacked a little and less than loyal only because he loves his wife -Sir Gawain was ashamed and gave the sash back but the Knight wouldn't accept it and told him to keep it -Green Knight lets Gawain keep the sash because he confessed and to remember what happened that day.

Information on mythology

- All mythologies had a creation story: 1) Cosmogony, 2) Time of Warfare, 3) Emergence of a Victor, 4) Establishes order, 5) Assumes command as chief, 6) Creates man to serve the gods. Also had a great search - Teutonic-Scandinavian (Viking): stressed a resistance against all odds and a defiance to ruin, insults result in killing, the Norse hero proves himself by dying in battle, killing for revenge is legal. -Greco-Roman (Greek): less negative than the Vikings, an atonement put an end to a curse or am insult. Legal murders only occurred if the gods approved. Greek hero proves himself by creating. -Eastern (Egyptian): places entrants is on the totally irrational world of magic, priests above the Pharoah, priests studied the stars (astrology)(horoscopes), Pharoah didn't go to war until they checked with the priest, people couldn't determined what happened, Pharoahs viewed as goods on earth. -first written record of Greek mythology is the Iliad -mankind becomes the center of the universe and becomes rational -Greeks made their gods in mankind's image -Greek mythology freed man from the fear of the unknown -Beast Gods: Satyrs (half man half goat), Centaurs (half man/half horse) -Purposes for the myths: 1) Religious 2) Scientific 3) Entertainment 4) Historical 5) Show conflicts within family 6) Expression of mans deepest hopes and fears -Started with Nothing, from nothing came Chaos, from Chaos came Gaia Erebos and Night, Gaia had Uranus the Mountains ams the Sea, Erebos and the Night had Aither the Day and Eros -Gaia and Uranus joint and create the Titans (Chronos and Rhea), Cyclops, and Giants -Chronos becomes in charge, chains up the giants and the Cyclopes, marries his sister Rhea *Chronos and Rhea have: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus *Chronos swallows Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon *Rhea protects Zeus *Chronos swallows a rock that he thought was Zeus *Gaia raises Zeus *When Zeus asks Gaia for advice, she tells him to free the giants and cyclopes *Cyclopes give Zeus the gifts of thunderbolt, trident, helmet of invisibility, and ambrosia *Zeus gives Chronos the ambrosia *Chronos throws everything up including his children *War starts and Zeus wins *Chronos has his power taken away is banished to Sicily *Zeus gets the thunderbolt *Poseidon gets the trident *Hades gets the helmet of invisibility (underworld) *Zeus has to change the giants in the underworld *Zeus marries Hera by tricking her *Zeus and Hera had Hebe, Ares, and Hephaestus

Beowulf

-Epic poem -long story -Narratives story -speech poem: rhythm -deeds -traditional hero - noble theme: good vs. bad ~Good defeats bad ~Evil always comes back -2 cultures: ~Vikings were violent and proved themselves in battle ~no Christian aspects -formal style: starts at the beginning, median res -vikings didn't know about muses -catalogue passage: long list -Hrothgar, King of the Danes, built a mead-hall called, Herot, where everyone gathered. -Grendel goes ti Herot and snatches 30 men the goes back to his layer, and he goes back as often as he can for 12 years -only soldiers who flee survive. -Beowulf, the strongest Geat, heard about what was happening gathered the bravest and strongest men he could fine (14 total) and set sail for Denmark. -Hrothgar throws a feast in honor of Beowulf -After the feast everyone leaves Herot except Beowulf and his men. -everyone but Beowulf falls asleep -Grendel gets a hold of Beowulf, but Beowulf is able to cut off Grendel's shoulder. -Grendel retreats to his layer. -Beowulf hangs Grendel's shoulder high from the rafters in Herot and Hrothgar throws another feast in honor of Beowulf. -Grendel's mother is looking for revenge and retreated back to her layer after taking one victim -Beowulf, his men, Hrothgar, and his men go to the swamp looking for Grendel's mother. -Beowulf swims to the bottom and finds out the water in the mead-hall can't hurt him -During the fight with Grendel's mother, Beowulf finds a sword on the wall and uses it to kill Grendel's mother -Hrothgar and his go back to Herot thinking Beowulf is dead -Beowulf beheaded Grendel -Beowulf and his men return back to Herot with Grendel's head -Beowulf becomes Kings of the Geats and rules for 50 years -dragon begins terrorizing the Geats after being disturbed. -Beowulf decides to fight the dragon even though he is old -Beowulf's shield melts from the dragon breathing fire, he strikes the dragon but his sword shatters -Wiglaf (Beowulf's cousin) and Beowulf start fighting the dragon togehter -Beowulf is wounded but keeps fighting and they both end up killing the dragon. -Beowulf sent Wiglaf to get all the treasures he could and told him to the people, build him a tomb, bury him, build at waters edge a tower so tall sailors could see from the ocean, and name it Beowulf's Tower. -Beowulf gave Wiglaf his golden necklace, gold-covered helmet, rings, mail shirt, and ordered him to use them well. -Geats build the tower, sealed Beowulf's ashes in wall along with the riches Beowulf and Wiglaf won, rings, necklaces, hammered armor. -12 of the bravest Geats rode horses around tower telling their sorrow, stories of Beowulf and his greatness, glory, praising him for heroic deeds.

Barbara Allen

-Folk ballad -ballad stanza -unknown author -tragic tone (love/death) -romance -passed down -man dies for love of a women *THEME: SAY YOUR LOVE*

Background information on Greek drama

-Pre-Greek Era: 5,000 B.C. to 600 B.C. *Man's attempt to mimic nature developed into formal, religious song and dance in which members of the clan acted out wishes for their needs (like a good harvest, the end to disease, etc.) *the purpose was all religious. -Early Greek Era: 600 B.C. to 500 B.C. *This era developed specialized songs/dances with a specialized group (the chorus) to perform. *One specialized piece was a dithyramb, a religious hymn of praise. It was sung by the chorus to Dionysus, who became the Greek god of drama. *Another specialized piece was a tragodia from where our term tragedy derives. A tragodia was a "goat song" sung when a goat was sacrificed in atonement for the people's sins. *The chorus sang of things larger than life so there was no real acting yet. *Thespis (our term thespian which means actor comes from his name) began plays when he took one voice out of the chorus. Now the chorus and the "actor" could have a dialogue. *The PURPOSE of drama for this era was both RELIGIOUS and ENTERTAINMENT. -Greek Era: 500 B.C. to 100 B.C. *Three Greek dramatists added to drama. *Aeschylus added a second actor. *Sophocles added a third actor and some scenery. *Euripides separated the chorus from the action. *During this time, plots of the plays were usually taken from cycles of mythology which the Greeks knew well. As a result, the dramatists used irony to add to audience interest. * The theater was open aired and large, often built into hollowed out hill sides. It had excellent acoustics so everyone could hear the productions. *Actors wore masks (historians think they were twice the size of a person's head to show the character's emotion) and gowns. Actions and facial expressions were less important than the words of the plays. *Plays were performed in a competitive situation on feast days to Dionysus. The playwrights who wanted to have their plays produced gave them to the judges in advance and the best ones were the ones performed. Like the Olympics of today, the best playwrights were awarded prizes. *The PURPOSE of the plays was ENTERTAINMENT, but the THEMES SHOWED MAJOR RELIGIOUS OVERTONES. *The chorus was very important in Greek theater. The PURPOSES of the chorus included: ~acting as an ideal spectator ~being the central figure in the play ~singing and dancing ~introducing new characters ~pointing out the importance of events ~covering a passage of time between events ~separating episodes ~praying

Morte d'Arthur

-Romance -narrative story -magic: counsel by Merlin -adventure -legendary heroes -Matter of Britain -Piety -Respect for women -shows how honorable people are good people

Items from Canterbury Tales Prologue

-Story telling contest where each character is supposed to tell 2 stories on the way to Canterbury and 2 on the way back -The host will judge the contest -The winner will receive a free meal at the inn paid for by the rest of the characters -Upper Class: lord, knight, or someone who owns lots of property, relation counts -Middle Class: owns owe business -Lower Class: worked for other people and had little money -Church Class: worked for church in any capacity *The Knight: Upper class. Good - full of honor, generous *The Squire: Upper class. Good and bad - courteous but had lots of sex *The Yeoman: Middle class. Good - devoted and wise *The Nun (Prioress): Church class. Bad - doesn't act like a nun, flirtatious *The Monk: Church class. Bad - didn't take his duties seriously *The Friar: Church Class. Bad - likes sex and is corrupt *The Merchant: Middle class. Good and bad - lies about being poor, but honest about what he sells *The Oxford Cleric: Church class. Good and bad - never pays back loans, good student *The Sergeant at Law: Middle class. Good - acts reverent, honest *The Franklin: Upper Class. Good and bad - opened house for anyone but loved pleasure *The Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, and Carpet-Maker: Middle Class. Good - wanted best for wives and themselves and good at their jobs *The Cook: Lower Class. Bad - not nice guy, drinks a lot *The Skipper: Lower Class: Bad - pirate and alcoholic *The Doctor: Middle Class. Good and bad - good at his job, didn't really read bible *The Women from Besides Bath City: Middle Class. Good - provided for others *The Parson: Church Class. Good - wanted people to know about Christ and helps the poor *The Plowman: Lower Class. Good - helps people out *The Miller: Middle Class. Bad - a thief and arrogant *The Manciple: Middle Class. Good and bad - buys best food for lawyers and is good at what he does *The Summoner: Church Class. Bad - drunk, robs people, and child molester *The Pardoner: Church Class. Bad - corrupt *The Reeve: Middle Class. Bad - condescending and bad temper *The Host - Middle Class. Good - works hard and honest

Miller's Tale

-Structure: Fabliau *Theme: Old men shouldn't marry young women -Logic because he's used to telling tavern stories -Alison, 18, marries John -arranged marriage -John's jealous because Alison is young -has some money because he owns a home and has a business -Nicholas is studying Astrology at Oxford University but is staying at John's house -Nicholas lusts over Alison and at first she doesn't agree but then does as long as John doesn't find out and can stay in bed all night -Absalom trying to win Alison's attention -Nicholas locks himself in his room and looks out the window whenever someone passes his door, John gets worries and busts his door down -Nicholas says he was studying the stars and says that a flood is coming and has a plan to save Alison, John, and himself -John builds 3 boats, and at night all 3 of them get in their individual boats -After John falls asleep, Nicholas and Alison have sex down stairs and fall asleep afterwards -Absalom decides to get a kiss from Alison -He kisses Alison's butt -Nicholas does the same thing but gets branded and yells for water. -John wakes up to the yell, cuts the cord, falls down, and breaks his arm -Nobody believes John when tells them a flood is coming -Nicholas's punishment is being branded -John's punishment is getting a broken arm -Absalom's punishment is receiving a misplaced kiss

Wife of Bath's Tale

-Structure: Romance -Squire walking around, finds a girl, and rapes her -Brought to King Arthur for punishment -gets a year and a day to decide what women desire most (wife, Guinevere, decides this) -leaves country because he hasn't found an answer or go back -he goes back and on his way finds a group of women dancing in the forest -all leave except old woman -old woman tells him women want control and now he has to do whatever the old woman wants him to do old woman wants the knight to marry him and the knight has a choice to make -decides to marry her but he isn't happy -says she's old, ugly, and poor -old woman says he can chose between old, ugly, and faithful or young, lovely, and unfaithful -knight says she can chose and by doing this he was given her control of the relationship -says she will be young, lovely, and faithful *Theme: women want control of the relationship -Not logical because a man would never tell a story like this but a woman would

Pardoner's Tale

-Structure: sermon with a exemplun -Logic: Yes, because people will get a lot of interest in the exemplun part and he knew the sermon well *Sins: Drunkenness, gluttony, gambling, and swearing -One of the friends of the 3 riders die -decided to go kill death -see old man and start mocking him -tells the riders to follow path and they get to a tree with 2 bushels of florins -decide to bring the bags of gold in at night -the youngest rider goes to get dinner but stops by the apothecary shop and poisons 2 of 3 wine bottles -while the youngest is away, the other 2 decide to kill him when he gets back -the 2 kill the youngest but they drunk the 2 poisoned wine bottles so they also died *Theme: Greed is the route of all evil

Information on Antigone

-The play takes place at Creons palace sawn after the Civil War -Creons new decree is whoever buries Polyneices will be stoned to death -Antigone has decided to bury her brother anyways -Oedipus and Iocaste are the parents of Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Iteocles -Ismene tells Antigone not to bury Polyneices because it's dangerous and against the law. -Ismene isn't successful because Antigone does it anyways -The new king of Thebes is Creon -Eteocles will be buried with full military honors because he protected the country. -Ployneices body is denied burial because he was a traitor -the king asks Choragos to support him and don't bury the body -the sentry's message was that there was an attempt to bury the body -the sentry's fear of the king is justified because he will torture and kill someone if they go against him. -The sentry must find out who attempted to bury Polyneices -Antigone was brought to Creon because she was caught trying to bury Polyneices' body -Antigone justifies her actions to Creon by saying that he is her brother -Antigone doesn't fear death because she was right -Creon send for Ismene because he thinks she is guilt too because she helped -Ismene says she is guilty because she can't live without her sister and realizes what is right -Antigone says Ismene isn't guilty because she wants to protect Ismene -Antigone is already sad when she is still alive because she has to die for what she did -Antigone was supposed to marry Haimon, Creons son -Creon says a good son will listen and obey his father -"Is a woman stronger than we?" Yes -Haimon says the people are saying that Creon is wrong with his decision -Haimon gives his father the good advice to listen to other people -Creon doesn't follow Haimons advice because he think he is love struck -Antigone sentence is to be taken out and burried alive -Antigone says he marriage is murder because of Oedipus because if Edipus hadn't killed their father, Edipus would have been king -As Antigone prepares to enter the living tomb she is feeling that she doesn't deserve to die and that she hasn't given up -She still feels justified in her crime against the state. -Teiresias is a blind prophet -Teiresias tells Creon to watch out and do what is right (free Antigone and bury a Polyneices with full military honors). -Creon responds by thinking that Teiresias has been paid to say this -Creon's crimes are making wrong decisions, Law against God's Law -the result of Creon's crimes are going to be punished by the Gods -The messenger brings the news that both Haimon and Antigone are dead -Antigone died by -Eurydice killed herself -The tragic hero is Creon because he made the law that killed Antigone, Haimon, and Eurydice. However, it could also be Antigone because she went against Creon's law and burried her brother anyways. -Antigone hung herself

The Book of Margery Kempe

-autobiography -first person narrative -she was possessed by the demon *THEME: GOD TRIUMPH'S OVERALL*

Get Up and Bar the Door

-folk ballad -unknown author -ballad stanza *THEME: WORSE THINGS COULD HAVE HAPPEN, DON'T BE STUBBORN* -wife is cooking and husband is doing nothing -wind blows the door open because neither want to close the door -agreement: first to talk closes the door -sit in silence -2 thieves come and plan to shave husband's beard and molest wife -thieves are pudding -husband talks first to get rid of thieves -wife without hesitation tells him to close the door.

Sir Patrick Spens

-steady beat and rhythm - unknown author -ballad stanza -tragic ballad *THEME: KING CAN MAKE MISTAKES< KINGS OVER RULE PEOPLE* -King of Scotland wants his wife, who is in a different country -sends note to Sir Patrick Spens to get her -can sense bad storm coming -boat sinks and everyone on board dies

Nun's Priest Tales

-story within a story -mock heroic epic -fable -The priest is telling the story *Theme: "woman is man's joy and all his bliss", "women's counsel is very often comfortless", don't open your mouth when it should be shut. -Ironic because the Nun is super flirtatious

The Seafarer

-swept him back and forth in sorrow, fear, and pain -suffered in a hundred ships, in a thousand ports, and in himself -battled the elements and hunger -soul drowning in desolation -his soul called him to journey and seek foreign homes -felt no fear -only passion was the sea -3 fates: 1) illness 2) age 3) an enemy's sword -kingdoms and people lost everything -men are mourning the loss of their fellow men -royal family is dead and the dead feel no pain -honoring the dead by pouring gold on their grave(s) -even though they placed gold and treasures in the graves only their souls go to heaven -everyone fears God -God controls everything *Lyric Poem *Elegy

Sonnet

14 lined lyric poem in a set rhyme scheme written in iambic pentameter.

Opinion

A belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind; what one thinks; judgement.

Great search

A mythical wondering of an individual on a quest which involves monsters, enchantresses, and an experience with the world of the dead. Often the hero is trying to prove his man hood.

Folk Ballad

A narrative song written by an unknown author usually in a ballad stanza often with a tragic tone.

Tragic hero

A person not all bad or all good, who, by some error in judgement, causes his downfall.

Lyric Poem

A poem which expresses emotion

Fable

A simple tale about animals with a strong moral

Sermon

A speech given in church with a strong moral

Fact

A statement that can be proven.

Mock Heroic Epic

A story which treats a trivial matter on a grand scale, generally the humorous effect.

Romance

A tale of marvelous adventure following the chivalric code of honor including respect of women, piety, loyalty, and courage. Romances fit under the Matter of Britain (King Arthur), Matter of France (Charlemagne), and the Matter of Rome (mythology).

Attitude of Anglo-Saxon Period

Aggression, fighting, life is hard

Mythology

The accumulation of wisdom of a given society with themes that involve birth, life, and death

Unity of time

The action of the plot line of the play had to be completed with 24 hours.

Attitude of the Renaissance

The arts, individuality, emotion

Greek tragedy

The imitation of an action complete in itself with a beginning, middle, and end. Incidents in the action arouse pity and fear as the protagonist moves from happiness to misery due to his error in judgements (tragic flaw). The audience experiences a catharsis.

Autobiography

The life story of an individual told by that person.

Unity of action

The play had only one plot line.

Unity of place

The play had only one setting.

Catharsis

The purging of emotion which leaves the audience feeling cleansed and uplifted.

Essay

The written expression of its author's opinion.

Heroic Couplet

Two rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter.