Brit Lit Final
In her visions, Margery Kempe is not merely a passive observer of biblical events, people, and saints but imagines herself interacting with them as part of what we might call a virtual community.
True
In pre-1800 Britain, reading was often a group activity.
True
Medieval scribes, like modern texters, often used abbreviations and other creative ways to condense their ideas.
True
People of African descent had been present in England since Roman times.
True
Rarely (arguably, never) does Marie de France write of a happy marriage.
True
The Black Death provided significant economic opportunities for the survivors, leading to greater social mobility.
True
The famous school of Canterbury was founded by scholars from Turkey and North Africa.
True
The Old Irish poem "Pangur Ban" celebrates the companionship of a scholar and
their cat
According to Genesis, who tempts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?
the serpet
What, according to the Old English Maxims, are the duties of a king and queen?
A king should fight well, a queen should speak well, and both should give gifts.
When Augustine first met Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, what puzzled him about Ambrose's reading?
Ambrose was reading silently, without moving his lips.
How does Geoffrey of Monmouth represent Morgan le Fay?
As a seductive sorcerer in league with the devil.
What best describes Chaucer's experience of the world:
As a soldier or diplomat, he travelled to Italy and France; he also spent time in Navarre, where Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived together amicably.
How does Geoffrey of Monmouth represent King Arthur?
As an ambitious and (mostly) successful conqueror.
How does the poem we know as "The Ruin" imagined the ruin before it was destroyed? Check all that apply.
As having baths As having beautifully decorated buildings. As being full of joyful people. As being full of treasure.
What could the Rood do--but does not, or dares not, do?
Beg the Warrior's enemies for mercy.
The character in Beowulf that most nearly resembles the "wise person" praised in the Old English elegy now known as "The Wanderer" is
Beowulf
Chaucer has been adapted in the twenty-first century to indict racism and xenophobia and to advocate for social justice.
True
What do Beowulf and Wealhtheow have in common?
Both are "peace-weavers," tactful and skilled with words.
What does the manuscript preserving the elegy known as "The Ruin" have in common with the buildings described in the elegy?
Both are badly damaged.
What does the elegy we know as "The Wanderer" have in common with Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (Check all that apply.)
Both employ the literary topos of "ubi sunt." Both reflect on the losses incurred through war.
In Chrétien de Troyes's Knight of the Cart, how does Guenivere demand that Lancelot demonstrate his devotion to her?
By doing his worst at a tournament.
The Beowulf manuscript includes the legend of this saint, who was supposed be the member of a race of men with dog's heads.
Christopher
The long list of "do nots" found in medieval guides for anchoresses suggest that their authors worry about anchoresses doing these things (check all that apply):
Conducting business Gossiping Keeping other people's property (i.e., using their anchorhold like a modern safety deposit box) Teaching children
According to the Prologue of Beowulf, what makes a "good king"?
Conquest
This early Lindisfarne monk was admired as a saint in his day and as a conservationist in ours. The nickname for eider ducks is a tribute to him.
Cuthbert
Which of the following bits of information does the original cover of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders lack?
Daniel Defoe
What does the speaker of the poem we know as "The Wander" imagine the gray wolf, the bird, and the tearful warrior doing?
Disposing of the remains of slain warriors.
Chaucer tells us that the Wife of Bath visits all of the following cities EXCEPT the following:
Dublin
Which of the following best describes the political situation in seventh-century England?
The island was divided into roughly seven autonomous kingdoms.
Which languages were spoken in England following the Norman Conquest (check all that apply):
English Latin French
All people in the Middle Ages were obsessed with religion, which dictated all aspects of their lives.
False
As the story of Dorothea of Montau indicates, medieval women always imagined Jesus as a benevolent and kind partner.
False
Authors of the eighteenth century never published their work anonymously.
False
During the Middle Ages, wives could not own property separately from their husbands.
False
Graffiti, comics, fan fictions, coffee houses, and literary souvenirs did not exist before 1800.
False
It's safe to assume that all anonymous literature composed in Britain before 1800 was composed by men.
False
Margery Kempe idealizes herself in her Book, glossing over her failings and vulnerabilities and suppressing any incident that might suggest that she was a less-than-perfect holy woman.
False
Medieval Christians never thought of God as female.
False
Medieval romances invariably idealize heterosexual love.
False
Shakespeare wrote in Old English.
False
The eleventh-century Mappula Mundi, the earliest surviving map that includes the British Isles, represents England and Ireland at its center, surrounded by waters infested by sea-monsters. This map attests to the insularity of the early British and their fear of whatever lies beyond their limited world.
False
The troubadours and Andreas Capellanus celebrated a love that was wholly platonic. Sex does not enter the picture.
False
Unlike our social media posts, letters in pre-1800 Britain were strictly private.
False
We can be confident that the author of Beowulf was a white Anglo-Saxon male, probably a warrior, who composed the poem during the eighth or ninth century.
False
What could the Rood do--but does not, or dares not, do?
Fight back against the Warrior's enemies.
How are Unferth and Grendel related?
Grendel is descended from Cain, who killed his brother, and Unferth killed his brothers.
Which of the following statements apply to Milton (check all correct answers):
He favored liberal divorce laws for men. He championed freedom of the press. He supported the Protectorate.
How did Chaucer's Clerk finance his education?
He prayed for the sponsors who paid his expenses.
Why does Lancelot wear Elaine's sleeve in the tournament?
He thinks it will be a good disguise because he's never before worn a woman's token.
What mission does Satan volunteer for at the end of the Council in Hell?
He volunteers to undertake the dangerous mission to earth to corrupt God's latest creation.
What about Hrothgar's behavior after Grendel's slaying bothers Wealhtheow?
He's so taken with Beowulf that he's talking about making him his heir.
What does the speaker of the poem we know as "The Wanderer" reveal about his circumstances.
His lord and friends are dead.
What best describes Chaucer's experience of women?
His wife had a successful career of her own. He knew wealthy businesswomen, guildswomen, and property owners.
Where was Beowulf set?
In what is now Scandinavia.
What fate awaits Beowulf's people following his death?
Invasion and annihilation.
What was the original title of Beowulf, that is, the title we see at the beginning of the only surviving manuscript (ca. 1000)?
It had no title.
What is the significance of the 1346 Siege of Caffa in the history of warfare?
It's the first recorded instance of biological warfare.
Which of the following languages was the lingua franca of Western Europe, that is, the language that could be understood and spoken by all educated people?
Latin
What best describes English as a literary language at the time Chaucer was writing?
More literature was being composed in English, though French remained the language of preference for the fashionable elites; moreover, given the pace of language change and the enormous dialectical variation the author who wrote in English risked falling into obscurity.
What do we call the earliest form of the English language?
Old English
Scholars believe that the poet of the elegy now known as "The Ruin" was inspired by
Roman bath houses, perhaps those that can be seen today in Bath, England.
What are the TWO morals of the poem we know as "The Wanderer"?
Seek comfort from God. Think before you speak or act.
What did Abbess Leoba, professor extraordinaire, insist was essential to effective study?
Self-care, including plenty of sleep.
In troubadour lyrics what best describes the relationship between the male author and the female beloved:
She is in the position of power; he is her subordinate.
Who correctly guesses why Lancelot wears Elaine's sleeve?
Sir Bors
What longstanding assumptions about early medieval England are scholars today actively challenging? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
That it was uniform and uncritical in its Christianity. That it was solely white. That it was disconnected from the wider world.
What major historical event does the "Bayeux Tapestry" commemorate?
The Norman Conquest.
The first eighteen lines of the Canterbury Tales describe
The coming of spring and the desire of people who've been cooped up all winter to get out and go places. to set out on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.
How at the end of the play of Abraham and Isaac has Isaac's relationship with his father changed as a result of his near-death experience?
The dramatist shows that Isaac loves his father deeply but no longer fully trusts him; for example, he fears that his father may strike him down when he's not looking.
What story will win the storytelling contest?
The story that is the most pious and moral.
To what does King Edwin's advisor compare life on earth?
The swift flight of a sparrow through the king's hall.
What do the Clerk and Wife of Bath have in common?
They both tell stories of marital abuse--the Clerk in his Tale and the Wife in her Prologue.
How did Marie de France's "fans" change Lanval when they "translated" it into Middle English?
They changed the ending, making it clear that Lanval's mistress forgives him.
Which of the following statements best describes Chaucer's pilgrims:
They represent a cross-section of late-fourteenth-century society, including professionals, members of religious orders, craftspeople, and landowners.
How does Margery Kempe most frequently refer to herself in her Book?
This creature
Who was the "holy blissful martyr" the the pilgrims were seeking?
Thomas Becket
What ruined the ruins in the elegy that modern scholars have entitled "The Ruin"?
War
What ultimately destroys Heorot?
War
In its original Old English language (NOT in the modern English translation), with what word does the Old English poem known as "The Ruin" begin?
Wondrous
Medieval anchoresses could own cattle and keep pet cats. According to one medieval English author who addresses the subject, which type of animal was more appropriate for an anchoress:
a cat
To what does Julian of Norwich compare creation?
a hazelnut
Old English elegies
are about loss and survival.
How does Geoffrey of Monmouth represent Merlin?
as an engineer, a prophet, and later a king who suffered from mental illness.
Old English elegies deal with the loss of (check all that apply):
buildings lifestyles relationships peoples
The Bayeux Tapestry is often considered an early example of this genre:
comic
Who put on medieval mystery plays?
craft guilds
How many birds has the Lindisfarne cat devoured?
eight
Wealhtheow (oh so tactfully) insinuates that Beowulf will be sorry should he attempt to invade because he will have to deal with
her
This design can be found in multiple art forms in the early Middle Ages--from illuminated manuscripts to belt buckles:
interlacing
Old English scholar Michael Lapidge has observed that the vagueness, the elusiveness, of the Old English poet's description of Grendel makes the monster seem rather like a
nightmare
A book's blurb, copyright, author bio, and footnotes are part of its
paratext
Julian likens the drops of Christ's blood that fall from his brow during the Crucifixion to
raindrops and herring scales
The poet of Elegy D calls their poem a giedd, an Old English word whose modern English equivalent is
riddle, poem, or story
Before he faces Grendel's mother, what does Beowulf ask of Hrothgar?
that he look after his followers should he not return from the encounter.
Medieval English guidebooks for anchoresses encouraged their readers (check all that apply):
to read, eagerly and long. to meditate and pray to take care of themselves by wearing season-appropriate clothes and getting enough sleep
Andreas Capellanus concludes his Art of Courtly Love by urging the friend, Walter, to whom he addressed the tract:
to reject worldly love and avoid women like the plague.
The elegy we know as "The Wanderer" vividly imagines the destruction wrought by
war
Books in early medieval England were
written by hands on the (laboriously prepared) skins of animals.
