English Literature GRE Study Guide
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General
Author Index
Literary Terms
Literary Theory
World Literature
Grammar
Time Periods
1. Middle Ages
2. 16th Century
3. Early 17th Century
4. Restoration
5. 18th C: Pope & Swift
6. 18th C: Enlightenment

7. Early Romantic

8. Middle Romantic
9. Late Romantic
10. Early British Victorian
11.Transcendentalism
12. Realism
13. British Modernism
14. American Modernism
15. British Postmodernism
16. Amer. Postmodernism

 

Middle Ages

[Authors][Middle Ages Quiz]

 

Authors

Anonymous author of Beowulf

Anonymous author of Everyman

Anonymous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Geoffrey Chaucer

William Langland

Sir Thomas Malory

The Venerable Bede

 


Middle Ages Quiz

1. The passage below is an example of

Old English
Middle English
Early Modern English
It could be any of the above.

2. Which of the following statements are true?

Old English is not dependent upon S (subject), V (verb), O (object) or "SVO" word order in the way that Modern English is. Instead Old English relies on several distinct cases: the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and instrumental.
Old English does not refer to older varieties of Modern English, such as are found in Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Linguists call the English used by Shakespeare "Early Modern English." Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) refers to the English was used from the mid-fifth century to the mid-twelfth century.
Middle English refers to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion in 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century. With its simplified case-ending system, Middle English is closer to modern English than its pre-Conquest equivalent.
All of the above

3. "Now the news. Night raids on
Five cities. Fires started.
Pressure applied by pincer movement
In threatening thrust. Third Division
Enlarges beachhead. Lucky charm
Saves sniper. Sabotage hinted
In steel-mill stoppage. . . ."

The verse form used in the above excerpt from a poem by Auden is also used in which of the following works?

"Beowulf"
"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
"Piers Plowman"
All of the above

4. Which of the following characters could be considered an "everyman" type?

A. Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby)
B. Achilleus (The Iliad)
C. Lemuel Gulliver (Gulliver's Travels)
A & C

5. Which of the following are examples of morality plays?

A. The Castle of Perseverance
B. Everyman
C. Anthony and Cleopatra
A & B

6. Which of the following works reference the battle at Troy?

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Iliad & The Aeneid
Troilus and Criseyde
All of the Above

7. The story of Griselda has been told by Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Chaucer. Which of the Canterbury Tales involves Griselda?

The Knight's Tale
The Clerk's Tale
The Prioress' Prologue and Tale
All of the Above

8. Which of these works might be considered part of the Piers Plowsman Tradition?

Edmund Spenser's The Shepheardes Calendar
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene
The Pilgrim's Tale
All of the Above

9. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur tells the story of King Arthur. Which of these works alludes to this tradition?

Piers Plowsman
Canterbury Tales,The Squire's Tale
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
all of the above

10. What work is the following excerpt from?

Canterbury Tales, Prologue
Le Morte d'Arthur
Piers Plowsman
Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath



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Format and code for quiz "borrowed" from Hardy Hansen's "Classical Origins of Western Culture" website

Code originally from Timothy Shortell's Sociology 19 website (2/99)

academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu

   

©2006 Laura Arnold LeibmanDept. of EnglishReed College IntroductionPrint ResourcesPractice ExamsOnline ResourcesWho Made This Page?