History and Terms
This series of Holy Wars that lasted nearly 200 years was originally declared by the Pope, who sought control of biblical holy lands.
What are the Crusades?
In Beowulf, what two creatures does the titular hero defeat after he kills Grendel?
Wha are Grendel's mother and a dragon?
In the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, this character comes up with the contest that prompts the others to tell their story during their pilgrimage journey.
Who is the Host?
English Renaissance drama is written in both this, which flows like a paragraph, and verse, which has a meter.
What is prose?
Shakespeare was born in this town in Warwickshire, England.
What is Stratford-upon-Avon?
This group of people came to occupy England by defeating the Anglo-Saxons in the eleventh century.
Who were the Normans?
Beowulf travels to lend his strength to this man in his people's exhausting fight against Grendel who keeps invading their village.
Who is Hrothgar?
In "The Miller's Tale," Alisoun, the young wife of the carpenter John, is courted by the student Nicholas and this man, a parish clerk.
Who is Absolon?
These are the three major eras of the English language.
What are old, middle, and modern English?
When Ophelia meets with Hamlet to return his remembrances, Hamlet famously tells her to "Get thee to a" this.
What is a nunnery?
In 1066, William the Conquerer defeated the English at the Battle of this, marking the beginning of a fortified England with a centralized government and church.
What is Hastings?
Literature in Old English emerged in this period, so named because of the lack of available historical records chronicling it, and artifacts and art that reveal details about it.
What are the Dark Ages?
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain finally accepts this as a favor from Lady Bertilak after she tests his virtue over several days.
What is a green garter/belt/scarf?
The Canterbury Tales features a General Prologue and this many tales.
What is 24?
Hamlet accidentally kills this character, who is hiding behind some curtains, because he mistakes him for his real target, King Claudius.
Who is Polonius?
These two English monarchs reigned during the period known as the English literary Renaissance.
Who are Queen Elizabeth I (Tudor) and James I/James VI (Stuart)?
The anonymous poet who wrote Beowulf is sometimes known as the this poet because of another poem attributed to him.
What is the Pearl Poet?
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an example of an Arthurian this, or a tale that highlights men's heroic deeds, accepted codes of chivalry, and courtly love.
What is romance?
Shakespeare wrote in this era of the English language.
What is modern English?
The spectators who paid a penny to stand in front of the stage in the area know as the pit during performances at London's outdoor theaters in the early modern era were known as this.
What are the groundlings?
"The Miller's Tale" is an example of this kind of tale in verse, which is a short, bawdy, comical story with French roots.
What os a fabliaux?
Beowulf is considered part of the English canon because the story is only found in one manuscript known as the this.
What is the Nowell Codex?
The writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight often uses this embellishment that consists of one, two-syllable line followed by short, rhythmic lines to end stanzas in the poem.
What is a bob and wheel?
The invention of this in 1439 by Johannes Gutenberg helped to standardize English during the Medieval period.
What is the printing press?
In the graveyard scene in Act V, Hamlet comes across the skull of this man, a court jester he knew in his youth.
Who is Yorick?