Old English
Beowulf was written by this author.
Who is "anonymous"?
This duke led the Norman invasion of England in 1066.
Who is William, the Duke of Normandy?
Geoffrey Chaucer's works were written in this type of English, which evolved from Old English after the Norman Invasion resulted in contact between French and Old English in Britain.
What is Middle English?
This playwright was arguably the most influential figure of the Early Modern Period in England.
Who was Shakespeare?
The Neoclassical Period covers these years.
What are 1660-1800?
Beowulf, which an example of this type of poem, is a long narrative that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society.
What is an "epic" poem?
This work of English literature consists of 24 stories, each told by a different character.
What is The Canterbury Tales?
This work of English literature consists of 24 stories, each told by a different character.
What is The Canterbury Tales?
Shakespeare's influence on the English language can still be felt today, largely through this.
What are the idioms and words he invented?
This literary technique was important during the Neoclassical period, and served to educate the public through humour.
What is "satire"?
This literary technique, which involves repeating stressed consonant sounds at the beginning of a succession of words, is found throughout Anglo-Saxon poetry.
What is "alliteration"?
This religious concept of hierarchy was implemented in England by William the Conqueror.
What is feudalism?
The Hundred Years' War, between these two countries, gave rise to sentiments of nationalism on both sides.
What are France and England?
These syllables in English have a louder sound; a longer duration; a higher pitch, and greater clarity.
What are stressed syllables?
This work, which was published in 1755, is representative of the Neoclassical period and people's increasing desire to speak English well.
What is Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language?
This language arose from contact between the languages spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who settled in the British Isles in the 5th century.
What is Anglo-Saxon / Old English?
This code of behaviour for knights shaped the literature of the Middle English period.
What is "chivalry"?
This significant change in the English language is thought to be a result of The Hundred Years' War and the people's desire to distinguish their language from that of the French.
What is The Great Vowel Shift (GVS)?
This work, published in England in 1611 and spread throughout the world as Britain expanded its empire, unified English-speaking Protestant Christians around the world through shared language and phrasing.
What is "The King James Version of The Bible"?
These three phenomena had a significant impact on the evolution of the English language in the late modern period, mainly because they resulted in increased language contact between English and other languages, leading to the addition of new vocabulary and idioms.
What are "colonialism"; "the industrial revolution", and "scientific advancements"?
The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes heralded from this part of Europe and settled in the British Isles around the 5th century.
What are modern-day Germany and Denmark.
This phenomenon had the greatest influence on the shift from Old English to Middle English.
What is "language contact"?
The shift from Middle English to Modern English was helped along by The Great Vowel Shift (GVS) and by the invention of this machine.
What is the printing press?
Shakespeare is known for writing in this type of poetic meter.
What is "iambic pentameter"?
Thomas Jefferson was a proponent of bringing this language back to formal education in America to help Americans develop a sense of linguistic identity distinct from the English of the Brits.
What is "Anglo-Saxon"?