Assignment #3 (Shakespeare)

1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.

The Great Vowel Shift was an important event between Middle English and modern English (1200 and 1600) where two highest long vowels became diphthongs.

2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.

American English
Australian English
British English
Canadian English
Caribbean English

3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?

Samuel Johnson,who was english and Noah Webster,who was American.

4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?

In total there are 12 countries.

5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English.as a:I. First language? II. Second Language?

There are over 508 million speakers around the globe.

6. When was Early Modern English spoken?

It was spoken since the Great Vowel Shift took place in England.

7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?

The standardisation of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period and is influenced by conventions predating the Great Vowel Shift.

8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?

It belongs to American English, Australian English, British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Hiberno-English, Indo-Pakistani English, New Zealand English, Philippine English, Singaporean English, and South African English.

9. Name 4 worldwide uses for Modern English.


Entertainment, Business, Technology, Education among others.

10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of Modern English around the world? Why?

Definitely, The World Powers such as The United Kingdom and nowdays The United States.


11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare's writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare's plays?

They are Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edward de Vere.

12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.

They considered to be multiple and weird similarities between Oxford's biography and numerous events in Shakespeare's plays. Oxfordians point to the acclaim of Oxford's contemporaries regarding his talent as a poet and a playwright, his reputation as a concealed poet, and his connections to London theatre and the contemporary playwrights of Shakespeare's day.

13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.

they are: Plays, Sonnets, Poems.

14. In which town was Shakespeare born?

He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon.


15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?

The Blackfriars indoor theatre is connected with shakespeare's play



16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:

To be or not to be, that is the question;Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep;No more; and by a sleep to say we endThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummationDevoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub....

it's like do it or not do it




17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.

Herman Melville, Henry Fuseli, William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, etc.

18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?

Shakespeare is included in the history plays Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; Henry VI, Part 1; Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; and Richard III.


19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?

Blank verse: ir is a kind of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme.

e.g. get some breath and milk when you go to the store.


Iambic pentameter: it used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words established in each line.

e.g. a horse a horse my kingdom for a horse!!



20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.

William Kempe, Richard Burbage, Henry Condell and John Heminges.


21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?

The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody dynastic civil wars between supporters of the rival houses of Lancaster and York, for the throne of England. (1455 - 1487)

22. Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?

Because the war of the roses has an important meaning for the people. they use them as symbols.

23. What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?

they were the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.

24. What prompted this civil war to begin?

The antagonism began with the overthrow of King Richard II by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, and among others prblemas such as aspiration to be mor more powerful.

25. How did the war end?

Edward reigned peacefully but after his death Edward IV’s usurped his trhone, Richard III. and finally, Henry Tudor killed Richard in battle of Bosworth in 1499 and becoming Henry VII.


26. Which Kings of England were participants in the Wars of theRoses?

King Edward IV
King Henry VI
Richard III
Edward V
Henry VII

Assignment #2 (Middle English)

Approximately when was Middle English spoken?

It was was spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and about 1470.

2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?

The major factor was the Norman invation and the influence of the French language in the English language.

3. Match the following Old English words with their Anglo-Norman equivalent:

A. Pig=pork

B. Cow= beef

C. Wood= forest

D. Sheep= mutton

E. House= mansion

F. Worthy= honourable

G. Bold = courageous

4. Compare & contrast the structure of nouns, pronouns and verbs, between Middle English & Modern English.

Middle English retains only two separate noun-ending patterns









whereas pronouns










and verbs













5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?


In middle English all the letters and vowels were pronounced because they pronunced all the words whereas in modern english some vowels aren't pronounced.


6. What is the Chancery Standard, and how did it come into effect?

It Was a written form of English used by government bureaucracy and for other official purposes from the late 14th century.


7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?


it was written by Geoffrey Chaucer



8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.

there are characters from all classes, upper and lower, represented,etc. Religious characters, such as a prioress, monk and a pardoner, travel alongside a shipman, miller, carpenter, reeve, squire, yeoman and a knight, and so on.


9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?

well, Because they have to pay their respect to the tomb of saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury cathedral.


10. It is thought that some of the stories in The Canterbury Tales originated in Italy. What was the name of the Italian book and who wrote it?

It's name is the decameron and the author was Giovanni Boccaccio.


11. The Canterbury Tales is considered an extremely important book, both in terms of English Literature & in the history of English writing. In your opinion, why is this book so important?

the importance of this book is because it's been one of the first book written in Middle English. therefore, it represents the real medieval life of that time.

12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:

a. A collection of German folk tales, similar to Grimm's Fairy Tales.

b. A collection of Japanese ghost stories, similar to Kwaidan.

c. A detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behaviour for all knights in Medieval Europe.

d. A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.

e. None of the above.

f. All of the above.


definitely, it's letter d because is a poem and besides Sir Gawain belongs to the Arthur's round table wich denotes the theme


13. Who is Sir Gawain?

He is a knight. He is a member of the King Arthur's Round Table.

14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?

The Green Knight offers an axe to any of them who is willing to cut his head off. On condition that if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day.

15. What is the similarity between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Irish tale of Cúchulainn?

The similarity between the tales is that Cuchulainn's antagonist feints three blows with the axe before letting his target depart without injury

16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?


The pentagram/pentangle is Gawain's shield wich is seen by many critics as significance of Gawain's perfection and power over evil.


17. How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?

The numbers are used to add symmetry and meaning to the poem.


18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain's neck wound?

it was a price wich sir Gawain had to pay for his failure. and the wound was precisely there, because it used to believe that that part of the body was connected to the spiritual and human thinking.


19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation, Sword of the Valiant?

It was Sean Connery.

20. In many ways this poem is, in the modern sense, a soap opera. Compare Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.

In one way or another loyalty has been presented in all of the soapoperas that have been broacasted on TV.

Assignment #1 (Beowulf/Old English)

1. When was Old English spoken?

Old English was spoken between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.


2. Name 4 language groups which influenced the development of Old English.


- North Germanic. the germanic origins was the most important because it influenced with vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure.

- Latin influenc,It was a lingua franca at that time, besides the christiany influence the latin into the english language.

- Norse Influence. People say this is the second major influence due to the viking invations wich introduced the Scandinavian words.

- Celtic Influence. No less important, they say it could have influenced in the old english syntax.




3. In the Phonology section, name 5 phonetical differences between Old English & Modern English.

1.[dʒ] is an allophone of /j/ occurring after /n/ and when geminated

* For example, senġan "to singe" is [sendʒɑn] < /senjɑn/ < *sangjan

2.# [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ occurring before /k/ and /ɡ/

* For example, hring "ring" is [hriŋɡ]; [ŋ] did not occur alone word-finally in Old English as it does in Modern English.



3.v, ð, z] are allophones of /f, θ, s/ respectively, occurring between vowels or voiced consonants.

* For example, stafas "letters" is [stɑvɑs]

4.The sequences /hw hl hn hr/ were realized as [ʍ l̥ n̥ r̥].

5. ɣ] is an allophone of /ɡ/ occurring after a vowel or liquid. Historically, [ɣ] is older, and originally appeared in word-initial position

For example, dagas "days" is [dɑɣɑs] and burgum "castles (dative)" is [burɣum]




4. Are there any similarites between Old English and Modern English? Name them.

yes,they can be Vowels, dipthongs and monophtongs




5. In the Orthography section, enlarge the picture of the runic alphabet. How many letters (runes) are there in this alphabet?

In all there are 34 runes.


6. Which epic poem was originally written in Old English?

one example could be beowulf, an anonymous epic poem.



7. In the See Also section, click on: Beowulf. Appoximately when was Beowulf written?

It is suppose to be written between the 8th to the early 11th century.


8. Even though Beowulf was written in England, the story takes place in which countries?

the story takes place in dinamark wich we can see where the kingdom is located and also the origin of beowulf wich is sweeden.


9. In the poem, which 3 antagonists does Beowulf battle or fight against?


the first one could be the battle between beowulf against Grendel.

the second could be where grendel's mother killed beowulf's warriors.

the third one is when beowulf fighted against his own son "the dragon"


10. What happens to Beowulf at the end of the story?

Beowulf had a serious wound because of the fight against the dragon. In the end he died and he was buried in a ship full of tresures by the sea.


11. Who was the author of Beowulf?

Beowulf´s authorship is unknown.


12. What were the titles and the dates of the two film versions of Beowulf?

1. Tittle Beowulf¨ realased on April 1sth of 1999.

2. Tittle Beowulf¨ realased on November 16th of 2007.