Introduction to the Middle Ages and Beowulf

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  1. Beowulf was probably composed in:
    About the time of Christ, 1st century A.D.
    The early 5th century A.D.
    The first half of the 8th century A.D.
  2. The principal characters of Beowulf are:
    Normans, from the northern part of France
    Not Englishmen at all but Danes and Geats (from Denmark and Sweden, respectively)
    Englishmen, often called the Celtish, who were at that time living in the western part of the island
  3. The events of Beowulf occur:
    Just after initial invasion of England by Germanic tribes, around 450 A.D.
    Just after the initial invasion of the Romans about 1st century A.D.
    Just after the Norman Conquest, in 1066 A.D.
  4. The Beowulf poet would recite the epic poem in the following way:
    Using a harp, he would sing it entirely from memory.
    Using a harp, he would sing it, making it up as he went along.
    Banging on a drum, he would speak it entirely from memory.
    Accompanying himself on harp, he would read it from a parchment copy.
  5. The Old English language we find in Beowulf is of the same stock that gives us these modern day languages:
    French, German, English
    German, Scandinavian, English
    Italian, Spanish, French
  6. Beowulf himself is a
    Dane
    Geat
    Norman-French
  7. Beowulf comes from
    Denmark
    England
    Sweden
  8. The name of the mead hall attacked by the monster is
    Hrothgar
    Heorot
    Unferth
  9. The chief of this mead hall is:
    Hrothgar
    Heorot
    Unferth
  10. Beowulf opens with a review of ancestry. Whose ancestry is it?
    Hrothgar's
    Beowulf's
    Arthur's
  11. Grendel is said to be descended from
    Cain
    Satan
    Arthur
  12. The warrior who verbally attacks Beowulf for trying a stupid and dangerous exploit and losing his dare is:
    Unferth
    Hrothgar
    Wiglaf
    Heorot
  13. To fight the second monster, someone gives Beowulf something:
    Wiglaf gives him a shield named Hrunting.
    Hrothgar gives him a sword named Hrunting.
    Unferth gives him a sword named Hrunting.
  14. The second monster lives:
    In a mountain cave
    At the bottom of a lake or pool
    In the ocean
  15. The middle ages is traditionally considered to be that historical period from:
    Around the fall of the Roman empire to the Renaissance
    Around the birth of Christ to the fall of the Roman Empire
    Around the beginning of the Roman Empire to its fall
  16. For English literature, the middle ages extends from:
    From about the time the Romans left the British Isles until 7th century A.D.
    Around the end of the 7th century A.D. to the beginning of the 16th century
    From the departure of the Romans until the Norman invasion
  17. 4. Between the first and fifth centuries, England was ruled by:
    The Roman Empire
    King Arthur
    Tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
    Norman-French
  18. Anglo-Saxon poetry uses another poetic technique called the kenning which involves:
    Using a part of something to refer to the whole thing, such as "keel" to refer to a ship
    Ending poetic lines with words that have the same vowel sound
    Ending poetic lines with words that have the same combination of vowel and consonant
    Creating a compound of two words that make a metaphor, for example, "whaleroad" to refer to sea
    Ironic understatement, for example, "he cared not for battle" when actually the warrior was scared to death and ran
  19. The key historical event that separates the Old English period from the Middle English period is:
    The Anglo-Saxon invasions of the fifth century (A.D.)
    The Normal Conquest in 1066 A.D.
    The coming of St. Augustine to England in 597 A.D.
  20. One of the most important poetic techniques in Old English is:
    Alliteration (beginning several words with the same sound such "foemen fled")
    Rhyme (words at the end of lines ending with the same vowels and consonants)

   

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