English Literature Final Study Guide
Matching:
Couplet
Iambic Pentameter
Octave
Petrarchan
Sestet
Shakespearan
Ballad
Elegy
Epic
Lyric
Refrain
Carpe Diem
Humanism
In Medias Res
Metaphysical
Paradox
Banquo
Duncan
Fleance
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth
Macduff
Author Unknown
William Blake
Geoffrey Chaucer
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Shakespeare
Edmund Spenser
Anglo-Saxons
1. Who was Great Britain invaded by?
2. How was the cultural heritage of the U.S. influenced by Britain?
3. What were the characteristics of Celtic religion?
4. Why did Anglo-Saxon poets have an honored position in their society?
5. What dominated Anglo-Saxon life?
6. What is the time frame for this period?
7. What was the single greatest literary work of this period?
Beowulf
8. What is the central issue in Beowulf?
9. What is the name of the monster that attacks Hrothgar’s hall?
10. Who is the only brave warrior to remain at Beowulf’s side in the final battle?
The Middle Ages
11. What is the time frame for this period?
12. What is the name of the social system for medieval England?
13. What was the most positive effect of the medieval church?
14. What was the ultimate result of the Black Death?
Ballads
15. Why do ballads contain refrains?
16. Where did ballads of the 14th and 15th Centuries come from?
17. What were the most common ballad themes?
The Canterbury Tales
18. Who is “the father of English poetry”?
19. Which device was Chaucer known for using in his texts?
20. Where were the Canterbury pilgrims traveling to?
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
21. Why is this texts considered a romance?
22. Courtly love, one aspect of chivalry, was considered…?
The Renaissance
23. What is the time frame for this period?
24. What is considered to be the general intellectual environment for this time period?
25. Why did the invention of the printing press have such a significant impact?
26. Who was responsible for beginning the Reformation?
27. Which monarch was responsible for England’s break from the Catholic Church?
28. Why is it ironic that Elizabeth I became such a powerful ruther?
Macbeth
29. What was Macbeth’s title at the beginning of the play?
30. Whom did Duncan name as his successor?
31. The witches told Macbeth that he would be…
32. The witches told Banquo that he would be…
33. Whom did Macbeth hire murderers to kill?
34. Whom did Lady Macbeth encourage Macbeth to kill?
35. What upset Macbeth at the banquet?
36. As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth destroyed the lives of others, what happened to their lives?
37. What cruel action did Macbeth order to ensure his status?
38. Who committed suicide after loss of spirit and sanity?
39. What is the main theme of Macbeth?
40. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no
more” These lines reflect Macbeth’s?
41. “Fair is foul and foul is fair” Hover through the fog and filthy air.” The witches mean…
42. “Naught’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content. ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than
by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.” Lady Macbeth meant…
43. “There’s blood upon thy face.” “Tis Banquo’s then.” “’Tis better thee without than he within.” Macbeth meant…
44. “I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” Macbeth
meant…
45. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One—two—why Then ‘tis time to do’t.” These lines refer to…
The Romantic Period
46. To what does the term “Romantic” apply?
47. What did the Romantic poets reveal through their lyric poetry?
48. What is nature to Romantic poets?
Reading:
A passage from Frankenstein.
A passage from Macbeth.
A poem from the Victorian Period.