I.
Fill in each blank.
1. The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations
and the establishing of the foundations of _______. capitalism
2. Thomas More wrote his famous prose work “__________”. Utopia
3. In Elizabeth Period, _________ wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which
made him one of the best essayists in English literature. Francis Bacon
4. ___________ is often referred to as “the poet’s poet”. Edmund Spencer
5. Spencer is generally regarded as the greatest nondramatic poet of the
Elizabethan Age. His fame is chiefly based on his masterpiece
“__________________________”. The Faerie Queene
6. “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” is the beginning line of a
sonnet written by ____________. William Shakespeare
7. In the Elizabethan Age, _______________________ the greatest playwright
of England. William Shakespeare
8. In Elizabethan Period, _________________ wrote many excellent essays,
such as “Of Studies”. Francis Bacon
9. __________ wrote the masterpiece “The Faerie Queene”. Edmund Spencer
10. “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, and “_________________”are generally
regarded as Shakespeare’s four great tragedies. Macbeth
11. _______________ was the most gifted of the university wits. He Produced in
all six plays and several poems. Christopher Marlowe
12. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is one of ______________’s best
known sonnets. William Shakespeare
13. “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” is one of _________________’s best
plays. Christopher Marlowe
14. “Of Youth and Age” is one of the essays written by ________. Francis Bacon
II.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Choose one or more than one suitable answers for each statement.
____________________ was the first to introduce the sonnet into English
literature.
a. Thomas Wyatt
b. William Shakespeare
c. Philip Sidney
d. Thomas Campion
The epoch of Renaissance witnessed a particular development of English
drama. It was __________ who made blank verse the principal vehicle of
expression in drama.
a. Christopher Marlowe
b. Thomas Loge
c. Edmund Spencer
d. Thomas more
Great popularity was won by John Lyly’s prose romance ___________ which
gave rise to the term “euphuism”, designating an affected style of court
speech.
a. Cymbeline
b. Venus and Adonis
c. Lucrece
d. Euphues
th
At the beginning of the 16 century the outstanding humanist ________
wrote his Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the
people ‘s suffering and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.
a. Thomas More
b. Thomas Marlowe
c. Francis Bacon
d. William Shakespeare
5. Absolute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of Queen
______.
a. Mary
b. Elizabeth
c. William
d. Victoria
6. English Renaissance Period was an age of __________________.
a. prose and novel
b. poetry and drama
c. essays and journals
d. ballads and songs
7. The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is
drama. Thus appeared a group of excellent dramatists. Mainly they are
__________.
a. John Lyly
b. Thomas Kyd
c. George Peele
d. Christopher Marlowe
e. William Shakespeare
8. Elizabethan poetry is remarkable. England then became “a nest of singing
birds” . The famous poets of that period were _______________.
a. Thomas Wytt
b. Henry Howard
c. Philip Sidney
d. Edmund Spencer
9. English Renaissance Period was an age of prose, but Thomas More wrote his
famous prose work _______________.
a. Utopia
b. Robinson Crusoe
c. Gulliver’s Travels
d. Of Studies
10. Sidney is well known as a poet and a critic of poetry. He is known mainly for
his three principle works. They are _____________.
a. Arcadia
b. Astrophel and Stella
c. Apology for poetry
d. Utopia
11. “Liberty, fraternity and equality” were first uttered in the book _________.
a. The Shepherd’s Calendar
b. Utopia
c. The Rights of Man
d. The Declaration of Independence
12. From the following, choose the one which is not Francis Bacon’s work.
a. The advancement of Learning
b. The New Instrument
c. Essays
d. The New Atlantics
e. Venus and Adonis
13. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” This is the beginning line of one of
Shakespeare’s ___________.
a. songs
b. plays
c. comedies
d. sonnets
14. Choose the “University Wits” from the following playwrights.
a. John Lyly
b. Robert Greene
c. Shakespeare
d. Christopher Marlowe
15. Marlowe’s best plays include ______________.
a. Tamburlaine the Great
b. The Jew of Malta
c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
d. Cymbeline
16. Which are Ben Jonson’s main comedies?
a. Every Man in His Humor
b. Volpone
c. The Alchemist
d. The Silent Woman
e. The Merchant of Venice
f. the Winter’s Tale
17. Which play is not a comedy?
a. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
b. The Merchant of Venice
c. Twelfth Night
d. Romeo and Juliet
e. As You Like It
18. Which historical plays are written by Shakespeare?
a. Henry VI
b. Henry IV
c. Richard III
d. Henry V
e. Richard II
f. Charles I
g. Otto the Great
III. Answer the following questions.
19. How much do you know about English Renaissance?
20. English renaissance are usually divided into three periods. What are they?
21. How much do you know about More’s Utopia?
22. What is the writing style of Bacon’s essays?
23. When were Shakespeare’s main tragedies written? What did he write about in
his tragedies?
24. What is the theme of “Hamlet”?
25. What features do Shakespeare’s plays possess?
Keys to the questions
Q19: How much do you know about English Renaissance?
1. The Renaissance originated in north Italy in the 14th century, and spread to
other countries.
2. It revived the study of Roman and Greek classics and marked the beginning
of bourgeois revolution.
3. The English Renaissance encouraged the Reformation of the Church, and
Protestantism was established.
4. In the renaissance period, humanists emphasized the capacities of the human
mind and the achievements of human culture, in contrast to the medieval
emphasis on God and contempt for the things of this world.
Q20: English renaissance are usually divided into three periods. What are they?
English Renaissance is usually divided into three periods: 1516-1578, the
beginning, 1578-1625, the flowering under queen Elizabeth, 1625-1660.
the epilogue.
Q21: How much do you know about More’s Utopia?
“Utopia” is More’s masterpiece, written in the form of a conversation between
More and a returned sailor. It is divided into two books: book one is a picture
of contemporary England. Book two offers a picture of an ideal society. The
name of Utopia comes from two Greek words meaning “no place”.
Q22: What is the writing style of Bacon’s essays?
Clearness, brevity and force of expression are peculiar to Bacon’s essays. His
sentences are short, pointed, incisive and often of balanced structure. Or
simply we can say directness, terseness and forcefulness.
Q23: When were Shakespeare’s main tragedies written? What did he write about in
his tragedies?
Shakespeare’s main tragedies were written during the period of gloom and
depression from 1600 to 1607. His main tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King
Lear, and Macbeth. The tragedies express a profound dissatisfaction with life.
They show the struggle and conflicts between good and evil of the time,
between justice and injustice. Shakespeare condemns the dark and evil
society in the tragedies.
Q24: What is the theme of “Hamlet”?
The conflicts between good and evil, justice and injustice. Hamlet is made a
hero of the Renaissance period and the representative of humanism.
Q25: What features do Shakespeare’s plays possess?
1. Shakespeare is a realist. His plays are mirrors of his age, reflecting the
major contradictions of that time.
2. Shakespeare depicts the life and death struggle between the humanists and
rulers.
3. The stories in his plays often took place in other countries or in the past
instead of in England or in his own age.
4. Shakespeare’s main characters are depicted in typical situations. They are
typical characters, revealed in their conflicts with their surroundings.
5. Shakespeare’s dramatic form fits the content of his plays very well, a good
combination of majestic and funny, of poetic and prosaic, of tragic and
comic.
6. Shakespeare was a greater master of English language. The language of
each character fits his position in society and reveals the peculiarities of
the character.
7. Shakespeare is also a great poet, skilled in many poetic forms.
8. Each of Shakespeare’s plays consists of three parts:
------ Dialogues or soliloquies in prose
------ dialogues or soliloquies in blank verse
------ lyrics, songs, dirges, madrigals, etc.