6th Grade LA Simplified Study Guide
Students were given a much longer Powerpoint handout two weeks ago, which we have used in
class as we review the many texts, genres, characters examined this year. Students have past
tests, notes, and other handouts that can also help them prepare for a final. They should have a
binder with all of the grammar work, which will be useful as well in reminding them of what
they’ve learned. Refreshing their memories on the poems they memorized is also an excellent
use of review time.
Dates to Know
499: Beginning of Anglo-Saxon period in England
597: Augustine converts England to Christianity
778: Battle of Roncevaux
1066: Battle of Hastings; beginning of medieval period in England
1099: end of 1st Crusade
1485: end of medieval period in England
Literary Terms
Kenning: Anglo-Saxon metaphor device, using two or more words (often hyphenated) in place
of a more concrete single-word noun.
Frame Narrative: a story within a story, in which individual stories are “framed” by another
story that introduces the act of storytelling (e.g., Canterbury Tales, 1001 Arabian Nights)
Legend: A traditional historical tale popularly regarded as true but usually containing a mixture
of fact and fiction, often containing exaggeration.
Myth: A myth is a traditional tale of deep cultural significance to a people, deals with gods,
supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes, and is valued for its insights into human condition. The
events of myth typically take place outside of a specific historical time and place (e.g., Norse
Gods).
Epic: An epic is a poem that is (a) a long narrative about a serious subject, (b) told in an
elevated style of language, (c) focused on the exploits of a hero or demi-god who represents the
cultural values of a race, nation, or religious group (d) in which the hero's success or failure will
determine the fate of that people or nation. Usually, the epic has (e) a vast setting, and covers a
wide geographic area, (f) it contains superhuman feats of strength or military prowess, and gods
or supernatural beings frequently take part in the action.
Saga: A saga is an Icelandic epic, possibly written in prose, that contains many traditional
elements of an epic but is focused primarily on a theme or motif that is carried through multiple
generations (e.g., revenge in the Volsung Saga)
Beast Fable: The beast fable is usually a short story or poem in which animals talk. It is a
traditional form of allegorical writing in which certain animals display specific types of human
behavior (the fox is clever, the bee is busy). It is a type of fable in which human behavior and
weaknesses are subject to scrutiny by reflection into the animal kingdom.
Romance: The medieval romance idealizes chivalry, the hero-knight and his noble deeds, the
knight's love for his lady. It follows a knight who goes on a dangerous quest in settings that tend
to be imaginary and vague and may involve supernatural elements.
Quest: A quest is a journey towards a goal. Quests require great exertion on the hero’s part, as
he proves his worth by overcoming many obstacles (internal or external). Quests typically
require much travel.
Other Fun Words:
Flyting: a contest of wits and insults between two Germanic warriors, either as a prelude to
battle or a replacement of battle. Each person tries to demonstrate his superior vocabulary,
cleverness and bravery, usually by insulting the other’s lack of these qualities.
Alliteratation: The repetition of consonant sounds, lovely alliteration holds poetic lines together
in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds, awesome assonance holds laisses together in
Roland.
Laisses: The word for a verse paragraph, or stanza, in the chanson de geste.
Parallel laisses: Stanzas that repeat or describe the same scene in a chanson de geste but do so
with slightly different wording. The effect is like a music video in which multiple perspectives
are given to the same event in order to show that event’s importance and to slow the action down
so the reader can dwell on its importance.
Hallows: Holy objects, like the Grail or the lance, in Arthur stories.
Trickster: A trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who
plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior.
Comitatus: Defined as loyalty, generosity and bravery, the comitatus represents the interwoven
cultural bonds in Germanic tribes.
Weregild: The value placed on every human being and every piece of property in the Salic
Code. The payment of weregild was an important legal mechanism in early Germanic society;
the other common form of legal reparation at this time was blood revenge.
Camelot: King Arthur’s court, now associated with an idealized government based on virtue and
unity.
Scop: Ango-Saxon storyteller
Jongleur: French medieval storyteller
Chanson de Geste: Song of deeds, popular in medieval France
Major Characters in Texts:
Beowulf:
 Beowulf
 Breca
 Hrothgar
 Hygelac
 Wiglaf
 Shield Sheafson
 Ecgtheow
Grendel
Grendel’s Mother
Dragon
Unferth
Norse Gods and Heroes:
 Ymir
 Buri
 Ginnungagap
 Yggdrasil
 Bifrost
 Odin, Ve, Villi
 Thor







Loki
Frey
Tyr
Balder
The Norns
Heimdall
Hel
9 Norse Worlds
 Asgard
 Alfheim
 Vanaheim
 Midgard
 Jotumheim




Svartalfaheim
Muspelheim
Niflheim
Hel
1001 Arabian Nights
 Shahrazad
 Shahryar
 Ala-a-din
 Sinbad
 Wazir
 Ali Baba
Arthur








Arthur
Lancelot
Guenivere
Merlin
Song of Roland
 Charlemagne
 Roland
 Oliver
 Archbishop of Turin
 Ganelon
Tristram
Isolde
Mordred
The Lady of the Lake
 Marsiliun
 Blancardin
 Gabriel
Robin Hood:
 Robin Hood
 Little John
 Will Stutely
 Friar Tuck
 Maid Marian
 Sheriff of Nottingham
 King (Henry/Richard)
Grammar: Parts of Speech
 Articles
 Nouns
 Adjectives
 Prepositions
 Pronouns




Adverbs
Verbs (linking, action, and helping)
Verbals
Conjunctions
Grammar: Other Words
 Antecedents
 Direct Objects
 Indirect Objects
 Subject




Object of Preposition
Modifier
Predicate Nominative
Predicate Adjective
Poems Memorized this year
 Jabberwocky
 Beowulf (lines 1-50)
 Havamal: “Cattle die . . . .”
 Leave-Taking
 The Rooster
 St. Crispian Day Speech
 Prologue to the Canterbury Tales