MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

1. The extant manuscript of Beowulf is contained in:

a) Nowell Codex, Cotton MS Vittelius [Link] (British Museum)
b) Junius IV Manuscript (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)
c) Exeter Codex (Exeter Cathedral)
d) Vercelli Codex (Vercelli Cathedral, Italy)

2. The extant manuscript of The Dream of the Rood is contained in:

a) Nowell Codex, Cotton MS Vittelius [Link] (British Museum)
b) Junius IV Manuscript (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)
c) Exeter Codex (Exeter Cathedral)
d) Vercelli Codex (Vercelli Cathedral, Italy)

3) The extant manuscript of The Wanderer is contained in:

a) Nowell Codex, Cotton MS Vittelius [Link] (British Museum)
b) Junius IV Manuscript (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)
c) Exeter Codex (Exeter Cathedral)
d) Vercelli Codex (Vercelli Cathedral, Italy)

4) In OE poetry, the second stressed syllable of the second half-line in a line of verse:
a) Is always alliterated
b) Does/should not enter the alliterative scheme
c) Always alliterates with the first stressed syllable in the first half-line
d) Always alliterates with the second stressed syllable in the first half-line.

5) Prosopopoeia:
a) Consists of a compound word with a metaphorical meaning
b) Personifies non-human or non-sentient beings
c) Brings variations into established rhyming schemes
d) Neither of the three

6) The Ruin, The Wife’s Lament, The Seafarer and The Wanderer are examples of:
a) Epic poetry
b) Religious poetry
c) Elegiac poetry
d) Morality play

7) The topos of Ubi sunt qui ante nos in hoc mundo fuere? refers to:
a) The bonds of fealty between chieftains and warriors in the OE society
b) The arming of the hero
c) The lamentation for the absence of beloved ones who are not present anymore
d) The celebration of banquets and sessions of storytelling after a victory

8) In poetry, an anticlimax is:

a) An alternation of pentameter and hexameter lines
b) A lapse from intensity to triviality
 c) A moment of great intensity
d) A rupture in the distribution of alliterations in lines of verse.

9) In poetry, a climax is:

a) A moment of great intensity
b) An alternation of pentameter and hexameter lines
c) A rupture in the distribution of alliterations in lines of verse
d) A lapse from intensity to triviality

10) Beowulf, as it stands in Cotton Vitellius, was copied:

a) Firstly, by Scribe A; then it was copied again by Scribe B
b) Scribe A copied St. Christopher, The Wonders of the East and Alexander’s Letter; Scribe B copied
Beowulf and Judith
c) Scribe A copied St. Christopher, The Wonders of the East, Alexander’s Letter and Beowulf; Scribe B
only copied Judith
d) Both Scribes, A and B, copied parts of Beowulf in the same manuscript.

11) A kenning:
a) Consists of a compound word with a metaphorical meaning
b) Personifies non-human or non-sentient beings
c) Brings variations into established rhyming schemes
d) Neither of the three

12) The scop, the skald and the minstrel are respectively associated to:
a) The saga, the chanson de geste and the OE epic
b) The OE epic, the chanson de geste and the saga
c) The OE epic, the saga and the chanson de geste
d) The OE epic and the chanson de geste

13) The rules of comitatus are first explained in:

a) Cornelius Tacitus, Germania
b) Cornelius Tacitus, Agricola
c) Anonymous, The Dream of the Rood
d) Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis anglorum

14) Which Biblical story is a source for the first lines of verse describing Grendel in Beowulf?
a) Genesis
b) Deuteronomy
c) St. Paul’s Letters
d) Fates of the Apostles

15) Which Germanic source might be the basis for Beowulf’s fight with Grendel and his mother in
Beowulf?
a) Grettir the Strong
b) Sigemund’s exploits
c) The Frisian Slaughter
d) The history of the Franks
16) The adjective “peace-weaver” is applied to:
a) Grendel and Grendel’s mother
b) The Queens in Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon poetry
c) All female characters in Beowulf
d) The priests in Germanic legends

17) Apotheosis is:

a) The deification of a human being
b) A public Reading of the Bible
c) A compound Word with a metaphorical meaning
d) Variations on rhyming schemes

18) In his letter to the Bishop of Mercia, Alcuin of York wrote about:
a) The Finnsburgh Episode
b) Grettir the Strong
c) Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae
d) The incompatibility of OE pagan poetry and the teachings of the Christian church

19) The parallel source in which the Frisian Slaughter (part of Beowulf) is narrated with variations is
called:
a) The Finnsburgh Episode
b) Grettir the Strong
c) Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae
d) The incompatibility of OE pagan poetry and the teachings of the Christian church

20) In OE poetry, a(n) __________ line is one in which is twice the normal length of the line of verse.
a) Elegiac
b) Traverse
c) Hypermetric
d) Alliterative

TEST 2
1. The first clear reference to King Arthur is made in:
a) gododdin, by aenerin
b) de excidio et conquestu britanniae, by gildas
c) historia regum britanniae, by geoffrey of monmouth
d) historia brittonum, attributed to Nennius

2. The first possible appearance of King Arthur in Literature takes place in:
a) Gododdin, by Aenerin
b) De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, by Gildas
c) Historia Regum Britanniae, by Geoffrey of Monmouth
d) Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius
 3. Courtly love is first introduced, in the Arthurian legend, in:
a) Historia Regum Britanniae, by Geoffrey of Monmouth
b) Roman de Brut, by Layamon
c) Roman de Brut, by Robert Wace
d) Le Morte d’Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory

4. The first Arthurian source where Arthur’s second coming is announced is:
a) Historia Regum Britanniae, by Geoffrey of Monmouth
b) Roman de Brut, by Layamon
c) Roman de Brut, by Robert Wace
d) Le Morte d’Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory

5) Chrétien de Troyes wrote the following Arthurian romances:

a) Erec et Enide, Tristan et Isolde, Cligés, Lancelot, Merlin, Perceval
b) Merlin, Tristan et Isolde, Cligés, Lancelot, Yvain
c) Erec et Enide, Cligés, Lancelot, Yvain, Perceval
d) Erec et Enide, Sir Orfeo, Lancelot, Yvain, Perceval

6) _________ almost completes the Grail quest by responding to the questions on the Grail and the
Blood-Dropping Spear.
a) Lancelot du Lac
b) Gawain
c) Perceval
d) Tristan

7) The first large compilation of all Arthurian prose romances written in French was:
a) Le Morte d’Arthur
b) The Vulgate Cycle
c) Historia Regum Britanniae
d) Roman de Brut

8) ___________________ and ____________ are the main sources for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
a) Cleanness; Roman de la Rose
b) Chrétien’s Yvain; Chrétien’s Lancelot
c) Le Chevalier à l’Epée; La Mule sans Frein
d) La Mule sans Frein; Stanzaic Morte d’Arthur

9) Layamon’s Roman de Brut presents Arthur as:

a) A fierce Christian warrior-king
b) A fierce pagan warrior-king
c) A courteous and Christian king inhabiting a leisurely court fashioned in the European style
d) A tragic character bound to choose between his honor and the country’s welfare due to Lancelot
and Guinevere’s love.
10) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is collected in the MS Cotton Nero A.X (British Library). Such
manuscript also includes other works by the Pearl Poet. These works include:
a) Alliterative Morte d’Arthur, Cleanness and Roman de Tristan
b) Pearl, Cleannesse, Patience, St. Erkenwald
c) Pearl, Cleannesse, Patience
d) Patience, Stanzaic Morte d’Arthur, Alliterative Morte d’Arthur

11) Liturgical drama was performed in________.

a) English, French or Latin
b) Latin or English
c) English
d) Latin

12) English mystery plays were performed in___________.

a) English, French or Latin
b) English
c) Latin or English
d) Latin

13) There are no written records of mystery plays.

a) True. The texts were burned when Edward VI forbade mystery plays in 1548.
b) True. The English language was considered second-rate; therefore, the play texts were not worth
keeping.
c) False. We have at least the play texts that formed the Medieval theatrical cycles in London.
d) False. We have four complete cycles: Cycle of York, Cycle of Chester, Cycle of Towenley and N-town.
More than one hundred play texts are kept.

14) Psychomachia:
a) Represents life as a journey
b) Represents the opposition of good and evil forces; the latter try to posses the human soul, the
former to save it.
c) Represents the transformative journey in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
d) Represents the test of challenging God

15) The first testimony of Everyman appears in:

a) The Macro Plays MS (1863–1767), collected in Folger Library (Washington)
b) Four quarto editions in the sixteenth century
c) Four quarto editions in the fifteenth century
d) The Cotton Nero A.x MS

16) Editors tend to use _____ of Everyman as control text because_________:

a) Quarto 1; it is the first complete printed version of the play
b) Quarto 2; it is the first complete printed version of the play
c) Quarto 3; it is the first complete printed version of the play
d) Quarto 4; it is the first complete printed version of the play
17) Mystery plays were generally produced and performed by:
a) Clerics
b) Citizens
c) Professional actors
d) Clerics and citizens

18) Quem Quaeritis? represents:

a) The Harrowing of Hell
b) The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
c) The meeting of the Three Maries with an Angel
d) The Trial of Joseph and Mary

19) Castle of Perseverance belongs to the genre of:

a) Liturgical play
b) Morality play
c) Miracle play
d) Romance

20) The phrase “Hony soit qui mal pence” (“Shame be to him that thinks evil of it”):
a) Is a literary topos developed in the Arthurian legend
b) Is written under Sir Gawain’s coat of arms
c) Was added by an editor in the Gawain manuscript and is the motto of the Order of the Garter
d) Is written under Sir Bertilak’s coat of arms

MOCK EXAM WUOLAH

1) When did the Christian conversion start in England?

a) 597
b) 410
c) 1066
d) 793

2) Beowulf was set…

a) In the Anglo-Norman period
b) In a North Germanic world prior to the arrival of Christiany
c) In the Roman period
d) In a North Germanic world after the arrival of Christianity

3) The Beowulf Cotton Vitelius manuscript was written in…

a) 1000-1010
b) 750
c) 950
d) Between 750 and 950

4) A court audience would have heard Beowulf over approximately…

a) One evening
b) Two evenings
c) Three evenings
d) One week
5) Kennings are literary devices which…
a) Create word compounds
b) Convey meaning through understatement or negative expression
c) Consist of sound repetition patterns
d) Accumulate epithets

6) Which tale or group of tales from The Canterbury Tales exemplify fabliaux?
a) Wife of Bath’s Tale, Franklin’s Tale, Squire’s Tale
b) Miller’s Tale, Reeve’s Tale, Cook’s Tale
c) Nun’s Tale, Priest’s Tale, Manciple’s Tale
d) Monk’s Tale

7) The Wanderer is an example of…

a) Epic poetry
b) Romance
c) Elegiac poetry
d) Lay

8) How many manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales survive?

a) 1
b) 55
c) 30
d) 10

9) Miracle plays were produced by…

a) Profesional London playwrights
b) Trade guilds
c) Priests
d) Knights

10) Which tale from The Canterbury Tales is an example of hagiography?

a) The Second Nun’s Tale
b) The Pardoner’s Tale
c) The Wife of Bath’s Tale
d) The Knight’s Tale

PART 2: DISCUSSION TOPIC (approx. 40 minutes)

OPTION A Discuss the fusion of the Pagan and the Christian thoughts in examples of Old English Literature. Provide
examples from at least TWO texts.

OPTION B Discuss status and hierarchy in Old English and Middle English Literature. Compare at least one OE literary
text and one ME literary text.

PART 3: LITERARY FRAGMENT (approx. 20 minutes) Read the text given. And:

1) Identify author-if known-, title and date of publication

2) Translate the fragment to Spanish or Valencian/Catalan
3) Write a brief commentary on the fragment.