1. Approximately when was Middle English spoken?
It was spoken between Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15 th century.

2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?
The first one is the introduction of the printing press into England by William Caxton in the 1470s, and slightly later by Richard Pynson.The second one is that the Middle English as a written language displays a wide variety of scribal forms.

3. Match the following Old English words with their Anglo-Norman equivalent:
A. Pig - Pork
B. Cow - Beef
C. Wood - Forest
D. Sheep - Mutton
E. House - Mansion
F. Worthy - Honourable
G. Bold - Corageous

4. Compare & contrast the structure of nouns, pronouns and verbs, between Middle English & Modern English.
Nouns: The strong -s plural form has survived into Modern English, while the weak -n form is rare.
Verbs: As a general rule , the first person singular of present tense verbs ends in -e (ich here - "I hear"), the second person in -(e)st (þou spekest - "thou speakest"), and the third person in -eþ (he comeþ - "he cometh/he comes"). (þ is pronounced like the unvoiced th in "think"). In the past tense, weak verbs are formed by an -ed(e), -d(e) or -t(e) ending. These, without their personal endings, also form past participles, together with past-participle prefixes derived from the old English ge-: i-, y- and sometimes bi-. Strong verbs form their past tense by changing their stem vowel (e.g. binden -> bound), as in Modern English.
Pronouns: First and second pronouns survive largely unchanged, with only minor spelling variations. In the third person, the masculine accusative singular became 'him'. The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into 'she', but unsteadily – 'ho' remains in some areas for a long time. The lack of a strong standard written form between the eleventh and the fifteenth century makes these changes hard to map.

5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?
Generally, all letters in Middle English words were pronounced. (Silent letters in Modern English come from pronunciation shift but continued spelling conventions).
In earlier Middle English, all written vowels were pronounced. By Chaucer's time, however, final -e had become silent in normal speech, but could be optionally pronounced in verse as the meter requires (but normally silent when the next word begins in a vowel).

6. What is the Chancery Standard, and how did it come into effect?
Chancery Standard was a written form of English used by government bureaucracy and for other official purposes from the late 14th century. It is believed to have contributed in a significant way to the development of the English language as spoken and written today.Because of the differing dialects of English spoken and written across the country at the time, the government required a clear and unambiguous form for use in its official documents. Chancery Standard was developed to meet this need.

7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
It was written by Geoffrey Chaucer.

8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
Religious characters, such as a monk and a pardoner, travel alongside a sailor, miller, carpenter, and a knight, among others. When the group stops for the night, the host of the pilgrimage proposes that they all tell stories to each other along the way. The pilgrims agree to tell four stories each, two on the way to Canterbury, and two on the way back.

9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
A group of medieval pilgrims set out on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury to pay their respects to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

10. It is thought that some of the stories in The Canterbury Tales originated in Italy. What was the name of the Italian book and who wrote it?
The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio.

11. The Canterbury Tales is considered an extremely important book, both in terms of English Literature & in the history of English writing. In your opinion, why is this book so important?
The Canterbury Tales, because they were the first story wrote in English.

12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
d. A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.

13. Who is Sir Gwain?
He’s King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table.

14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?
He offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day.

15. What is the similarity between Sir Gwain and the Green Knight and the Irish tale of Cúchulainn?
The beheading challenge.

16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?
The poem describes the pentangle as a symbol of faithfulness and an "endless knot". It is described as "a sign by Solomon".
The symbol was also associated with magical charms which, if recited or written on a weapon, would call forth magical forces. However, concrete evidence tying the magical pentagram to Gawain's pentangle is scarce.Gawain’s pentangle also symbolises the “phenomenon of physically endless objects signifying a temporally endless quality.Gawain’s pentangle also symbolises the “phenomenon of physically endless objects signifying a temporally endless quality.

17. How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
The poet highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem.
Ex: three kisses are exchanged between Gawain and Bertilak's wife; Gawain is tempted by her on three separate days; Bertilak goes hunting three times, and the Green Knight swings at Gawain three times with his axe.Also the five points of the pentangle, the poet adds, represent Gawain's virtues (friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy and piety), for he is "faithful five ways and five times each".

18. What is the significance of Sir Gwain's neck wound?
During the medieval period, the body and the soul were believed to be so intimately connected that wounds were considered an outward sign of inward sin. The neck, specifically, was believed to correlate with the part of the soul related to will, connecting the reasoning part (the head) and the courageous part (the heart). Gawain's sin resulted from using his will to separate reasoning from courage.

19. Which actor played The Green Knight in the film adaptation, Sword of the Valiant?
Was Sean Connery how played The Green Knight.

20. In many ways this poem is, in the modern sense, a soap opera. Compare Sir Gwain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.
For me, between Sir Gwain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries there are only different things, because if you think, the principal different is that, today in our soup opera there aren’t religious themes, for example.

Old English

1- When was Old English spoken?

between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.

2- Name 4 language groups which influenced the development of Old English.

Latin, Viking, Celtic and Dialects.

3- In the Phonology section, name 5 phonetical differences between Old English & Modern English.

-fricative(labiodental)= f (v)

-fricative(dental) = θ (ð)

-fricative(alveolar)= s (z)

-affricative(postalveolar)= tʃ (dʒ)

-fricative(palatal) = (ç)

4- Are there any similarites between Old English and Modern English? Name them.

Old English should not be regarded as a single monolithic entity just as Modern English is also not monolithic.

5- In the Orthography section, enlarge the picture of the runic alphabet. How many letters (runes) are there in this alphabet?

There are 34.

6- Which epic poem was originally written in Old English?

Was Beowulf

7- In the See Also section, click on: Beowulf. Appoximately when was Beowulf written?

It was written between the 8th to the 11th century.

8- Even though Beowulf was written in England, the story takes place in which countries?

In what is now Denmark and Sweden.

9- In the poem, which 3 antagonists does Beowulf battle or fight against?

Grendel, Grendel´s Mother and unnamed dragon.

10- What happens to Beowulf at the end of the story?

Beowulf receives fatal wounds and dies, and the dragon is buried with the hero.

11- Who was the author of Beowulf?

Beowulf is an epic poem of anonymous authorship.

12- What were the titles and the dates of the two film versions of Beowulf?

The first film was in 1999 and it called "Beowulf", the 2005 film "Beowulf and Grendel" and the 2007 animated film Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis.

My Biography

My name's Andrea Díaz. I was born in Mendoza, Argentina in 1984, I'm 24, but I grew up in Chile, I arrived here when I was three years old with all my family, my father, my mother and my sister but now I live only with my father and my sister. My mom lives with my grandma.

I finished my school about six years ago and then I studied Englis in "North American Institute" I studied for two years and six month, I learned English but I think that it was only basic English although it helped me a lot because I fell in love! but I didn't fall in love of a man, I fall in love of the English and now I'm study Translation and Interpretation at UCINF.

Now I'm going to talk about my heart, my feelings in general.

I'm a sentimental person, I'm so friendly, I like to enjoy the life, I enjoy the simple things although the luxury too. I really love to sing but I have embarrassment, this is my dream... someday I will sing without embarrassment!

In the picture, She's my sister, Carolina. I love her although we're so different.