The Canterbury Tales

201Exam2.pdf
 Eng 201 Exam #2 -Please choose 7 of the following 10 questions to answer. You may choose to answer all 10 if you prefer as backup but you cannot score above a 100%. Remember: -Each answer should use the following formula (Assertion, Evidence, Commentary). -First, make an assertion (a statement in your own words that posits the point you want to make). This can be 1-2 sentences. -Then, cite from the text a quote that supports your assertion. Quotes must have proper MLA in-text citations which is author’s last name and page number. Ex. “Stand up, children” (Sophocles 711). If author is unknown use the title of the text; i.e.. (Gilgamesh 105). -Finally, justify the quote by explaining in your own words how it supports the assertion. This should be at least two sentences. Here is an example of what an answer might look like if the question were as follows: Example Question: As is common in many ancient epics, women play an extremely important role in the development of plot and in shaping the actions of the male characters. Give one example of an important female role in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Example Answer: Although a minor character in the story, the prostitute Shamhat plays a very important role in the epic tale. They ask her to give of herself to tame the wild beast Enkidu and she does so without hesitation. The hunter take Shamhat to Enkidu and tells her to “open your embrace, open your embrace, let him take your charms!” (Gilgamesh 103). By doing so, she tames Enkidu. As a result, the wild beasts no longer welcome him and he must then turn to Gilgamesh as a friend. Thus, Shamhat’s actions set-up the action for the rest of the epic tale. This was just a sample question. The Actual 10 questions from which you can choose begin on the next page! 1. According to Augustine, conversion is rarely a conscious act or an act of will. Rather, it is something that one comes to unconsciously through life experiences. Explain how he shows this idea through his work, Confessions. 2. In Book IX of Confessions, Augustine eulogizes his mother with a kind of moral biography, adding further dimension to the record of his own life and showing the spiritual perfection he discovered at her urging. Give an example from this section and explain how she influenced his eventual return to Christianity. 3. Poetically, Beowulf is a rare manifestation of a “sung” narrative that maintains much of its orality in writing, even when it does not feel especially musical. Many of the poem’s defining features are derived from long-standing traditions of oral narrative. Cite two examples from the text that suggest this oral history. Explain how/why each is an closely tied to the traditional of oral narratives. 4. First and foremost, Beowulf is a heroic epic as defined by the characteristics of such tales explained in the PDF. Cite two examples from the text that clearly demonstrate a characteristic of a heroic epic. Explain what characteristic each citation is an example of and how it demonstrates that characteristic. 5. Dante was the leader of the Dolce stil novo (“sweet new style”), a poetic movement that explored the relations between earthy, secular love (love of people) and Divine Love (love of God). Give an example of this from Inferno. Cite from the text. Explain how that citation shows the similarities or differences of earthy love and Divine Love. 6. The triune (three-in-one) nature of Christian divinity- a single entity comprised of three aspects (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)- is the basis of structure and style in Dante’s poem. Give an example of the use of the triune (3 or a multiple of 3) in Dante’s poem. 7. Like The Canterbury Tales, one narrative path of The Inferno follows the embedded tales of characters, historical and legendary, who implore the narrator to report the truth to the living world. Give one example of a historical character that the narrator meets in Hell and explain the truth that they are imploring him to report. 8. From Chaucer’s knight down to the Wife of Bath’s knight, the warrior class was supposed to uphold the values of chivalry. Writers of medieval romance often connected moral duty and romance to the discipline of those seen as warriors. Give an example of this connection of duty and romance with the knights seen in Chaucer’s tales. 9. Medieval narrative tended toward allegorical storytelling that emphasized monolithic (one big) truth over subjective experience and broad moral lessons over individual knowledge. Give an example from Canterbury Tales that exhibits a moral lesson. You must explain the moral established by that tale. 10. A key theme of The Canterbury Tales as a whole-and at the center of many disputes on the road-is the notion of secular versus clerical authority. Give an example of this from either tale and explain.