Modern English

1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.
It was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England between 1450 and 1750.

2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
-Cameroon English, -Australian English,-Guyanese English,-Jamaican English,-Canadian English.

3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling. Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828; see American and British English spelling differences.

4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
The Sovereign states that have given to Modern English official status are: 56 aprox.

5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English as a:I. First language? II. Second Language?
I. First language: 309–400 million
II. Second language: 199–1,400 million
Overall: 500 million–1.8 billion

6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
The Early Modern English was spoken since the latter half of the 15th century to 1650.

7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
In Early Modern English, there were two second person personal pronouns: thou, the informal singular pronoun, and ye, which was both the plural pronoun and the formal singular pronoun, (like modern French tu and vous and modern German du and ihr). (Thou was already falling out of use in the Early Modern English period, but remained customary for addressing God and certain other solemn occasions and sometimes for addressing inferiors.)
Like other personal pronouns, thou and ye had different forms depending on their grammatical case; specifically, the objective form of thou was thee, its possessive forms were thy and thine, (compare modern German; thou - du, thee - dich, thine - dein); and its reflexive or emphatic form was thyself, while the objective form of ye was you, its possessive forms were your and yours, and its reflexive or emphatic forms were yourself and yourselves.
In other respects, the pronouns were much the same as today. One difference is that my and thy became mine and thine before words beginning with a vowel and letter h; thus, mine eyes, thine hand, and so on.
In modern English, we can see the disuse of the T-V distinction (thou, ye). The use of auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in interrogative sentences and the rise and fall of prescriptive grammarians.

8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
Indo-European, Germanic, West Germanic, Anglo–Frisian, Anglic.

9. Name 4 worldwide uses for Modern English.
United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, United States of America between others.

10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of Modern English around the world? Why?
In my opinion, the greatest influence on the spread of modern English and not only on english but also on every language that once have been important, just like Latin and French, is that a language become global because of the country’s development on politic, military, monetary power and migration of people to the United States from others countries. The reason about migrations was the World War I and World War II it allowed the spread of the language for the people, people became to use the language to communicate and some words keep in others cultures finally also the speed of communication and rapprochement of countries for political reasons has fostered economic need for a global language.

11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare's writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare's plays?
The 3 candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays are Francis Bacon,Christopher Marlowe and Edward de Vere.

12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.
The case for Oxford's authorship is based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's letters and the Shakespearean canon; and underlined passages in Oxford's Bible that may correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.

13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.
The categories are:
Comedies
Histories
Tragedies
These are not including two plays that are: The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
The Globe Theatre

16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:
To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them.
To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream.
Ay, there's the rub...
In my opinion this portion mean that Hamlet wants to express who really he is or who must to be, when he said to die, to sleep, maybe wants to said that he wish die for to show for who he really is, or just sleep and leave everything in the same way.

17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare influenced novelist such Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner and Charles Dickens. Herman Melville wrote soliloquies like Shakespeare. Some pieces of music are inspired in some works of Shakespeare, like; Othello and Falstaff. Shakespeare inspires painters to such; Henry Fuseli, and even the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud drew on Shakespeare psychology his theories about human nature.

18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?
The plays are:
Richard II
Henry IV, part 1 and 2.
Henry V
Henry VI, part 1, 2 and 3.
Richard III

19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?
Blank verse is a type of poetry, distinguish by having a regular meter, but not rhyme. The meter most commonly used with blank verse has been iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The iambic pentameter describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet". The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".

20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
William Kempe, Richard Burbage,Henry Condell and John Heminges.

21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
The wars were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England, fought between supporters of two rival branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (White rose).

22. - Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
The Wars of the Roses called like this because the house of York and the house of Lancaster. Both had a rose in their royal badges. As I mentioned before, The White rose for the house of York and the red rose for the house of Lancaster.

23. - What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
The house of Lancaster
The house of York

24. - What prompted this civil war of the houses of rose to begin?
Following the early death of Edward III, there was a series of wars between the descendants of two Edward III's younger sons: the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of York because they wanted the throne of England.

25. - How did the war end?
After many battles a period of comparative peace followed, but Edward died unexpectedly in 1483. His surviving brother Richard of Gloucester first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating in government during the minority of Edward's son, Edward V, and then seized the throne for himself, using the suspect legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage as pretext. Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the Lancastrian kings who had inherited their claim, overcame and defeated Richard at Bosworth in 1485. He was crowned Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, to unite and reconcile the two houses.

26. - Which Kings of England were participants in the wars of the Roses?
House of York
Henry IV (1399 - 1413)
House of Lancaster
Edward IV (1461 - 1483)