Post- Modernism

Compare and contrast the 2 Post-modern works with 2 of the other 4 works you have read.

* No Country For Old Men (Mc Carthy, C.)
* The Road (Mc Carthy, C.)

In No Country for Old Men we can find a thriller story, that a men who find a truck with heroin and full of money when he takes de money, begin his nightmare. This story is based in the post world war II period. Moss is recovering to his family after that he was in the war, but now he has to run and scape of the gunmen that follow him.

The road is a post-apocaliptic story wher a father with his young son have to find their new life in this disaster that destroyed almost all civilization of the earth.
The setting is very cold, dark and filled with ash and the land is devoid of living vegetation. There is frequent rain or snow, and electrical storms are common. Many of the remaining human survivors are cannibalistic tribes or nomads, scavenging the detritus of city and country alike for human flesh, though that too is almost entirely depleted.

Both stories have more similarity with modernism liteature, becuse they show sadness, loneliness, and depression. In these stories the men have to fight for their lives and portect their families. Maybe thsis sories are post-modernist but in the way that they are narrated are more like modernist.

Modern English

Which 2 readings did you choose?

- 3:10 to Yuma (Leonard, E.)
- The Wasteland (Eliot, T.S.)

Compare and contrast the reading you completed with ppts on Modernist culture and the literature.

In both stories we can find the sadness and the internal fight that men have. In The Wasteland men are in war the first war, with pictures and images Eliot can show us the way that men think in that time.

In 3:10 To Yuma, we can saw a men that is prepared to afront even the death, only for the walefare of his family.

When you read this stories you think how people live afeter a world war, in what situations or ven more how did you affront to a criminal, how do you can talk with someone that you saw how he killed other people.

You could imagine how people live; the frustation, loneliness, sadness, etc.


In your opinion, do you feel the readings you completed are very good or excellent examples of Modernist literature?

These stories are very good examples because they show very important things of
modernism, like: changes, evolution, destruction, war, etc.


Would you recommend these readings to your friends/ or family? Why? / Why not?

I really like read boyh stories, and I watch the movio of 3:10 To Yuma, I enjoyed this movie. I like the view of the human being. for these reason I totally recomended this reading because are interesting and very good stories.

assigment #1 Victorian Age

1. Which 2 readings did you select from the list?
I choose The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The murders in the Rue Morgue.

2. Using these readings, compare (3 examples) and contrast (3 examples) the works with the ppt presentations on Victorian Literature and Culture given in class.
In both stories the autors talk about terror and crime genre, and in both stories we can find wars through all the story the book.

Sleepy Hollow was the ghost of Sleepy Hollow was a soldier who lost his head during a Civil War, it shows rich people superticiuos believes, the life of puritans and inmigration, The village is a peaceful place and people share the characteristic of good people the same as in the Victorian Era,shows too how women are not involved like important, people inside the story, is for that maybe that the autor show for one side a superticious woman how maybe can be the guilty for the assesinations,and on the other hand we had the real guity of the assesinations, who wanted to guilt to the protagonist, it is show a big difference between real life of the Victorian age, and the fiction, because in the Victorian age the women opinion it wasn't very important.


The murders in the rue morgue the caracteristics of the places and people's job which are described corresponding to the people of that time. women doesn't take place in the society, good people in this story always say the truth, they always win and make justicies, people care about the other, people worried about how is common people, etc.

3. Do you feel that the readings you completed are very good or excellent examples of Victorian Literature? Why/Why not?
Both stories are faithfull about how was this age, both stories show how was the life after or during the war, show how people react in front of different values and situations. On the other hand the second story that I choose The Murders of the Rue Morgue happened in the real life, I mean it was not only a fiction, it was true too.

4. Would you recommend these readings to your friends and family? Why/Why not?
Definitely,specially to my brother because he loves read, and his favorite stories are about terror and in some cases crime genre, and I think he loves reads stories like these.

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)

Middle English

1.- Approximately when was Middle English spoken?
It was spoken between the 11th century and about 1470,

2. What were the major factors which led to the development and the spread of Middle English?
The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, the introduction of the printing press into England by William Caxton in the late 1470s, the variant of the Northumbrian dialect (prevalent in Northern England) spoken in southeast Scotland was developing into the Scots language.

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 = Courageous

4. Compare & contrast the structure of nouns, pronouns and verbs, between Middle English & Modern English.
The grammar of Middle English is much closer to modern English than Old English. It is probably most similar to modern Dutch. In modern English we can find 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. In terms of Nouns, the strong -(e)s plural form has survived into Modern English. The weak -(e)n form is now rare in the standard language, used only in oxen, children and brethren; and it is slightly less rare in some dialects, used in eyen for eyes, shoon for shoes, hosen for hose(s) and kine for cows. In terms of Verbs, as a general rule, the first person singular of verbs in the present tense 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 adding 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 Old English: i-, y- and sometimes bi-. Strong verbs, by contrast, form their past tense by changing their stem vowel (e.g. binden -> bound), as in Modern English. In terms of Pronouns, the first and second person pronouns in Old English survived into Middle English largely unchanged, with only minor spelling variations. In the third person, the masculine singular became 'him'. The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into 'she', but unsteadily—'ho' remained 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. The overall trend was the gradual reduction in the number of different case endings: the dative case disappeared, but the three other cases were partly retained in personal pronouns, as in he, him, his.

5. How is pronunciation different between Middle English and Modern English?
All letters in Middle English words were pronounced. (Silent letters in Modern English come from pronunciation shifts, which mean that pronunciation is no longer closely reflected by the written form because of fixed spelling constraints imposed by the invention of dictionaries and printing.)The word 'knight' was pronounced /kniçt/ (with a pronounced /k/ and the /gh/ as the /ch/ in German 'Knecht'), not /naɪt/ as in Modern English.

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 15th century. In its early stages of development, the clerks who used CS would have been familiar with French and Latin. The strict grammars of those languages influenced the construction of the standard. It was not the only influence on later forms of English—its level of influence is disputed and a variety of spoken dialects continued to exist—but it provided a core around which Early Modern English could crystallize.

7. Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer

8. Describe the medieval pilgrims who journeyed from Canterbury to London.
The pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society. Pilgrims would frequently journey to cathedrals that preserved relics of saints. They believed that such relics had miraculous powers. Pilgrimages also represented the mortal journey to heaven through the struggles of mortal life.

9. Why did the pilgrims take this journey?
They wend their way to Canterbury from every shire of England to seek the holy blessed martyr, Thomas Becket, who has helped them when they were sick.
Canterbury was a popular destination within England. Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been killed in the Canterbury cathedral by knights who had misunderstood Henry II's order during a disagreement between him and Becket. Miracle stories connected to his remains began to spring up soon after his death, and the area became a popular pilgrimage destination

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?
It gives an important influence in modern English, besides is important in terms of culture and history.

12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is:
a. A collection of German folk tales, similar to Grimm's Fairy Tales.
b. A collection of Japanese ghost stories, similar to Kwaidan.
c. A detailed explanation of the proper etiquette & behaviour for all knights in Medieval Europe.
d. A medieval romance poem, with Arthurian themes.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.

13. Who is Sir Gawain?
Sir Gawain, the youngest of Arthur's knights and nephew to the king, accepts the Green knight’s challenge. He severs the giant's head in one stroke, expecting him to die. The Green Knight, however, picks up his own head, reminds Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel in a year and a day and rides away.

14. What is the challenge that The Green Knight proposes to the Knights of the Round Table?
A large Green Knight armed with an axe enters the hall and proposes a game. He asks for someone in the court to strike him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight will return the blow one year and one day later.

15. What is the similarity between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Irish tale of Cúchulainn?
The earliest known story to feature a beheading game is the 8th-century Middle Irish tale Bricriu's Feast This story parallels Gawain in that, like the Green Knight, Cú Chulainn's antagonist feints three blows with the axe before letting his target depart without injury.

16. What is the importance of the pentagram/pentangle in the poem?
The pentangle on Gawain's shield is seen by many critics as signifying Gawain's perfection and power over evil.

17. How are numbers used to symbolize events in the poem?
The poet highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem. For example, 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. The number two also appears repeatedly, as in the two beheading scenes, two confession scenes, and two castles. The five points of the pentangle represent Gawain's virtues, for he is "faithful five ways and five times each". All five of his senses are without fault; his five fingers never fail him, and he always remembers the five wounds of Christ, the five joys of the Virgin Mary. The fifth five is Gawain himself, who embodies the five moral virtues of the code of chivalry: "friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety" All of these virtues reside, as the poet says, in the "Endless Knot" of the pentangle, which forever interlinks and is never broken.

18. What is the significance of Sir Gawain'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).

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

20. In many ways this poem is, in the modern sense, a soap opera. Compare Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with a modern Chilean teleseries.
Maybe Sir Gawain is similar with the Chilean teleseries by treachery because in national soap operas is comon watch how the people is disloyal with friends and even with their own family, but in some way both have a happy ending.

About me...

March 15th 1984 is too cold and too dark... Where is the water? Oh! Is time to go outside.
Be careful, it hurts, don't touch there, who are these people?. Oh! This is nice, is warm... I understand is my mom, she loves me, I want to meet my family, I want to see the world.
Now is the beginning, this is me, this is my life.

Beowulf Old English

1. Between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.
2. Latin, Saxon, West German, Norse.
3. For example; senġan "to singe" is [sendʒɑn] < /senjɑn/ < *sangjan
bryċġ "bridge" is [bryddʒ] < /bryjj/ < *bruggjō < *bruɣjō
hring "ring" is [hriŋɡ]; [ŋ] did not occur alone word-finally in Old English as it does in Modern English.
4. Some phonologycal sounds and morphemes, sounds and similar written.
5. 34 runes.
6.Beowulf.
7. This poem was written between the 8th and the early 11th century.
8. The story takes place in Sweden and Denmark.
9. Grendel, Grendel’s Mother and the dragon.
10. At the end Beowulf fight with the dragon and defeated it, but is mortally wounded. after that Beowulf is buried in a tumulus by the sea.
11. Buried in a tumulus by the sea.
12. Beowulf (1999 film)
Beowulf & Grendel (2005 film)
Beowulf (2007)