En16 văn học anh mỹ bài 4

Môn học nhằm cung cấp các khái niệm cơ bản về văn học, và các tác phẩm văn học Anh-Mỹ tiêu biểu. Với phương pháp trích giảng, sinh viên vận dụng các kiến thức về lịch sử xã hội Anh-Mỹ đã học vào việc phân tích và cảm nhận tác phẩm. Trong quá trình học sinh viên có cơ hội thể hiện sự hiểu biết của mình về các tác phẩm và tác giả bằng cách tham gia vào các vở kịch, thảo luận, viết bài luận phân tích.

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITYMID -TERM TEST ON ENGLISH AND AMERICANLITERATURE

FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 2)Subject Code: EN16

Full name: Date of birth: Group:

I Answer the following questions: (50 points)

1 What three languages were spoken in England in the 11th - 13th centuries, and whom were they spoken by? Mention some reasons

2 What is a romance, a fabliau, a bestiary? In what language were they written?(The file sent will be named after each student’s name Plagiarism will lead to failure)1 The three languages spoken in England in the 11th – 13th centuries were: French,Latin and Anglo-Saxon The French was spoken by the nobility, the Latin was used bythe churchmen and the Anglo-Saxon was the language of the common people The reasonis as follows: In the battle of Hastings in the year of 1066, the Anglo-Saxon King’s armywas defeated by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who then became King ofEngland A strong feudal monarchy was established in the country The ruling classesconsisted of the Norman nobility and the clergy The power of the Catholic Church hadbecome very great Most of the English people became serfs The Normans came fromthe north-west of France They brought with them the culture of their country and theFrench language Thus, three languages were spoken in England

2 The romance told of love and adventures and expressed the ideals of knighthood infeudal society They were brought to England by the Normans, thus they were written inFrench Among the best-known romances are the legends of King Arthur and his Knightsof the Round Table The fabliaux were funny stories about townspeople while thebestiaries were stories in which characters were animals They were the main genres ofthe Anglo-Saxons’ own popular poetry, thus they were written in Anglo-Saxon.

II Comments (50 points)

Write what you know about the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer - The founder ofEnglish realism

Geoffrey Chaucer (born c 1342/43, London, England – died October 25, 1400, London)

was the outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and “the first finder of ourlanguage” His The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in English.He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the managementof public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant In that career he was trusted andaided by three successive kings – Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV But it is hisadvocation – the writing of poetry – for which he is remembered.

Chaucer was born in a wine merchant family His father was a successful winemaker inLondon Chaucer received an excellent education from Inner Court at St Paul’s Almonry.He became page to the Countess of Ulster in 1357 In 1359 he went to France as a soldier,got captured as a prisoner and was ransomed after one year In 1367 he was in service ofthe King and was granted with a life pension as a valet In 1370 the King employedChaucer for diplomatic errands, and during the next decade he made seven trips abroad.Next year, he was appointed customs controller in London During that year, he quit theroyal residence and leased a home in London In 1386, Chaucer received some otherappointments from the King, the most important one is a Knight of the Shire That sameyear Chaucer’s lifelong benefactor, John of Gaunt, left England for a military incursion inSpain King Richard II seized all customs appointments held by Chaucer promptly In1389, on the returning of John of Gaunt, Chaucer was restored to his previousappointments Chaucer managed to hold courtly favors for the following 11 years and livecontentedly until his death on October 25th, 1400.

Some documents reveals that Chaucer started writing in about 1360, and by 1372 hefinished most of the work of translation of Roman de la Rose and wrote “The Book of theDuchess” and his “The Legend of Good Women” He completed “The House of Fame”by 1380, the “Parliament of Fowls’ and some of the stories which appeared later in theCanterbury Tales He translated Troilus and Criseyde by 1385 and during the same timehe started the Canterbury Tales In 1391 he completed “Treatise on the Astrolabe” and thenext year, “Envoy to Scogan.” He wrote “Envoy to Bukton” and “To His Empty Purse”,just before his death.

Geoffrey Chaucer was also a realist He was the first English poet who revealed the truthabout life as he saw it Before him, the writers were dreaming dreams and weavingstories However, Chaucer kept away from such artifices He has taken the basic ideas ofhis characters from the real world and presented them clothed in imagination Chaucermixed the general qualities of his characters with their individualistic, peculiar responses

and reactions He tells us what a character really is, what he could be and what he actuallyperforms All these ideas about a character have been well blended and well proportionedin each of his portraits very strongly what that particular character should be, and what heshould not be Chaucer has taken a few features from the real and a few from the idealand blended them into a pattern, which makes his characters akin to the characters of thereal world Chaucer does not attribute supernatural or superhuman qualities to hischaracters These do not perform wonders, which are out of reach of the ordinary people.Even Chaucer’s ideal characters are not far from reality Chaucer neither exaggerates hischaracters nor underestimates them He strikes a balance in the portrayal of his characters.We can also note that Chaucer’s characters are seldom one-sided Chaucer’s keenobservation is also instrumental in making his characters appear as living characters Hehas caught the psychological responses of each of his characters These responses speakof the profession of a character Each profession has its own peculiar responses, which areapparent in their dresses, conversations and thoughts Those responses differentiate theperson belonging to one profession from the person belonging to the other Hisdescription of each of his characters is so natural so vivid and so realistic that we can verycorrectly know the profession of each of his characters Chaucer’s characters areimmersed in the affairs of daily life The information given by Chaucer very clearlyshows that all the characters are deeply interested in life Every character is the bestrepresentative of his class The fact that these characters have been taken from the reallife and have interest in life make them appear as natural human beings with all theirfaults, foibles and peculiarities.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s most celebrated work is “The Canterbury Tales”, which is thecollection of 24 stories based over 17000 lines, written in Middle English language.These tales included various lessons on morality, human struggles and humorous fares,with the characters drawn from every rank of society, from clerks to knights, towns tocountries Chaucer’s characters are lively, complex and fallible human beings The Talesalso reveal Chaucer’s knowledge of astronomy, astrology and medicine Chaucer alsopointed out the corruption, laxity of discipline, and love of luxurious life, which had creptinto the ranks of the elegy From The Canterbury Tales and other works of his life,perhaps the chief characteristics of Chaucer’s works are their variety in subject matter,genre, tone, and style and in the complexities presented concerning the human pursuit of asensible existence Yet his writings also consistently reflect an all-pervasive humorcombined with serious and tolerant consideration of important philosophical questions.

From his writings Chaucer emerges as a poet of love, both earthly and divine, whosepresentations range from lustful cuckoldry to spiritual union with God Thereby, theyregularly lead the reader to speculation about man’s relation both to his fellows and to hisMaker, while simultaneously providing delightfully entertaining views of the frailties andfollies, as well as the nobility, of mankind.