A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English: Note 97

A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers

UGC NET ENGLISH QUESTION BANK

The History of English Literature

                                                             

 The Old English   or Anglo- Saxon Period

1. Why are the dates 410 A.D and 597 A.D important?

Ans: The year 410 A.D is important in the history of England because it is the year when the Romans withdrew from this year. The year 597 is important because St. Augustine came to England and Christianity was introduced in this year.Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

2. Name two Anglo-Saxon Elegies thathave stanza pattern and refrain.

Ans:  Dear’s Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer

3. Name some Anglo-Saxon elegies.

ANS:  The Wanderer, The Seafarer and The Husband, s Message, The Ruin

4. Name the manuscripts in which old English poetry is preserved.

Ans: The  Junius Ms , The Exeter, Ms The Beowulf Ms, The Vercelli Ms.

5.  Name two war poems in the Anglo-Saxon period that have different conclusions about English subject.Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

Ans:  The Battle of Brunanburg and The Battle of Maldon.

6. Name the Anglo –saxon pagan poems which are distinctly secular.

Ans: Widsith, The English at Finnsburh, The Battle of Brunanburh , The Battle of Maldon.

7. Name two poems composed by Caedmon.

Ans: The Genessis , Exodus, Daniel.

8. Mention the poems by Cynewulf.

Ans: Juliana, Christ, the Files of the Apostles , The Dream of the Rood, Adreas.

9. Who wrote The Ruin? What is it about?Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

Ans: The Ruin is an elegy in the Anglo- Saxon period. It expresses the lamentation of the poet to see the desolate and crumpled condition of a big mansion or a big city once looking glorious and formidable.

10. Who wrote The Dream of the Rood? What is it about?

Ans: The Dream of the Rood is believed to be written by Cynewulf. In this poem the Rood or the Cross is personified and it appears in a dream to the poet and expresses its remorse on account of the fact that the Christ was crucified on it. It was indeed a great disaster to the entire world that wept on the king’s fall.

11. Why are 878 and 993 A.D important?Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

Ans: In 878 Alfred forced the Danes to sign the Treaty of Wedmore. In 993 A.D Alfred began his Lives of the Saints.

12. Name the heroic poems which remained only in fragment.

Ans: Waldere , The Battle of Finnsburh.

13. Name two Anglo-saxon lyrics which have no elegiac note.

Ans:  Widsith, The Husband’s Message.

14. Which is the most impressive religious poem in Anglo-saxon poetry? To whom is it ascribed?

Ans: The Dream of the Rood by Cynewulf.

15. Who is called the first English historian? What is his work?

Ans: Bede is the first English historian . The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

16. Mention four short religious poems that deal with attributes common to mankind.

Ans: The Gifts of Men ,  The Fates of Men,  The Mind of Man,  The Falsehood of Man.

17. To what century did Alfred belong ? What are his principal works ?

Ans:  Alfred belonged to the ninth century . He translated Pastoral Care of Pope Gregory,  The History of  the World of Orosias,  The Ecclesiastical History of Bede,  The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius and  the Soliloquies of St. Augustine.Read More A to Z (Objective Questions) 

18. Name the manuscripts in which the Anglo-saxon chronicles are written. 

Ans: A or Parker MS and E or Laud MS. 

19. Which poems are included in Anglo-saxon chronicles?

Ans:  The Battle of  Brunanburh and  The Battle of Maldon.

20. Why are 899 A.D and 1066 A.D important?

Ans:   The year 899 A.D is important because it is the year of Alfred’s death. 1066 is the date of the Norman conquest of England and the beginning of Anglo-Norman Literature in English.

21. What is Beowulf about?

Ans: Beowulf has two parts. The first part deals with the killing of the monster Grendel and his mother by Beowulf. The second part deals with the fight of the aged Beowulf with a sea dragon resulting in the death of then both.

22. Who wrote Sermo Lupi ad Anglos?

Ans : Wulfstan, a prose-writer in the Anglo-Saxon period.

23.  Name two poems of Cynewulf bearing his signature in runic letters.

Ans: Juliana, Elene.

24. What is the Latin title of Bede’s work Ecclesiastical History of English Race?

Ans: The original title of Bede’s work is Historia Ecclesiastica.

 25. To what race did Beowulf belong? Whom did he help from a monster?

Ans: Beowulf belongs to the pagan race of Geats. He comes to extend his martial help to king of Danes Hrothger, and after a prolonged battle kills the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother.

 26. Name two Anglo – Saxon elegies that have stanza pattern and refrain.

Ans: Deor’s Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer are two Old English poems with stanza and refrain.

Name two war poems in the Anglo Saxon period that have different conclusions.

  Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)    

 Ardhendu De

Ref: 1. History of English Literature- Albert     

2. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature

3. UGC NET OLD QUESTION PAPERS

4. Baugh, A.C and Cable T (2001). A History of the English Language. 5^th ed. London: Routledge