Significance of the Scop in the Development of English Literature

Significance of the Scop in the development of English literature

Folk epic, characteristics of the folk epic

A folk epic is such a long, narrative poem that evolves from the people of the civilization and their lives. It rises above the facts of those lives, although it is grounded in those facts, to the commonality of their human experiences, wisdom, and values. These types of epics are believed to have developed from the orally-transmitted folk poetry of tribal bards or other authors, and were eventually written down by anonymous poets. The poem has some conventional features such as:

1. A journey or quest for the hero.

2. A setting of sufficient scope to make the saga significant, i.e., the salvation of an entire tribe or nation of people.

3. The presence of supernatural forces or beings, either protective or adversarial.

4. A hero of sufficient stature that he is worthy of undertaking the task--perhaps of lofty social station--royalty, nobility, even semi-divine.

Beowulf as folk epic

Beowulf is considered a folk epic as it is a narrative poem that details a hero's quest. It was written by an anonymous poet as the tale was passed down verbally until it was eventually written down.

4. Beowulf as a heroic figure in the folk epic tradition

The Romance

The Arthurian Romance

The Courtly Love Tradition

Sir Gawain as representative of the ideals of Courtly Love in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Reasons for the Green Knight's "challenge" to Arthur's court

Significance of Gawain's "tests" and their outcomes

Frame story for The Canterbury Tales

Representative social classes among the Pilgrims traveling to Canterbury

The Wife of Bath's purpose for telling her tale

The Wife's tale as "anti-romance"

The Matters of France, Britain, and Antiquity

Significance of Malory's Morte D'Arthur

Significance of Wyatt and Surrey's translations of Petrarch

Petrarchan sonnet

English sonnet

Renaissance sonnet conceits

Significance of the English Renaissance in literary development

The Renaissance Courtier

General plot of Dr. Faustus

Faustus' fatal flaw and its significance to Elizabethans

Frame story of Spenser's The Faerie Queene

Levels of allegorical significance of Una, the Redcrosse Knight, and Archimago from Book I, Canto I of The Faerie Queene

Spenser's intention in writing The Faerie Queene

Basic plot of Othello

Iago's character as "motiveless malignity" in driving the action in Othello

Othello's tragic flaw

Significance of the "green-eyed" monster in Othello

Desdemona's naivetй or character "more manipulated than in control"

Metaphysical poetry

The term "metaphysical poetry" is used to describe a certain type of 17th century poetry. The term was originally intended to be derogatory; Dryden, who said Donne "affects the metaphysics," was

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