HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY MID -TERM TEST ON ENGLISH AND AMERICAN

LITERATURE
FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 3)
Subject Code: EN16

Full name: ĐỖ THÀNH QUANG

Date of birth:10.02.1987
Group:FSG113 …………………………………….............

I. Answer the following questions: (50 points )

1. What do you know about the contents of “The Song of Beowulf”?
2. What is the historical background of the Anglo-Norman period?
(The file sent will be named after each student’s name. Plagiarism will lead to failure)
1. What do you know about the contents of “The Song of Beowulf”?
Like all medieval epics, the first Anglo-Saxon poem celebrates the strength,
ingenuity, and heroism of the warriors. The retelling of the poem's plot can be divided
into three main parts, which coincide with the main character's three battles.
Rumors of catastrophes befalling Danish relatives reached the ears of King Higelak,
ruler of the Geats. The mighty grandson of King Higelak. Beowulf volunteered to set sail
to help Hrothgar defeat the monster. Beowulf assembled a squad of fourteen warriors and
set off.
After the glorious and difficult victory over Grendel, Beowulf was honored with
well-deserved praise, rich gifts and gratitude from Hrothgar and all the Danish warriors.
Everyone sat down to celebrate and celebrate and didn't expect the arrival of Grendel's
angry mother, who burst into the hall and grabbed Hrothgar's best friend and mentor.
All day Beowulf sank to the bottom, fighting the swamp monsters. Thanks to the
armor, the warrior reached the Grendel house safely and peacefully. There, at the bottom
of the swamp, an angry mother sat beside her son's dead body. She immediately attacks
Beowulf, wrapping her scaly body around him and preventing him from freely attacking.
The attacks the warrior made did not cause any damage to the monster. Recalling the
mighty sword, unleashed a single blow, instantly decapitating the monster. Just a few
days later, Beowulf emerged to the surface of the swamp, where his comrades and
Hrothgar had desperately awaited him. Seeing the severed head of the monster, the king
praised Beowulf's strength and courage and thanked him for his service.
 After participating in many battles and increasing his military glory, Beowulf was
forced to take the throne from his uncle Higelak. Under his rule, the land of the Geats
flourished and became rich. Beowulf ruled his kingdom for many years and protected the
safety of his subjects. Now he was old and felt that the end of a glorious life was near.
Not far from the royal court, an unlucky passerby finds a treasure guarded by a
sleeping dragon. Unaware of the consequences, he only retrieves a small cup from the
pile of jewels, but the dragon, sensing the theft, wakes up and begins attacking
neighboring settlements. Rumors of a winged dragon quickly reached the ears of
Beowulf, who swore to protect his subjects from all bad luck until the last days.
On their way to the dragon's lair, the warriors encountered a flaming stream,
impassable. Beowulf lured the dragon into battle with a loud cry. Seeing a terrible fire-
breathing dragon, the warriors ran out, leaving their king behind. Only the brave young
man Wiglaf of Beowulf remained. The old warrior struck the dragon with his sword, but
his strength was no longer the same, and from the snake's impenetrable scales, the sword
split in two. The dragon bit Beowulf's neck and blood flowed from the wound. Faithful
Wiglaf, wanting to help his king, stabbed the dragon in the stomach, burning his hand at
the same time.
Gathering his final strength, the king hurled a long dagger at the side of the snake
with such force that the monster died. Beowulf was victorious again, but his wound was
fatal. In his final moments, the king thanked the gods for the liberated treasures and
bequeathed Wiglaf his throne and responsibility to the people.
The last will of the glorious Beowulf was to burn his body on the shore and dump a
great heap of ashes, which the sailors anchored on the shores of the kingdom would see.
Cowardly warriors, lethargic, return to the dead place of the king, where the desperate
Wiglaf is still trying to revive him.
2. What is the historical background of the Anglo-Norman period?
The history of England in the Angol - Norman period is a historical period with the
nature of changing a country, changing rulers, ruling classes, creating new language
inflections... its own mark unlike any other dynasty.
After ascending the throne, King William proceeds to build a system of fortified
ramparts throughout the country. The old aristocracy lost land to new landowners to build
strongholds that still exist today such as Warwich and Winsor. During his lifetime, King
William always wanted to know the value and function of the newcomer of his kingdom.
Because of that, land supervisors were dispatched to areas across the country. King
William I, Henry II and his later positions all had a will to expand the territory and
strengthen the position with the surrounding countries. However, after the reign of King
Henry II, the country fell into turmoil.
The British absolute monarchy showed signs of being weakened by the wide-
ranging power battles of the lords, or by those who always usurped the throne. Unable to
withstand the grip of the tyrannical government, the lords banded together to oppose the
court. The Charter of Freedom, which became the foundation of the later British
Constitution. According to this association, the king must also obey the law, all decisions
must go through the library. If the king breaks the estimate then it will be forfeited. In
essence, this was a war in which the power of the court was greatly limited as a result.
During this time, the wars with mainland Europe continued, causing the British economy
to become exhausted by huge sums of money spent on the military. The British people
are desperate because of taxes, the price they have to pay for the war plots of the princes
and princesses is too great. Through the war, England fought lost the lands it once owned
in France such as Gascony (Bordeaux). Both of King Edward II's surprise attacks on
Europe later did not yield any results when conquering any land. De Quoc Anh fell into
crisis. Because of these events, between 1370 and 1413, many emperors were deposed.
The peasants could not stand the yoke of the epidemic, so they proceeded to define, hit
the parliament buildings, even the palace, and use the throne. That British court was both
secretive and did not know what to do to stabilize this state. The royal family was
discredited. A series of official struggles to establish a new dynasty, and then even those
who support the power set up for a coup. The end of this period of ups and downs in
history was the victory in the war at Bosworth by King Henry VIII and England began a
new historical period.
II. Comments (50 points )
What are your comments on the first masterpiece of English literature-“ The
Song of Beowulf ”?
The plot of the poem is based on the exploits of the famous Scandinavian
warrior Beowulf. As fittingly epic, the Beowulf song focuses on battles with
mythical creatures endowed with superhuman powers. Against the backdrop of the
endless theme of the struggle between good and evil, where good always wins,
regardless of the cost of victory, the song about Beowulf presents themes that are
particularly representative of literature. Scandinavian folklore.
Like all medieval epics, the first Anglo-Saxon poem celebrates the strength,
ingenuity, and heroism of the warriors.
Referring to the hero genre, everyone will immediately think of the massive,
high-value hero set: The Song of Beowulf. The book takes us to the magical and
colorful stories of heroes, heroes as well as the origin of the world and all species...
There is also a lot of knowledge about the origin of the world. customs, beliefs,
sayings, idioms, etc. in a detailed and attractive manner. The large capacity,
massive content, and elements of fantasy and fantasy have resonated in the hearts
of readers. All my childhood, I was fascinated with Greek mythological hero
stories through the screen. Growing up, I read books and accumulated a lot of
useful knowledge and learned more about a hero who looks like a human but
possesses the strength, courage and benevolence like a god.

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Chú ý:
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Vclass (SV tham gia lớp Vclass đầy đủ để được giải đáp)