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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who were among the first English-speaking migrants to the west and their descendants live in Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Brittany?

2. Where was the Archduke Ferdinand assassinated?

3. How many quotations were in the original Dictionary of the English Language?

4. Robert McCrum describes the modulation of British RP to what in the Introduction?

5. The Renaissance added over how many words to the English language?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the authors write of the New World and its influence on English in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue?

2. What do the authors of The Story of English rely upon to relate the history of the English language?

3. What do the authors write of the advances from broadcasting on English in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

4. What do the authors write regarding the fluidity of accents and culture in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

5. Which group of Scots first spoke English? Where did it arrive from?

6. What impact did the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons have on the Celtic language? Why?

7. When did the Scottish dialect fall into decline? What led to its standardization?

8. What did James I do to reduce the rule of Celtic chiefs in Ulster?

9. What myths do the authors dispel about the English language in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

10. Who spread the English language to the west initially? Who are their descendants?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the origins of the English language. When do linguists believe the first traces of what we know as English today appear in history? Where?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the distinct paths in which the slave trade traveled and how the people in each region were affected by the trade. How did cultures and languages change?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Daniel Webster's political views and how these influenced his dictionary. What political parties was Webster associated with? What political reactions resulted from the standardization of American English?

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This section contains 876 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample