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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. When did Robert MacNeil retire, according to his bio in the Introduction?

2. The Puritans were most highly concentrated where?

3. Who is quoted from his Preface to A Dictionary of the English Language in the Introduction?

4. Which of the early Germanic tribes lived in Northern Germany?

5. Whose followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centered reforms?

Short Essay Questions

1. When did James I come to the British throne? What major impact did he have on the English language?

2. What examples do the authors give in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World for the history of success of the English language?

3. What time frame is embodied by the Elizabethan period? What advances took place in English during this time?

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

5. When did Julius Caesar invade the Celts? What was the result?

6. What do the authors assert is the common ancestry of all languages? What happened to most of them?

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

8. What myths relating to the English language do the authors hope to dispel, according to the Introduction?

9. What impact did the printing press and the scientific revolution have on the English language?

10. What do the authors write of the Puritans in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue? Where were they located?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the success of the English language in spreading throughout the world. What examples do the authors give in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World for the history of success of the English language?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the history of Ireland's struggles with England. When did the domination of Ireland begin? What were the consequences? How was language affected?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the influences of Germanic, French, and Romance languages on the development of English. What words today are rooted in these cultures and their interactions with the English?

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