The Knight's Tale

   

 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories .It was written by Geoffrey Chaucer in Middle English at the end of 14th century . It includes a lot of histories. These stories are told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury . Courtly love , treachery , and the ambition of money are themes in Canterbury Tales .The knight's tale is one of the tales .

     The Knight's Tale is a romance and it is set in mythological Greece.The main theme is courtly love . In this tale , the knight is the first pilgrim  and the teller of the first tale . He is a brave , experienced and prudent man greatly  admired by the narrator . He has participated  in the fifteen of the great crusades of his period . The knight is a great conqueror named  Theseus in Ancient Greece .He rules the city of Athens .Other characters are Palamon and Arcite . They are prisoners because of being enemy soldiers on the battlefield . Also , they are cousins and sworn brothers .Both cousins live in an Athenian tower for several years .Another important character is Emelye . She is a beautiful girl and Theseus's sister-in-law .
     One spring morning , she makes flower garlands , both couisins see this beautiful girl when they look out the window from the prison tower .Both  Arcite and Palamon fall in love with the beautiful girl , Emelye .They argue over her , but neither can ever leave from the prison tower .
   One day , Perotheus who is friend  with both  Theseus and Arcite , petitions for Arcite's freedom from Theseus  and then the great conqueror Theseus banishes the prisoner Arcite permanently from  Athens  but Arcite still loves Emelye because he sees her every day from the prison tower .
   Some time later , winged Mercury appears to Arcite in his dream and insists upon him to return to Athens . Then he returns to Athens , but his cousin Palamon has escaped from the prison . A great conqueror Thesus learn that both enemy soldiers love Emelye and he holds a tournament . The winner will be awarded Emelye's hand. 

Old English Literature

Last lesson , we learnt a lot of things about English literature . I think that England  has a rich literature with a long history . Especially ,  I was impressed by  Old English literature , inas much as it includes a challenging period  which is called Anglo-Saxon . When I was surfing on the internet , I read diverse articles about The Anglo -Saxon Period . I realized that epic poems , songs , Bible translations , riddles take part in this period.

İn my opinion , among the most important works of  this period is the poem Beowulf .This poem tells  the story of the legendary  who is the title character Geatish hero Beowulf .I learnt that  Beowulf is a heroic poem . I haven't heard the poem Beowulf ever . I want to read this poem definitely . 

On the other side , I want to refer to specific features  of Anglo -Saxon poetry . I learnt that simile is a particular feature of Anglo-                     Saxon style . As an example of this  ,the poem  Beowulf  contains at best five similes, and these are of the short variety .Also , metaphor                 ,alliteration ,variation are specific features of Anglo-Saxon poetry . 

                                            Finally , in this part I want to say how I enjoy in this course .                                                         Because I like English language and its long history . Thanks                                                        to this course , I will learn a lot of things about English                                                                  literature . 

Paper

First of all , I think that English literature is an important thing for ELT students. For instance , when you know the cultural  history of English literature , you can find out the style  of literary texts and genres of English literature. In this course  , We learn a lot of things about English literature . We can  read various literary texts such as short poem , story , novel which are representing different periods of English literature . If we learn  these texts , they can improve our language skills.
Secondly , I want to  read  the texts  of  Shakespeare , Charles Dickens , Oscar Wilde . By this way , I can know different types of plays in literature in English . Especially , Romeo and Juliet , and David Copperfield are favorite texts for me . When I read these books , I liked them very much . Also , ELT students in this course texts .
Finally , I think that I will enjoy this course and It will  contribute our life in many different ways .