Scarlet Pimpernel

Chaucer
Download file

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote during the 14th century, and is most famous for his work The Canterbury Tales. Though he wrote many other works which are of equal value, the one most frequently studied is The Canterbury Tales. His other famous works include: The House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde, The Romaunt of the Rose, and The Legend of Good Women. If any of these works are given on the exam in their original format, they will be easy to recognize because they are written in Middle English. A sample would look like this:

“Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendered is the flour.”

American Literature Study Guide
Prose 1865-1914
Download file

Throughout these years, the country underwent many significant changes. Immediately prior to this time period was the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, and immediately after, America joined World War I, one of the deadliest wars in world history. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery and President Lincoln is assassinated after the beginning of the Reconstruction. Two years later, African Americans are granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment.