Bryan Lee's List: English IV Course Introduction

• He is specifically addressing those book readers who think marking up a book is an act of mutilation
• Adler argues that ownership only comes once it has become a part of yourself.  He is trying to convince these people that writing in a book is not a sin but rather a way to understand and value it more fully
• Marking up a book is also important because you need to ask questions while reading. By writing questions in the margins you can argue with the author and answer your own questions as you continue reading.

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• The lack of political unity made them vulnerable to their enemies
• Britain gained "independence" from Rome in the year 410ad
• in 450ad. This event is known in Latin as the "adventus Saxonum," or the coming of the Saxons
• The Saxons called the native Britons, 'wealas', which meant foreigner or slave, and from this term came the modern word Welsh. Eight to ten years later many British aristocrats (Celts) and city dwellers began migrating to Brittany, an event known as the second migration.
• Soon after the Germanic invasions, the inhabitants gave their settlements new names. The most common Saxon place names are those ending in -ton (fenced area), -wick (dwelling), -ham (home), -worth(homestead), -den(pasture), -hurst(wooded hill), and -burn(stream). Some settlement names began with more than one word which either stated personal possession or described a physical description of the area and would later evolve into one word. One example of this evolution would be the word Chatham which was originally Ceatta's Ham (Ceatta's home).
• The 8th century and the beginning of the Viking raids
• The 9th century - During the ninth century, the Danes began a series of major raids on the whole of England. This ended in an agreement which left the Danes in control of half of the country

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• It is useful to  compare various versions of a familiar text to see the differences between Old,  Middle, and Modern English. Take for instance this Old English (c. 1000)  sample:

   

   

    Fæder ure þu þe eart on  heofonum  
    si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin  rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum 
    urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg 
    and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað  urum gyltendum 
    and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac  alys us of yfele soþlice. 

   

      

  Rendered in Middle English (Wyclif,  1384), the same text is recognizable to the modern eye:

   

   

    Oure fadir þat art in  heuenes halwid be þi name;  
    þi reume or kyngdom come to  be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene. 
    yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred. 
    And foryeue to us oure dettis  þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to  men þat han synned in us. 
    And lede us not into temptacion  but delyuere us from euyl. 

   

  Finally, in Early Modern English  (King James Version, 1611) the same text is completely intelligible: 

   

    Our father which art in heauen,  hallowed be thy name.  
    Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done  in earth as it is in heauen. 
    Giue us this day our daily bread. 
    And forgiue us our debts as we  forgiue our debters. 
    And lead us not into temptation,  but deliuer us from euill. Amen.

• A Chronology of the English  Language

                                                                                                                                                                 

  449	Anglo-Saxon settlement of  Britain begins
  450-480	Earliest Old English  inscriptions date from this period
  597	St. Augustine arrives in  Britain. Beginning of Christian conversion
  731	The Venerable Bede  publishes The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in  Latin
  792	Viking raids and  settlements begin
  871	Alfred becomes king of  Wessex. He has Latin works translated into English and begins practice  of English prose. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun
  911	Charles II of France  grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger. The beginning of  Norman French
  c. 1000	The oldest surviving  manuscript of Beowulf dates from this period
  1066	The Norman conquest
  c. 1150	The oldest surviving  manuscripts of Middle English date from this period
  1171	Henry II conquers Ireland
  1204	King John loses the  province of Normandy to France
  1348	English replaces Latin as  the medium of instruction in schools, other than Oxford and Cambridge  which retain Latin
  1362	The Statute of Pleading  replaces French with English as the language of law. Records continue  to be kept in Latin. English is used in Parliament for the first time
  1384	Wyclif publishes his  English translation of the Bible
  c. 1388	Chaucer begins The  Canterbury Tales
  1476	William Caxton establishes  the first English printing press
  1492	Columbus discovers the New  World
  1549	First version of The  Book of Common Prayer
  1604	Robert Cawdrey publishes  the first English dictionary, Table Alphabeticall
  1607	Jamestown, the first  permanent English settlement in the New World, established
  1611	The Authorized, or King  James Version, of the Bible is published
  1702	Publication of the first  daily, English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, in London
  1755	Samuel Johnson publishes  his dictionary
  1770	Cook discovers Australia
  1928	The Oxford English  Dictionary is published