1. Warm-up: September 4, 2013
Refer to the NYT article you read for homework to answer the following questions:
Why are the options presented in the “fill-in-the-blank” introduction in the post likely to not interest or impress a college admissions official?
Why are more mundane topics often preferable?
What other alternatives to the standard college essay fare does this post offer? What are some things to avoid in a college essay?

2. Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in wich licour
Of which vertue engendred is the flour

3. The History of the English Language

4. Proto Indo European (3,000 B.C.)

5. Proto Indo European (3,000 B.C.)

6. Sir William Jones (end of 18th century)

7. Sanskrit
Classical language of the Hindus
Studied it in India

8. Sanskrit + Ancient Greek + Latin = Epiphany!

9. Back to England…

10. The Celts

11. The Celts

12. The Celts

13. The Celts

14. The Celts

15. The Celts

16. Angles and Saxons and Jutes – oh, my!

17. 3 Powerful Germanic Tribes (early 5 century AD)
Angles
Language called “Englisc”
One of the main groups that settled in Britain.
Got their name from Angeln (city in Germany).
“England” and “English”
English people ended up being referred to as “Anglo”
Saxons
Jutes

18. Latin Alphabet

19. All three tribes spoke similar languages.
They didn’t write.
Were given the Latin Alphabet.
Languages merged.
Began writing it down AND…

20. VOILA! We got the first written version of English.
Uh, except to us, it looks and sounds nothing like
English…

21. Three attested periods:
…what does “attested” mean?

22. Old English

23. Old English Germanic tribes languages meshed together.
Formed “Old English”
Looks nothing like modern English.
Native speakers wouldn’t know what it means.
Our word roots can be traced back to Old English.
Ex: Beowulf

24. Middle Engish

25. Middle English 1066-William the Conqueror French influence
French was language of the Royal Court
Class division: lower classes (English) upper class (French)
Decline of Feudalism/growth of cities
English became dominant in Britain again
But French words were intermixed
The result was a new form of English: Middle English

26. Modern English

27. Modern English Early Modern (1500-1800) Late Modern English
Renaissance brought with it many new words and phrases.
Shakespeare.
Late Modern English
(1800-Present)
British Empire
Foreign languages filtered into English language.

28. Chaucer’s English – Your Turn
Read through the passage from Canterbury Tales a couple of times.
Use the translation on the back to try to interpret each line of the passage.
Annotate in the margins what each line is saying, using context clues to make your best interpretation.
Don’t worry if you don’t get it totally correct; just try to get the gist of each line.