Category: 16th Century

What is blank verse ?

A. iambic pentameter in rhyming couplets
B. the verse form of the Shakespearean sonnet
C. free verse, without rhyme or regular meter
D. unrhymed iambic pentameter

Which of the following statements accurately reflects the status of England, its people, and its language in the early sixteenth century ?

A. English travelers were not obliged to learn French, Italian, or Spanish during their explorations of the Continent.
B. English was fast supplanting Latin as the second language of most European intellectuals.
C. English travelers often returned from the Continent with foreign fashions, much to the delight of moralists.
D. Intending his Utopia for an international intellectual community, Thomas More wrote in Latin, since English had no prestige outside of England.