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English Literature, since the very beginning of 2016/2017 educational year, has been one of the most fascinating courses that I've taken in METU. Among what we've studied so far, there are several reasons why Medieval English period was the most enjoyable for me to study in this course.  First of all, chivalric romance of Medieval English period is an international element which can be found in different countries' literatures and such propinquity bears a resemblance to what people feel all around the world.For example,there are several Turkish fairy tales and stories which show similarity to what we've discovered as chivalric romance.In one of the Turkish love stories, Tahir and Zühre, Tahir,who is the son of a vizier,falls in love with the daughter of the ruler. Unfortunately , the ruler's wife doesn't accept such relationship and deprecates their coupledom for she wanted her daughter to marry with a crown prince of another ruler. Later, both lover die for the sake of their unrestrainable desires. Feeling that I got after I had read the story of Tahir and Zühre reemerged after I got into the story of Le Morthe D'Arthur. The death of lovers in the both stories after an uphill struggle is actually what constitutes my main drive for learning literature and taking pleasure from it. Lovers born,lovers die. Settings of the stories change, centuries pass away. What doesn't change is the passionate love between lovers. Another reason why Medieval English period is my favourite one is that,this period of English literature, in my opinion, is the most famous one and therefore, it gives me a great amount of knowledge about the movies and songs of present-day , and about medieval times. Being a person who hasn't even heard the names ''Arthur'' and ''Lancelot'' before, this period and the stories of the Knights of the Round Table widened my horizon.  For example, as soon as I started studying Le Morthe D'Arthur , I acknowledged the harsh reality that a TV series called Merlin that I had watched before had elements from the Sir Thomas Malory's stories. The realisation of the series that I had been binge-watching  was actually taken from a book has increased my interest in English literature. Later,I found out that a song called 'Camelot Chronicles ' which I used to listen before had been influenced by medieval stories and my knowledge of Medieval English period offered an insight to me about the video clip of the song,many years later. In addition, I've discovered several historical informations while studying the period. That a story called '' The Nun's Priest's Tale '' in the Canterburry Tales is the first record of April Fools' Day has been very shocking information for me.  Also,I've found out that Caedmon's Hymn was the first literary record of English literature.To conclude, I've learned many things by studying Medieval English period,but,my heart has been deeply affected by the chivalry romance of the time.

 

 

''Tahir olmak da ayıp değil

Zühre olmak da

hatta,sevda yüzünden ölmek de ayıp değil.

bütün iş,Tahir ile Zühre olabilmekte

yani yürekte.''

Nazım Hikmet

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