British literature is an interesting and integral part of all literature in the world. Starting with an epic as old as Beowulf, British literature has had a rich and evolving history. I found The Longman Anthology of World Literature to be a comprehensive book filled with authoritative and prominent world literary works from the time when stories were oral traditions to the present day, including many crucial works in the history of British literature. The authors of The Longman Anthology made an interesting choice in changing the order in which the stories were placed in this book: although Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales were written in the second half of the 14th century, Sir Gawain was placed before Chaucer's Writings in this anthology. In fact, Sir Gawain was probably written a little before the Canterbury Tales. I believe the editors of The Longman Anthology chose to do this because Sir Gawain was originally an oral history while The Canterbury Tales have always been written down, and Sir Gawain has a deeper connection to the older language and themes of the area than The Canterbury Tales due to the spread of Christianity and Christian ideals. While it may have physically been written after The Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was created long before the first. I know that Sir Gawain was an oral tradition before being written down because of the rhyme scheme and rhythm of the compilation of the original Middle English. A precursor to Shakespeare, although he originated much earlier, Sir Gawain has the similar structure that an actor or poet would use to help him remember the lines of the poem and perform the piece. There is a certain number of accents in each line and a particular...... middle of paper ......our travels, these men enter as an average man of the time, they face a challenge that the Church he believed a man of the day could gain experience, and come out purified and educated, as a man of those times should behave. These stories are examples of how a life should be lived and the challenges that can be encountered. Although the frames of these narratives change from fictional to realistic according to the flow of Christianity-based Northeastern literature, each of them is an image of the mentality of its time. As time passed, mentalities also increased, which were strongly influenced by Christianity. This is evident in the slow removal of pagan beliefs in supernatural monsters such as dragons and giants into more realistic literary frames. Although they all have their differences due to the changing times, the hero's journey as a role model for the everyday man is clear in these poems..