"Chaucer's Normalized Diction: A Comparison of Recurring Phrases in Chaucer and "Beowulf" to Determine the Validity of the Magoun Thesis."

Description: Tabulates and analyzes Chaucer's "normalized diction," i.e., a "diction that is very repetitive and free from syntactic eccentricity, a diction that utilizes the same words to express the same ideas in different contexts." Compares and contrasts Chaucer's usage with that of the "Beowulf"-poet and Milton, deducing that similarities between Chaucer's usage and that of the "Beowulf"-poet challenge some of the criteria of the theory of oral composition.