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701 BCE
The Odyssey
The Odyssey was written by Homer. It tells the story of Odysseus and the challenges he faces in order to return back home to his family. -
431 BCE
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
Pericles’ sends a meaningful message to the people of Athens and honors the fallen soldiers of the Peloponnesian War. He uplifts the families of these soldiers by discussing how great Athens is. -
Period: 500 to 1500
Medieval Period
This period of literature is where the origin of many theological works, languages, songs, etc. were created and passed down. Particularly, this period (In English literature) is defined as works that were produced in England from the fall of Rome (the late 400s CE) to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. -
Period: 1500 to
The Renaissance
This period of literature was also known as “the Dark Ages”. During this period, European literature was influenced by humanist philosophy and culture at the time. The overwhelming spirit of the times was optimism and the belief that life was improving for the first time and people were there to witness it. -
Period: to
The Enlightenment
This period of literature was referred as the “Age of Reason”. It was a philosophical movement of science, intellectualism, and politics. The literature during this period provoked thinking and reasoning. -
Period: to
Romanticism
The Romanticism period was an artistic, literary, musical, cultural and intellectual movement that originated in Europe. In literature, emotions and imagination was emphasized in the works of mainly poetry and novels. -
Period: to
Realism
After the Romanticism period was over, literature began to shift to the Realism period. Realism is the attention to detail, and an effort to replicate the true nature of reality in a way that novelists had never attempted. -
Period: to
Victorian Literature
The name given to this period is borrowed from the royal matriarch of England, Queen Victoria, who sat on throne from 1837 to 1901. During this period, the transition from the Romanticism period was heavily pronounced as literature moved into the twentieth century. It is largely characterized by the struggle of working people and the triumph of right over wrong. -
Period: to
Transcendentalism
During this philosophical movement, literature was expressed through the understanding of truth and knowledge. It provided views on nature, humanity, feminism, and communal living. -
Period: to
Existentialism
This period is a movement in philosophy and literature that embraced the saying, “I think, therefore I am”. It emphasized the freedom of choice and individuality. -
Period: to
Naturalism
The Naturalism period was more explanatory than Realism by identifying the underlying causes for a person’s actions or beliefs. The thinking was that certain factors, such as heredity and social conditions, were unavoidable in one’s life. -
A Doll’s House
This play by Henrik Ibsen revolves around Nora Helmer, who lives her life compliant to please her husband. After learning her true role her marriage, she leaves her husband and children to seek her belonging in the world. -
Period: to
The Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group was a group of artists, philosophers, intellectuals, and English writers who gathered ideas from each other and influenced literature through this. The most memorable members were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. -
Period: to
Modernism
This period of literature is characterized as the break from writing in traditional ways to writing about what is revelant in culture at the time. It presented new perspectives in writing and allows people to connect and interact all over the world. -
The Second Coming
The Second Coming, written by William B.Yeats, is a chilling poem about a “Second Coming” that will result in destruction of the world. It expresses how everything as we know it will fall apart. -
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
In this short story, James Thurber tells the story of a man who is lost in his imaginative daydreams to escape the reality of his life. -
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce was written by C.S. Lewis. It tells a story of a Narrator who finds himself on a journey between Heaven and Hell. It is explained through broad Christianity. -
Period: to
The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was an influential and cultural movement of people who discussed American culture and politics after the WWII era. -
Period: to
Post-Modernism
After World War II, literature began to become styled differently than from any other literature before. The trend of the unreliable narrator, parodies, dark humor, paradox, and more emerged during this era. -
Things Fall Apart
Written by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart is a novel explaining culture and before and after Christian colonization affected Africa. The story is about a man named Okonkwo and his life in the village of Umuofia. -
A Thousand Pieces Of Gold
Ruthanne McCunn passionately tells the story of Lalu, a young Chinese girl who was sold into human trafficking and how she made her way from China to living in America. -
How I Got That Name - Marylin Chin
In this poem, the author expresses her father’s journey from China to America and how her name changed to fit the American society. The author also recounts her struggle to fit in as a Chinese-American and how she dealt with stereotypes. -
Shisoi - Luci Tapaphonso
Shisoi is a poem about an grandmother who expresses her joy towards her granddaughter and how her happiness brings happiness to the entire family. -
The Dessert Is My Mother- Pat Mora
This poem, expresses in English and Spanish, expresses the metaphor that the desert is her mother. Each thing the narrator requests in the poem, the desert responds by nurturing and providing for her needs. -
Teenagers - Pat Mora
This poem describes how a mother who has teenage children recognizes that her children aren’t little anymore and she no longer understands them as much as she used too. It is also about how teenagers often distance themselves from their parents during this phase of life. -
Immigrants - Pat Mora
This poem describes the struggle that immigrants often face, which is conforming to American culture and to live up the stereotypical “American Dream”.