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Anglo-Saxon literature was the earliest phase of English literature.
-Major literary Trends and Highlights-
Heroic Tradition: poetry focused on the hero’s braver Elegiac Tradition: writers mourned the passing of earlier, better times.
(731) The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people.
(975-1025) Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons. -
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With the Norman conquest began a new era in the history of England literature. The Normans brought with them their rich French culture and language. The most popular forms of writing for the Anglo-Normans were chronicles, religious and didactic writing, poetry, romances, and drama.
-(1367) A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman.
-(1469) Thomas Malory compiles Morte d'Arthur -an English account of the French tales of King Arthur. -
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It is known as the "golden age" in the history of English literature.
The major characteristic of the Renaissance was its focus on Humanism.
- (1510) Erasmus and Thomas More take the northern Renaissance in the direction of Christian humanism.
- (1590) English poet Edmund Spenser celebrates the Protestant Elizabeth I as the Faerie Queene.
- (1601) Shakespeare's Central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident age -
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Writer's contributions to Eng. literature: The first was in the form of realism and the second, a tendency to preciseness. Also the creation of a technically beautiful verse, the clarity of its expression, and the finished art of satire.
(1667) Paradise Lost is published, earning its author John Milton just £10.
(1726) Jonathan Swift sends his hero on a series of bitterly satirical travels in Gulliver's Travels.
(1755) Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial dictionary of the English Language. -
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The most flourished period in the history of English literature is the Romantic Period. The Romantic Age was basically the age of poetry.
The Romantic poets focused on the simplicity of language and chose the language of the common people.
(1792) English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
(1813) Pride and Prejudice, based on a youthful work of 1797 called First impressions, is the second of Jane Austen's novels to be published -
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This period is so long as well as complicated. Moreover, there are numerous great writers who flourished during that period.
All these poets,novelists ,and prose writers exhibited the same approach to contemporary issues.The Victorian Period exhibits a unique and complex amalgamation of two opposites—Romanticism and Classicism.
(1895) H.G Wells publishes The Time Machine, a story about a Time Traveller whose first stop on his journey is the year 802701
(1900) Frank Baum introduces children to Oz -
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Edwardian literature was more intense, social, and political. George Bernard used his works to question society and the structure of politics, the institution and norms of marriage as trusted forward by society, and the challenge of female emancipation
(1901) Beatrix P. - The Tale of Peter Rabbit
(1908) Lucy Montgomery's first novel, Anne of Green Gables, brings her instant fame and fortune
(1910) H.G Wells publishes The History of Mr. Polly, a novel about an escape from drab everyday existence -
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This fiction became very popular and along with this, historical fiction also garnered the attention of the readers. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift and Don Quixote made a landmark during this time due to it going away from the traditional form of literature. They were long prose and were also satirical in nature
(1925) Virginia Woolf publishes her novel Mrs Dalloway,in which the action is limited to a single day
(1928) Frank Harris publishes the fourth and final volume of My life and Loves -
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It opposed the attitude of Victorian writers and people to life and its problems.Scientifics had an impact on people.Writers of the 20th Century began to study the writings of Karl Marx,Engles, etc, and discuss practical suggestions for the reconstruction of society.This literature is full of experimentation and adventures peculiar to the modern age(an age of transition and discovery)
(1945) In Orwell's G. fable Animal Farm a ruthless pig,Napoleon, controls the farmyard using Stalin's techniques -
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Is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues.
- (1950) C.S Lewis gives the first glimpse of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
- (1979) US author Maya Angelou publishes her autobiographical first novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
- (1997) A schoolboy wizard performs his first tricks in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's.
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Literature of the contemporary period mainly includes reality-based stories having strong characters and realistic themes. The Settings of contemporary novels are usually the current or modern era. In their novels and poetry, the contemporary writers deal with such themes as war, racism, identity, family, home, and a search for goodness in humanity.
(2010) Mockingjay completes Suzanne Collins' trilogy, The Hunger Games.
(2013-Present) J.K Rowling starts Cormoran Strike, crime fiction novels
