-
also called Anglo-Saxon, language spoken and written in England before 1100; it is the ancestor of Middle English and Modern English. Scholars place Old English in the Anglo-Frisian group of West Germanic languague In contrast to Modern English, Old English had three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) in the noun and adjective, and nouns, pronouns, and adjectives were inflected for case.
-
He is well known as an author, teacher (a student of one of his pupils was Alcuin), and scholar, and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gained him the title "The Father of English History". His ecumenical writings were extensive and included a number of Biblical commentaries and other theological works of exegetical erudition. Another important area of study for Bede was the academic discipline of computus,
-
The Poetic Edda or Greater Edda
The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy -
Middle English is framed at its beginning by the after-effects of the Norman Conquest of 1066, and at its end by the arrival in Britain of printing (in 1476) and by the important social and cultural impacts of the English Reformation (from the 1530s onwards) and of the ideas of the continental Renaissance.
Two very important linguistic developments characterize Middle English;
in grammar and in vocabulary -
one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. His brilliantly complex and nuanced thought, which earned him the nickname “the Subtle Doctor,”
we have 46 short disputations called Collationes dating from 1300–1305, a late work in natural theology called De primo principio, and Quaestiones Quodlibetales from Scotus’s days as regent master (either Advent 1306 or Lent 1307). Finally, there is a work called Theoremata. -
A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman The poem takes the form of a series of dream visions dealing with the social and spiritual predicament of late 14th-century England. In general, the language is simple and colloquial, but some of the imagery is powerful and direct.
-
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.
Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. -
this period began in 1558, when Elizabeth the First became queen and one of the most popular monarchs in English history. This period of time is remembered for its richness of poetry and drama.
Queen Elizabeth I was a Protestant. She re-established the Church of England as the official church in England. Everyone had to attend their local church and there were laws about the type of religious services and the prayers which could be said, but Elizabeth did not ask about people’s real beliefs. -
Marlowe and Shakespeare are born in the same year, with Marlowe the older by two months. Marlowe: was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era Shakespeare: Outstanding English playwright, poet, and actor. He is considered the most important writer in the English language and one of the most famous in world literature.
-
Jacobean literature, body of works written during the reign of James I of England (1603–25). The successor to Elizabethan literature, Jacobean literature was often dark in mood, questioning the stability of the social order; some of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies may date from the beginning of the period, and other dramatists, including John Webster, were often preoccupied with the problem of evil.
-
The Caroline Age
After the demise of James First, Charles First appointed as the King in 1625 and in 1649, he was executed as a result of Puritan uprising under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.
Characteristic features of this age are incomplete without mentioning John Milton’s contributions to the literature.
He wrote early poems including “On the Morning of Christ‘s Nativity” (1929), -
this body of literature constitutes a unique example of rhetorical self-definition. The Puritans believed that their society in New England would provide, in John Winthrop’s phrase, “A Modell of Christian Charity”; they believed that their special role in history had been fore-ordained in the Bible and that God had reserved the New World as a second Garden of Eden for them to prepare for the second coming of Christ.
-
Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period commonly referred to as the English Restoration(1660–1689).
the “Restoration” in drama may last until 1700, while in poetry it may last only until 1666 (see 1666 in poetry) and the annus mirabilis; and in prose it might end in 1688.
The Restoration was an age of poetry. Not only was poetry the most popular form of literature, but it was also the most significant form of literature -
European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama, satire, and novels) produced in Europe during this period. ... Literary neoclassicism. English literature: Augustan literature, British amatory fiction.
this period is divided in the following stages
- Augustan age
- Age of sensibility -
the Augustan Age comes from the self-conscious imitation of the original Augustan writers, Virgil and Horace, by many of the writers of the period. Specifically, the Augustan Age was the period after the Restoration era to the death of Alexander Pope (~1690 - 1744). The major writers of the age were Pope and John Dryden in poetry, and Jonathan Swift and Joseph Addison in prose.
-
The period in British literature between roughly 1740 and 1800 is sometimes called “the Age of Sensibility,” in recognition of the high value that many Britons came to place on explorations of feeling and emotion in literature and the other arts.
- Thomas Paine publishes his completed Age of Reason, an attack on conventional Christianity
-
Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception
Literary fame came to him suddenly and unanimously from the publication of the first volume of Life and Opinions of the Knight Tristram Shandy , a surprising novel that broke with current narrative conventions. Constructed from digressions that follow one another and that relate through free associations, sometimes in an absurd humor. -
Romantic literature is marked by six primary characteristics: celebration of nature, focus on the individual and spirituality, celebration of isolation and melancholy, interest in the common man, idealization of women, and personification and pathetic fallacy. Romantic writers saw nature as a teacher and a source of infinite beauty. One of the most famous works of Romanticism is John Keats’ To Autumn (1820)
-
The Victorian era was the great age of the English novel realistic, thickly plotted, crowded with characters, and long. It was the ideal form to describe contemporary life and to entertain the middle class. The novels of Charles Dickens, full to overflowing with drama, humor, and an endless variety of vivid characters and plot complications, nonetheless spare nothing in their portrayal of what urban life was like for all classes. William Makepeace Thackeray is best known for Vanity Fair (1848).
-
the individual part is more interesting than society. Specifically, modernist writers were fascinated with how the individual adapted to the changing world.
Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. -Erskine Childers has a best-seller in The Riddle of the Sands. -
Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. -English author Nancy Mitford has her first success with the novel The Pursuit of Love
.Titus Groan begins British author Mervyn Peake's trilogy of gothic novels -
It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the interwar period. Although a comedy, the story has tragic overtones.
-
Contemporary Literature publishes scholarly essays on contemporary writing in English.
Refers to anything after WW2. It follows ‘Modern’ literature which follows the post WW1 timeline (and coincides with Modernism).
Contemporary literature includes basically any work of literature published in the period. -
offers more variety in English classes. ... By adding more modern literature that has more relevance to students' past, present and future than a Greek tragedy, students can better form their own relationships with what they have to read. -The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials
