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British Literature

British Literature. A SNAPSHOT OF HISTORY. Unit 1 Old English/Medieval Times ( A.D. 449-1485). What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? 449 Fall of Rome 552 Buddhism 591 China book printing 597 St. Augustine introduces Christianity

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British Literature

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  1. British Literature A SNAPSHOT OF HISTORY

  2. Unit 1 Old English/Medieval Times (A.D. 449-1485) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 449 Fall of Rome • 552 Buddhism • 591 China book printing • 597 St. Augustine introduces Christianity • 1020 Vikings invaded America • 1066 Normandy invasion-Feudalism • 1291 End of Crusades (wars in Europe) • 1381 Bible translated to English • 1450 Printing press invented-revolutionized world • 1455 War of Roses begins

  3. Unit 1 Old English/Medieval Times (A.D. 449-1485) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • In Anglo Saxon times stories were passed down orally • Beowulf – no author, translated by the Monks • The Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Hierarchy structure-male dominated • Anglos-Saxon -- tribes/families • Middle Ages -- Kings/Lords/Knights/Peasants (FEUDALISM) • Depend on leader-gained wealth by being loyal to leaders • Middle class began to exist and gain wealth in LATE MIDDLE AGES

  4. Unit 1 Old English/Medieval Times (A.D. 449-1485) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Invasions, wars, and spread of Christianity • The Sea, Heros, Exile How did writers change how things were written? • Stories may have changed over time because only told orally • Stories stayed the same once they were written down What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Groups of people going on trips • Frame stories-story within a story • The idea of a Hero

  5. Unit 2 Renaissance (1485-1625) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1485 Henry VII first Tudor king-ended War of Roses • 1492 Columbus lands in Western Hemisphere • 1503 Italy: Leonardo da Vinci painted Mona Lisa • 1509 Italy: Michelangelo paints ceiling of Sistine Chapel • 1513 North America: Ponce de Leon explores Florida • 1534 Henry VIII named Head of English Church (broke away from Catholic Church) • 1563 Plague kills 20,000 Londoners • 1564 William Shakespeare born • 1582 New calendar introduced • 1588 English Navy defeats Spanish Armada • 1594 Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet • 1599 Globe Theatre opens • 1603 Elizabeth I dies • 1607 North America: Jamestown established • 1609 James I dies

  6. Unit 2 Renaissance (1485-1625) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • William Shakespeare – MacBeth • King James Bible – translated by committee of scholars What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Changes in the Church – people became less religious • Writers flourished with invention of printing press • Renaissance- “rebirth” revive learning of ancient Greece and Rome • Reformation-Martin Luther, return Catholic church to original principles broke (PROTESTANTS) • Ruled by a King • Rise of Middle Class and Explorers • Trade-West India Company

  7. Unit 2 Renaissance (1485-1625) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Classical authors were inspiration • Science was encouraged • Politics • Illusion and reality How did writers change how things were written? • Humanism – emphasis on what it like to be human (tried to harmonize Bible w/classics) • Shakespeare expanded our vocabulary with his invented words What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Translations of older works to reach broader audiences • Bible translated into English • New form of drama combined classical models of comedy and tragedy • Shakespeare made drama secular (non-religious)(1st dramas were church based)

  8. Unit 3 Seventieth and Eighteenth Century (1625-1798) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1642 English Civil War begins • 1649 Charles I beheaded • 1653 Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector • 1666 Great Fire of London • 1685 James II becomes king • 1689 Bill of Rights becomes law • 1702 First daily newspaper begins publication • 1707 Great Britain created by Act of Union • 1714 George I becomes king • 1752 North America-Benjamin Franklin invents lightning rod • 1773 North America-Boston Tea Party • 1776 North America-American Revolution begins • 1789 French Revolution

  9. Unit 3 Seventieth and Eighteenth Century (1625-1798) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • John Donne – “Song” • Samuel Johnson – Dictionary of English Language • John Milton – Paradise Lost • Daniel Defoe – (journalist) Journal of the Plague Year • Samuel Pepys – The Diary of Samuel Pepys What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Separation of Church and State • Cavaliers (aristocrats) vs Roundheads (class lower than aristocrats) • Behavior of children • Deism • London Fire-caused money problems • Industrial Revolution • Agricultural Revolution

  10. Unit 3 Seventieth and Eighteenth Century (1625-1798) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Love and religion • Sonnets given tone and scope • Revolution • Distrust of government How did writers change how things were written? • Novels, journals, and newspapers were written • Nonfiction was introduced What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Many works in similar format to the classics • Essay and Novel introduced • Middle class audience • Read about themselves and people they would like to be

  11. Unit 4 Romantics (1798-1832) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1801 Act of Union joins Great Britain and Ireland • 1804 Napoleon crowns himself emperor • 1812 War with United States • 1813 Jane Austin publishes Pride and Prejudice • 1799 Rosetta Stone discovered in Egypt (key to deciphering heiroglyphics) • 1814 1st successful steamboat and locomotive (train) • 1819 Trans-Atlantic steamboat • 1827 Water purification system in London • 1829 Metropolitan Police established in London • 1831 United States-Edgar Allen Poe • 1832 First Reform Act (England) extends voting rights

  12. Unit 4 Romantics (1798-1832) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • Blake – “The Chimney Sweeper” • Wordsworth – Lyrical Ballads, “The Prelude” • PB Shelley – “Ode to the West Wind” • Keats – “Ode on a Grecian Urn” • Mary Shelley - Frankenstein What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Industrial Revolution created slums and poverty • People began to be upset with what progress and science did to society (pollution, etc.) • Steamboats and railroads revolutionized trade • Spinning jenny and power loom invented-replaced the weaver • Wealth no longer depended on land

  13. Unit 4 Romantics (1798-1832) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Political oppression vs. political reform • European rulers tried to roll back revolutionary ideas • Reform Bill of 1832 extended the right to vote but not to the working class • Seeking the faraway-distant lands or supernatural • Nature seen as refuge-something to be worshipped • Youth best time of one’s life • Power of individual freedoms

  14. Unit 4 Romantics (1798-1832) How did writers change how things were written? • Writers tried to change politics by exposing issues • British ships traveled throughout the world and adopted words from other languages What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Romantic refers to the faraway and exotic not love stories • Rebellion against traditional literary forms and subjects • Revealed personal thoughts and feelings in writings • Revived the Sonnet and the Ode • Sonnet- “little song” • Ode- serious poem/praising/expresses deep feeling • Comic Novel-Jane Austen • Historical Novel-Sir Walter Scott • Gothic Novel-Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

  15. Unit 5 Victorian (1833-1901) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1832 Slavery abolished in British Empire • 1837 Queen Victoria crowned • 1845 Irish potato famine begins • 1848 Women began attending University of London • 1859 Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species (evolution theory) • 1836 United States-Texas Alamo falls to Mexican army • 1839 Michael Faraday, general theory of electricity • 1844 Morse code over long distance telegraph • 1861 United States – Civil War begins • 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone

  16. Unit 5 Victorian (1833-1901) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • Tennyson – Ulysses • Charles Dickens – Hard Times, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities • Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Sonnet 43 What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Optimistic spirit despite war, revolutions, and assassinations • Problems with faith in God-Darwin (evolution) Newton (universe) • Irish potato famine- 2 million people starved to death • Territories and trade increased

  17. Unit 5 Victorian (1833-1901) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Britain celebrated progress, prosperity, and peace • Darker stories associated with the potato famine-poverty • Spirit of exploration How did writers change how things were written? • Reminded readers that empires crumble, individuals are fragile and vulnerable, and death awaits us What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Elegy and sonnet used to address contemporary questions of belief and doubt • Dramatic monologue-Robert Browning • Melancholy poems- very sad, despairing

  18. Unit 6 Modern & Post Modern (1901-present) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1903 Wright Brother-first successful airplane • 1914 England declared war on Germany, entering into World War I • 1929 Great Depression • 1939 Hitler invaded Poland: World War II begins-Britain enters • 1940 Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister • 1941 United States enters WWII when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor • 1945 United States drops atomic bomb on Japan; WWII ends • 1948 Israel established • 1952 Queen Elizabeth II crowned • 1955 United States-Martin Luther King, Jr leads civil rights bus boycott • 1961 Berlin Wall built • 1963 United Stated-JFK assassinated • 1965 Vietnam War • 1967 Beatles

  19. Unit 6 Modern & Post Modern (1901-present) What important historical events happened during this time period? Around the World? • 1969 United States-Apollo 11 lands on the moon • 1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman prime minister • 1986 Soviet Union-nuclear accident in Chernobyl • 1989 Germany-Berlin Wall torn down-unification of East and West Germany • 1991 Soviet Union dissolved • 1994 Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa • 1997 Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister • 2001 United States-planes crash into World Trade Center in NYC, PA, WDC

  20. Unit 6 Modern & Post Modern (1901-present) Who are some of the notable authors and what are they famous for writing? • D.H. Lawrence – “Rocking Horse Winner” • Elizabeth Bowen – “Demon Lover” • William Butler Yeats – “The Second Coming • T.S. Elliot What social and economic characteristics were unique to this time period? • Women gained social freedom-limited right to vote and change in dress • Ordinary people gained access to higher education, healthcare, home ownership • Fewer servants-men and woman began working in new industries

  21. Unit 6 Modern & Post Modern (1901-present) What are some reoccurring historical and literary themes from this time period? • Conflicts and loss of Empire-England weakened from WWI and WWII • Poems of war by “soldier poets” • Poems about the true cost of war-blood and tears • Materialistic attitude-automobile and stylish home How did writers change how things were written? • Recorded the cost of conflict during the war • Celebrated Diversity What are some key British literary traditions from this time period? • Renewed poet as prophet • Sonnets-radical change in subject matter and tone • Short stories became global genre with diverse subjects and settings • Writing more accessible through inexpensive books and internet

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