Literary Terms and Background Information

Literary Terms and Background Information

Religious Sects in England/Great Britain: (denominational concepts important in English literature.)

Catholics- rooted in Ireland, Catholics were an object of persecution in England from the Reformation through the 19th Century

Anglicans- Official church since the 16th century; it has a creed of 39 articles; the classes are high church, broad church or Latitudinarian, and low church.

Presbyterians- John Calvin in Swiss Geneva; the religion was big in Scotland and gave birth to Quakers, Baptists, etc.

Methodists- John and Charles Wesley; the religion was big in Wales

Hermetic Protestantism- contained a belief in occult powers, magic, and the mystic (William Blake, Yeats, etc.)

The Universe According to Ptolmey: (how he and many writers saw it)

Ptolmeywas a Roman astronomer in the 2nd century A.D., and for nearly 1500 years his account of the universe was accepted. Earth was the center of the universe, orbited by the sun, stars, and planets. Hell was at the center of the globe, Heaven in the outermost circle, the Empyrean. Howeverm, in 1543 Copernicus showed that earth orbits the sun. Milton more or less uses the ptolemaic cosmos in his work.

Rhetorical Terms (anaphora, epanalepsis, apostrophe, etc.)

It is unlikely that many of these more obscure terms will appear on the literature GRE. However, this list will prove a handy reference for the student of literature, and I have highlighted in blue those terms I believe may appear. (Examples without citations have been invented by the webmaster.)

antanaclasis- repeating a word, but in a different sense: "And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were brass." (Milton, Paradise Lost)

anadiplosis- beginning a phrase with the ending of a previous phrase: "Forthwith his former state and being forgets, / Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain." (Milton, Paradise Lost)

parison- repeating words in grammatically parallel phrases: "Thou art my father, thou my author, thou..." (Milton, Paradise Lost)

ploce- repeating a word within a line: "The truth I know, know it as I know myself.

polyptoton- repeating words from the same root: ". . . Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. . . " (Milton, Paradise Lost)

isocolon- repeating words and sounds in phrases the same length: "Under so many frigid, so many frozen seas

anaphora- beginning two or more lines the same way: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

epizeuxis- repeating a word with no words inbetween: "Never, never will I relent."

epanalepsis- beginning and ending a line with the same word: Cry, and all the world will cry.

anadiplosis- beginning a phrase with the ending of the prior phrase: As if truth were fickle / Fickle men prevail.

antimetabole- repeating a phrase in the opposite order: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Jesus Christ)

epistrophe- repeating the same word or phrase at the end of two or more clauses or lines

anastrophe- turning natural word order around: To her I gave it.

litotes understatement: Hitler didnt love the Jewish people.

oxymoron- two words juxtaposed that are opposite: "kind tyrants"

tautology- saying the same thing again but in different words

apostrophe- speaking to someone or something not present

antonomasia using a proper name in pace of a general idea: "My lover is Adonis"

zeugma- In zeugma, two parallel clause share the same verb but take a different object, creating a noticeable contrast. Alexander Pope is famous for pairing the serious with the trivial to create a comic effect, as here, in this excerpt from The Rape of the Lock: "Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law, / Or some frail china jar receive a flaw; / Or stain her honour, or her new brocade,/ Forget her pray'rs, or miss a masquerade / Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball . . . "

ellipsis- obviously leaving out a word

sticomythia- when speakers alternate lines and repeat words or ideas that they pick up from each other:

I never would have gone had-Had you not wanted to, Im sure.Sure I wanted to, but that is not Not why you went? Why then go?Go I must, for I was called.Called on an errand pleasurable to you!

synesthesia- using one sense to evoke another -- "blind mouths" (Milton)

periphrasis- wordily going around a subject:

malapropism mistakenly replacing one word with another that sounds similar but means something different. It was named for Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's The Rivals and used by Dogberry in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Example:

Then, sir, she should have a supercilious knowledge in accounts; and as she grew up, I would have her instructed in geometry, that she might know something of the contagious countries. . . and likewise that she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is saying....

paradox-- a seeming contradiction that is really true; For instance, John Donne writes in one of his holy sonnets: "Take me to you, imprison me, for I, / Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, / Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."

Figurative Language (metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, etc.)

epic simile-- a long simile beginning with like or as and ending with so or such:

Thus Satan . . . Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as hugeAs whom the fables name of monstrous size,Titanian, or Earth-born, that warred on Jove,Briareos or Typhon, whom the denBy ancient Tarsus held, or the sea-beastLeviathan, which God of all his worksCreated hugest that swim the ocean stream:Him haply slumbering on the Norway foamThe pilot of some small night-foundered skiff,Deeming some island, often, as seamen tell,With fixed anchor in his scaly rindMoors by his side under the lee, while nightInvests the sea, and wished morn delaysSo stretched out in length the arch-fiend layChained on the burning lake... (Milton, Paradise Lost)

type- a historical figure who in someway prefigures (or is the pattern for) another figure (Melchezideck, Jospeh, and David are all types of Christ)

metaphor- a comparison not using like or as

simile- a comparison using like or as

tenor and vehicle- the two parts of a metaphor; the tenor is the idea being represented by the vehicle, or the image used

synecdoche- using the part for the whole, as in "lend a hand"

metonymy- substituting one term for another with closely associated with it, as in "from the White House" for "from the President"

conceit- a far fetched comparison

metaphysical conceits- these are even more intellectualized and far fetched than regular conceits, as John Donne's compass in "Valediction Forbidding Mourning" or the pulley in Herbert's poem

emblem- a symbol in which the connection between meaning and image is purely arbitrary (dove = peace)

epithet- an adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of a person or thing; as in "Fallen cherub" or "myriads of immortal spirits" (Milton, Paradise Lost)

classical epithet- an epithet referring to classical mythology, such as "Cleaning the Augean Stables"

Literary Genres, Periods, and Terms (masque, parody, etc.)

fable- a tale in which beasts behave like humans; it usually communicates a moral

commedia dell' arte- a series of short scenarios performed by travelling players who used stereotypical costumes and mask.

exemplum- told to illustrate the point of a sermon

baroque- heavily ornamented, with dynamic tension (Michelangelo, Milton)

mannerist- distorted figures (El Greco, Donne)

mock heroic- makes a subject ludicrous by inflating it, as in Dryden's poem "Mac Flecknoe"

tragedy-- a drama with a serious and dignified character in which the protagonist has a tragic flaw

closet drama-- a drama suited primarily for reading rather than for production

masque-- an elaborate form of court entertainment, the masque combined poetic drama, music, song, dance, elaborate costuming, and stage spectacle

afterpiece-- an extra entertainment presented after full-length plays in 18th century England. They were usually short comedy, farce, or pantomime. The purpose was to lighten the solemnity of drama. (Example--Tom Thumb)

parody-- A literary work in which the style of an author (or genre) is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule; it differs from burlesque in its depth and technique. (Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, for example, is a parody of the gothic romance genre.)

farce-- A light dramatic work employing unlikely situations, broad stereotypes, exaggeration, and violence. It is generally considered inferior to comedy because of its crude characterizations and unlikely plots.

satire-- a work ridiculing human vices, folly, abuses, and fialings, sometimes with the intent to bring about improvement

ballad opera-- plays (written in England in reaction to the popularity of Italian operas) that supply new words to old tunes, creating a satirical contrast. The Ballad Opera pokes fun at its characters by using unlikely situations and stereotypes; but it is also a satire, aimed at social reform. In Beggar's Opera, John Gay makes the ruffians of Newgate a type for the kind of men who were running the government. He revealed political, social, and economical ills. The play's moral is that corruption at high levels leads to corruption throughout society.

burlesque-- A comic imitation of a serious literary form, burlesque relies on a sharp contrast between the subject itslef and the way it is treated. In Tom Thumb, we see Fielding mocking heroic drama. The intent of such a play is to make fun of a certain genre or of certain writers. Burlesque is less socially conscious than other comedies, and it is less sophisticated than parody.

sentimental comedy-- These plays, in which the protagonists overcome a series of moral trials, do not so much evoke our emotions as tell us how to feel. The sentimental comedy portrays man as good but capable of being led astray. It shows that people can be reformed by appealing to their best sentiments. These plays contain unbelievably virtuous characters whose problems are too easily resolved. It tends to mix the qualities of tragedy and comedy. Oliver Goldsmith called it "bastard tragedy" and said that if the characters "happen to have faults or foibles, the spectator is taught, not only to pardon, but to applaud them, in consideration of the goodness of their hearts; so that folly, instead of being ridiculed, is commended, and the comedy aims at touching our passions without the power of being truly pathetic." Example: The West Indian

laughing comedy-- A term invented by Oliver Goldsmith to describe comedy aimed at amusing an audience rather than telling it how to feel; it portrays man's follies rather than his trials. Most of all, it is FUNNY. Laughing comedies often include satirical treatments of sentimentalism. Example: She Stoops to Conquer, The Rivals, The School for Scandal.

comedy of manners-- Witty, intelligent form of drama satirizing the manners and fashions of a particular social class; it is concerned with social manners and things morally trivial; plays often have allegorical names. Example: Man of Mode

allegory- a more or less symbolic fictional narrative that conveys a second meaning not explicit in the narrative, where characters and events have a one to one correlation to the thing being allegorized and often bear descriptive names, such as "Christian" or "Faith."

Gothic novel-- originally referred to literature set in medieval times (i.e. the time of the Goths) with castles, knights, etc., but it was broadened to include romantic fiction having an atmosphere of intrigue and horror; it is usually dark, stormy, and full of supernatural events. It often emphasized madness and revenge. Examples include Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

myth-- myths tell the deeds of extraordinary beings while at the same time relating unviersal truths; myth critics usually focus on stages of a hero: miraculous brith, initiation, quest, death, and resurrection.

neoclassicism-- adherence classical virtues like elegance, correctness, simplicity, dignity, restraint, order, and proportion; neoclassicism sometimes modifies a classic in order to comment on modern times.

Augustan- Literature written during the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714)

Elizabethan-- Work written during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603): Sidney, Spenser, Hooker, Marlow, Shakespeare, etc.

Jacobean-- English literature during the reign of James I (1603-25)

Caroline-- English literature written during the reign of Charles I and II (1625-1685)

naturalism- emphasizes the instinctual nature of humans (Zola; "slice of life")

realism- attempts to give the illusion of ordinary life

surrealism- 1924 under Andre Breton - expresses thought uncontrolled by reason and aesthetic and moral concepts

existentialism- Kierkegaard (1813-1855), popularized by Sartre - emphasizes freedom, personality, and the importance of individual "existence;" expresses skepticism toward idealism; maintains that man determines his own destiny by the choices he makes

Often Used Terms: (humors, felix culpa, etc.)

humors-- The four main fluids present in the human body (according to the theory of physiology during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance).

sanguine: blood is dominant; happy, ruddy

phlegmatic: phlegm is dominate, colorless, lethargic, without energy

choleric: yellow bile is dominate, angry

splenetic: black bile is dominate, melancholic (though sometimes associated with anger)

felix culpa-- the idea that the Fall of man was fortunate because it brought us good (in some views, knowledge; in others, redemption through Christ), so that our end was better than our beginning

narrative method-- telling (usually dominant in a novel)

dramatic method-- showing (usually dominant in a play)

catharsis-- the purging of emotions of "pity and terror" aroused by a tragedy (Aristotle)

manet-- he (she) remains on stage

exeunt-- they all exit

argument-- theme

the unities-- based on Renaissance misconceptions of passages in Aristotle's Poetics, it was said dramas should have unity of action, time, and place; that is, they should take place in one day, in one setting, with one plot

hubris-- excessive pride; arrogance

protagonist-- the leading character in a Greek drama (or other form)

antagonist-- a character who opposes or competes with the protagonist

Freytag pyramid-- a device created by the German writer and critic Gustav Freytag to illustrate the structure of a typical five-act play:

exposition-- introduction, background information

rising action-- the events leading up to the climax

climax- the point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action; the point of no return

falling action-- action after the climax leading to the denouement

denouement or catastrophe--the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot (catastrophe)

chorus-- a group of actors who, in classical Greek drama, commented on the action of the play using song, dance, and recitation.

frame-- a literary device used to "set-up" a story by providing a reason for telling it; the frame is not essential to the story itself; for example, the storytelling/manuscript frame that opens The Turn of the Screw.

distancing- - using techniques such as mockery, ridicule, direct address of the audience, asides, and so forth in order to distance the audience from the work and remind it that it is reading a novel; this keeps the reader from sympathizing with the characters and allows him to ridicule them

narration-- narration may be limited, and told from the point of view of one character in either third person or in first person; or it may be omniscient, in which the narrator knows everything, and is generally the author or a persona for the author.

point of view-- from whose perspective the story is being told--such as a character within the story or an omniscient narrator--and what their vantage point is (i.e. how well can s/he see, how many years after the fact, where did s/he get his info.)

reliable narrator-- a narrator who can be trusted to be telling the truth about the characters and events, such as Jane in Jane Eyre

unreliable narrator-- a narrator who can not necessarily be trusted to present the story accurately because of certain prejudices, perspectives, or limited information he or she might have; such as Nelly in Wuthering Heights

flat character-- a one-dimensional, stereotypical character

static character-- a character who does not change throughout the novel

round character-- a developed character whose many sides are shown

dynamic character-- a character who grows and changes throughout the novel

foreshadowing-- a hint that prepares readers for what occurs later in the work

in medias res-- "in the middle of things"; how epics begin

catharsis- purging that Aristotle thought the special effect of tragedy

dramatic irony- has one meaning for the character, another for the audience

epigraph- an inscription; an apposite quotation at the beginning of a book

pathos- feeling of sympathy aroused by literature

bathos- when an author striving for elevation fails

sensibility- the thoughts, feelings, and assumptions characteristic of an age

encomium- warm or glorious praise

set speech-- a long speech in which only one person is speaking, as in the devil's speeches in the council in hell in Milton's Paradise Lost.

didactic-- intended to convey moral instruction and / or information

soliloquy-- a monologue (usually a series of reflections), in which the actor directly addresses the audience or speaks thoughts aloud while alone upon the stage (Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech, for example.)

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#2Friday, May 18, 2012

kiyaniSenior MemberJoin Date: Nov 2009Location: PakistanPosts: 188Thanks: 286Thanked 151 Times in 94 Posts

Literary Terms

Diction

An author's choice of words. Since words have specific meanings, and since one's choice of words can affect feelings, a writer's choice of words can have great impact in a literary work. The writer, therefore, must choose his words carefully. Discussing his novel "A Farewell to Arms" during an interview, Ernest Hemingway stated that he had to rewrite the ending thirty-nine times. When asked what the most difficult thing about finishing the novel was, Hemingway answered, "Getting the words right."

Didactic Literature

Literature disigned explicitly to instruct as in these lines from Jacque Prevert's "To Paint the Portrait of a Bird."

Paint first a cagewith an open doorpaint thensomething prettysomething simplesomething handsomesomething usefulfor the bird

Dramatic Monologue

In literature, the occurrence of a single speaker saying something to a silent audience. Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is an example wherein the duke, speaking to a non-responding representative of the family of a prospective new duchess, reveals not only the reasons for his disapproval of the behavior of his former duchess, but aspects of his own personality as well.

Elegy

A lyric poem lamenting death. These lines from Joachim Du Bellay's "Elegy on His Cat" are an example:I have not lost my rings, my purse,My gold, my gems-my loss is worse,One that the stoutest heart must move.My pet, my joy, my little love,My tiny kitten, my Belaud,I lost, alas, three days ago.

Epic

In literature generally, a major work dealing with an important theme. "Gone with the Wind," a film set in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) and Civil War South, is considered an epic motion picture. In poetry, a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes. John Milton's "Paradise Lost" is a book length epic poem consisting of twelve subdivisions called books. Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" are epic poems, the former concerning the Greek invasion of Troy; the latter dealing with the Greek victory over the Trojans and the ten-year journey of Odysseus to reach his island home.

pigraph

A brief quotation which appears at the beginning of a literary work. The following is the epigraph from T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Quoted from Dante Allighieri's epic poem "The Inferno," the speaker, Guido di Montefeltrano, believing Dante to be another soul condemned to Hell, replies thus to a question:

If I believed my answer were being givento someone who could ever return to the world,this flame (his voice is represented by a moving flame) would shake no more.But since no one has ever returnedalive from this depth, if what I hear is true,I will answer you without fear of infamy.

The epigraph here reveals one of the themes of the poem, Prufrocks urgent desire not to be revealed.

Epithet

In literature, a word of phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character. Consider the following from Book 1 of Homer's "The Iliad:"Zeus-loved Achilles, you bid me explainThe wrath of far-smiting Apollo

Connotation and Denotation

The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. The word wall, therefore, denotes an upright structure which encloses something or serves as a boundary. The connotation of a word is its emotional content. In this sense, the word wall can also mean an attitude or actions which prevent becoming emotionally close to a person. In Robert Frosts "Mending Wall," two neighbors walk a property line each on his own side of a wall of loose stones. As they walk, they pick up and replace stones that have fallen. Frost thinks it's unnecessary to replace the stones since thay have no cows to damage each other's property. The neighbor only says "Good fences make good neighbors." The wall, in this case, is both a boundary (denotation) and a barrier that prevents Frost and his neighbor from getting to know each other, a force prohibiting involvement (connotation).

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry. Consider the following example from Theodore Roethke's "Night Journey:"

We rush into a rainThat rattles double glass.

The repetition of the r sound in rush, rain, and rattles, occurring so close to each other in these two lines, would be considered consonance. Since a poem is generally much shorter than a short story or novel, the poet must be economical in his/her use of words and devices. Nothing can be wasted; nothing in a well-crafted poem is there by accident. Therefore, since devices such as consonance and alliteration, rhyme and meter have been used by the poet for effect, the reader must stop and consider what effect the inclusion of these devices has on the poem.

Couplet

A stanza of two lines, usually rhyming. The following by Andrew Marvell is an example of a rhymed couplet:

Had we but world enough and time,This coyness, lady, were no crime.

Dactyl

is a foot in poetic meter. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight. In accentual verse, such as English, it is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllablesthe opposite is the anapaest (two unstressed followed by a stressed syllable).

Denouement

Pronounced Dee-noo-ma, the denouement is that part of a drama which follows the climax and leads to the resolution.

Dialogue

In drama, a conversation between characters. One interesting type of dialogue, stichomythia, occurs when the dialogue takes the form of a verbal duel between characters, as in the following between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. (William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" - Act 3, scene 4)

QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.QUEEN: Come, Come, you answer with an idle tongue.HAMLET: Go, Go, You question with a wicked tongue

Conclusion

Also called the Resolution" the conclusion is the point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading. It is the logical outcome of everything that has come before it. The conclusion stems from the nature of the characters. Therefore, the decision of Dr. Stockmann to remain in the town at the conclusion of "An Enemy of the People" is consistent with his conviction that he is right and has been right all along.

Concrete Poetry

A poem that visually resembles something found in the physical world. A poem about a wormy apple written so that the words form the shape of an apple.

Conflict

In the plot of a drama, conflict occurs when the protagonist is opposed by some person or force in the play. In Henry Ibsen's drama "An Enemy of the People" Dr. Thomas Stockmann's life is complicated by his finding that the public baths, a major source of income for the community, are polluted. In trying to close the baths, the doctor comes into conflict with those who profit from them, significantly, his own brother, the mayor of the town.Another example occurs in the film "Star Wars." Having learned that Princess Lea is being held prisoner by the evil Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker sets out to rescue her. In doing so, he becomes involved in the conflict between the empire and the rebels which Lea spoke of in her holograph message in the drama's exposition. Since Luke is the protgonist of "Star Wars," the conflict in the drama crystallizes to that between Luke and Darth.

(Continued)

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Canto

A subdivision of an epic poem. Each of the three books of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" is divided into cantos. For example, in each of the cantos of "The Inferno," Dante meets the souls of people who were once alive and who have been condemned to punishment for sin.

Carpe Diem

A Latin phrase which translated means "Sieze (Catch) the day," meaning "Make the most of today." The phrase originated as the title of a poem by the RomanHorace (65 B.C.E.-8B.C.E.) and caught on as a theme with such English poets as Robert Herrick and Andrew Marvell. Consider these lines from Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time":Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,Old Time is still a-flying:And this same flower that smiles today,To-morrow will be dying.

Catastrophe

The scene in a tragedy which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist. In the catastrophe at the end of Sophocles' "Oedipus the King," Oedipus, discovering the tragic truth about his origin and his deeds, plucks out his eyes and is condemned to spend the rest of his days a wandering beggar. The catastrophe in Shakespearean tragedy occurs in Act 5 of each drama, and always includes the death of the protagonist. Consider the fates of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello.

Character

A person, or any thing presented as a person, e. g., a spirit, object, animal, or natural force, in a literary work. In a cartoon scene, firemen may be putting out a fire which a coyote has deliberately started, while a hydrant observes the scene fearfully. The firemen, the coyote and the hydrant would all be considered characters in the story. If a billowy figure complete with eyes, nose, and mouth representing the wind thwarts the efforts of the firemen, the wind, too, qualifies as a character. Animals who figure importantly in movies of live drama are considered characters. Mr. Ed, Lassie, and Tarzan's monkey Cheetah are examples.

Characterization

The method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work: Methods may include (1) by what the character says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3) by the character's own actions.

Classicism

A movement or tendency in art, music, and literature to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece and Rome. It differs from Romanticism in that while Romanticism dwells on the emotional impact of a work, classicism concerns itself with form and discipline.

Autobiography

The story of a person's life written by himself or herself. William Colin Powell's "My American Journey" is an example. Ernest Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, of which "Big Two-Hearted River" is a sample, are considered autobiographical.

Ballad

A story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung. Ballads were passed down from generation to generation by singers. Two old Scottish ballads are "Sir Patrick Spens" and "Bonnie Barbara Allan." Coleridges, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a 19th century English ballad.

Biography

The story of a person's life written by someone other than the subject of the work. Katherine Drinker Bowen's "Yankee from Olympus" which details the life and work of the great jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. is an example. A biographical work is supposed to be rigorously factual. However, since the biographer may by biased for or against the subject of the biography, critics, and sometimes the subject of the biography himself or herself, may come forward to challenge the trustworthiness of the material.

Blank Verse

A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Consider the following from "The Ball Poem" by John Berryman:What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,What, what is he to do? I saw it goMerrily bouncing, down the street, and thenMerrily over-there it is in the water!

Cacaphony/Euphony

Cacaphony is an unpleasant combination of sounds. Euphony, the opposite, is a pleasant combination of sounds. These sound effects can be used intentionally to create an effect, or they may appear unintentionally. The cacaphony in Matthew Arnold's lines "And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,/Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self-honor'd, self-secure,/Didst tread on earth unguess'd at," is probably unintentional.

Aesura

A pause within a line of poetry which may or may not affect the metrical count (see #62. meter). In scansion, a caesura is usually indicated by the following symbol (//). Here's an example by Alexander Pope:Know then thyself,//presume not God to scan;The proper study of Mankind//is Man.

Anapest

In a line of poetry, two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable forming the pattern for the line or perhaps for the entire poem.

Anecdote

A very short tale told by a character in a literary work. In Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," "The Miller's Tale" and "The Carpenter's Tale" are examples.

Antagonist

A person or force which opposes the protagonist in a literary work. In Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Mr. Scratch is Daniel Webster's antagonst at the trial of Jabez Stone. The cold, in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is the antagonist that defeats the man on the trail.

Aphorism

A brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation. Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac" contains numerous examples, one of which is Drive thy business; let it not drive thee. which means that one should not allow the demands of business to take control of one's moral or worldly commitments.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech wherein the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman. In these lines from John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising" the poet scolds the sun for interrupting his nighttime activities:

Busy old fool, unruly sun,Why dost thou thus,Through windows, and through curtains call on us?

Aside

A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play. In William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the Chamberlain, Polonius, confronts Hamlet. In a dialogue concerning Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, Polonius speaks this aside:

How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter.Yet he knew me not at first; 'a said I was a fishmonger.'A is far gone. And truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love,very near this. I'll speak to him again.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in a literary work, especially in a poem. Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells" conains numerous examples. Consider these from stanza2:Hear the mellow wedding bells-andFrom the molten-golden notes,

The repetition of the short e and long o sounds denotes a heavier, more serious bell than the bell encountered in the first stanza where the assonance included the i sound in examples such as tinkle, sprinkle, and twinkle.

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Alliteration

Used for poetic effect, a repitition of the initial sounds of several words in a group. The following line from Robert Frost's poem "Acquainted with the Night provides us with an example of alliteration,": I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet." The repitition of the s sound creates a sense of quiet, reinforcing the meaning of the line.

Allusion

A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. T. S. Eliot, in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" alludes (refers) to the biblical figure John the Baptist in the line Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, . . . In the New Testament, John the Baptist's head was presented to King Herod on a platter.

Ambiguity

A statement which can contain two or more meanings. For example, when the oracle at Delphi told Croesus that if he waged war on Cyrus he would destroy a great empire, Croesus thought the oracle meant his enemy's empire. In fact, the empire Croesus destroyed by going to war was his own.

Analogue

A comparison between two similar things. In literature, a work which resembles another work either fully or in part. If a work resembles another because it is derived from the other, the original work is called the source, not an analogue of the later work.

Short story

A prose narrative that is brief in nature. The short story also has many of the same characteristics of a novel including characters, setting and plot. However, due to length constraints, these characteristics and devices generally may not be as fully developed or as complex as those developed for a full-length novel. There are many authors well known for the short story including Edgar Allan Poe, Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway. According to the book Literary Terms by Karl Becksonand Arthur Ganz, American writers since Poe, who first theorized on the structure and purpose of the short story, have paid considerable attention to the form (257). The written protocol regarding what comprises a short versus a long story is vague. However, a general standard might be that the short story could be read in one sitting. NTCs Dictionary of Literary Terms quotes Edgar Allan Poes description as being a short prose narrative, requiring from a half-hour to one or two hours in its perusal

Protagonist

A protagonist is considered to be the main character or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or poem. It may also be referred to as the "hero" of a work. Over a period of time the meaning of the term protagonist has changed. The word protagonist originated in ancient Greek drama and referred to the leader of a chorus. Soon the definition was changed to represent the first actor onstage. In some literature today it may be difficult to decide who is playing the role of the protagonist. For instance, in Othello,we could say that Iago is the protagonist because he was at the center of all of the play's controversy. But even if he was a main character, was he the lead character? This ambiguity can lead to multiple interpretations of the same work and different ways of appreciating a single piece of literature.

Personification

A figure of speech where animals, ideas or inorganic objects are given human characteristics. One example of this is James Stephenss poem "The Wind" in which wind preforms several actions. In the poem Stephens writes, The wind stood up and gave a shout. He whistled on his two fingers. Of course the wind did not actually "stand up," but this image of the wind creates a vivid picture of the wind's wild actions. Another example of personification in this poem is Kicked the withered leaves about.And thumped the branches with his hand. Here, the wind is kicking leaves about, just like a person would and using hands to thump branches like a person would also. By giving human characteristics to things that do not have them, it makes these objects and their actions easier to visualize for a reader. By giving the wind human characteristics, Stephens makes this poem more interesting and achieves a much more vivid image of the way wind whips around a room. Personification is most often used in poetry, coming to popularity during the 18th century.

Persona

In literature, the persona is the narrator, or the storyteller, of a literary work created by the author. As Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama puts it, the persona is not the author, but the authors creation--the voice through which the author speaks. It could be a character in the work, or a fabricated onlooker, relaying the sequence of events in a narrative. Such an example of persona exists in the poem Robin Hood and Allin a Dale, in which an anonymous character, perhaps one of Robins merry men, recounts the events of the meeting and adventures of Robin Hood and Allin a Dale. After telling of their initial introduction in the forest, the persona continues to elaborate on their quest to recover Allins true love from the man she is about to marry. Robin and his entourage succeed and then proceed to marry her and Allin a Dale. The personas importance is recognized due to the more genuine manner in which the events of a story are illustrated to the readerwith a sense of knowledge and emotion only one with a firsthand view of the action could depict.


madiha alvi(Wednesday, May 15, 2013)



Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs as in the following lines from Act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." In this scene, Macbeth has murdered King Duncan. Horrified at the blood on his hands, he asks:

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this bloodClean from my hand? No. This my hand will ratherThe multitudinous seas incarnadine,Making the green one red.

Literally, it does not require an ocean to wash blood from one's hand. Nor can the blood on one's hand turn the green ocean red. The hyperbole works to illustrate the guilt Macbeth feels at the brutal murder of his king and kinsman.

Iamb

A metrical pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.

Imagery

A word or group of words in a literary work which appeal to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. The use of images serves to intensify the impact of the work. The following example of imagery in T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,"

When the evening is spread out against the skyLike a patient etherized upon a table.

uses images of pain and sickness to describe the evening, which as an image itself represents society and the psychology of Prufrock, himself.

Inference

A judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances. For example, advised not to travel alone in temperatures exceeding fifty degrees below zero, the man in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" sets out anyway. One may infer arrogance from such an action.

Irony

Irony takes many forms. In irony of situation, the result of an action is the reverse of what the actor expected. Macbeth murders his king hoping that in becoming king he will achieve great happiness. Actually, Macbeth never knows another moment of peace, and finally is beheaded for his murderous act. In dramatic irony, the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not. For example, the identity of the murderer in a crime thriller may be known to the audience long before the mystery is solved. In verbal irony, the contrast is between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant. A character may refer to a plan as brilliant, while actually meaning that (s)he thinks the plan is foolish. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony

Satire: Its styles, types and devices.

SATIRICAL STYLES1. Direct satire is directly stated2. Indirect satire is communicated through characters in a situation

TYPES OF SATIREThere are two types of satire. Horatian:Horatian satire is tolerant, funny, sophisticated witty, wise, self-effacing and aims to correct through humor. Named for the Roman satirist from the Augustan period in Rome, Horace, this playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour. It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society. Juvenalian:Juvenalian satire is angry, caustic, personal, relentless, bitter, and serious. Named after Augustan periods Roman satirist Juvenal, this type of satire is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenalian satire provokes a darker kind of laughter; addresses social evil and points with contempt to the corruption of men and institutions through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humour.SATIRICAL DEVICES

1. Humor: Exaggeration or overstatement:Something that does happen, but is exaggerated to absurd lengths. This is the most common type of satire. For example, a caricature, the formalized walk of Charlie Chaplin. Understatement:A statement that seems incomplete or less than truthful given the facts. Think sarcasm with the intentions of evoking change. For example, Fieldings description of a grossly fat and repulsively ugly Mrs. Slipslop: She was not remarkably handsome. Incongruity:A marked lack of correspondence or agreement. Deflation:the English professor mispronounces a word, the President slips and bangs his head leaving the helicopter, etc. Linguistic games / Malapropism:A deliberate mispronunciation of a name or term with the intent of poking fun; weird rhymes, etc. Surprise:Twist endings, unexpected events2. Irony:Literary device conveying the opposite of what is expected; in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what one says or does, and what one means or what is generally understood. It is lighter, less harsh in wording than sarcasm, though more cutting because of its indirectness. For example, Marge reading Fretful Mother as she ignores her child.

The ability to recognize irony is one of the surest tests of intelligence and sophistication. Irony speaks words of praise to imply blame and words of blame to imply praise. Writer is using a tongue-in-cheek style. Irony is achieved through such techniques as hyperbole and understatement. Verbal Irony:Simply an inversion of meaning Dramatic Irony:When the words or acts of a character carry a meaning unperceived by himself but understood by the audience. The irony resides in the contrast between the meaning intended by the speaker and the added significance seen by others. Socratic Irony:Socrates pretended ignorance of a subject in order to draw knowledge out of his students by a question and answer device. Socratic irony is feigning ignorance to achieve some advantage over an opponent. Situational Irony:Depends on a discrepancy between purpose and results. Example: a practical joke that backfires is situational irony.3. Invective:Name calling, harsh, abusive language directed against a person or cause. Invective is a vehicle, a tool of anger. It is the bitterest of all satire.

4. Mock Encomium:Praise which is only apparent and which suggests blame instead.

5. Grotesque:Creating a tension between laughter and horror or revulsion; the essence of all sick humor: or black humor

6. Comic Juxtaposition:Linking together with no commentary items which normally do not go together; Popes line in Rape of the Lock: Puffs, patches, bibles, and billet-doux.

7. Mock Epic / Mock Heroic:Using elevated diction and devices from the epic or the heroic to deal with low or trivial subjects.

8. Parody:A mocking imitation, composition imitating or burlesquing another, usually serious, piece of work. Designed to ridicule in nonsensical fashion an original piece of work. Parody is in literature what the caricature and cartoon are in art.

9. Inflation:Taking a real-life situation and blowing it out of proportion to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults.

10. Diminution:Taking a real-life situation and reducing it to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults.

11. Absurdity:Something that seems like it would never happen, but could.

12. Wit or word play:The title The Importance of Being Earnest. It is a play on the word earnest, meaning honest, and the name Earnest.

13. Euphemism:The substitution of an inoffensive term for one that is offensive.

14. 1Travesty:Presents a serious (often religious) subject frivolously it reduces everything to its lowest level. Trans= over, across vestire = to clothe or dress. Presenting a subject in a dress intended for another type of subject.

15. Burlesque:Ridiculous exaggeration achieved through a variety of ways. For example, the sublime may be absurd, honest emotions may be turned to sentimentality. STYLE is the essential quality in burlesque. A style ordinarily dignified may be used for nonsensical matters, etc.

16. Farce:Exciting laughter through exaggerated, improbable situations. This usually contains low comedy: quarreling, fighting, coarse with, horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct, trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, slap-stick.

17. Sarcasm:A sharply mocking or contemptuous remark. The term came from the Greek word sarkazein which means to tear flesh.

18. Knaves & Fools:In comedy there are no villains and no innocent victims. Instead, there are rogues (knaves) and suckers (fools). The knave exploits someone asking for it. When these two interact, comic satire results. When knaves & fools meet, they expose each otherPoetry Terminology

Meter and Rhythm

meter- the number of feet (i.e. usually equals the number of stressed syllables, but not always) per line, as in monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, and octameter

iambic foot- unstressed followed by stressed syllable

trochaic foot- stressed followed by an unstressed

anapestic foot- 2 unstressed followed by a stressed

dactylic foot- stressed followed by 2 unstressed

spondaic foot- 2 stressed

verse- number of feet in each line (dimeter-2, trimeter-3, tetrameter-4, pentameter-5, etc.)

iambic pentameter- contains 5 iambic feet (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable)

alexandrine- 6 iambic feet

sprung rhythm- a poetic rhythm designed to approximate the natural rhythm of speech, developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins. In it, a foot may be composed of one to four syllables; because stressed syllables often occur one after another (rather than in alteration with unstressed syllables) the rhythm is said to be "sprung."

Verse and Stanza Forms

blank verse-- unrhymed iambic pentameter

rhyme royal-- 7 lines, iambic pentameter, ababbcc (Chaucerian)

ballad stanza-- a quatrain in which the odd-numbered lines use iambic tetrameter and the even-numbered lines us iambic trimeter. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

free verse- does not have a fixed metrical foot or a fixed number of feet in its lines

heroic couplet- rhymed iambic pentameter closed couplets (ending with a terminal mark of punctuation-period, semicolon, quesiton mark, etc.) used in heroic tragedies--principal form of neoclassical style in early 17th Century

terza rima- aba, bcb, cdc, ded....rhyme scheme. Used in Divine Comedy.

ballad stanza- quatrains alternating tetrameter (4 ft.) and trimeter (3 ft.) rhyming abcb

rhyme royal- 7 line iambic pentameter stanza consisting of a quatrain dovetailed into two couplets (ababbcc), as in Chaucer's "Trolius and Criseide"

ottava rima- 8 lines rhyming abababcc, closing with a witty couplet, as in Wyatt

Spenserian stanza- 9 lines rhyming ababbcbcc; 1st 8 are pentameter, last is an alexandrine, as in Keat's "Eve of St. Agnes", or Shelley's "Adonais"

Petrarchian sonnet- 14 lines, explores the contrary states of feeling a lover experiences over an unattainable lady, (i.e. fire of love vs. ice of chastity)

English sonnet- 14 lines consisting of 3 quatrains and a couplet (Shakespeare and Surrey), with rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, iambic pentameter

Spenserian sonnet- abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter

verse paragraphs- divisions of sense where stanzaic divisions do not exist (as in Milton's Paradise Lost)

Types / Genres of Poetry

ode-- a lyric or song-like poem that is dignified, serious, and elaborate in stanzaic structure

elegy-- a sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet's meditations on death or another solemn theme

pastoral-- a conventional, artificial form that often expresses a city poety's nostalgic view of the peace and simplicity of rural life, but behing it lies the sentiments and issues of the poet's society

pastoral elegy-- an elegy in which the author and the one he mourns are presented as shepherds. Conventions often found in the pastoral elegy are: (1) invoking the muses (2) making reference to classical mythology (3) having nature itself mourn the death (4) charging the dead mans guardians with negligence (5) presenting a procession of mourners (6) raising questions about divine justice and condemning the corruption of contemporary times (7) including passages in which flowers are brought to deck the coffin or hearse, and (8) issuing a closing consolation

epic-- literary form that must at least meet these criteria: (1) long narrative poem (2) on a great and serious subject (3) related in an elevate style and (4) centered on a heroic figure on whose actions hang the fate of a tribe, nation, or race

dramatic monologue-- a poem written in the form of a speech of an individual character; it reveals the character's psychology, history, and motivation in a subtle way, perfected by Robert Browning

epithalamium- a lyric ode in honor of a bride and groom

Other Terms Used in Poetry

enjambment- one line flows into the next without an end stop

invocation-- calling on a Muse or God for inspiration, usually occurs at the beginning of the poem (Milton, Paradise Lost)

assonance- relatively close juxtaposition of similar vowel sounds: "For 'tis to that high title I aspire"

alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds: "careful, curious cats"

masculine rhyme- rhyme is last syllable (found--rebound)

feminine rhyme- rhyme is followed by an unaccented syllable (founding--bounding)

catalog-- a list in poetry

carpe diem-- seize the day; generally, a genre of poetry encouraging sex while one is still young and beautifulCritical Appreciation

__________________The Me you have always known, the Me that's a stranger still.

Last edited by Last Island; Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at08:21 PM.

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#2Saturday, September 05, 2009

Vivre sa vie sans regret37th Common (1st FATA)

Join Date: Aug 2009Location: LALA LANDPosts: 186Thanks: 108Thanked 246 Times in 132 Posts

@last Island

Hi,while the diagram above must be important for a candidate intending to give English electives, it is also a very good and brief way for people who are not students of English to understand the logical steps involved in interpreting a piece of writing by an author and what to look for while dissecting it.

Could you please elaborate on the meter of the poem and the feet to a poem. Just in brief kindly__________________~*~ Every answer contains a new quest : A quest to non existence, a journey with no end~*~

#3Saturday, September 05, 2009

Last IslandRoyal Queen of Literature

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METER AND FEET IN ENGLISH POETRY

English poetry employs five basic rhythms of varying stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. The most common meters are:

(Stressed syllables are marked inblueand unstressed are inredfont color rather than the traditional "/" and "x.")

Iambic

A foot which starts with an unaccented and ends with an accented (stressed) syllable. It is the most common meter in the English language and naturally falls into everyday conversation. An example is "Tobeornottobe" from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Trochaic

The opposite of an iambic meter. It begins with an accented then followed by an unaccented syllable. An example is the line "Doule,doule,toilandtrouble." from Shakespeare'sMacbeth.

Anapestic

A foot which has two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. Example: "I ariseand unbuildit again" from Shelley'sCloud.

Dactylic

A foot including an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables. Example:openly.

Spondee

A foot consisting of two accented syllables. Example:heartbreak.

Pyrrhic

A foot including two unaccented syllables, generally used to vary rhythm.

Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called afoot.

The meters with two-syllable feet are IAMBIC (x /) :Thattimeofyearthoumaystinmebehold TROCHAIC (/ x):Tellmenotinmournfulnumbers SPONDAIC (/ /):Break,break,break/On thycoldgraystones,OSea!Meters with three-syllable feet are ANAPESTIC (x x /):And thesoundof avoicethat isstill DACTYLIC (/ x x):Thisis theforestprimeval,themurmuringpinesand thehemlock(a trochee replaces the final dactyl)Each line of a poem contains a certain number of feet of iambs, trochees, spondees, dactyls or anapests.1. A line containing 1 foot is called a Monometer2. A line containing 2 feet is called a Diameter3. A line containing 3 feet is called a Trimeter4. A line containing 4 feet is called a Tetrameter5. A line containing 5 feet is called a Pentameter6. A line containing 6 feet is called a Hexameter7. A line containing 7 feet is called a Heptameter8. A line containing 8 feet is called a OctameterHere are some serious examples of the various meters.

Iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables) Thattime|ofyear|thoumayst|inme|beholdTrochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables) Tellme|notin|mournful|numbersAnapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables) And thesound|of avoice|that isstillDactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the last dactyl) Thisis the|forest pri|meval, the|murmuring|pineand the|hemlocks

English Literature for Beginners !!

History is the base of English Literature. if you want full command over this subject you have to understand the literary periods. No doubt this is the most confusing task, however if one can remember little details.The concept of literary period involves a grouping through time. Although a work, rather than being "placed" within the entire sweep of literary history, is "placed" within a much more restricted time frame. The period concept provides the system of classification, ordering literary and cultural data chronologically, within certain discrete time periods. It assumes every age has its characteristic special features, which are reflected in its representative artifacts or creations, literary terms, genres and stylistic qualities of literature. The kind of coherence displayed is not accidental, for literary works participate in the culture of their times !

What is the concept of Period?

It suggests,(1) Literary works can be grouped according to what they share with each other within a given time span,(2) That this grouping can be differentiated from other such chronological groupings.

Literary works share thesystem of normswhich includes conventions, styles, themes, and philosophies, as well as the social, political and economic perspective of specific era.

Finally, the attentive student may note that even the labeling of literary periods and movements does not always appear to be consistent. This has come about because the traditional names derive from a variety of sources. "Humanism" came from the history of ideas, and the "Renaissance" from art historians; "Restoration" came from political history, and "The Eighteenth Century" is strictly chronological; "Neoclassic" and "Romantic" came from literary theory, while both "Elizabethan" and "Victorian" came from the names of reigning monarchs.

Period Descriptors

The literary periods and movements following the classical period are usually labeled as follows:

medieval (from the fall of Rome through the fourteenth or fifteenth century); Renaissance (from its earliest beginnings in Italy in the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century elsewhere in Europe, with a shift in some countries to "Baroque" in its last phase); the neoclassical (starting in the mid-seventeenth century, with its subsequent eighteenth-century development as the "Age of Enlightenment"); the Romantic period (beginning in the last decades of the eighteenth century and continuing at least through the middle of the nineteenth); the Realist movement and its late nineteenth century extension into "naturalism"; and finally, the modern period, which has been given many names, all of them, so far, provisional.

600-1200 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)Beowulf

1200-1500 Middle EnglishGeoffrey Chaucer

1500-1660 The English Renaissance1500-1558 Tudor PeriodHumanist Era Thomas More John Skelton

1558-1603 Elizabethan PeriodHigh Renaissance Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare

1603-1625 Jacobean PeriodMannerist Style (1590-1640) other styles: Metaphysical Poets; Devotional Poets Shakespeare John Donne George Herbert, Emilia Lanyer

1625-1649 Caroline PeriodJohn FordJohn Milton

1649-1660 The Commonwealth & The ProtectorateBaroque Style, and later, Rococo Style Milton Andrew Marvell Thomas Hobbes

1660-1700 The RestorationJohn Dryden

1700-1800 The Eighteenth CenturyThe Enlightenment;Neoclassical Period;The Augustan Age Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson

1785-1830 RomanticismThe Age of Revolution William Wordsworth, S.T. Coleridge Jane Austen, the Bronts

1830-1901 Victorian PeriodEarly, Middle and Late Victorian Charles Dickens George Eliot Robert Browning Alfred Lord Tennyson

1901-1960 Modern PeriodThe Edwardian Era(1901-1910);The Georgian Era(1910-1914) G.M. Hopkins H.G. Wells James Joyce D.H. Lawrence T.S. Eliot

1960- Postmodern and Contemporary Period Ted HughesDoris LessingJohn FowlesDon DeLilloA.S. Byatt


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#2Wednesday, May 02, 2012


Old English Period

Old English(O.E) or Anglo Saxon was the language spoken in England in widely differing dialects c.450, when Britain was invaded by various Germanic tribes including the Angles and Saxons, till the invasion of the Normans from France under William the Conqueror in 1066. After conversion to Christainity became general in the seventh century, some of the Anglo Saxon poems, till then part of an Oral culture, were written down, no doubt being modified by monks in the process. Only a handful survive, but they include vigorous ALLITERATIVE LAMENTS like"The Wanderer"and"The Seafarer"and also the great EpicBeowulf. Some Anglo Saxon poems are explicitly Christian like"The Dream of the Rood". the prose of the period is also lively and various:Alred the Great, King of the West Saxons(817-899), was himself a writer and a patron of the arts. The great scholar of the age wasBede(8th century), who wrote inLatin.


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#3Thursday, May 03, 2012


Middle English Period

A crucial time in the history of the English language and literature. Middle English was the language in a variety of different dialect forms which resulted from the modification of Anglo Saxons after the norman conquest in 1066, and which was spoken and used as a vehical for literature until about 1500 when the London dialect(used by Chaucer) became the standard literary language, and therefore recognisably the basis for 'modren English'. An Anglo Norman period, in which French dialect dominated non Latin literature, lasted until about 1350. After that date, especially during the reign of Richard II (1377-1399), Middle English literature burgeoned.

Chaucerwas the leading poet. HisCanterbury TalesandTroilusandCriseyderank amongst the greatest works in English literature.

His contemporaries includeJohn Gower, who wrote theConfessio Amantis,Willain Langland, author of the religious dream satirePiers Plowman, and the anonymous poet who wroteSir Gawainand theGreen KnightandPearl.

In the fifteenth century severalMiddle Scots poets, sometimes called theSCOTTISH CHAUSERIANS, includingKing James I of Scotland,Robert Henryson, Gavin Douglas and William Dunbar,represented a flowering of poetic talent in Scotland.

The fifteeth century was also the age of medieval drama, theMIRACLEandMORALITY PLAYS, of popular lyrics and BALLADS, and ofSir Thomas Malory's great Authurian prose ROMANCE Le Morte d' Arthur.


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Renaissance

In French it means 'rebirth'. The period following the Middle ages in European History. A vital flowering of the arts and sciences, accompained by thrilling changes in religious and philosophical thought, the Renaissance started in Italy in the late fourteenth century and spread throughout the Europe, reaching England during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625).

Naturally such a widely diffused shift in values and ideas is conceptually rather vague, and, not surprisingly, some historians doubt whether the label 'Renaissance' is useful, or describes an identifiable phenomenon. Some aspects of the intellectual changes are worth nothing, however. Religion changed redically with the new Protestant reforms (Reformation). The revival of interest in Greek Literature leads to a new breed of Classical scholars calledHUMANISTS, of whom Erasmus is one of the most famous. In 1543Nicolas Copernicusput forward his new and accurate astronomical view of the solar system. Displacing eventually the oldPTOLEMAIC SYSTEM, according to which the stars and the sun revolved around the earth. Scientists likeGalileo GalileiandWillaim Harveyexplored the arold about them and man's physiology, in such a way as to discredit forever the astrological and semi-magical pseudo-sciences which had prevailed in the medieval world. Last, but very significant, the new technology of printing with movable type, developed in the fifteenth century, facilitated and quickened the spread of new ideas and knowledge.

The'term'Renaissance was a nineteenth century invention, coined by looking back at the period. It is doubtful whether those participants in the burgeoning of arts and ideas had such a clear view of the significance of their own intellectual endeavours, although they were conscious of the intellectual ferment around them.

The word Renaissance can be applied to any equivalent flowering of the arts and scholarship, as occured, for instance, in twelfth century Europe; the revival of Scottish literature in the early twentieth century is called the Scotish Renaissance.

The major literary figures in the English Renaissance include:

Francis BaconThomas DekkerJohn DonneJohn FletcherJohn FordBen JonsonThomas KydChristopher MarlowePhilip MassingerThomas MiddletonThomas MoreThomas NasheWilliam RowleyWilliam ShakespeareJames ShirleyPhilip SidneyEdmund SpenserJohn WebsterThomas Wyatt


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RabiaAfzalSenior Member

Join Date: Apr 2012Location: LAHOREPosts: 265Thanks: 154Thanked 557 Times in 293 Posts

sir can you please arrange the notes of M.A English literature part 2. i need them because my exams are starting from 14 june. i will be highly greatfull for this.

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Quote:Originally Posted byRabiaAfzalsir can you please arrange the notes of M.A English literature part 2. i need them because my exams are starting from 14 june. i will be highly greatfull for this.

From which university you are doing Masters and for which topics you need notes?

I haven't prepared notes but i'll definitely help you....


faaizaa(Sunday, August 25, 2013)



Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII (1457 1509). The term can be used more broadly to include Elizabeth I's reign (1558 1603), although this is often treated separately as the Elizabethan era.In terms of the entire century, Guy (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time in a thousand years.The House of Tudor produced six monarchs who ruled during this period. Henry VII (1485 to 1509) Henry VIII (1509 to 1547) Edward VI (1547 to 1553) Lady Jane Grey (1553) Nominal queen for nine days in failed bid to prevent accession of Mary I. Not a member of the House of Tudor.

Mary I (1553 to 1558) Elizabeth I (1558 to 1603)

The Tudors and the Elizabethan Age

The beginning of the Tudor dynasty coincided with the first dissemination of printed matter. William Caxton's press was established in 1476, only nine years before the beginning of Henry VII's reign. Caxton's achievement encouraged writing of all kinds and also influenced the standardization of the English language. The early Tudor period, particularly the reign of Henry VIII, was marked by a break with the Roman Catholic Church and a weakening of feudal ties, which brought about a vast increase in the power of the monarchy. Stronger political relationships with the Continent were also developed, increasing England's exposure to Renaissance culture. Humanism became the most important force in English literary and intellectual life, both in its narrow sensethe study and imitation of the Latin classicsand in its broad sensethe affirmation of the secular, in addition to the otherworldly, concerns of people. These forces produced during the reign (15581603) of Elizabeth I one of the most fruitful eras in literary history. The energy of England's writers matched that of its mariners and merchants. Accounts by men such as Richard Hakluyt, Samuel Purchas, and Sir Walter Raleigh were eagerly read. The activities and literature of the Elizabethans reflected a new nationalism, which expressed itself also in the works of chroniclers (John Stow, Raphael Holinshed, and others), historians, and translators and even in political and religious tracts. A myriad of new genres, themes, and ideas were incorporated into English literature. Italian poetic forms, especially the sonnet, became models for English poets. Sir Thomas Wyatt was the most successful sonneteer among early Tudor poets, and was, with Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, a seminal influence. Tottel's Miscellany (1557) was the first and most popular of many collections of experimental poetry by different, often anonymous, hands. A common goal of these poets was to make English as flexible a poetic instrument as Italian. Among the most prominent of this group were Thomas Churchyard, George Gascoigne, and Edward de Vere, earl of Oxford. An ambitious and influential work was A Mirror for Magistrates (1559), a historical verse narrative by several poets that updated the medieval view of history and the morals to be drawn from it. The poet who best synthesized the ideas and tendencies of the English Renaissance was Edmund Spenser. His unfinished epic poem The Faerie Queen (1596) is a treasure house of romance, allegory, adventure, Neoplatonic ideas, patriotism, and Protestant morality, all presented in a variety of literary styles. The ideal English Renaissance man was Sir Philip Sidneyscholar, poet, critic, courtier, diplomat, and soldierwho died in battle at the age of 32. His best poetry is contained in the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591) and his Defence of Poesie is among the most important works of literary criticism in the tradition. Many others in a historical era when poetic talents were highly valued were skilled poets. Important late Tudor sonneteers include Spenser and Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, Samuel Daniel, and Fulke Greville. More versatile even than Sidney was Sir Walter Raleighpoet, historian, courtier, explorer, and soldier, who wrote strong, spare poetry. Early Tudor drama owed much to both medieval morality plays and classical models. Ralph Roister Doister (c.1545) by Nicholas Udall and Gammer Gurton's Needle (c.1552) are considered the first English comedies, combining elements of classical Roman comedy with native burlesque. During the late 16th and early 17th cent., drama flourished in England as never before or since. It came of age with the work of the University Wits, whose sophisticated plays set the course of Renaissance drama and paved the way for Shakespeare. The Wits included John Lyly, famed for the highly artificial and much imitated prose work Euphues (1578); Robert Greene, the first to write romantic comedy; the versatile Thomas Lodge and Thomas Nashe; Thomas Kyd, who popularized neo-Senecan tragedy; and Christopher Marlowe, the greatest dramatist of the group. Focusing on heroes whose very greatness leads to their downfall, Marlowe wrote in blank verse with a rhetorical brilliance and eloquence superbly equal to the demands of high drama. William Shakespeare, of course, fulfilled the promise of the Elizabethan age. His history plays, comedies, and tragedies set a standard never again equaled, and he is universally regarded as the greatest dramatist and one of the greatest poets of all time.

Stuart Period

The 17th century is divided into two by the outbreak of the civil war in 1642 and the temporary overthrow of the monarchy. With the return of Charles II as King in 1660, new models of poetry and drama came in from France, where the court had been in exile. In James I's reign, high ideals had combined with daring wit and language, but the religious and political extermism of the mid-century broke that combination. Restoration prose, verse and stage comedy were marked by wordly scepticism and, in Rochester, a cynical wit worlds away from the evangelicalism of Bunyan. When Milton's Paradise Lost came out in 1667, its grandure spoke of a vanished heroic world. The representative career of Dryden moves from the 'metaphysical' poetry of Donne to a new 'Augustan' consensus.

The Stuart period of English and British history refers to the period between 1603 and 1714, while in Scotland it begins in 1371. These dates coincide with the rule of the Scottish royal House of Stuart, whose first monarch to rule England was James I & VI. The death of Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors, without any descendants and without an English heir, left her two kingdoms of England and Ireland to be ruled by Elizabeth's closest heir, the Scottish king. The regicide of King Charles I brought a temporary end to the rule of the Stuarts, when England became a Republic under Oliver Cromwell. The Stuarts were restored to the throne under Charles II in 1660. The Stuart period ended with the death of Queen Anne and the accession of George I of the House of Hanover.

The Stuart era experienced many changes: the Gunpowder Plot, civil and foreign wars, the regicide of a king, a republic, the great plague, the Great Fire of London and the Glorious Revolution. This was the era of Shakespeare, Wren, Galileo, Newton and Pepys, to name but a few. The era saw the settlement of the Americas, trade with the Spice Islands, the birth of steam engines, microscopes, coffee houses and newspapers.

Stuart Dramatists to 1642(with best known dates and approximate date of first performance)

George Chapman (?1554-1634),Bussy D' Ambois(1607)Thomas Dekker (?1570-1632),The Shoemaker's Holiday(1599)Thomas Heywood (?1574-1634),A Woman Killed with Kindness(1603)John Marston (?1557-1634),The Malcontent(1604)Cyril Tourneur (?1557-1626),The Atheist's Tragedy(1611)John Webster (c.1578-c.1632),The White Devil(1690),The Duchess of MAlfi(1612-1613)John Fletcher (1579_1625) with Shakespeare,Henry VIII(1613) andTwo Noble Kinsmen(1613-14); several plays with BeaumontThomas Middleton (1580-1627), (?)The Revenger's tragedy(1607).The Changeling(1622, with Rowley),A Chaste maid in CheapsideandA Game at Chess(1624),Women Beware Women(1620-7).Philip Massinger (1583-1649),The Fatal Dowry(1618),A New Way to Pay Old Debts(1625)Sir Francis Beaumont (1584-1616),The KNight of the Burning Pestle(?1607),The Maid's Tragedy(c.1610, with Fletcher)John Ford (1586- after 1639),Tis Pity She's A Whore(1633)Stuart Poetry/Major Literary Figure

John Donne (1572-1631) is the most striking of 17th-century poets. In the 1590s he wrote elegy and satire. The elegies are amorous and urbane, likeOvid. Donnes gifts for drama and controversy developed early. Schooled in rhetoric and logic, he came from a family devoted to the memory ofSir Thomas More, his mothers great -uncle. He was brought up by his mother, a Catholic to her death in 1631. Her father and grandfather wrote interludes, and her brother Jasper translated Senecas plays.

Donnes first prose wasParadoxes That Only Cowards Dare Die- andProblems afforded Women Soules?His valedictory poem, telling his wife not to fear for him when he is abroad, begins, unconsolingly,As virtuous men pass quietly away/And whisper to their souls to go.... Paradox was a habit confirmed by exclusion. The difficulties of anyone who is not a convinced.

Prose to 1642

During the 17th century prose became plainer, less elaborate. Its stylistic model was not the artful Cicero but the shorter Seneca; and there were English exemplars of this. The first major writers to choose succinctness were Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in his Essays of 1597.

Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester (1555-1626)XCVI Sermons (1629).Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Essays (1597, 1612, 1625),Advancement of Learning (1605), Novum Organum(1620), History of Henry VII (1622), De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623), The NewAtlantis (1627).Robert Burton (1577-1640) The Anatomy of Melancholy(1621, reed 1624, 1628, 1632, 1638, 1651).Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82) Religio Medici (wr. c.1635;pub. 1642), Pseudodoxia Epidemics: or, Enquiries intoVery Many Received Tenents, and Commonly PresumedTruths (1646, revd 1650, 1658, 1672); Hydriotaphia, UrneBuriall (1658).

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Literary Terms and Background Information