The focus of this article is on literature in the English language from anywhere‚ not just the literature of England‚ so that it includes writers from Scotland‚ the whole of Ireland‚ Wales‚ as well as literature in English from former British colonies‚ including the US. However‚ up until the early 19th century‚ it deals with the literature written in English of Britain and Ireland. English literature is generally seen as beginning with the epic poem Beowulf‚ that dates from between the 8th to the
Premium Beowulf Anglo-Saxons
centuries of literature have depicted a variety of mentalities and lifestyles. . Centuries could pass‚ and not many changes could be easily perceived by the common man‚ as those changes came gradually. Yet those changes can be readily discerned when looking at England as a whole‚ not looking at parts of history individually. The alterations of life‚ when looked at from a certain literary viewpoint‚ can be explained when one looks at the different periods in English literature‚ seeing the depictions
Premium Literature Fiction Short story
Development of English Literature Usually‚ English literature is divided into seven periods from the academic angle: The first period is Early and Medieval English literature. And this period can be divided into two parts. The first part is Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066). The main literary contribution of this period is the Epic‚ and its masterpiece is the national epic The Song of Beowulf. It is the oldest poem in the English language and the oldest surviving epic in Anglo-Saxon literature. Next is
Premium England English language
ASPECTS OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE (1066-1500) Middle English‚ Anglo-Norman‚ Anglo-Latin After the Conquest: dramatic changes in language and cultural temperament Old English literature: Middle English literature realistic‚matter-of-fact‚unromantic‚ growing audience‚ a panorama of most serious‚ often melancholic‚ diverse folk of many social classes (castle‚ monochrome gray‚ loyalty to the lord‚ barnyard‚ town); the appearance of leasure desperate courage in defeat‚ class
Premium The Canterbury Tales Medieval literature Middle English
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE Old English 496-1050 Middle English 1050-1500 Modern English 1500 onwards OLD ENGLISH Old English literature encompasses literature written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon)‚ during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon period of England‚ from the mid-5th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066. These works include genres such as epic poetry‚ hagiography‚ sermons‚ Bible translations‚ legal works‚ chronicles‚ riddles‚ and others. In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from
Premium Anglo-Saxons England Old English
experimentation. The search for new forms of expression‚ which affected all branches of literature‚ was carried on first of all in fiction and novel. So far novelists had concentrated above all on plots‚ and their main preoccupation had been with characters in society‚ since they thought that the function of novels was to present people in a social context‚ so that they became mirrors of their own age. The English novel was essentially bourgeois in its origin and throughout the 18th and the 19th centuries
Free Mind Consciousness Stream of consciousness
Chapter I: literature of the middle ages A. ANGLO- Saxon period (5th - 10th centuries) During the first five centuries of our era and long before that‚ Britain was inhabited by a people called Kelts‚ who lived in tribes. Britain’s history is considered to begin in the 5th century‚ when it was invaded from the Continent by the fighting tribes of Angles‚ Saxons and Jutes. At the very end of the 5th century they settled in Britain and began to call themselves English (after the principal tribe of
Premium The Canterbury Tales William Shakespeare Charles I of England
Chapter 1 What is Literature? A. What is Literature? Generally speaking‚ “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works‚ but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination‚ including works of poetry‚ drama‚ fiction‚ and nonfiction. Literature represents a people‚ culture‚ tradition and language. It shares great experiences. Through Literature‚ we can learn about poems‚ stories‚ and plays. When we discuss about
Premium Edgar Allan Poe English language Scotland
English Literature Students should study English Literature because literature is part of our cultural heritage‚ literary works can be entertaining‚ beautiful‚ funny‚ or tragic. They can convey profundity of thought‚ for instance like 《Macbeth》shows that the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints. Each literature has a themes that the author wants to show. Also students learn a lot of history and culture from the English literature. It takes them to new places
Premium Literature English studies
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN ENGLISH LITERATURE * Formal/Stylistic characteristics Juxtaposition‚ irony‚ comparisons‚ and satire are important elements found in modernist writing. Modernist authors use impressionism and other devices to emphasize the subjectivity of reality‚ and they see omniscient narration and fixed narrative points of view as providing a false sense of objectivity. They also employ discontinuous narratives and fragmented plot structures.]Modernist works are also often reflexive
Premium A Christmas Carol Christmas Jacob Marley