British literature 1

1、I. Literaturei. Whats literature?Literature is the art of written works. It derives from the Latin word litterae (letter) and the word literature means acquaintance with letters. The two major classification of literature are poetry and prose. literature historyii. Classification of literature1. poe

2、try: a composition written in verse; heavily rely on imagery, precise choice of word; metric feet.2. prose: the most typical form of literature, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure. novels * fiction short stories * essays: a discussion of

3、 a topic from an authors personal point of view * drama: generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance.* other forms: natural science philosophy history law graphic novels/comic books films, videos and broadcast have carved out a niche

4、 which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction. iii. Expectation of you 1. To get acknowledged with the history and framework of British literature. 2. To learn to view literature from a literary perspective and accomplish at least two essays. 3. To fulfill the assignment after class. II.

5、 The Outline of UK Literature* Medieval literature* Renaissance literature* The 17th century literature (classicism)* The 18th century literature (enlightenment)* Romanticism* English critical realism* Modern literature* Contemporary literature I. medieval literature* Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon poetry* Ge

6、offrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Talesii. Renaissance* Thomas More: Utopia* Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene* Francis Bacon: The great essayist* William Shakespeare:A dramatist “not of an age, but of all time” A “poet of reality” 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poemsiii. Literature in 17th century (

7、Classicism)* John Milton: Paradise Lost* John Bunyan: The Pilgrims Progressiv. Literature in the Eighteenth Century (Enlightenment)* Jonathan Swift: Gullivers Travels * Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe* Henry Fielding: Tom Jones* William Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell* Sentimentalism: Oliver Go

8、ldsmith: “The Deserted Village” Thomas Gray: “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”V. Romanticism* William Wordsworth: “Lyrical Ballads”* Samuel Coleridge: “The Ancient Mariner”* George Gordon Byron: “Don Juan”* Percy Bysshe Shelley: “Prometheus Unbound”* John Keats: “Ode to a Nightingale”* Charles

9、 Lamb: The Essays of Elia* Walter Scott: Ivanhoe -father of western historical novelVI. Critical Realism* Charles Dickens : Oliver Twist David Copperfield Great Expectations A Tale of Two Cities* William Makepeace Thackray: Vanity Fair* Thomas Hardy: Tess of the DUrbervilles Jude the Obscure* Women

10、novelists: * Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Emma* Bronte sisters Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre Emily Bronte: Wuthering HeightsGeorge Eliot: The Mill on the FlossDo you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?you think wrong!I have as much soul as you, and fu

11、ll as much heart! (And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh):it is my spirit that addresses your s

12、pirit; just as if both had passed the grave, and we stood at Gods feet, equal, as we are! -Jane Eyremy fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand! The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, “L

13、et me in let me in!” “Who are you?” I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself. “Catherine Linton,” it replied, shiveringly”Im come home: Id lost my way on the moor!” As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a childs face looking through the window. Terror made me cruel; and, finding it useless

14、 to attempt shaking the creature off, I pulled its wrist on to the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bed-clothes: still it wailed, “Let me in!” and maintained its tenacious gripe, almost maddening me with fear. He got on to the bed, and wrenched open the la

15、ttice, bursting, as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears. “Come in! Come in!” he sobbed. “Cathy, do come. Oh do - once more! Oh! My hearts darling; hear me this time, Catherine, at last!” -Wuthering HeightsVII. Modern Literature* D. H. Lawrence: Lady Chatterleys Lover Sons and Lo

16、vers The Rainbow Women in Love* Stream of Consciousness* James Joys: Ulysses * Virginia Wolf: Mrs. Dalloway To the Lighthouse * T. S. Eliot: The Waste Land* William Butler Yeats* Imagism:* the Brownings* Oscar Wilde: “The Happy Prince”VIII. Contemporary Literature* George Orwell: Animal Farm Nineteen Eighty-Four* Doris Lessing: The Golden Notebook* Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot* J. K. Rowling: Harry PotterIII. Reading List for UK LiteratureHamletGullivers TravelsRobinson CrusoeA Tale of Two CitiesSons and LoversTess of the DUrbervillesPride and PrejudiceJane Eyre