Tiếng anh chuyên ngành ngôn ngữ anh văn học anh mỹ

English and American Literature - 2017 2 - Địa chỉ liên hệ: Văn phòng Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền, 36 Xuân Thuỷ, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội.. English and American Literature

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HỌC VIỆN CHÍNH TRỊ QUÓC GIA HỒ CHÍ MINH

HỌC VIÊN BÁO CHÍ VÀ TUYÊN TRUYỀN

ĐỀ TÀI KHOA HỌC CẤP CƠ SƠ

TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH

VĂN HỌC ANH – MỸ (English - American Literature) (GIÁO TRÌNH NỘI BỘ)

Chủ nhiệm đề tài: Ths Hoàng Thị Minh Ánh

Hà Nội 2017

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English and American Literature - 2017

MỤC LỤC

PHẦN MỞ ĐẦU 1

INTRODUCTION: An Overview of English and American Literature 6

PART I: ENGLISH LITERATURE 23

Unit 1.1:Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) 23

Story: The Nightingale and The Rose 25

Unit 1.2:William Somerset Maugham (1897-1956) 36

Story: Mr Know- all 38

Unit 1.3:John Galsworthy (1867-1933) 49

The Man of Property 54

Chapter V: A Forsyle Ménage 54

Unit1.4: William Wordsworth (1770–1850) 63

Poem: The Solitary Reaper 66

PART II: AMERICAN LITERATURE 96

Unit 2.1:Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835-1910) 96

Novel: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 100

Chapter II: The Glorious Whitewasher 100

Unit 2.2: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) 114

Story: A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (1933) 116

Unit 2.3: O Henry (1862 - 1910) 124

Stoty: One Thousand Dollars 126

Unit 2.4:Jack London (1876 - 1916) 133

Story: The Law of Life 136

Unit 2.5:Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) 144

Poem: The Soul selects her own Society 149

GLOSSARY 152

REFERENCES 158

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English and American Literature - 2017 1

PHẦN MỞ ĐẦU GIÁO TRÌNH NỘI BỘ

1 Tên học phần: Văn học Anh-Mỹ

4 Phân loại môn học: Cơ sở ngành

5 Mục đích của học phần:

Trong học phần này, sinh viên sẽ được giới thiệu sơ lược về lịch sử văn học

Anh-Mỹ, một số tác giả tác phẩm nổi tiếng của hai nền văn học Sinh viên sẽ hiểu kỹ hơn các tác phẩm qua các bài tập chuẩn bị ở nhà, tìm và tự nghiên cứu tài liệu, phân tích, tóm tắt tác phẩm

6 Yêu cầu chuẩn đầu ra

CĐR 1: Hiểu biết cơ bản nội dung tác giả và tác phẩm văn học Anh và Mỹ

CĐR 2: Nhớ được nội dung, ý nghĩa các tác phẩm văn học

CĐR 3: Phân tích, đánh giá các tác phẩm văn học

CĐR 4: Về thái độ

Làm việc nghiêm túc, dự các buổi học trên lớp và đảm bảo những thời gian tự ho ̣c ở nhà, thảo luận nhóm và dự đủ các bài kiểm tra theo quy định , hăng hái xây dựng bài, có khả năng hợp tác, thuyết trình trước lớp

CĐR 5 Kỹ năng mềm

- Hình thành và phát triển (một bước) kĩ năng so sánh, phân tích, bình luận, đánh giá

- Hình thành và phát triển kỹ năng cộng tác, làm việc nhóm

- Phát triển kỹ năng tư duy sáng tạo, khám phá tìm tòi, tự học, tự nghiên cứu

- Trau dồi, phát triển năng lực đánh giá và tự đánh giá

- Phát triển kỹ năng bình luận, thuyết trình trước công chúng

- Kỹ năng tư duy hệ thống

7 Thông tin chung về học phần:

Tên học phần: Văn học Anh – Mỹ (English – American Literature)

Mã học phần: NN02610

Học phần tiên quyết: Các học phần thuộc Kiến thức cơ sở ngành, ngành,

kiến thức bổ trợ Thuộc học phần: 8

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- Địa chỉ liên hệ: Văn phòng Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền,

36 Xuân Thuỷ, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội

- Các hướng nghiên cứu chính: Phương pháp giảng dạy, Văn hóa, Văn học

- Thời gian và địa điểm làm việc: Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền

- Địa chỉ liên hệ: Văn phòng Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền,

36 Xuân Thuỷ, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội

Lý thuyết

Thực hành

Presentation

Identifying the forms of the literature The influence of the literature

Doing assignments and prepare for presentations

Analyzing the characters, themes and the symbols

1, 2,

3, 4, 5

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The Nightingale

and The Rose

Presentation Doing assignments

and prepare for presentations

Analyzing the setting, plot, characters, crisis, themes and the symbols

Analyzing human relationships and the core of John

Galsworthy‘s criticism Doing assignments and prepare for presentations

Literary analysis:

Hyperbole, metaphor, theme and Rhetorical

questions

Analyzing, the plot, themes and the core

of Show‘s criticism Doing assignments and prepare for presentations

Analyzing the lesson, the theme and the great law of human action‘s in the work

1, 2,

3, 4, 5

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Doing assignments and prepare for Analyzing the differences of the main characters, the themes, the meaning and the title of the story presentations

Analyzing the characteristics of the character, the

conflict in the story, the story‘s meaning Doing assignments and prepare for presentations

Analyzing the task

of life, the law of life, illustrations of

―The Law of Life‖, the differences between men and animals facing the law of life, the conflicts and the themes in the story Doing assignments and prepare for presentations

1, 2,

3, 4, 5

UNIT 2.5

Emily Dickinson

The Soul selects

her own Society

Discussion Pair work Group work Presentation

Analyzing the stanzas, the motifs, the Main Theme of the Poem

1, 2,

3, 4, 5

10 Phương pháp giảng dạy và học tập:

Áp dụng phương pháp lấy người học làm trung tâm, và sử dụng phương pháp học tập tích cực để nâng cáo tính tự giác và tự nghiên cứu của sinh viên:

- Sinh viên chuẩn bị bài trước khi đến lớp theo yêu cầu của giáo viên: đọc tác

và tóm tắt tác giả, tác phẩm; trả lời các câu hỏi trong đề cương môn học

- Sinh viên phải thuyết trình trước lớp sau khi thuyết trình, cả lớp thảo luận câu hỏi và bài tập giáo viên giao,

- Giáo viên và sinh viên cùng thảo luận trước lớp

11 Phương pháp và hình thức đánh giá:

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Đánh giá ý thức Bài kiểm tra ngắn, bài tập, thảo luận trên

lớp…

0,1 Đánh giá định

kỳ

Thi hết học

phần

12 Phương tiện và vật chất đảm bảo:

Lớp học có máy chiếu, có tăng âm, thư viện đủ giáo trình cho sinh viên đọc

13 Học liệu:

Sinh viên được chủ động khai thác nguồn tài liệu Tuy nhiên có một số tài liệu được giới thiệu và gợi ý cho sinh viên:

1 English Literature College of Foreign Languages and International Studies,

Vietnam National University, Hanoi

2 American Literature College of Foreign Languages and International

Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

3 English American Literature Vietnam National University, Hanoi, College

of Foreign Languages

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Roman-Western literature belongs to the age of the printed book and of other print forms like newspapers, magazines, and periodicals generally Printed literature used to be

a primary way, but technological changes and that role is being increasingly played, all over the world by radio, cinema, television, VCRs, DVDs, and the Internet

1 Poetry

A poem is commonly defined as a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction) Poems rely heavily on imagery, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme one cannot readily characterize poetry precisely Typically, though, poetry as a form of literature makes some significant use of the formal properties of the words It uses the properties attached to the written or spoken form of the words, rather than to their meaning Metre depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on words that have similar pronunciation

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Much poetry uses specific forms: the haiku, the limerick, or the sonnet, for example

A traditional haiku written in Japanese must have something to do with nature, contain seventeen onji (syllables), distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should also have a kigo, a specific word indicating a season A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables It traditionally has a less reverent attitude towards nature

Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: Persian poetry always rhymes, Greek poetry rarely rhymes, Italian or French poetry often doesm English and German can go either way (although modern non-rhyming poetry often, perhaps unfairly, has more ―serious‖ aura) Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and by Milton, consists

of unrhymed iambic pentamenters Some languages prefer longer lines; some shorter ones Some of these conventions result from the ease of fitting a specific language‘s vocabulary and grammar into certain strutures, rather than inot others; for example, some languages contain more rhyming woreds than others, or typically have longer words Other structural conventions come about as the result of historical accidents, where many speakers of a language associate good poetry with

a verse form preferred by a skilled or popular poet

Works for theatre traditionally took verse form This has now become rare outside opera and musicals, although many would argue that the language of drama remains intrinsically poetic

In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media

2 Drama

A play or drama offers another classical literary form that has continued to evolve over the years It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic/ theatrical perpormance rather than at reading During the eighteenth and ninetheenth centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry,

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drama, music Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently Shakespear could be considerated drama Romeo and Juliet, for example, is a classic romantic drama generally accepted as literature

Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drame of which we have substantial knowledge Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical or mythological themes Tragidies generally presented very rerious theme With the advert of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form War of the Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advert of literature wrteen for radio broadcast, and many works of Drama have been adapted for film or televition Conversely, television, film, and radio literature have been adapted to printed or electronic media

3 Essays

An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author‘s personal point of view, exemplified by works by Francis Bacon or by Charles Lamb ‗Essay‘ in English derives from the French ‗essai‘, meaning ‗attempt‘ Thus one can find open-ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays The term ―essays‖ first applied to the self-reflective musings of Michel de Montaigne, and even today he has a reputation as the father of his literary form

Genres related to the essay may include:

 The memoir, telling the story of an author‘s life from the author‘s personal

point of view

 The epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter

 The blog, an informal short rant about a topic, usually opinion

4 Prose fiction

Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal strutures (other than simple grammar); ―nonpoetic writing,‖ writing, perhaps The term sometimes appears pejoratively, but prosaic writing simply says something without necessarily trying to say it in a beautiful way, or using beautiful words Propose

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writing can take beautiful form; but less by virtue of the formal features of words (rhymes, alliteration, metre) but rather by styles, placement, or inclusion of graphics But one need not mark the disticnction precisely, and perhaps cannot do

so Note the classifications:

 ―Propose poetry‖, which attempts to convey the aesthetic richness typical of

poetry using only prose

 ―Free verse‖, or poetry not adhering to any of the structures of one or another

formal poetic style

Narritve fiction (narrative prose) generally favours prose of the writing of novels, short stories, graphic novels Sigular examples of these exist throughout history, but the did not develop into systematic and discrete literary forms until relatively recent centuries Length often serves to categorize works of prose fiction Although limits remain somewhat arbitrary, modern publishing conventions dictate the following:

 A Mini Saga is a short story of exactly 50 words

 A Flash fiction is generally defined as a piece of prose under a thousand

words

 A short story comprises prose writing of less than 10,000 to 20,000

words, but typically more than 500 words

 A story containing between 20,000 and 50,000 words falls into the novel

la category

 A work of fiction containing more than 50,000 words falls squarely into

the realm of the novel

Early novels in Europe did not, at the time, count as significant literature, perhaps because ―mere‖ prose writing seemed easy and unimportantl It has become clear, however, that prose writing can provide aesthetic pleasure without adhering to poetic forms Additionaly, the freedome authors gain in not having to concern themselves with verse structure translates often into a more complex plot or into one recher in precise detail than one typically finds even in narrative poetry This

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freedom also allows an author to experiment with many different literary and presentation styles, including poetry in the scope of a single novel

Other prose literature

Philosophy, history, journalism, and legal and scientific writings traditionally ranked as literature They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names ―fiction‖ to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers historically have crafted in prose

The ―literary‖ nature of science writing has become less pronounced over the last two centuries, as advances and specialization have made new scientific research inaccessible to most audiences; science now appears mostly in journals

Phylosophy has become and increasingly academic discipline More of its practitioners lament this situation than occurs with the sciences; nonetheless most new philosophical work appears in academic journals

Game Design Scripts – never seen by the player of a game and only by the developers and/or publishers, the audience for these pieces is usually very small Still, many game scripts contain immersive stories and detailed worlds making them hidden literary gems

Most of these fields, then, through specialization or proliferation, no longer generally constitute ―literature‖ in the sense under discussion They may sometimes count as ―literary literature‖; more often they produce what one might call

―technical literature‖ or ―professional literature‖

Related Narrative Forms

 Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of

sequential artwork, dialogue and text

 Films, videos and broadcast soap operas have carved out a niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction

 Interactive Fiction, a term for a prose-bases genre of computer games, occupies

a small literary niche

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 Electronic literature is a developing literary genre meant to be read on a

computer screen, often making use of hypertext

II LITERARY PERIODS OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN

LITERATURE

Periods in literature and named for rulers, historical events, intellectual or political

or religious movements, or artistic styles Most literary periods, therefore, have multiple names Some of these names are debated Is the late 17th century the Baroque ear? The term baroque is an intractable term derived from art criticism, though it may usefully be applicable to some writers as well Is the early 17thcentury the Shakespearean era? Is the Mannerist ere? How widely do we wish to apply the term Elizabethan period? Other questions arise Does Romanticism begin with Wordsworth? With Blake? In addition, Romanticism has various dates according to the national literature In the separate art forms: music, painting, and even some literature genres – the dates may vary yet more

1 Periods of British Literature

600-1200 Old English (Anglo‐ Saxon) Beowulf

1500-1660 The English Renaissance

1500-1558 Tudor Period Humanist Era Thomas More, John S

kelton 1558-1603 Elizabethan

Period

High Renaissance Edmund Spenser,

Sir Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare 1603-1625 Jacobean Period Mannerist Style (1590-

1640) Other styles:

Metaphysical Poets;

Devotional Poets

Shakespeare John Donne George Herbert Emilia Lanyer

n 1649-1660 The Commonwealt

h The Protectorate

Baroque Style, and later, Rococo Style

Milton Andrew Marvell Thomas Hobbes

1700-1800 The Eighteenth

Century

The Enlightenment Neoclassical Period

Alexander Pope Jonathan Swift

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The Augustan Age Samuel Johnson 1785-1830 Romanticism The Age of Revolution William Wordsworth

S.T Coleridge Jane Austen the Brontës 1830-1901 Victorian Period Early, Middle and Late

Victorian

Charles Dickens, George Eliot Robert Browning Alfred

Lord Tennyson 1901-1960 Modern Period The 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 Hugher Doris Lessing John Fowles, Don DeLillo, A.S Byatt

The Old English Period or the Anglo-Saxon Period refers to the literature

produced from the invasion of Celtic England by Germanic tribes in the first half of the fifth century to the conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror

During the Old English Period, written literature began to develop from oral

tradition, and in the eighth century poetry written in the vernacular Anglo Saxon or Old English appeared One of the most well-known eighth century Old English pieces of literature is Beowulf, a great Germanic epic poem Two poets of Old English Period who wrote on biblical and religious themes were Caedmon and Cynewulf

The Middle English period consists of the literature produced in the four and a half

centuries between the norman conquest of 10660 and about 1500, when the standard literary language, derived from the dialect of the London area, become recognizable

as ―modern English.‖

Prior to the second half of the fourteenth century, vernacular literature consisted primarily of religious writings The second half of the fourteenth century produced the first great age of secular literature The most widely known of these writings are

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Geoffrey Chaucer‘s The Canterbury Tales, the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Thomas Malory‘s Morte d‘Arthur

While the Engish Renaissance began with the ascent of the Houuse of Tudor to the

English throne iin 1485, the English Literary Renaissance began with English

humanists such as Sir Thomas more and Sir Thomas Wyatt In addtionm the

English Literary Renaissance consists of four subsets: The Elizabeth Age, the Jacobean Age, the Caroline Age, and the Commonwealth Period (which is also

known as the Puritan Interregnum)

The Elizabethan Age of English Literature coincides with the reign of Elizabeth I

(1558-1603) During this time, medieval tradition was blended with Renaissance optimism Lyric poetry, prose, and drama were the major styles of literature that flowered during the Elizabethan Age Some important writers of the Elizabethan Age include William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Ben Jonson

The Jacobean Age of English Literature with the reign of James I (1606-1625)

During this time the literature became sophisticated, sombre, and conscious of social abuse and rivalry The Jacobean Age produced rich prose and drama as well

as the king James translation of the Bible Shakespeare and Jonson wrote during the Jacobean Age, as well as John Donne, Francis bacon, and Thomas Middleton

The Caroline Age of English Literature coincides with the reign of Charles I

(1625-1694) The writers of this age wrote with refinement and elegance This era produced a circle of poets know as the ―Cavalier Poets‖ and the dramatists of this age were the last to write in the Elizabethan tradition

The Commonwealth Period, also known as the Puritan Interregnum, of English

Literature includes the literature produced during the time of Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell This period produced the political writings of John Milton, Thomas Hobbes‘ political treatise Leviathan, and the prose of Andrew Marvell In September of 1642, the Puritans closed theatres on moral and religious grounds For

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the next eighteen years the theatres remained closed, accounting for the lact of drama produced during this time

The Neoclassical Period of English literature (1660 ‐ 1785) was much influenced

by contemporary French literature, which was in the midst of its greatest age The literarure of this time is known for its use of philosophy, reason, skepticism, wit, and refinement The Neoclassical Period also marks the first great age of English literary criticism Much like the English Literary Renaissance, the Neoclassical Period can be devided into three subsets: the Resporation, the Augustan Age, and the Age of Sensibility

The Restoration, 1660-1700, is marked by the restoration of the monarchy and the

triumph of reason and tolerance over religious and political passion The restoration produced and abundance of prose and poetry and the distinctive comedy of mannars known as Restoration comedy It was during the Restoration that John Milton published Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

The English Augustan Age derives its name from the brilliant literary period of

Virgil and Ovid under the Roman emperor Augustus (27 B.C - A.D 14) Int English literature, the Augustan Age, 1700 -1745, refers to literature with te predominants characteristics of refinement, clarity, elegance, and balance of judgment Well-known writers of the Augustan Age include Jonathan Swiftk, Alexander, Pope, And Danial Defoe A significant contribution of this time period included release of the first English novels by Defoe, and the ―novel of character,‖ Pamele, by Samuel Richardson, in 1740

During the Age of Sensibility, literature reflected the worldview of Englightenment

and began to emphasize instinct and feeling, rather than judgment and restraint A growing sympathy for the Middle Ages during the Age of Sensibility sparked an interest in medieval ballads and folk literature Another name for this period is the

Age of Johnson because the dominant authors of this period were Samuel Johnson

and his literary and intellectual circle This period also produced some of the

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greatest early novels of the English language, including Richardson's Clarissa (1748), and Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (1749)

The Romantic Period of English literature began in the late 18th century and lasted until approximately 1832 In genral, Romantic literature can be characterized by its personal nature, its strong use of feeling, its abundant use of symbolism, and its exploration of nature and the supernatural In addition, the writings of the Romantics were considered innovative based on their belief that literature should be spontaneous, imaginative, personal, and free The Romantic Period produced a wealth of authors including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Willian Wordsworth, Jane Austen, and Lord Byron

It was during the Romantic Period that Gothic literature was botn Traits of Gothic

literatre are dark and gloomy setting and characters and situations that are fantastic, grotesque, wild, savage, miserious, and often melodramatic Two of the most famous Gothic noverlists are Anne Radcliffe and Mary Shelley

The Victorian Period of English literature began with the accession of Queen

Victoria to the throne in 1837, and lasted until her death in 1901 Because the Victorian Period of English literature spans over six decades, the year 19870 is often used to devide the era into "early Victorian" and "late Victorian." In general, Victorian literature deals with the issues and problems of the day Some contemporary issues that the Victorians dealt with incude the social, economic, religious, and intellectual issues and problems surrounding the Industial Revolution, growing class tensions, the early feminist movement, pressures toward political and socal reform, and the impact of Chales Darwin‘s theory of evolution on philosophy and religion Some of the most recognized authors of the Victorian era include Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, her husband Robert, Matthew Arnold, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy

Within the Victorian Period, two other literary movements, that of The Raphaelites (1848-1860) and the movement of Aestheticism and Decadence (1880-1900), gained prominence

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In 1848, a group of English artists, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, formed the

"Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood." It was the aim of this group to return painting to a style of truthfulness, simplicity, and religious devotion that had reigned prior to Raphael and the high Italian Renaissance Rossetti and his literary circle, which included his sister Christina, incorporated these ideals into their literature, and the

result was that of the literary Pre-Raphaelites

The Aestheticism and Decadence movement of English literature grew out of the

French movement of the same name The authors of this movement encouraged experimentation and held the view that art is totally opposed "natural" norms of morality This style of literature opposed the dominance of scientific thinking and defied the hostility of society to any art that was not useful or did not teach moral

values It was from the movement of Aestheticism and Decadence that the phrase

art for art's sake emerged A well-known author of the English Aestheticism and

Decadence movement is Oscar Wilde

The Edwardian Period is named for King Edward VII and spans the time from

Queen Victoria's death (1901) to the beginning of World War I (1914) During this time, The British Empire was at its height and the wealthy lived lives of materialistic luxury However, four fifths of the English population lived in squalor

The writings of the Edwardian Period reflect and comment on these social

conditions For example, writers such as George Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells attacked social injustice and the selfishness of the upper classes Other writers of the time include William Butler Yeats, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Henry James, and E.m Forster

The Georgian Period refers to the period of British Literature that is named for the

reign of George V (1910‐36) Many writers of the Edwardian Period continued to

write during the Georgian Period This era also produced a group of poets known

as the Georgian poets These writers, now regarded as minor poets, were published

in four anthologies entitled Georgian Poetry, published by Edward Marsh between

1912 and 1922 Georgian poetry tends to focus on rural subject matter and is

traditional in technique and form

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The Modern Period applies to British literature written since the beginning of World War I in 1914 The authors of the Modern Period have experimented with subject matter, form, and style and have produced achievements in all literary

genres Poets of the period include Yeats, T.S Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and Seamus Heaney Novelists include James Joyce, D.H Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf Dramatists include Noel Coward and Samuel Beckett

Following World War II (1939-1945), the Postmodern Period of British Literature

developed Postmodernism blends literary genres and styles and attempts to break

free of modernist forms While the British literary scene at the turn of the

2 Literary Periods of American Literature

1607-1776 : Colonial Period

1765-1790: The Revolutionary Age

1775-1828: The Early National Period

1828-1865: The Romantic Period

(Also known as: The American Renaissance or The Age of Transcendentalism) 1865-1900: The Realistic Period

1900-1914: The Naturalistic Period

1914-1939: American Modernist Period

1920s: Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance

1920s, 1930s: The "Lost Generation"

1939‐ present: The Contemporary Period

1950s: Beat Writers 1

1960s, 1970s: Counterculture

The Colonial Period of American Literature spans the time between the founding

of the first settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the Revolution The writings

of this time centered on religious, practical, or historical themes The most

influential writers of the Colonial Period include John Winthrop, Cotton Mather,

Benjamin Franklin, and Anne Bradstreet

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During the Revolutionary Age, 1765-1790, some of the greatest documents of

American history were authored In 1776, Thomas Paine authored Common Sense and Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence In 1781, The Article

of Confederation were ratified Between 1787 and 1788, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers Finally, in 1787, The Constitution of the United State was drafted and in 1789 it was ratified

The Early National Period of American Literature saw the beginnings of literature

that could be truly identified as "American" The writers of this new American literature wrote in the English style, but the settings, themes, and characters were authentically American In addition, poets of this time wrote poetry that was relatively independent of English precursors Three of the most recognized writers

of this time are Washington Irving, James Fennimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe The period 1828-1865 in American Literature is commonly identified as the

Romantic Period in America, but may also be referred to as the American Renaissance or the Age of Transcendentalism The writers of this period

produced works of originality and excellence that helped shape the ideas, ideals,

and literary aims of many American writers Writers of the American Romantic Period include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth

Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman

Following the Civil War, American Literature entered into the Realistic Period

The major form of literature produced in this era was realistic fiction Unlike

romantic fiction, realistic fiction aims to represent life as it really is and make the reader believe that the characters actually might exist, and the situations might actually happen In order to have this effect on the reader, realistic fiction focuses

on the ordinary and commonplace The major writers of the Realistic Period

include Mark Twain, Henry James, Bret Harte, and Kate Chopin

The years 1900-1914 mark American Literature's Naturalistic Period Naturalism

claims to give an even more accurate depiction of life than realism In accordance

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with a post-Darwinian thesis, naturalistic writers hold that the characters of their works are merely higher-order animals whose character and behavior is entirely based upon heredity and environment Naturalistic writings try to present subjects with scientific objectivity These writings are often frank, crude, and tragic Stephen Crane, Jack London, and Theodore Dreiser are the most studied American Naturalists

Between 1914 and 1939, American Literature entered into a phase which is still

referred to as "The Beginnings of Modern Literature" Like their British

counterparts, the American Modernists experimented with subject matter, form, and

style and produced achievements in all literary genres Some well-known American

Modernist Poets include Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Edna St Vincent Millay, and e.e Cumming Included among American Modernist Prose Writers are Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, and Willa Cather

The American Modernist Period also produced many other writers that are considered to be writers of Modernist Period Subclasses For example, F Scott Fitzgerald is considered a writer of The Jazz Age, Langston Hughes, and W.E.B DuBois writers of The Halem Renaissance, and Gertrud Stein, T.S Eliot, Erza Pound, and Ernest Hemingway writers of The Lost Generation

The Great Depression marked the end of the American Modernist Period, and

writers such as William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Eugene O‘Neill dealt with the social and political issues of the time in their literary works

1939 marked the beginning of the Contemporary Period of American Literature

This period includes an abundance of important American literary figures spanning from World War II into the New Millennium These writers include, but are not limited to, Eudora Welty, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Sylvia Plath, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Zora Neal Hurston, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou

During the 1950s, a vigorous anti-establishment and anti-traditional literary movement emerged The main writers of this movement, Allen Ginsberg and Jack

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Kerouac, are called Beat Writers Much writing of the 1960s and 1970s, referred to

as Counterculture Writing, continued the literary ideals of the Beat Movement,

but in a more extreme and fevered manner

Currently, the contemporary American literary scene is crowded and varied With the passage of time the Contemporary Period may be reorganized and/or expanded

In the future will writers such as Anne Rice, John Grisham, or Amy Tan be included

in the canon of American Literature? We will just have to wait and see

QUESTIONS & PRACTICAL EXERCISES

An Overview of English Literature

in the 19th and 20th centuries Part 1: Victorian Literature

1 The Victorian age

3 Types of Victorian literature

4 The influence of Victorian literature

………

………

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Part 2: English Literature in the 20 th century

1 Ends and Beginning: 1901- 1919

An Overview of American Literature

in the 19th and 20th centuries

I The American Renaissance (1800 - 1865)

1 Historical Context

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1 Historical Context

………

………2 Cultural Context

PART I: ENGLISH LITERATURE

Unit 1.1 Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Story: The Nightingale and The Rose

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The popular image of Wilde as a man of effortless achievement and wit is far from the truth He was born in Dublin on October 16th,

1854 He was the son of a nationalist poetess

he studied at Trinity College, Dublin before going on to Magdalen College, Oxford

It was here that he allied himself with Aesthetisism - Art for Art's sake - and adopted his characteristic Aesthetic dress and haircut (based on a costume he wore

to an undergraduate ball) Though well known as a socialite, Wilde recieved little

recognition as an artist for many years until the play 'Lady Windermere's Fan'

established his literary fame in 1892 But success was extremely short lived On the

opening night of his masterpiece 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in 1895 the

Marquess of Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas with whom Wilde was having a relationship, began a public vendetta against him An ill-advised attempt to sue for slander led to a conviction on a moral charge and time in Reading Jail On his release, Wilde lived in self-imposed exile in France where he died in obscurity Throughout his life, Wilde retained a deep affection towards children His marriage

in 1884 to Constance Lloyd produced two boys to whom Wilde was devoted and her decision to keep them from him following his conviction was devastating

Oscar Wilde, known for his acerbic and urbane nonfiction, was also a master of fairy

tale While some of his inimitable irony remains, Wilde created lovely tales filled with princes, nightingales, mermaids, giants, and kings In fact, all of his fairy tales are written in an erudite, aesthetic voice As one of the representatives of Aestheticism, his fairytales are studied as a model of Aestheticism in terms of style Wilde showed the particular appeal of language to the readers and made the literature the art of language more charming His fairy tales is characteristic of making use of rhetoric means and ironic humor to convey its theme, such as love or art and the spirit of self-sacrifice as in The Nightingale and the Rose

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Wilde's short stories were written at a time when he had begun to moderate his literary ambitions with financial needs He therefore started to work in a number of popularist sub-genres - detective fiction, ghost stories, fairy tales - a market opened

up by recently reduced printing costs and used to great effect by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, but Wilde, ever-contemptuous of writers who 'pandered to the masses', refused to produce straight genre-pieces Though they conform to the character, plot and moral frameworks of the various sub-genres, their essence is often subverted, giving rise to witty, but often subtle and complex, parodies

“The Nightingale and the Rose”

The nightingale and the rose is an emotional story following the theme of the nature

of love The story was published in 1888 Oscar Wilde has great passion for love and has been persistently pursuing it for his whole short life In the famous fairy tale The Nightingale and The Rose, the nightingale became his tongue and mouth All

he wrote in this tale like an ill omen in his later life The passion of nightingale reflects the deep theme Art is for Art‘s Sake It also shows Wilde‘s aestheticism in its ongoing conflict with utilitarianism What he did for his love is like what the nightingale did for the student While the story‘s irony also lies in the nightingale‘s sacrifice, the only character that gives pure and unconditional The nightingale, which is a totally different character in the whole story, she is unselfish, kind, nice, and dares to sacrifice her own life for true love

Story: The Nightingale and The Rose

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'She said that she would dance with me if I

brought her red roses,' cried the young Student;

'but in all my garden there is no red rose.'

From her nest in the holm-oak tree the

Nightingale heard him, and she looked out

through the leaves, and wondered

'No red rose in all my garden!' he cried, and his

beautiful eyes filled with tears 'Ah, on what

little things does happiness depend! I have read

all that the wise men have written, and all the

secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a

red rose is my life made wretched.'

'Here at last is a true lover,' said the Nightingale 'Night after night have I sung of him, though I knew him not: night after night have I told his story to the stars, and now I see him His hair is dark as the hyacinth-blossom, and his lips are red as the rose of his desire; but passion has made his lace like pale Ivory, and sorrow has set her seal upon his brow.'

'The Prince gives a ball to-morrow night,' murmured the young Student, 'and my love will be of the company If I bring her a red rose she w ill dance with me till dawn If I bring her a red rose, I shall hold her in my arms, and she will lean her head upon my shoulder, and her hand will be clasped in mine But there is no red rose in my garden, so I shall sit lonely, and she will pass me by She will have no heed of me, and my heart will break.'

'Here indeed is the true lover,' said the Nightingale 'What I sing of he suffers: what

is joy to me, to him is pain Surely Love is a wonderful thing It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the market-place it may not be purchased of the merchants, 'or can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.'

'The musicians will sit in their gallery,' said the young Student, 'and play upon their stringed instruments, and my love will dance to the sound of the harp and the violin

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She will dance so lightly that her feet will not touch the floor, and the courtiers in their gay dresses will throng round her But with me she will not dance, for I have

no red rose to give her;' and he flung himself down on the grass, and buried his face

in his hands, and wept

‗Why is he weeping?' asked a little Green Lizard, as he ran past him with his tail in the air

'Why, indeed?' said a Butterfly, who was fluttering about after a sunbeam

'Why, indeed?' whispered a Daisy to his neighbour, in a soft, low voice

'He is weeping for a red rose,' said the Nightingale

'For a red rose!' they cried; 'how very ridiculous!' and the little Lizard, who was something of a cynic, laughed outright

But the Nightingale understood the secret of the Student's sorrow, and she sat silent in the oak-tree, and thought about the mystery of Love

Suddenly she spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air She passed through the grove like a shadow, and like a shadow she sailed across the garden

In the centre of the grass-plot was standing a beautiful Rose-tree, and when she saw it, she flew over to it, and lit upon a spray

'Give me a red rose,' she cried, 'and I will sing you my sweetest song.'

But the Tree shook its head

'My roses are white,' it answered; 'as white as the foam of the sea, and whiter than the snow upon the mountain But go to my brother who grows round the old sun-dial, and perhaps he will give you what you want.'

So the Nightingale flew over to the Rose-tree that was growing round the old dial

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'My roses are yellow,' it answered; 'as yellow as the hair of the mermaiden who sits upon an amber throne, and yellower than the daffodil that blooms in the meadow before the mower comes with his scythe But go to my brother who grows beneath the Student's window, and perhaps he will give you what you want.'

So the Nightingale flew over to the Rose-tree that was growing beneath the Student's window

'My roses are red,' it answered, 'as red as the feet of the dove, and redder than the great fans of coral that wave and wave in the ocean-cavern But the winter has chilled my veins, and the frost has nipped my buds, and the storm has broken my branches, and I shall have no roses at all this year.'

'One red rose is all I want,' cried the Nightingale, 'only one red rose! Is there no way by which I can get it?'

'There is a way,' answered the Tree; 'but it is so terrible that I dare not tell it to you.'

'Tell it to me,' said the Nightingale, 'I am not afraid.'

'If you want a red rose,' said the Tree, 'you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own heart's-blood You must sing to me with your breast against a thorn All night long you must sing to me, and the thorn must pierce your heart, and your life-blood must flow into my veins, and become mine.'

'Death is a great price to pay for a red rose,' cried the Nightingale, 'and Life is very dear to all It is pleasant to sit in the green wood, and to watch the Sun in his chariot

of gold, and the Moon in her chariot of pearl Sweet is the scent of the hawthorn, and sweet are the bluebells that hide in the valley, and the heather that blows on the hill Yet Love is better than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?'

So she spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air She swept over the garden like a shadow, and like a shadow she sailed through the grove

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The young Student was still lying on the grass, where she had left him, and the tears were not yet dry in his beautiful eyes

'Be happy,' cried the Nightingale, 'be happy; you shall have your red rose I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my own heart's-blood All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty Flame-coloured are his wings, and coloured like flame is his body His lips are sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense.'

The Student looked up from the grass, and listened, but he could not understand what the Nightingale was saying to him, for he only knew the things that are written down in books

But the Oak-tree understood, and felt sad, for he was very fond of the little Nightingale who had built her nest in his branches

'Sing me one last song,' he whispered; 'I shall feel very lonely when you are gone.'

So the Nightingale sang to the Oak-tree, and her voice was like water bubbling from a silver jar

When she had finished her song the Student got lip, and pulled a note-book and a lead-pencil out of his pocket

'She has form,' he said to himself, as he walked away through the grove - 'that cannot be denied to her; but has she got feeling? I am afraid not In fact, she is like most artists; she is all style, without any sincerity She would not sacrifice herself for others She thinks merely of music, and everybody knows that the arts are selfish Still, it must be admitted that she has some beautiful notes in her voice What a pity it is that they do not mean anything, or do any practical good.' And he went into his room, and lay down on his little pallet-bed, and began to think of his love; and, after a time, he fell asleep

And when the Moon shone in the heavens the Nightingale flew to the Rose-tree, and set her breast against the thorn All night long she sang with her breast against

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the thorn, and the cold crystal Moon leaned down and listened All night long she sang, and the thorn went deeper and deeper into her breast, and her life-blood ebbed away from her

She sang first of the birth of love in the heart of a boy and a girl And on the topmost spray of the Rose-tree there blossomed a marvellous rose, petal following petal, as song followed song Yale was it, at first, as the mist that hangs over the river - pale as the feet of the morning, and silver as the wings of the dawn As the shadow of a rose in a mirror of silver, as the shadow of a rose in a water -pool, so was the rose that blossomed on the topmost spray of the Tree

But the Tree cried to the Nightingale to press closer against the thorn 'Press closer, little Nightingale,' cried the Tree, 'or the Day will come before the rose is finished.'

So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and louder and louder grew her song, for she sang of the birth of passion in the soul of a man and a maid

And a delicate flush of pink came into the leaves of the rose, like the flush in the face of the bridegroom when he kisses the lips of the bride But the thorn had not yet reached her heart, so the rose's heart remained white, for only a Nightingale's heart's-blood can crimson the heart of a rose

And the Tree cried to the Nightingale to press closer against the thorn 'Press closer, little Nightingale,' cried the Tree, 'or the Day will come before the rose is finished.'

So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb

And the marvellous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby was the heart

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But the Nightingale's voice grew fainter, and her little wings began to beat, and a film came over her eyes Fainter and fainter grew her song, and she felt something choking her in her throat

Then she gave one last burst of music The white Moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered on in the sky The red rose heard it, and it trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air Echo bore it to her purple cavern in the hills, and woke the sleeping shepherds from their dreams It floated through the reeds of the river, and they carried its message to the sea

'Look, look!' cried the Tree, 'the rose is finished now;' but the Nightingale made

no answer, for she was lying dead in the long grass, with the thorn in her heart And at noon the Student opened his window and looked out

'Why, what a wonderful piece of luck! he cried; 'here is a red rose! I have never seen any rose like it in all my life It is so beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name;' and he leaned down and plucked it

Then he put on his hat, and ran up to the Professor's house with the rose in his hand

The daughter of the Professor was sitting in the doorway winding blue silk on a reel, and her little dog was lying at her feet

'You said that you would dance with me if I brought you a red rose,' cried the Student Here is the reddest rose in all the world You will wear it to-night next your heart, and as we dance together it will tell you how I love you.'

But the girl frowned

'I am afraid it will not go with my dress,' she answered; 'and, besides, the Chamberlain's nephew has sent me some real jewels, and everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers.'

'Well, upon my word, you are very ungrateful,' said the Student angrily; and he threw the rose into the street, where it fell into the gutter, and a cart-wheel went over it

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'Ungrateful!' said the girl 'I tell you what, you are very rude; and, after all, who are you? Only a Student Why, I don't believe you have even got silver buckles to your shoes as the Chamberlain's nephew has;' and she got up from her chair and went into the house

'What a silly thing Love is,' said the Student as he walked away 'It is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove anything, and it is always telling one of things that are not going to happen, and making one believe things that are not true In fact,

it is quite unpractical, and, as in this age to be practical is everything, I shall go back

to Philosophy and study Metaphysics.'

So he returned to his room and pulled out a great dusty book, and began to read

QUESTIONS & PRACTICAL EXERCISES

I Summary of the story

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Multiple-choice and True/False questions:

1 What color rose is the student searching for?

a red b yellow c white d pink

2 What does the nightingale admire about the student?

a He‘s a good singer b He values love above all else

c He likes birds d He wears really nice clothes

3 Where does the student plan to present the rose to the girl?

a at her house b at school

c at the Prince‘s Ball d at the football game

4 Why couldn‘t the student find a red rose himself?

a All the rose trees were dead b The tree refused to give up any of its roses

c He was lazy c The red rose tree was weakened by the winter

5 Which of the following did the Nightingale NOT do to get the rose?

a sing a beautiful song all night b yell at the trees until they gave her one

c give her blood to the tree d search all the rose trees in the garden

6 Why did the girl reject the flower?

a It was not beautiful b She was sad for the death of the Nightingale

c she liked yellow roses better d She appreciated money and jewels more than love

7 What is the main conflict in the story?

a The squirrel and the green lizard make fu of the nightingale for being sympathetic

b The student cant find a rose to give to the girl

c The girl only wants someone wealthy to take her to the dance

d The Chamberlin's nephew finds a prettier rose than the student

d When the student lies down, cries, and gives up finding the rose

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8 At the end of the story what did the student learn?

a People are ungrateful

b Love is a sill thing

c Everything turns out right if you try your hardest

d That love isn't half as useful as logic is

9 The nightingale sacrifices her life for the oak tree's sake

1 What would you do if you were the nightingale?

2 What do you think of the young today?

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Unit 1.2 William Somerset Maugham (1897-1956)

Story: Mr Know- All

William Somerset Maugham is one of

the best known English writers of the 20th century He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful dramatist and short-story write He was born of British parents Jan 25, 1874, Paris, France—died Dec 16, 1965 His parents died when he was very little and the boy was brought up by his uncle

Somerset Maugham was the master of the short, concise novel and he could convey relationships, greed and ambition with a startling reality

Maugham studied philosophy and literature at Heidelberg University and then in

London he qualified as a surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital Of Human Bondage (1915) is an autobiographical novel describing his unhappiness and

anxiety in early life and recounting his experiences as a medical student Maugham served in the British Intelligence Service in World Wars I and II In 1914 he was part of a Red Cross unit in France, later acting as a secret agent in Geneva In Petrograd he was involved in trying to prevent the outbreak of the Russian

Revolution These experiences are related in Ashenden, or the British Agent (1928),

a group of stories which influenced Ian Fleming's Bond stories

The most prominent works by Somerset Maugham are: Cakes and Ale (1930), Theatre(1937), and The Razor‟s Edge (1944) Realistic portrayal of life, keen

character observation, and interesting plots coupled with beautiful, expressive language, simple and lucid style; place Somerset Maugham on a level with the greatest English writers of the 20th century

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Maugham's travels fuelled his fascination with the Orient and South Sea Islands

The Moon and Sixpence (1919) is based on the life of Paul Gauguin, the artist who rejected France and civilization to live in Tahiti The Painted Veil was originally set

in Hong Kong but after threats of legal action Maugham changed the place-name to the fictional Tching-Yen The now rare first printing of this novel still has Hong Kong as the colony (the British Library copy is the second printing)

Maugham became a witty satirist of the post-colonial world and wrote over thirty plays, mainly light satiric comedies At one time he had four dramas running simultaneously; only Bernard Shaw has had more plays on at the same time in London The British Library holds many of Maugham's published plays, and the Library's Lord Chamberlain's collection contains a considerable number of typescripts

Today, Maugham is probably best known as a short story writer His clear, lucid and economical style makes easy reading and his short stories have been reprinted frequently in collected editions Maugham said himself: "I have never pretended to

be anything but a story teller."

In Mr Know-All by W Somerset Maugham we have the theme of contempt,

control, honour, change, ego, appearance and honesty Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed male and from the beginning of the story it becomes clear to the reader that Maugham may be exploring the theme of contempt

The story takes place in international waters on an ocean going liner sailing from San Francisco, U.S.A to Yokohama, Japan on the Pacific Ocean As the war had just ended, it was difficult to get accommodations Therefore, the narrator had to share a cabin with a total stranger, but he expected him to be one of his own countrymen Instead, he was deeply shocked to realize it was a chatty Levantine of oriental origin, Mr Max Kelada, who was not British, but a native of one of the British colonies (he did have a British passport) Although his origin isn't stated precisely, his name suggests middle-eastern origin

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