History and Anthology of English Literature

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History and Anthology of English Literature

• Liao Haiyan
• qq360337745 Tel [phone]

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Outline

• Course Introduction
• Periods of English Literature
• The Early History
• Beowulf
• The Anglo-Norman Period
• Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

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A Brief Introduction to Literature
What is literature?

• Literature is broadly defined as any written or
  spoken material, but the term most often refers
  to creative works, which are of artistic value.
  Literature is the expression of life in words of
  truth and beauty it is the written record of
  mans spirit, of his thoughts, emotions and
  aspirations it is the history and the only
  history of human soul. It is characterized by its
  artistic, suggestive and permanent qualities.
• Poetry
• Drama
• Essay
• Fiction

Literary Genres
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Functions of Literature

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Why do people need literature?
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A. Reading for pleasure

• Howells (American novelist,
  playwright and literary critic) observed that the
  study of literature should begin and end in
  pleasure. Apart from its role of protest,
  education, cognition and aesthetic appreciation,
  literature is primarily to give pleasure, to
  entertain those who voluntarily attend to it. We
  can enjoy ourselves and get enlightened in the
  course of reading. The greatest pleasure and
  satisfaction to be found in literature occurs
  when it brings us back to the realities of human
  situations, problems, feelings, and
  relationships.
• 1.All the world 's a stage, and all the men
  and women merely players.
• 
  Shakespeare(1564-1
  616)
• 2.It is a truth universally acknowledged that
  a single man in possession of a good fortune must
  be in want of a wife.
• 
  Jane Austen(1775-1817) Pride and
  Prejudice
• 3. Clothes make the man. Naked people have
  little or no influence on society.
• 
  Mark Twain (1835-1910)

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B. Reading for relaxation

• Generally speaking, literature offers the reader
  an exciting narrative. It leads the way for
  readers to an exciting world of experience that
  is different from their own. Thus, literature
  succeeds in temporarily getting readers away from
  their own time and place and sending them to some
  imaginary world that they otherwise would never
  know.
• When readers are indulged in reading, they will
  put aside their problems and obligations of
  everyday life for the time being. Modern life is
  full of pressure. It is people's common desire to
  seek temporary relaxation from the stress in
  life.

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C. Reading for acquiring knowledge

• Literature gives readers not only
  pleasure but also knowledge and insight into the
  nature of reality. The readers' interest in
  reading lies partly in the fact that in the
  process of reading they acquire a good deal of
  information.
• Literature gives readers an insight into
  the tradition, custom, beliefs, attitudes,
  folklore, values of the age in which it is
  written. Whether it is in the form of a story, a
  poem, a play, or an essay, literature always
  offers readers some new piece of information that
  broadens their knowledge of the world.

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D. Reading to Confront Experience

• Doris Lessing states"Literature maps the world
  for us, fleshing out what we get from newspaper
  articles and television reports, giving us a
  parallel landscape infinitely rich and various
  where we may stroll any time we like, tourists in
  imaginary world that mirror real ones."
• Literature is appealing mainly because of its
  relationship to human experience. It sheds light
  on the complexity and ambiguity of human
  experiences and thus broadens readers' awareness
  of the possibilities of experiences. Readers get
  immediate access to a wide range of human
  experiences they otherwise might never know.
  Literature not only gives readers a chance to
  participate in the experience of others', but
  also tries to influence their attitudes and
  expectations.

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E. Reading for Artistic Appreciation

• Under perfect discipline, literature can be
  studied for artistic appreciation. The
  well-structured language manifests good
  craftsmanship, and the beauty of expression and
  form enjoy immortality. A story, a poem, a play
  or an essay is a self-contained piece of art,
  with its unique structure and texture. It can be
  analyzed according to literary theories and
  criteria.
• When we approach literature in this way, we began
  to move in the direction of literary criticism.
  Literary criticism is by no means negative or
  fault finding. It is an attempt to clarify,
  explain and evaluate literature from an aesthetic
  point of view. In fact, the more we learn about
  how to analyze a story, a poem, a play, or an
  essay from an artistic point of view, the greater
  our understanding and appreciation of a literary
  work can be acquired, and greater the pleasure
  and enjoyment we can draw from it.

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Down by the Salley Gardens
?????? ?? Yeats(??,1865-1939,?????????,?1923???
????) Down by the Salley gardens my love and I
did meet. She passed the salley gardens with
little snow-white feet. She bid me take love
easy, as the leaves grow on the tree But I,
being young and foolish, with her would not
agree. In a field by the river my love and I did
stand. And on my leaning shoulder she laid her
snow-white hand. She bid me take life easy, as
the grass grows on the weirs But I was young
and foolish, and now am full of tears.
Rhyme aabbccdd
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How to improve reading skills?

• Reading literature is different from reading
  texts of an average reading course. Therefore, it
  is important to improve the skills of reading
  literature. Here are a few tips for you
• 1. You should form the habit of
  intelligent guessing at the meaning of new words
  with the clues provided by the context.
• 2. You should learn to notice details, to
  get the main idea, and to skim to locate the most
  meaningful passages in a literary work.
• 3. You should cherish a strong desire to
  extract greater meaning from a literary work by
  relating ideas found in your reading with your
  own experience.

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Course Objectives

• This course aims to provide different angles to
  interpret works and help improve students
  perception into literary works, expounding the
  historical background of England and showing the
  classical literary works of English literature.
• In taking this course, students are expected to
• 1) read the original works of major
  writers
• 2) understand different periods of the
  history of English literature
• 3) analyze the text, and communicate
  their critical responses orally or in written
  form.

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Methods

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• a. analytical approach (poetry, novel, drama,
  essay)
• The elements of fiction include plot,
  character,
• setting, point of view, theme, symbol,
  allegory, style,
• and tone.
• b. historical approach

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Useful Books

• 1. ??????(????)???,???.???????,2006?.
• 2. ?????????.?????????, 2002?.
• 3. ?????? ???,??????? 2006.
• 4. ??????????Chris Baldick.?????????,2000?.
• 5.???????????.???????,2001.
• 6.????????(?????)????? ???????,2006.
• 7.????????(?????)????? ???????,2002.

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Explore the internet

• Literature An Introduction
• An Online Companion to the Norton Introduction to
  Literature
• The Bedford Introduction to Literature
• Classics at the Online Literature Library
• The Literature Network
• BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources

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Enjoy Web-Site-Seeing

• British Literature Timeline
• Britannia Panorama
• Norton Anthology of British Literature
• Norton Anthology - Audio Companion
• Norton Anthology of American Literature
• Listen to English literature
• Nobel e-Museum

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Suggestions for this course

• Preview the part to be discussed before you
  attend my lecture.
• Take down the notes efficiently, trying to find
  out the authors, texts, historical background and
  literary trends out of class.
• Participate in the discussions actively and give
  your own opinions as possible.
• Bring out your own experiences and feelings, and
  relate the texts to yourselfthis is the first
  step on the way towards critical appreciation.
• Write comments on the discussed text.

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Requirements

• Final score
• Attendance (10) Participation (20)
  final exam (70)
• Presentation
• One topic, one presentation.
• The volunteers have to register in advance.
• The volunteers have to make PowerPoint files.
• A presentation has to be finished in 5-8 minutes.
  
• Classroom Rules
• Come to the classroom on time.
• Turn off your mobile phones.
• Dont whisper to each other.
• When having a discussion, please be active.
• Dont forget to prepare.

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Schedule

• Week 1 Brief Introduction and The Old-Medieval
  English Literature
• Week 2 The Renaissance
• Week 3 William Shakespeares The Merchant of
  Venice, Sonnet 18
• Francis Bacons Of Studies
• Week 4 The Literature of Revolution and
  Restoration John
• Miltons Paradise Lost
• Week 5 John Bunyans The Pilgrims Progress
• Week 6 The 18th Century Literature Jonathan
  Swifts A Modest
• Proposal
• Week 7 Thomas Grays Elegy Written in a
  Country Churchyard
• Week 8 William Blake s London Robert
  Burnss A Red, Red Rose

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• Week 9 The Romantic Period and William
  Wordsworths She Dwelt
• Among the Untrodden Ways
• Week 10 Percy Shellys To a Sky-Lark
  John Keatss Ode on a
• Grecian Urn
• Week 11 Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice
  and movie watching
• Week 12 The Victorian Age and Charles
  Dickenss Oliver Twist
• Week 13 Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre and
  Emily Brontes
• Wuthering Height Robert
  Brownings My Last Duchess
• Week 14 Twentieth Century Literature
  Thomas Hardys Tess of
• the DUrbervilles
• Week 15 Introduction to Oscar Wilde and
  George Bernard Shaw
• Week 16 D. H. Lawrences The Sons and
  Lovers
• Week 17 Virginia Woolf James Joyces Araby

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Periods of English Literature
The Old and Medieval English literature The Renaissance period The Neo-classical period The Romantic period The Victorian period The Modern period
(449-1350) (14th mid 17th century) (1660-1798) (1798-1832) (1837-1901) 20th century
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The Early History

• In the history, England, the early inhabitants
  were Celts, has been conquered three times. It
  was conquered by the Romans (78 A.D410 A.D), the
  Anglo-Saxons (4491066), and the Normans
  (10661350). England was not much affected by the
  Roman Conquest, but much affected by the other
  two conquests.
• The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic
  language and culture, while the Normans brought a
  fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization, which
  includes Greek culture, Roman law, French
  language and Christian religion. It is the
  cultural influences of these two conquests that
  provided the source for the rise and growth of
  English literature.

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Literature in Anglo-Saxon period

• The literature of this period falls naturally
  into two divisions pagan (a person who is
  neither a Christian, a Jew and a Moslem), and
  Christian. The former is represented in the form
  of oral saga (??), the latter represents the
  writings developed under teaching of the monks,
  which is filled with religious coloring.
• Two ecclesiastic poets Caedmon who lived in the
  latter half of the 7th century and who wrote a
  poetic Paraphrase of the Bible, and Cynewulf,
  the author of poems on religious subjects, who
  lived a century later.

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The Song of Beowulf

• Literary position
• The song of Beowulf can be justly termed
  Englands national epic and its hero Beowulf one
  of the national heroes of the English people.
• The main plot (3182 lines) (see page 3)
• Its characters
• Beowulf nephew of Hygelac
• Hygelac king of Geats in Jutland
• Hrothgar king of the Danes
• Grendel a monster

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fight with Grendel (a monster half-human,
devouring the warriors while they are feasting.
The monster died in the battle against Beowulf)

• fight with Grendels mother
• (she came to avenge the death of her son but
  was killed by Beowulf )

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fight with firedrake (a fire-breathing dragon.
Beowulf came to steal the treasures of earth
namely the golden corn and ruddy fruits for his
people. he succeeded at last but got mortally
wounded and died at last.)

• death and funeral
• Thematically the poem presents a vivid
  picture of how the primitive people wage heroic
  struggles against the hostile forces of the
  natural world under a wise and mighty leader.

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Comments on Beowulf

• 1.  Beowulf is a grand hero. He is so, simply by
  his deeds. He is faithful to his people. He dies
  a heroic death for his people.
• 2.  It is not Christian but a pagan poem, despite
  the Christian flavor given to it by the monastery
  scribe. It is the product of an advanced pagan
  civilization. The whole poem presents us an
  all-round picture of the tribal society. The
  social conditions and customs can be seen in it.
  So the poem also has a great social significance.

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Features of Beowulf

• 1.  The use of alliteration is another notable
  feature. In alliterative verse, certain accented
  words in a line begin with the same consonant
  sound. The following stanza serves as a good
  example.
• Thus made their mourning the man of Geatland
• For their heros passing, his hearth-companions
• Quoth that of all the kings of earth,
• Of men he was the mildest and most beloved,
• To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise.
• 4.       A lot of metaphors and understatements
  are used in the poem. For example, the sea is
  called the whale-road or the swan-road the
  soldiers are called shield-man the chieftains
  are called the treasure-keeper human body is
  referred to as the bone-house God is called
  wonder-wielder monster is called soul-destroyer.

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The Anglo-Norman Period (1066-1350)

• Historical Background
• In the year 1066, at the battle of Hastings, the
  Normans headed by William, Duke of Normandy,
  defeated the Anglo-Saxons. The Normans brought
  the French civilization and the French language
  to England. Besides, the Normans brought Greek
  culture, Roman law and the Christian religion,
  which provided the source for the rise and growth
  of English literature. English literature is also
  a combination of French and Saxon elements. The
  Norman conquests marked the beginning of
  feudalism in England.

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Literature in Anglo-Norman Period

• In contrast with the Anglo-Saxon poetry, Medieval
  English literature deals with a wider range of
  subjects, is expressed in the form of romance
  (??). Romance which uses narrative verse or prose
  to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds
  is a popular literary form in the medieval
  period.
• Romantic love is an important part of the plot in
  romance. While the structure is loose and
  episodic (???), the language is simple and
  straightforward. If the epic reflects a heroic
  age, the romance reflects a chivalric one. (Sir
  Gawain and the Green Knight).

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• It was regarded as the best of Arthurian romance.
• Plots
• The Green Knights challenges
• Sir Gawains hard journey
• Three days of Gawains sojourn at the castle
• Gawain went to the Green Chaple
• Themes The tests of faith, courage, purity and
  the human weakness for self-preservation give us
  the characteristics traits of the chivalric
  romance.

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Romance

• The romance falls into 3 cycles or categories
  matters of Britain, matters of France and matters
  of Rome. (see page 18)
• a. The matters of France deal with the
  exploits of Charlemagne, known as Charles the
  Great, King of Frank and Emperor of the West
  Empire. The famous romance in this group is
  Chanson de Roland.
• b. The matters of Rome deal with tales from
  Greek and Roman sources. Alexander the Great
  (356B.C.323B.C.), king of Macedonia and
  conqueror of Greece, Egypt, India and Persian
  Empire is the major hero of this group. Besides
  this, Trojan War is a hot topic in this group.
• c. The matters of Britain deal with the
  exploits of King Arthur and his knights of Round
  Table. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight heads the
  list of Arthurian romances.

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Popular Ballads

• It is a folk song or orally transmitted poem
  telling in a direct and dramatic manner some
  popular stories usually derived from a tragic
  incident in local history or legend. The story is
  told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid
  dialogue.
• Ballads(??)are anonymous narrative songs that
  have been preserved by oral transmission. (Robin
  Hood) Ballads are normally composed in quatrains
  with alternating four-stress and three-stress
  lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming, but
  some ballads are in couplet form, and some others
  have six-line stanzas.
• There are various kinds of ballads historical,
  legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous.
  (see page 52)

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Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400)
Chaucers literary career He is acclaimed
as father of English poetry and one of the
greatest narrative poets of England. He is the
first poet to be buried in Poets Corner in
Westminster Abbey. We are indebted to him for his
most vivid description of the fourteenth-century
England. Chaucers life (see page
41-43) Chaucers works The Romance of the
Rose (translated from French), Troilus and
Cressie (adapted from Italian), The
Canterbury Tales ( purely English)
Full wise is he that can himselven knowe.
Geoffrey Chaucer
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The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400)

• It is Chaucers masterpiece and one of the
  monumental works in English literature.
• Outline of the Story
• The Prologue
• The Tales
• Social Significance
• Chaucers Contribution
• Appreciation

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Outline of the Story

• On a spring evening, the poet, moved by the
  passion for wandering, drops himself at the
  Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London. He
  joins this company. At the suggestion of the host
  of the inn, each pilgrim should tell two tales on
  the way to Canterbury and two more on the way
  back. The pilgrims being 32 in all the total
  number of tales, according to Chaucers plan, was
  to exceed that of Boccaccios Decameron, but the
  author failed to carry out his plan and only 24
  tales were written.
• The best story-teller will be treated with a fine
  supper at the general expense at the end. The
  host is to be the judge of the contest.

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The Prologue(??)

• The prologue provides a framework for the tales.
• It contains a group of vivid sketches of typical
  medieval figures.
• All classes of the English feudal society,
  except the royalty and the poorest peasant, are
  represented by these thirty pilgrims. They range
  from knight, squire, prioress, tradesman, to the
  drunken cook and humble plowman, doctor, lawyer,
  sailor and Oxford scholar. Finally, in the centre
  of the group is the Wife of Bath, the owner of a
  large cloth-factory.
• It provides a miniature of the English society of
  Chaucers time.
• It is no exaggeration to say that the
  Prologue supplies a miniature of the English
  society of Chaucers time. Looking at his
  world-pictures, we know how people lived in that
  era. That is why Chaucer has been called the
  founder of English realism.

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The Tales

• The structure of The Canterbury Tales is indebted
  to Boccaccio's Decameron .
• Each of the narrator tells his tale in a peculiar
  manner, thus revealing his own views and
  character.
• The tales of the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the
  Pardoner, the Nuns Priest and the prologue are
  generally regarded as the best of the whole
  collection.

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Social significance

• The Canterbury tales is more than a collection
  of true-tolife pictures. Taking the stand of the
  rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer affirms men and
  womens right to purse their happiness on earth,
  opposes the dogma of asceticism (????) preached
  by the church and attacks the corruption of the
  church and so on. As a forerunner of humanism, he
  praised mans energy, intellect, quick wit and
  love of life. Chaucer bears marks of humanism and
  anticipates a new era to come.

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Chaucers Contribution to English Literature

• Chaucer is regarded as the father of English
  poetry and has been called the founder of
  English realism. He is the first great poet who
  wrote in the English language.
• He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of
  various types, especially the heroic coupletto
  English poetry.
• heroic couplet (?????/????)
• It contains two lines in iambic pentameter with
  the same end rhyme, or a rhymed pair of iambic
  pentameter lines.
• His masterpiece The Canterbury Tales is one of
  the monumental works in English literature.

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Attempts to Define Poetry

• Texts in rhythmic form, often employing rhyme and
  usually shorter and more concentrated in language
  and ideas than either prose or drama.
• Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience
  expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
  language choices so as to evoke an emotional
  response. Poetry has been known to employ
  meter(?) and rhyme, but this is by no means
  necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has
  gone through numerous and drastic reinvention
  over time.

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Rhythm Foot

• Rhythm(??) is mainly made up of by the regular
  repetition of stressed syllables and unstressed
  syllables.
• Foot (feet) (??)is a certain fixed combination of
  syllables, each of which is counted as being
  either stressed (/) or unstressed (?).
• Monometer one foot per line
• Dimeter two feet per line
• Trimeter three feet per line
• Tetrameter four feet per line
• Pentameter five feet per line
• Hexameter six feet per line
• Heptameter seven feet per line
• Octometer eight feet per line

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Meter

• Meter (?)
• iambic (????) ? / a metrical unit (foot) of
  verse, having one unstressed syllable followed by
  one stressed syllable, as in the word beyond.
• trochaic (???) / ? a metrical unit (foot) of
  verse, having one stressed syllable followed by
  one unstressed syllable, as in the word tiger
• anapestic (????) ? ? / contradict
• dactylic (????) / ? ? foolishness
• Spondaic(???) / / moonstone

44
??????? ??
The Canterbury Tales General
Prologue
As soon as April pierces to the root The drought
of March, and bathes each bud and shoot Through
every vein of sap with gentle showers From whose
engendering liquor spring the flowers When
zephyrs have breathed softly all about Inspiring
every wood and field to sprout, And in the zodiac
the youthful sun His journey halfway through the
Ram has run When little birds are busy with
their song Who sleep with open eyes the whole
night long Life stirs their hearts and tingles in
them so, Then off as pilgrims people long to
go, And palmers to set out for distant
strands And foreign shrines renowned in many
lands. And specially in England people ride To
Canterbury from every countryside To visit there
the blessed martyred saint Who gave them strength
when they were sick and faint.

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45

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In Southwark at the Tabard one spring day It
happened, as I stopped there on my way, Myself a
pilgrim with a heart devout Ready for Canterbury
to set out, At night came all of twenty-nine
assorted Travellers, and to that same inn
resorted, Who by a turn of fortune chanced to
fall In fellowship together, and they were
all Pilgrims who had it in their minds to
ride Toward Canterbury. The stables doors were
wide, The rooms were large, and we enjoyed the
best, And shortly, when the sun had gone to
rest, I had so talked with each that presently I
was a member of their company And promised to
rise early the next day To start, as I shall
show, upon our way.
46
Points to be reviewed

• The early history of England (Anglo-Saxon and
  Norman period) and their influence upon the
  making of England. ??
• The features of Anglo-Saxon period and Norman
  period ??
• Beowulf and Chaucers The Canterbury Tales ??
• Literary terms Romance, Ballads, and Heroic
  Couplet ??
• Homework
• Selected readings of The Prologue
• The Renaissance

47
References

• ???.??????. ???????, 2006.
• ?????.??????. ???????,2001.
• ???.????????(???).??????????,1988.
• ??? ????.???????????????(???),?????????,2002.10.
• http//211.81.200.388/ec2006/c47/Course/Index.htm
  

48
Recommendations

• http//www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
• ???????????????????
• http//www.siue.edu/CHAUCER
• ??????????????????????,?????????????????????????
  ?

Thank You!