anglo-american literature

• England - is derived from the old english name englaland, which means “land of the angles”
• old english or anglo saxon (450 - 1066) - few surviving texts with little in common. language closer to modern german than modern english.
• when the romans arrived, they found the land inhabited by “britons”
• by 600 anglo-saxons conquer the britons.
• beowulf - the earliest literature, the national epic of the anglo-saxon, one of the striking features - the use of alliteration.
• by 700 christian missionaries arrive to convert the pagans.
• king alfred is the first true king of the britons.
• period of prosperity king alfred brings an age of prosperity.
• goeffrey chaucer is the father of english literature
• geoffrey chaucer‘s family name derives from the french chausseur, meaning “shoemaker”
• geoffrey chaucer was the first poet to have been buried in poet’s corner of westminister abbey
• the 3 estates in the middle ages clergy, nobles, and commoners.
• clergy - latin chiefly spoken, those who pray, purpose was to save everyone’s soul.
• nobles - french chiefly spoken, those who fight, purpose was to protect—allow for all to work in peace—and provide justice.
• commoners - engling spoken, those who work, purpose was to fed and clothe all above
• feudalism - the economic system of much of the middle ages (800-1100)
• chivalry - a product of feudalism, and was an idealized system of manners and morals.
• the high middle ages - these people wrote music, but they also wrote poetry.
• the late middle ages - this had truly great products with the divine comedy, by dante, and the canterbury tales, by geoffrey chaucer.
• renaissance - marks the transition from the medielval to the modern world.
• humanism-key-note of the renaissance - emphasis on the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life; belief in the right to enjoy the beauty of this life and the ability to protect himself and to perform wonders.
• francis bacon (1561-1626) - english philosopher and statesman.
• drama - the highest glory of the english renaissance
• christopher marlowe - the most gifted of the “university wits”, doctor faustus, blank verse first used in his drama.
• william shakespeare - his life, his works, his status. born in 1564 in stratford on avon, died in 1616. his works 38 plays and 154 sonnets
• john milton - a revolutionary poet, political both in his life and his art; paradise lost, paradise regained, samson aganistes
• john bunyan - the pilgrim’s progress, a religious allegory, the spiritual pilgrimage of christian.
• john dryden - the most distinguished literary figure of the restoration period; use of heroic couplet in his writing
• heroic couplet - two successive lines of verse, equal in length and with rhyme.
• daniel defoe (1660-1731) - he wrote his world famous novel “the life and strange surprising adventures of robinson crusoe”
• edgar allan poe - known as a poet and critic but most famous as the first master of the short-story form, especially tales of the mystery.
• washington irving (1783-1859) - was born to a wealthy new york family and received an excellent education.
• henry wadsworth longfellow (1807-1882) - one of the most widely read american poets of the 19th century
• victorian period england (1832-1901) - named for the reign of queen victoria, britain’s longest reigning monarch
• charles dickens (1812-1870) - a novelist who provided victorian england with one of its greatest chapions of reform.
• rudyard kipling (1865-1936) - he was an english novelist, short-story writer and poet.
• alfred tennyson (1809-1892) - was poet laureate of great britain and ireland during much of queen victoria’s reign and remains one of the most popular british poets
• elizabeth barrett browning (1806-1861) - was one of the most prominent english poets of the victorian era
• realistic period american (1860-1914) - reaction against romantic values
• mark twain (1835-1910) - his real name was samuel clemens, but he took his penname from a term used by the men who operated the rivers boats.