EXSTENSIVE READING

CLASSIC AND MODERN LITERATURE

Arranged by:

Helda Febriena

Riyan Hidayat

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF PAHLAWAN
2019
 PREFACE

First of all, we would like to say a lot of thanks to the ALLAH SWT, who has given us
healthy until we are able to complete this paper.

We hope this paper have a function for us and specially for a reader able add knowledge
in life.

We expect tips of reader, that we can perfect this paper. The end word, we giving on
gratitude to all party already get role in this help from start to finish. Hopefully ALLAH SWT
everlastingly a gifts all our efffort. Amiin.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ....................................................................................................... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ii

UNIT I INTRODUCTION

A. Background .......................................................................................... 1

B. Formulation Of The Problem ............................................................... 1

UNIT II CONTENT

A. Introduction To Literature ................................................................... 2

B. The Development Of History English Literature ................................ 3

C. Difference Of Classic And Modern Literature .................................... 4

UNIT III CLOSING ...................................................................................... 5

REFERENCE ................................................................................................ 6
 UNIT I
INTRODUCTION

A. BACKGROUND

Literary forms such as the novel or lyric poem, or genres, such as the horror-story, have a
history. In one sense, they appear because they have not been thought of before, but they also
appear, or become popular for other cultural reasons, such as the absence or emergence of
literacy.

The studying the history of literature or any kind of art, you are challenged to consider

 how it has developed, and

 whether it has a future.

B. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

 What is Literature?
 What is the development of literary history?
 Why we must know and learning about literature?
 UNIT II
CONTENT

A. INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Literature is the group of art works that made up of words. According to Cambridge
dictionary, literature is:

 Written artistic works, especially those with a high and lasting artistic value.
 All the information relating to a subject, especially information written by specialists.
 Printed material published by a company, which is intended to encourage people to buy
that company’s products or services.

Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those
imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the
perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature have functions more broadly in
society as a means of both criticizing and affirming cultural values. Literature may be classified
according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre,
and subject matter.

Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. The 11th edition of Merriam-

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary considers literature to be “writings having excellence of form or
expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.” The 19th-century
critic Walter Pater referred to “the matter of imaginative or artistic literature” as a “transcript, not
of mere fact, but of fact in its infinitely varied forms.” But such definitions assume that the
reader already knows what literature is. And indeed its central meaning, at least, is clear
enough. Deriving from the Latin littera, “a letter of the alphabet,” literature is first and foremost
humankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the body of writing belonging to a given
language or people; then it is individual pieces of writing.

Literatures have some types or genres that include :

1. Poetry,
2. Drama/Play,
3. Prose Fiction (Novels, Short Stories, Myth, Fairy Tale, Fable, and Legend),
4. Prose Non-Fiction (Newspaper, Articles, Journals, and Biography).
B. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HISTORY ENGLISH LITERATURE

England has a rich literature with a long history. The history of English begins very early
in the Anglo-Saxons period or Old English in fifth century, and continues through the Middle
English Literature in tenth Century until fifteenth century, to English Renaissance in fifteenth
century, to the Victorian period in eighteenth century, and to the Modernism in nineteenth
century, twentieth century, and until to the present.
1. Anglo-Saxons Period
English descends from the language spoken by the north Germanic tribes who settled in
England from the 5th century and onwards. They had no writing (except runes, used as
charms) until they learned the Latin alphabet from Roman missionaries.
The earliest written works in Old English were probably composed orally at first, and
have been passed on from speaker to speaker before being written. We know the names of
some of the later writers (Cædmon, Ælfric and King Alfred) but most writing is anonymous.
Old English literature is mostly chronicle and poetry – lyric.
2. Middle English Literature
From 1066 onwards, the language is known to as Middle English. Ideas and themes from
French and Celtic literature appear in English writing at this time, but the first great name in
Middle English Literature is that of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400).
Geoffrey Chaucer introduces the iambic pentameter line, the rhyming couplet and other
rhymes used in Italian/Roman poetry (a language in which rhyming is arguably much easier
than in English). Some of Chaucer's work is prose and some is lyric poetry, but his greatest
work is mostly narrative poetry, which we find in Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury
Tales.
Other notable mediaeval works are the anonymous Pearl and Gawain and William
Langlands' Piers Plowman.
3. English Renaissance
Introduction of a printing press into England by William Caxton in 1476, vernacular
literature flourished. Before the 16th century appear English drama about the amateur
performances of Bible stories by craft guilds on public holidays. For the first great English
dramatist is Marlowe.
The poetry, drama, and prose produced under both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I
constitute what is today labelled as Early modern (or Renaissance).
 4. Victorian Period
In the Victorian era (1837–1901) that the novel became the leading literary genre in
English. Another important fact is the number of women novelists who were successful in
the 19th century, even though they often had to use a masculine pseudonym. The majority of
readers were of course women. Government attempts to provide education are the cause and
the result of the popularity of the novel. The change in the reading public is reflected in a
change in the subjects of novels.
5. Modern Literature
Modern literature is written in the contemporary period. When modern literature began is
hard to define and varies from country to country. Modern literature has its origins in the late
19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America, and is characterized by a
very self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose
fiction. Modernists experimented with literary form and expression. Literature covers all
written works including letters and journals, but is best known for novels, poetry and non-
fiction articles as found in magazines and newspapers.
Whereas Classic Literature is a collective term for works of literature that transcend time
and culture to have a universal appeal. Such novels, short stories and poetry remain relevant
through time. They are recognized for their artistic merit, quality and often for their
groundbreaking nature. Because their classic status, these types of books remain in print long
after their copyright has expired and may be printed by any number of publishers. Example :
“Romeo and Juliet” still exist from 1595 until now.

C. DIFFERENCE OF CLASSIC AND MODERN LITERATURE

Modern literature and Classic literature are very diverse, their differences are :
Classic literature tend to be written by and for people from high society or the elites.
Modern literature on the other hand, includes a diverse number of writers from different
social backgrounds.
Classic literature usually follow a strict set of rules in writing, whereas, modern literature
is more free, and sometimes mixes different qualities of literary work to form a more
creative and innovative piece.
 UNIT III
CLOSING

CONCLUSION
 We must study literature at the basic level because it is through reading literature that we
not only learn history but also learn how to write. Literature also helps us see things through
another person’s eyes. It can be understand about the history of English literature from Old
English Literature, The Middle English Literature, The English Renaissance, and The Victorian
Ages, until The Twentieth with different literature tendency in every era.
 REFERENCE

 http://makalahlaporanterbaru1.blogspot.com/2012/12/english-literature.html
 http://universalteacher.org.uk/lit/history.htm