2020 محاضرات في الادب الانكليزي د نبراس الخزرجي

Al-IRAQIA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
English Literature in Context
by
Dr.Nibras Ahmed Abdullah Alkhazraji
2020
‫محاضرات في االدب االنكليزي‬
‫ كلية االداب‬: ‫ الجامعة العراقية‬/ ‫ نبراس احمد عبدهللا الخزرجي‬.‫د‬
ALIRAQIA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
English Literature in Context:
Periods, Movements, Literary Theory,
Criticism, Literary Devices and Terms
by
Dr.Nibras Ahmed Abdullah Alkhazraji
2020
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‫د‪ .‬نبراس احمد عبدهللا الخزرجي ‪ /‬الجامعة العراقية ‪ :‬كلية االداب‬
‫د‪ .‬نبراس احمد عبدهللا الخزرجي‬

‫التولد ‪ :‬صالح الدين – بلد – الضلوعية ‪1989‬‬
‫البريد االلكتروني ‪Email: :‬‬
‫‪eng_nibras89@yahoo.com‬‬
‫المؤهالت ‪:‬‬
‫‪ -‬تدريسي في الجامعة العراقية كلية اآلداب قسم اللغة االنكليزية وقسم الترجمة‬
‫‪ -‬دكتوراه اللغة االنكليزية تخصص دقيق أدب انكليزي ( رواية ) كلية التربية جامعة‬
‫الجزيرة‬
‫‪ -‬ماجستير في اللغة االنكليزية اللغة االنكليزية أدب انكليزي ( شعر ) كلية اآلداب الجامعة‬
‫العثمانية‬
‫‪ -‬دبلوم العالي في الترجمة اختصاص دقيق ترجمة كلية اآلداب الجامعة العثمانية‬
‫‪ -‬بكالوريوس في اللغة االنكليزية وادبها كلية التربية جامعة تكريت‬
‫‪ -‬دبلوم معهد األمم المتحدة والتفاهم الدولي ‪ -‬دلهي ‪-‬الهند‬
‫‪ -‬حاصل على ( ‪ ) 9‬كتب شكر وتقدير من مختلف الجامعات والكليات‬
‫‪ -‬لدي العديد من البحوث المنشور والبعض منها مقبولة النشر لدي العديد من المشاركات في‬
‫المؤتمرات الدولية‬
‫في الختام ‪ ,‬اسأل هللا لي ولكم دوم التوفيق والسداد‬
‫‪2‬‬
History of English Literature
English literature is the one of the richest literature of the world. Being the literature of
the great nation, it has made its marks in the world on account of its spirit of adventure,
presence and tenacity. Literature as the reflection of the society, literature carries
different refining processes. When we study the English literature from the earliest time
to the modern time, we find that it has been passing through certain phases; may termed
as ages or periods.
Ages of English Literature
 The Age of Chaucer (1350-1400)
 The Age of Elizabeth (1550-1620)
 The Puritan Age (1620-1660)
 Restoration Period (1660-1700)
 Eighteenth Century Literature or Augustan Literature (1700-1800)
 The Age of Romanticism or Second Creative Period (1800-1850)
 The Victorian Age (1850-1900)
 Twentieth Century Literature or Modern Age (1900-1970)
 Post Modern Period (1970- present time.
The periods of English literature can be classified into eight major parts. These
periods are:
 Old and Middle English Period (450-1066),
 Middle English Period (1066-1500),
 The Renaissance (1500-1660),
 The Neoclassical Period (1660-1798)
 The Romantic Period (1798-1832)
 The Victorian Period (1832-1901),
 The Modern Period (1901-1939) and
 The Post Modern Period (1939-till date).
In Renaissance Period we have seen several other sub periods. The periods are:

 The Elizabethan Period (1558-1603),
 The Jacobean Age (1603-1625),
 Caroline Age (1625-1649),
 Commonwealth Period (1625-1660)
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The Neoclassical Age has three sub-divisions. The divisions are:

 The Restoration Period (1660-1700)
 The Augustan Age or the Age of Pope (1700-1745)
 The Age of Sensibility or the Age of Johnson (1745-1798)
The Victorian Period has two sub-divisions. The divisions are
 The Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1860)

 Aestheticism and Decadence (1880-1901)
Again The Modern Period has also two divisions:
 The Edwardian Period (1901-1910)

 The Georgian Period (1910-1936).
Literary Movements
 1607-1776 American Literary Movements
 1765-1790 Puritan / Colonial
 1775-1828 Revolutionary / Age of Reason
 1828-1865 Early National Period
 1865-1900 American Renaissance
 1900-1914 Realism
 1914-1939 Naturalistic Period American
 1920s Modernist Period: Jazz Age,
 1920s, Harlem Renaissance
 1930s : The "Lost Generation"
 1939-present The Contemporary Period
 1950s : Beat Writers
 1960s & 1970s : Counterculture
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Section One
Literature
Literature is a group of works of art made up of words. Most are written, but some are
passed on by word of mouth. Literature usually means works of poetry and prose that are
especially well written. There are many different kinds of literature, such as poetry, plays,
or novels. English literature has a long way of literary works which have reflected the
social , economic, political development and happenings of that era. English literature is a
universal literature. It is not a literature of England people; it has the heritance of
different nations i.e. German and French etc. so English literature should not be
concerned only with the English literature.
The Functions of Literature:
1. Literature stimulates us to understand and comprehend the life which is

presented by the author in his work after we interpret it.
2. Literature suggests various possibilities in term of moral, social, and

psychological accelerate the reader’s mental maturity and character building
process reflected in the behavior and mature thought consideration.
3. Literature can lead the reader to mentally digest and comprehend imaginatively
the importance beyond himself and see life through different perspective and
point of view.
4. Literature can maintains the existence and the regeneration of culture and
tradition of a nation in term of the way of thinking, tradition, history, and the
other part of culture.
5. Literature helps the reader to know better about himself and his environment
and sharpen his social awareness
The General Classifications of Literature

The three main branches of literature are prose, poetry and drama, Literature as a term is
used for describing whatever is written or spoken. It basically comprises creative writing,
innovative style and imagination. Literature has various forms; some popular ones are fiction,
drama, prose and poetry. Fiction is the most popular form of literature present in today’s world.
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It is any narrative that deals with events that are not factual, but rather imaginary. It is often
applied to theatrical and musical work. Harry Potter, the Twilight series and Da Vinci Code are
some of the perfect examples of fiction.
1- Poetry is one of the three major types of literature, the others being prose and
drama. Most poems make use of highly concise, musical, and emotionally
charged language. Many also make use of imagery, figurative language, and
special devices of sound such as rhyme. Major types of poetry include lyric
poetry, narrative poetry, and concrete poetry. See Concrete Poem, Genre, Lyric
Poem, and Narrative Poem.
2- Drama: is a story written to be performed by actors. Although a drama is meant
to be performed, one can also read the script, or written version, and imagine the
action. The script of a drama is made up of dialogue and stage directions. The
dialogue is the words spoken by the actors. The stage directions, usually printed
in italics, tell how the actors should look, move, and speak. They also describe the
setting, sound effects, and lighting. Dramas are often divided into parts called
acts. The acts are often divided into smaller parts called scenes.Basically it is of
two types (1) Comedy and (2) Tragedy.
3- Novel: - A novel is a long work of fiction. Novels contain such elements as
characters, plot, conflict, and setting. The writer of novels, or novelist, develops
these elements. In addition to its main plot, a novel may contain one or more
subplots, or independent, related stories. A novel may also have several themes.
4- Short Story is a brief work of fiction. Like a novel, a short story presents a
sequence of events, or plot. The plot usually deals with a central conflict faced by
a main character, or protagonist. The events in a short story usually communicate
a message about life or human nature. This message, or central idea, is the story’s
theme. See Conflict, Plot, and Theme.
5- Fiction is prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. Short
stories and novels are works of fiction. Some writers base their fiction on actual
events and people, adding invented characters, dialogue, settings, and plots. Other
writers rely on imagination alone.
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The Periods of English Literature
These periods are spans of time in which literature shared intellectual, linguistic,
religious, and artistic influences. In the Western tradition, the early periods of literary
history are roughly as follows below
Classical Greek Period (800-200 Bce)

Greek writers, playwrights, and philosophers such as Gorgias, Aesop, Plato, Socrates,
Aristotle, Euripides, and Sophocles. The fifth century (499-400 BCE) in particular is
renowned as The Golden Age of Greece. This is the sophisticated period of the polis, or
individual City-State, and early democracy. Some of the world's finest art, poetry, drama,
architecture, and philosophy originate in Athens.
Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450 – 1066)

The earliest period of English literature started with Anglo Saxon. Angles and Saxon
were the ancestors of English race. Angles were the German people and they migrated to
England and occupied Britain so early fifth time Germans starred English literature. Later
on Romans occupied Britain and they began writing poems on battles, heroes and about
their religions. It began with songs and stories of the time when the Teutonic ancestors of
English people were living on the borders of the North Sea. The lutes, Angles and Saxon,
the three tribes of these ancestors, conquered Britain in the latter half of the fifth century,
and laid the foundation of the English nation. The early settlers were pagans. The Irish
missionaries in Northumbria began to Christianise the pagan English tribes. Thu, pagan
or secular and Christian or religious dements commingled in English temperament from
the very beginning. Anglo-Saxon literature, that is, the Old English literature, was
almost exclusively a verse literature in oral form. It could be passed down by word of
mouth from generation to generation. Its creators for the most part were unknown. It was
given a written form long after its composition. There were two groups of poetry in the
Anglo-Saxon period. The first group was the pagan poetry represented by Beowulf ; the
second was the religious poetry represented by the works of Caedmon and Cynewulf.
Beowulf The most important work of this time was Beowulf. It was a tale of adventure of
Beowulf, the hero, who was a champion on slayer of monsters. Later on Anglo Saxons
embraced Christianity .so the poets of that time took up religious themes as the subject
Metter of their poetry. In fact the major portion of Anglo Saxon poetry was religious.
Caedmon and Cynwulf were important poets of that time.
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The Anglo-Saxon poetry shows the following characteristics
1- It is marked by parallelism and repetition.

2- It abounds in the use of the ordinary metaphorical phrases of Teutonic poetry, as
the svhale's rood for the sea. Early poetry is conspicuous by the absence of
elaborate similes but later poets like Cynewulf invent them nicely.
3- It is full of fondness for the sea and the spirit of adventure.
4- in form it is radically different from the present mode of versification. In place of
modern "end rhyme" it employs "beginning rhyme” or alliteration, that is, the
regular and emphatic repetition of the same letter.
5- It has a great variety of compound words, especially adjectives. The poet could
express precisely a number of qualities belonging to his subject through compound
words.
6- The Anglo-Saxon poetry is remarkable for its width of range. The heroic poetry
persists throughout the period. Judith is a heroic saga. The Exodus is a heroic
narrative, freely invented on the Biblical story. Cynewulf's poems on the life of
Saint Guolac and on the martyrdom of Saint Juliana arc narrative poems. The epic
is represented by Beowulf which lacks the.
7- Anglo-Saxon poetry typically depicts the problems which arise as the theology of
the Church (Christianity) and the theology of the Pagan world are played off of,
and against, each other.
Alfred the Grea:Alfred the Great (848-901), king of Wessex kingdom, is another
important figure in prose writing of Anglo-Saxon period. During his reign, he tried every
means to improve education by founding colleges and importing teachers from Europe.
He was a well-known translator. He translated some important Latin works into English,
among which, the most important is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This book records the
main happenings of the Anglo-Saxon period. It is the best monument of the Old English
prose.
Aelfric (955-1010) was a clergyman. He wrote a large number of religious works in

Greek and Latin. In his works he introduced a lighter, clearer and more musical prose,
and the Old English prose was attaining high quality.
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Writing Features of the Poem
1- The use of strong stresses and the predominance of consonants are notable in the
poetical lines. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half is made to have two
heavy stresses.
2- The use of alliteration is another notable feature of the poem. Three stressed syllables
of each line are arranged in alliteration, which makes the whole line even more
emphatic.
3- 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-men”; the
chieftains are called “treasure-keepers”; the human body is referred to as “the bone-
house”; God is called “wonder-wielder”; the monster is referred to as “soul-destroyer”.
Middle English or Anglo Norman period (1066-1470A.C)
The Normans were the residents of Normandy (France) defeated the Anglo Saxon king at
the battle of Hastings (1066) and conquered England. The Anglo Saxon authors displaced
as the Anglo Saxon king. No effective protest was not possible by the Anglo Saxon, so
England had been fashioned in the manners of French people. The Normans not only
brought soldiers, artesian and soldiers; they also imported scholars to revive knowledge.
Chroniclers to record memorible eevents, minstrels to celebrate victories, adventures and
love.
In 14th century, English literature can be study into three parts;
1. Religious :In early 14th century religious literature was written. First translation
of Bible is written.
2. Courtesy Love In this age there is short material of material. In this time what
was written, published.
3. Arthurian In this, refined poetry, and dramas etc is published. In this time
literature is developed.
The Classical Period (1200 Bce - 455 Ce)
Greek writers, playwrights, and philosophers such as Gorgias, Aesop, Plato,
Socrates, Aristotle, Euripides, and Sophocles. The fifth century (499-400 BCE) in
particular is renowned as The Golden Age of Greece. This is the sophisticated period of
the polis, or individual City-State, and early democracy. Some of the world's finest art,
poetry, drama, architecture, and philosophy originate in Athens.
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Classical Roman Period (1200 BCE-455 CE)
Greece's culture gives way to Roman power when Rome conquers Greece in 146
CE. The Roman Republic was traditionally founded in 509 BCE, but it is limited in
size until later. Playwrights of this time include Plautus and Terence. After nearly
500 years as a Republic, Rome slides into dictatorship under Julius Caesar and
finally into a monarchial empire under Caesar Augustus in 27 CE. This later period is
known as the Roman Imperial period. Roman writers include Ovid, Horace, and
Virgil. Roman philosophers include Marcus Aurelius and Lucretius. Roman
rhetoricians include Cicero and Quintilian.
Patristic Period (c. 70 CE-455 CE) Early Christian writings appear such as Saint
Augustine, Tertullian, Saint Cyprian, Saint Ambrose and Saint Jerome. This is the
period in which Saint Jerome first compiles the Bible, when Christianity spreads
across Europe, and the Roman Empire suffers its dying convulsions. In this period,
barbarians attack Rome in 410 CE and the city finally falls to them completely in 455
CE.
Essential Features of the Romance
The romance was the prevailing literary form in the medieval period. It was a long
composition, sometimes in verse and sometimes in prose, which described the life and
adventures of a noble hero. Its essential features are the following:
1) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.
2) It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealises the virtues.
3) It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.
4) It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.
5) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth and skilled
in the use of weapons, who is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures,
or taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the
church and the king.
In romances we see an epitome of the English society in the medieval period. The
romance, as a literary genre, prospered for about 300 years (1200-1500). It was written
for the upper class, so it had little to do with the common people.
A large number of romances fall into three cycles or three groups according to the subject
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matters: the matter of Britain, the matter of France, and the matter of Rome.
1- The matter of France deals largely with the exploits of Charlemagne, usually
known as Charles the Great, King of the Franks and Emperor of the West Empire.
The famous romance of this group is La Chanson de Roland.
2- The matter of Rome deals with tales from Greek and Roman sources. Alexander
the Great (356-323 B.C.), King of Macedonia and conqueror of Greece, Egypt,
India and Persian Empire is the favourite hero of this group. Besides this, Trojan
War is also dealt with in this group.
3- The matter of Britain mainly deals with the exploits of King Arthur and his
Knights of the Round Table. The most interesting of all Arthurian romances are
those of the Gawain cycle. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the
culmination of the Arthurian romances.
English Literature in the Age of Chaucer
Chaucer lived in the 14th century. In that century, England produced five main
writers. The first one was William Langland, who wrote about social discontent in his
works and preached the equality of men and dignity of labour. Wycliffe, the second one,
was the greatest of English religious reformers and the first translator of the Bible.
Gower, the third one, was a scholar and a literary man, who criticised the social evils in
his works. The fourth one Mandeville was a traveller, who wrote about the wonders he
had seen abroad. Chaucer, the last one and the greatest of them, was a scholar, a traveller,
a businessman and a courtier, who shared all the stirring life of his age in his works. He
was the representative writer of the century.
William Langland (c.1330-c.1400) was born in the western midland of the country. He
was educated in the school of a monastery at Malvern. After school he took minor orders,
but never rose in the church. Then he moved to London and made a scanty living by
singing masses, copying legal documents and doing other odd jobs. In 1362, he began
writing his famous poem Piers Plowman, which was repeatedly revised. Three texts of
the poem have been left to us, from which we see that it is written in the old alliterative
verse: each line contains three alliterated words, two of which are placed in the first half,
and the third in the second half.
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Geoffrey Chaucer (1340- 1400) It was, in fact, Chaucer who was the real founder of
English poetry, and he is rightly called the Father of English Poetry‘. Unlike the poetry of
his predecessors and contemporaries, which is read by few except professed scholars,
Chaucer‘s poetry has been read and enjoyed continuously from his own day to this, and
the greatest of his successors, from Spenser and Milton to Tennyson and William Morris,
have joined in praising it. Chaucer, in fact, made a fresh beginning in English literature.
He disregarded altogether the old English tradition. His education as a poet was two-fold.
Part of it came from French and Italian literatures, but part of it came from life. He was
not a mere bookman, nor was he in the least a visionary. Like Shakespeare and Milton, he
was, on the contrary, a man of the world and of affairs. The most famous and
characteristic work of Chaucer is the Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of stories
related by the pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. These
pilgrims represent different sections of contemporary English society, and in the
description of the most prominent of these people in the Prologue Chaucer‘s powers are
shown at their very highest. All these characters are individualized.
English Literature in the 15th Century
The 15th century was a period of general unrest. People’s attention was drawn to a series
of wars, and many nobles who had been patrons of arts and literature were killed on the
battlefield. The continuous wars greatly impeded the development of literature. So the
15th century has traditionally been described as the barren age of English literature. Yet
in this barren age, popular literature became very prosperous. There were ballads, lyrics,
popular dramas and so on. Popular ballads became the most important form of English
literature in this century. The appearance of a large number of ballads made the 15th
century the spring tide of English
Thomas Malory (1405-1471) is the only important prose writer in the fifteenth century.
He wrote an important book called Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur) in a prison
cell. The charges against him ranged from extortion, robbery and cattle rustling, to
“waylaying the Duke of Buckingham
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Age of John Milton
Undoubtedly Milton is regarded as one of the greatest poets in English literature. He is

second only to Shakespeare. He was born in London in 1608, and educated at Christ’s
College, Cambridge.
As a youth, Milton was very attractive, so at the College he was known as The Lady of
Christ’s. He was a highly learned man who had made a thorough study of the Bible at
home during his childhood. After leaving the University, he studied at home in Horton.
He lived a very moral and pure life. He was a very ambitions man who wanted to write
something remarkable which would bring glory to his own country. In order to fulfill this
great aim, he wrote Paradise Lost, which is comparable to almost all the great epic of
classical writers. His literary works can be divided into three groups for convenience. At
first, he wrote his shorter poems at Horton. Next, came his prose work inspired by his
Puritanism and his political sympathies. His three greatest works belong to the last group.
Chaucer (1340- 1400) It was, in fact, Chaucer who was the real founder of English
poetry, and he is rightly called the Father of English Poetry‘. Unlike the poetry of his
predecessors and contemporaries, which is read by few except professed scholars,
Chaucer‘s poetry has been read and enjoyed continuously from his own day to this, and
the greatest of his successors, from Spenser and Milton to Tennyson and William Morris,
have joined in praising it. Chaucer, in fact, made a fresh beginning in English literature.
He disregarded altogether the old English tradition. His education as a poet was two-fold.
Part of it came from French and Italian literatures, but part of it came from life. He was
not a mere bookman, nor was he in the least a visionary. Like Shakespeare and Milton, he
was, on the contrary, a man of the world and of affairs. The most famous and
characteristic work of Chaucer is the Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of stories
related by the pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. These
pilgrims represent different sections of contemporary English society, and in the
description of the most prominent of these people in the Prologue Chaucer‘s powers are
shown at their very highest. All these characters are individualized,
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For instance, the main characteristics of classical poetry were:
1- it was mainly the product of intelligence and was especially deficient in emotion and
imagination;
2- it was chiefly the town poetry;and its style was formal and artificial;
3- it had no love for the mysterious, the supernatural, or what belonged to the dim past;
4- it was written in the closed couplet;and it was fundamentally didactic;
5- it insisted on the writer to follow the prescribed rules and imitate the standard models
of good writing. The new poetry which showed romantic leanings was opposed to all
these points. For instance, its chief characteristics were:
6- it encouraged emotion, passion and imagination in place of dry intellectuality; (ii) it

was more interested in nature and rustic life rather than in town life;
7- it revived the romantic spirit—love of the mysterious, the supernatural, the dim past;
(iv) it opposed the artificial and formal style, and insisted on simple and natural forms
of expression;
8- it attacked the supremacy of the closed couplet and encouraged all sorts of metrical
experiments;
9- its object was not didactic but the expression of the writer’s experience for its own
sake;
10- it believed in the liberty of the poet to choose the theme and the manner of his
writing.
The poets who showed romantic leanings, during the Age of Johnson, and who may be
described as the precursors or harbingers of the Romantic Revival were James Thomson,
Thomas Gray, William Collins, James Macpherson, William Blake, Robert Burns,
William Cowper and George Crabbe.
James Thomson (1700-1748) was the earliest eighteenth century poet who showed
romantic tendency in his work. The main romantic characteristic in his poetry is his
minute observation of nature. In The Seasons he gives fine sympathetic descriptions of
the fields, the woods, the streams, the shy and wild creatures. Instead of the closed
couplet, he follows the Miltonic tradition of using the blank verse. In The Castle of
Indolence, which is written in form of dream allegory so popular in medieval literature,
Thomson uses the Spenserian stanza.
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Unlike the didactic poetry of the Augustans, this poem is full of dim suggestions.
Thomas Gray (1716-1771) is famous as the author of Elegy Written in a Country

Churchyard, “the best-known in the English language.” Unlike classical poetry which
was characterised by restraint on personal feelings and emotions, this poem is the
manifestation of deep feelings of the poet. It is suffused with the melancholy spirit which
is a characteristic romantic trait. It contains deep reflections of the poet on the universal
theme of death which spare no one.
Other important poems of Gray are The Progress of Poesy and The Bard. Of these The
Bard is more original and romantic. It emphasises the independence of the poet, which
became the chief characteristic of romantic poetry. All these poems of Gray follow the
classical model so far as form is concerned, but in spirit they are romantic.
William Collins (1721-1759). Like the poetry of Gray, Collin’s poetry exhibits deep
feelings of melancholy. His first poem,Oriental Eclogues is romantic in feeling, but is
written in the closed couplet. His best-known poems are the odes To Simplicity, To Fear,
To the Passions, the small lyric How Sleep The Brave, and the beautiful “Ode to
Evening”. In all these poems the poet values the solitude and quietude because they
afford opportunity for contemplative life. Collins in his poetry advocates return to nature
and simple and unsophisticated life, which became the fundamental creeds of the
Romantic Revival.
William Blake (1757-1827). In the poetry of Blake we find a complete break from
classical poetry. In some of his works asSongs of Innocence and Songs of
Experiencewhich contain the famous poems—Little Lamb who made thee? and Tiger,
Tiger burning bright, we are impressed by their lyrical quality. In other poems such as
The Book of Thel, Marriage of Heaven and Hell, it is the prophetic voice of Blake which
appeals to the reader. In the words of Swinburne, Blake was the only poet of “supreme
and simple poetic genius” of the eighteenth century, “the one man of that age fit, on all
accounts, to rank with the old great masters”. Some of his lyrics are, no doubt, the most
perfect and the most original songs in the English language.
Robert Burns (1759-96), who is the greatest song writer in the English language, had
great love for nature, and a firm belief in human dignity and quality, both of which are
characteristic of romanticism
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George Crabbe (1754-1832) stood midway between the Augustans and the Romantics.
In form he was classical, but in the temper of his mind he was romantic. Most of his
poems are written in the heroic couplet, but they depict an attitude to nature which is
Wordsworthian. To him nature is a “presence, a motion and a spirit,” and he realizes the
intimate union of nature with man. His well-known poem. The Village, is without a rival
as a picture of the working men of his age. He shows that the lives of the common
villager and labourers are full of romantic interest. His later poems, The Parish Register,
The Borough, Tales in Verse, and Tales of the Hall are all written in the same strain.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the literary dictator of his age, though he was not its
greatest writer. He was a man who struggled heroically against poverty and ill-health;
who was ready to take up cudgels against anyone however high he might be placed, but
who was very kind and helpful to the poor and the wretched. He was an intellectual giant,
and a man of sterling character, on account of all these qualities he was honoured and
loved by all, and in his poor house gathered the foremost artists, scholars, actors, and
literary men of London, who looked upon him as their leader.
The Industrial Revolution
During these years of violent political revolution and Revolution reaction, another
revolution was taking place in English society. This was the Industrial Revolution—the
shift during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from hand labor to new methods of
manufacturing made possible by power-driven machines in America and France, the
Industrial Revolution was ultimately more important in transforming European society,
and in its own way more violent in its impact on human life.
The Industrial Revolution in England marks the beginning of our modern era, and it
produced profound economic and social changes with which the existing principles and
structures of government were totally unable to deal.
1. Important cities in central and northern England that had previously been stable
and orderly centers of skilled labor developed into sprawling, dirty industrial
cities
2. Working and living conditions in these cities were terrible: women and children
as well as men labored for long hours under intolerable conditions, for wages that
were barely enohgh to keep them alive
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3. Reports were not uncommon of young children being harnessed to coal-sledges
and made to crawl on their hands and knees in the mines
4. Workers had no vote and were prevented by law from forming labor unions
5. As a lresudt , even more people were forced off the land and mto the crowded
cities.
6. More than ever before, England was sharply into two classes: a wealthy class of
property owners who he economic and political power, and a poor class of wage
earners deprived of virtually all rights and possessions
England suffered during these years from a serious lack of effective leadership. King
George III, who had held the throne since 1760. was declared incurably insane in 1811.
England was then ruled until 1820 by his son, the Prince of Wales, who acted as Regent.
The years of the Regency were a time of lavish social display and indulgence by the
upper classes in London and by the aristocratic families living in their great country
houses in the provinces. Most of those who held power paid little attention to the
alterations in English life or to the hardships of the working class
Renaissance, The Elizabethan Age (c. 1500 – c. 1688)

The Elizabethan Age was the golden age of English drama. Some of its noteworthy
figures include Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter
Raleigh, and, of course, William Shakespeare. The Jacobean Age is named for the reign
of James I. It includes the works of John Donne, Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, John
Webster, Elizabeth Cary, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. The King James translation
of the Bible also appeared during the Jacobean Age.
The Caroline Age covers the reign of Charles I (“Carolus”). John Milton, Robert Burton,
and George Herbert are some of the notable figures.
The Renaissance takes place at different times in different countries. The English
Renaissance (also called the Early Modern period) dates from the beginning of the
Protestant Reformation and from the height of the Quattrocento (1400's) in Italy.
Renaissance is a French term meaning "rebirth." The period is characterized by a rebirth
among English elite of classical learning, a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman
authors, and a recovery of the ancient Greek spirit of scientific inquiry. (Compare the
Renaissance of the Twelfth Century and the rediscovery then of Aristotle.) The period is
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also characterized by widespread religious wars, geographical discovery and
colonization, and major reforms of state. In terms of culture, it is important to remember
that not everyone was similarly affected by the Renaissance: illiterate, beer-swilling
shepherds did not suddenly take up a study of Aristotelian metaphysics. The period marks
the high water mark of English literary accomplishment. It is the age of William
Shakepeare, John Milton, John Donne, and Katherine Philips. Queen Elizabeth I was
fluent in classical Greek, wrote poems in Latin hexameter, and produced beautifully
polished English prose.
The Elizabethan Era took place from 1558 to 1603 and is considered by many historians
to be the golden age in English History. During this era England experienced peace and
prosperity while the arts flourished. The time period is named after Queen Elizabeth I
who ruled England during this time. The Renaissance takes place in the late 15th, 16th,
and early 17th century in Britain, but somewhat earlier in Italy and southern Europe,
somewhat later in northern Europe.
I. Early Tudor Period (1485-1558): The War of the Roses ends in England with
Henry Tudor (Henry VII) claiming the throne. Martin Luther's split with Rome
marks the emergence of Protestantism, followed by Henry VIII's Anglican
schism, which creates the first Protestant church in England. Edmund Spenser is
a sample poet.
II. Elizabethan Period (1558-1603): Queen Elizabeth saves England from both
Spanish invasion and internal squabbles at home. The early works of
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kydd, and Sidney mark Elizabeth's reign.
III. Jacobean Period (1603-1625): Shakespeare's later work, Aemilia Lanyer, Ben
Jonson, and John Donne.
IV. Caroline Age (1625-1649): John Milton, George Herbert, Robert Herrick, the
"Sons of Ben" and others write during the reign of Charles I and his Cavaliers.
V. Commonwealth Period or Puritan Interregnum (1649-1660): Under
Cromwell's Puritan dictatorship, John Milton continues to write, but we also
find writers like Andrew Marvell and Sir Thomas Browne.
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Robert Greene (1560-1592)
He lived a most dissolute life, and died in distress and debt. His plays comprise Orlando
Furioso, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, Alphonsus King of Aragon and George a
Greene. His most effective play is Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, which deals partly
with the tricks of the Friar, and partly with a simple love story between two men with one
maid. Its variety of interest and comic, relief and to the entertainment of the audience.
But the chief merit of the play lies in the lively method of presenting the story. Greene
also achieves distinction by the vigorous humanity of his characterization
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) is perhaps the greatest among the University Wits.
Even, he is the only dramatist who is compared with Shakespeare in that time though he
lacks the warm humanity of Shakespearean plays. Marlowe represents the tragic tendency
in literature. He has no interest in comedy. Again, as a dramatist, he has some serious
limitations, specially, in plot constraction. His art of characterization is simple. His plays
are one man show- they centre around one figure. Though he has some lackings, he is
remarkable for being lyrical and romantic in his dramatic presentation of life. All his
plays are poetic and artistic. The Jew of Malta and Dr. Faustus are two of his best works.
These two plays clearly show Marlowes love for conventional Machiavellian hero.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674) wrote amorous as well as religious verse, but it is on

account of the poems of the former type—love poems, for which he is famous. He has
much in common with the Elizabethan song writers, but on account of his pensive
fantasy, and a meditative strain especially in his religious verse, Herrick is included in the
metaphysical school of Donne.
George Herbert (1593-1633) is the most widely read of all the poets belonging to the
metaphysical school, except, of course, Donne. This is due to the clarity of his expression
and the transparency of his conceits. In his religious verse there is simplicity as well as
natural earnestness. Mixed with the didactic strain there is also a current of quaint
humour in his poetry.
Lord Herbert of Cherbury is inferior as a verse writer to his brother George Herbert,
but he is best remembered as the author of an autobiography.
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William Shakespeare: The greatest dramatist Shakespeare was also a great poet of this
age who wrote around 130 sonnets and they are very famous in English literature. He
developed a new form of sonnet called the English sonnet or the Shakespearean sonnet,
which rhyme abab cdcd efef gg. It is different from Petrarchan sonnet. Many of his
sonnets refer to a girl, a rival poet and a dark-eyed beauty.
The general characteristics of the Shakespearean Sonnets are:

It consists of three quatrains and a couplet unlike the Italian division of an octave and a
sestet.
1. The meter is mostly Iambic pentameter with each sonnet line consisting of ten
syllables.
2. The rhyme scheme of the three quatrains is abab cdc defef and the couplet has the
rhyme scheme gg.
3. Often, the beginning of the third quatrain marks the volta ("turn"), or the line in
which the mood of the poem shifts, and the poet expresses a surprise or epiphany.
The closing couplet seems to summarize the entire poem.
4. Shakespeare‘s sonnets discuss different themes like love, friendship, passage of time,
beauty and mortality.
Edmund Spencer : Edmund Spencer was a famous poet who introduced the Elizabethan
age properly. In 1579, he wrote The Shepherd’s Calendar, a poem in twelve books, one
for each month of the year. His greatest work was The Faerie Queen. Though it was
planned to be written in twelve books, he could complete six of them. It is an allegorical
work with three themes: a political theme, a moral theme, and a fairy tale. More than the
story, this work is known for its magic feeling, wonderful music in verse, and the beauty
of the sound. It is written in Spenserian stanza of nine lines, with the rhyme scheme
ababbcbcc.
The Metaphysical Poets
The metaphysical poetry is a term applied to a group of poets during the 17th century.
―Meta‖ means ―beyond‖ and ―physics‖ means ―physical nature‖. Metaphysical poetry
means poetry that goes beyond the physical world of the senses and explores the spiritual
world. John Donne was the leader and founder of the metaphysical school of poetry.
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Characteristics of the Metaphysical poetry :
1. The most obvious characteristic is the intellectual power of this poetry.
2. The use of conceit, strange imagery, frequent paradox and extremely complicated
thoughts.
3. An expanded epigram would be a fitting description of a metaphysical poem.
Nothing is described in detail nor is any word wasted.
4. Dramatic element can also be felt in metaphysical poetry.
5. Wit is another characteristic of metaphysical poetry.
A group of poets, known as the Metaphysical poets, began to write poems which were
less beautiful and less musical, but contained tricks of style and strange images. These
poets tried to say what they hoped had never been said before. They had their own
thoughts and they found their won manner of expressing them. They searched all fields of
knowledge, science, as well as, nature, for comparisons.
This mad their poetry difficult to understand. The metaphysical style was started by John
Donne, early in the 17th Century. Donne was a lawyer and a priest, and he also wrote
religious poetry. He wrote many good things but no perfect poetry. His songs and sonnets
are his finest works. He had made good use of direct speech to give a colloquial touch to
his poems. He also used dramatic realism in his poetry. He said effective things in a few
words.
The Metaphysical element was first seen in the love poems. If followed the example of
the Italian writers whom Donne had taken as his masters. Donne’s influence was seen in
the religious poets that followed him. One of them was George Herbert. He wrote poetry
that was simpler than Donne’s because his experience was narrower. But his imagery
appealed to the mind rather than the senses. Henry Vaughan considered both Donne and
Herbert as his masters.
He was more lyrical and gave sensitive descriptions of nature. Richard Crashaw showed
the influence of Donne in the use of conceits. But he gave importance to the emotional
and sentimental sides of conceits. Andrew Marvell combined Donne’s wit with lyrical
beauty.
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The University Wits 1660
A group of dramatists in Elizabethan period as Kyd,Nash,Lodge, Lyly,Peele and the central figure
was Marlowe. University wits were a group of pre Shakespearean playwrights who rejected the
principles of classical drama and established the tradition of the romantic drama.They are Thomas
kyd thomas lodge Thomas Nash George peele Robert greene and Christopher Marlowe. They are
called this because they had been trained at one or other of the two universities -oxford and
Cambridge.
The "university wits" were six Oxford- and Cambridge-educated men—Greene, Lyley,
Lodge, Marlowe, Nash, and Peele—who "radically transformed" popular drama in the
late sixteenth century, the period near the end of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. They
improved the quality of drama in terms of both language and structure. The language of
plays became more witty, forceful, and poetic, and the plots of popular plays became
more coherent, meaning they made better sense. This was a period of flowering and
creativity in drama and the stage.
There have been some variety, splendid description and violent incidents in their dramas.
Their style is also heroic. Their chief aim is to achive strong and sounding lines. The best
example is Marlowe who is famous for his use of blank-verse. Again, the themes, used in
their dramas, are usually tragic in nature. There is lack of real homour in their dramas.
The only exception is Lyly. His The Woman in the Moon is the first example of romantic
comedy.
Thomas Kyd is another important dramatist of the University Wits. He introduces the
tradition of revenge play. We can easily find the influence of Kyd in the works of
Shakespeare. The Spanish Tragedy is the best work of Thomas Kyd. This play has some
outstanding features. The plot is horrific. There are murder, madness and death which
give the play a great popularity. However, there have been much influence of The
Spanish Tragedy in Shakespearean tragedies.
Thomas Lodge is a lawyer by profession but he has given up his legal studied and has
taken literary career. He has written only few dramas. Rosalynde is the most famous of
his romanticcomedies. It is said that Shakespeare has taken the plot of his As You Like It
from Lodges Rosalynde
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Robert Greenes plays have a great contribution in the development of English drama.
Although his art of charachterization is weak and his style is not outstading, hishumour is
very much interesting. Again, his method is not very strict like the other tragedians of that
time. He is witty,humourous and imaginative.
George Peele is another important dramatist of the University Wits. His plays have
romantic, satiric and historical evidence. He has no attraction towards the poetry. He
handles Blank-verse with variety. He also has a sense of humour and pathos. However,
Edward the 1st is perhaps his best work.
John lyly is another great dramatist who has a strong interest towards the romantic
comedy. His comedies are marked by elaborate dialogue, jests and retorts. However, we
can find his influence in Shakespearean comedies. Midas is one of the most important
work of John Lyly which has shaken the development of the romantic comedy in English
literature. Thus, we can conclude that University Wits have much influence in the history
of English drama. Their dramas, specially the romantic comedies are of a great height.
However, we can find their influence in later dramas of the Elizabethan period .
Cavaliers Poets : Seventeenth century Royalist Poets. The term refers to the Poets who
supported king Charles I (1625 – 49) against the parliament. These men were soldiers and
courtiers first and poets only incidentally, or because the facility in turning out a sonnet or
a song was still as in the Elizabethan age, considered part of a country's education.
Characteristics of the poetry of the Cavaliers :

1- They tried to compress and limit their poems, giving them "a high finish a strong
sense of easy domination at the expense of their intellectual content".
2- Classicism of form with realism of subject-matter. It is this type of lyric that
inspired a group of gifted young writers who took pride in calling themselves "The
Tribe of Ben".
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Renaissance (c.1503-1625 )
Renaissance is the great revival of learning that began in the 14th century in Italy. It was
stimulated by the study of classical literature and arts.It was marked by great
development in arts, literature, science and other field of knowledge.
It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe
originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century. This era in English cultural history
is sometimes referred to as "the age of Shakespeare" or "the Elizabethan era."Poets such
as Edmund Spenser and John Milton produced works that demonstrate increased interest
in understanding English Christian beliefs, The Reformation inspired the production of
vernacular liturgy which led to the Book of Common Prayer, a lasting influence on
literary English language. The poetry, drama, and prose produced under both Queen
Elizabeth I and King James I constitute what is today labeled as Early modern (or
Renaissance)
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 – 1519) Leonardo was the supreme Renaissance painter,
scientist, inventor, and polymath. Da Vinci is widely regarded as one of the greatest
minds the world has ever produced. He was interested in everything from music to art
and science. Da Vinci was an immense creative force at the start of the Renaissance
period. Amongst his many works was the immortal painting – The Mona Lisa.
Raphael (1483 – 1520) : Italian painter One of the three members of the High
Renaissance trinity. Raphael was asked by Pope Julius II to work on rooms in the Vatican
at the same time as Michelangelo worked on the Sistine Chapel. Raphael was known for
the perfection and grace of his classical interpretations.
Titian (1488-1576) : An Italian painter, Titian was a member of the 16th Century
Venetian school. He was a prolific and versatile artist who experimented with new forms
of art, such as subtle variations in colour.
Donatello (1386-1466) : An Italian painter and sculptor. Donatello was a key figure in
the early Florence Renaissance. Major works include David, Virgin and Child with Four
Angels, St Mark and The Feast of Herod.
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Thomas More (1478-1535) : More was an English statesman who wrote an ideal
political system, Utopia. He was considered a social philosopher and Renaissance
humanist. He was executed for refusing to accept Henry VIII as head of the Church
Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) : English philosopher, statesman and scientist. Bacon is
considered the father of empiricism for his work and advocacy of scientific method and
methodical scientific inquiry in investigating scientific phenomena..
Characteristics of Elizabethan Poetry
1. Poetry is a subgenre of literature, so it witnessed the upsurge in literary production

which took place during Renaissance.
2. Poetry in particular had a great progression in terms of form and theme.
3. The most predominant poetic type was lyrical poetry, which was, at first, literarily
represented in a form of sonnet.
4. Sonnet is an icon for the Elizabethan poetry as the majority of writers adopted and
adapted this newly borrowed style of poetry.
5. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, and it is originated in

Italy.
6. Italian sonnet, more commonly known as Petrarchan sonnet, was originally invented
by an Italian poet named Petrarch. The Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two parts
(stanzas), octave and sestet.
7. The octave is 8-line stanza consisting the first part of the Petrarchan sonnet and where
the argument is introduced. The sestet is 6-line stanza consisting the second part of
the Petrarchan sonnet, and where the argument is falling down till reaching the final
resolution of the poet. Between octave and sestet (in the eighth or ninth line), a volta
or turn occurs to mark a shift in the ongoing argument.
8. Sir Thomas Wyatt was the first to introduce the Italian sonnets (Petrarchan sonnet)
into English as mere translated versions of Italian sonnets. So far, English sonnet had
a form very similar to the Italian sonnet.
Later on, English sonnet was developed and restructured at the hands of many English
Elizabethan poets like, Henry Howard, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare Still,
some poets preferred the Italian form of sonnet.
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Reformation ( 1517-1521 )
It was a religious Movement led by Martin Luther in the fifteenth century. It protested
against the practices of the Roman Catholic church. It advocated complete faith in the
Bible and in one's own soul for salvation . Lastly, the literature of the sixteenth century
and later was profoundly influenced by that religious result of the Renaissance which we
know as the Reformation. While in Italy the new impulses were chiefly turned into
secular and often corrupt channels, in the Teutonic lands they deeply stirred the Teutonic
conscience. In 1517 Martin Luther, protesting against the unprincipled and flippant
practices that were disgracing religion, began the breach between Catholicism, with its
insistence on the supremacy of the Church, and Protestantism, asserting the independence
of the individual judgment. In England Luther's action revived the spirit of Lollardism,
which had nearly been crushed out, and in spite of a minority devoted to the older system,
the nation as a whole began to move rapidly toward change. Advocates of radical
revolution thrust themselves forward in large numbers, while cultured and thoughtful
men, including the Oxford group, indulged the too ideal hope of a gradual and peaceful
reform.
Jacobean Literature (c.1558- 1625)
After Shakespeare's death, the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson was the leading literary
figure of the Jacobean era(The reign of James I). However, Jonson's aesthetics hark back
to the Middle Ages rather than to the Tudor Era: his characters embody the theory of
humors. Jonson is a master of style, and a brilliant satirist.
The Caroline era ( c.1625-c.1649 )
It refers to the era in English and Scottish history during the Stuart period (1603– 1714)
that coincided with the reign of Charles I (1625–1642), Carolus being Latin for Charles.
The Caroline era followed the Jacobean era, the reign of Charles's fatherJames I (1603–
1625); it was followed by the English Civil War
Commonwealth literature 1660-1800
It is a term in literary regional studies written by John Rothfork, Commonwealth

literature is generally believed to refer to the literary products of the independent
countries of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean's and North America which were once colonized
26
by the United Kingdom. The works of writers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada,
India, Malaysia and Singapore are therefore regarded as Commonwealth literature. , the
Commonwealth Age was so named for the period between the end of the English Civil
War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. This is the time when Oliver Cromwell, a
Puritan, led Parliament, who ruled the nation. At this time, public theaters were closed
(for nearly two decades) to prevent public assembly and to combat moral and religious
transgressions. John Milton and Thomas Hobbes’ political writings appeared and, while
drama suffered, prose writers such as Thomas Fuller, Abraham Cowley, and Andrew
Marvell published prolifically.
The Neoclassical Period (1600–1785)
The Neoclassical period is also subdivided into ages, including The Restoration (1660–
1700), The Augustan Age (1700–1745), and The Age of Sensibility (1745–1785). The
Restoration period sees some response to the puritanical age, especially in the theater.
Restoration comedies (comedies of manner) developed during this time under the talent
of playwrights such as William Congreve and John Dryden. Satire, too, became quite
popular, as evidenced by the success of Samuel Butler. Other notable writers of the age
include Aphra Behn, John Bunyan, and John Locke.
Neoclassicism was a literary movement, inspired by the rediscovery of classical works of

ancient Greece and Rome that emphasized balance, restraint, and order. Neoclassicism
roughly coincided with the Enlightenment, which espoused reason over passion. Notable
neoclassical writers include Edmund Burke, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Alexander
Pope, and Jonathan Swift.The works of Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison and John Gay, as well as
many of their contemporaries, exhibit qualities of order, clarity, and stylistic decorum that were
formulated in the major critical documents of the age: Dryden's An Essay of Dramatic Poesy
(1668), and Pope's Essay on Criticism (1711). These works, forming the basis for modern English
literary criticism, insist that 'nature' is the true model and standard of writing. This 'nature' of the
Augustans, however, was not the wild, spiritual nature the romantic poets would later idealize,
but nature as derived from classical theory: a rational and comprehensible moral order in the
universe, demonstrating God's providential design. The literary circle around Pope considered
Homer preeminent among ancient poets in his descriptions of nature, and concluded in a
circuitous feat of logic that the writer who 'imitates' Homer is also describing nature. From this
follows the rules inductively based on the classics that Pope articulated in his Essay on Criticism:.
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The Characteristics of Neoclassicism are;
1. Poetry should be guided by reason

2. The role of the poet is that of the teacher
3. Poetry should be written according to fixed rules.
4. Poetry should use special diction
5. The major representative of this school are john Dryden and Alexander pope
The Augustan Age (c. 1700-1750)
This period is marked by the imitation of Virgil and Horace's literature in English letters.
The principal English writers include Addison, Steele, Swift, and Alexander Pope.
Abroad, Voltaire is the dominant French writer.Augustan literature is generally ascribed
to a period in the first half of the 18th Century, during much of the reigns of: Queen Anne
(1702 – 1714) ,King George I (1714 – 1727) ,King George II (1727 – 1760) The term,
‘Augustan' refers to King George I's desire to be compared to the first Roman Emperor,
Augustus Caesar, when poetry and the arts were supported and admired, and thus
flourished. Anyone educated in the eighteenth century would be familiar with the original
texts, since studying the classics was a central feature of the school curriculum.
Eighteenth century Augustan literature emulates the classical style, tending to be polished
and shaped according to rules which governed both Roman and Greek works. However,
classical works are not just emulated but also parodied during the Augustan period.
The Age of Johnson (c. 1750-1790)
The later half of the eighteenth century, which was dominated by Dr. Samuel Johnson, is
called the Age of Johnson.Johnson died in 1784, and from that time the Classical spirit in
English literature began to give place to the Romantic spirit, though officially the
Romantic Age started from the year 1798 when Wordsworth and Coleridge published the
famous Lyrical Ballads. Even during the Age of Johnson, which was predominantly
classical, cracks had begun to appear in the solid wall of classicism and there were clear
signs of revolt in favour of the Romantic spirit. This was specially noticeable in the field
of poetry. Most of the poets belonging to the Age of Johnson may be termed as the
precursors of the Romantic Revival. That is why the Age of Johnson is also called the
Age of Transition in English literature. This period marks the transition toward the
upcoming Romanticism though the period is still largely Neoclassical. Major writers
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include Dr. Samuel Johnson, Boswell, and Edward Gibbon who represent the
Neoclassical tendencies, while writers like Robert Burns, Thomas Gray, Cowper, and
Crabbe show movement away from the Neoclassical ideal. In America, this period is
called the Colonial Period. It includes colonial and revolutionary writers like Ben
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine.
The Age of Sensibility (sometimes referred to as the Age of Johnson) was the time of
Edmund Burke, Edward Gibbon, Hester Lynch Thrale, James Boswell, and, of course,
Samuel Johnson. Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the
Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed
during this age. Novelists to explore include Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Tobias
Smollett, and Laurence Sterne, as well as the poets William Cowper and Thomas Percy
The Puritan Age (c.1600-1660)
A group of Protestants that arose in the 16th century within the Church of England,
demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship, and greater strictness in religious
discipline: during the 17th century the Puritans became a powerful political party. They
lived by a moral and religious life style that not only influenced their own lives, but
sought to impact the lives of everyone around them.
Characteristics of the Puritan poetry:
1. Puritan poetry was direct and focused on offering instruction from a Biblical point
of view.
2. Puritan poetry relied on a religious, rather than an entertainment, theme. Puritans
didn't believe in writing for entertainment; rather, they thought of writing as a tool
to teach people the religious and moral lessons.
3. Puritan poetry relied on a first-person narrative. By writing from a first-person
perspective, thoughts are conveyed from the poet speaking about real experience
happened with himself.
4. Puritan poetry relied on a simple style of writing. Puritan poets used direct and
simple language and sentence structure to convey their messages.
5. Puritan poetry relied on Biblical allusions. Biblical allusions, or references to
Biblical events or characters, were used heavily in Puritan writings.
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Restoration Period (c. 1660-1700): This period marks the British king's restoration to
the throne after a long period of Puritan domination in England. Its symptoms include the
dominance of French and Classical influences on poetry and drama. Sample writers
include John Dryden, John Lock, Sir William Temple, Samuel Pepys, and Aphra Behn in
England. Abroad, representative authors include Jean Racine and Molière. The
Restoration produced an abundance of prose and poetry and the distinctive comedy of
manners known as Restoration comedy.
It was during the Restoration that John Milton published Paradise Lost and Paradise
Regained. Dryden’s work for the theatre is uneven in quality. His comedies have neither
the naturalness nor the wit of those Restoration dramatists whose plays can still hold the
stage.
His tragedies for the most part exemplify those artificialities of style that are especially
associated with Sample writers include John Dryden, John Lock, Sir William Temple,
Samuel Pepys, and Aphra Behn in England. Abroad, representative authors include Jean
Racine and Molière. Restoration tragedy. The Indian Emperor, The Conquest of Granada
( in two parts) and Aureng-Zebe are carefully structured extravaganzas, in rhyming
couplets, whose central themes are those of honour and love.
The Literature of the Seventeenth Century may be divided into two periods
The Puritan Age or the Age of Milton (1600-1660), which is further divided into the
Jacobean and Caroline periods after the names of the ruled James I and Charles I, who
rules from 1603 to 1625 and 1625 to 1649 respectively; and the Restoration Period or the
Age of Dryden (1660-1700).
The Seventeenth Century was marked by the decline of the Renaissance spirit,
and the writers either imitated the great masters of Elizabethan period or followed new
paths. We no longer find great imaginative writers of the stature of Shakespeare, Spenser
and Sidney. In drama the portrayal of the foibles of the fashionable contemporary society
took a prominent place. In satire, it were not the common faults of the people which were
ridiculed, but actual men belonging to opposite political and religious groups.
The Puritan movement stood for liberty of the people from the shackles of the despotic
ruler as well as the introduction of morality and high ideals in politics. Thus it had two
objects—personal righteousness and civil and religious liberty. In other words, it aimed at
30
making men honest and free . Though during the Restoration period the Puritans began to
be looked down upon as narrow-minded, gloomy dogmatists, who were against all sorts
of recreations and amusements, in fact they were not so.
Moreover, though they were profoundly religious, they did not form a separate
religious sect .Puritanism came out triumphant with the establishment of the
Commonwealth under Cromwell, severe laws passed. In literature of the Puritan Age we
find the same confusion as we find in religion and politics so writers such as: John Smith,
William Bradford and John Winthrop, William Byrd , Jonathan Edward , St. Jean de
Crevecoeu ,Benjamin Franklin, and Phillis Wheatley Post-colonialism
What's the subject matter of the poetry of the 17th Century?

:
1. Poetry went on reflecting the many sided and paradoxical culture of the
Renaissance its ancient and modern, its foreign and native, its Christian and non-
Christian features.
2. Its interest being centred more upon the inner being of man as a world in himself
than as an idea type. This is born out by the metaphysical poetry as well as by the
drama of Ben Jonson.
3. Seventeenth century is more self-expressive it is more personal and
autobiographical. This self-examination or introspection, was replacing the
objectivity of the previous age.
4. The whole seventeenth century religious poetry reached poetic heights never
attained in any other period.
Restoration ( 1660 - 1700 )

Restoration Period takes its name from the restoration of the Stuart line (Charles II) to the
English throne in 1600, at the end of Commonwealth. The urbanity, wit and
licentiousness of the life focusing on the court is reflected in the literature of this period.
The theaters came back to life after the revocation of the ban placed o them by the
Puritans in 1642. Sir George Etherege, William Wycherley, William Congreve and John
Dryden developed the distinctive comedy of manners called "Restoration Comedy".
Dryden was the major poet and critic as well as one of the major dramatists of the time.
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The Age of Dryden (1660-1700)
John Dryden (1631-1700) Dryden wrote one of the greatest satires in the English
literature, “Absalom and Achitophel” in 1681 remarkable for it’s dexterity in the handling
of the Heroic Couplet, neat and polished style and diction, skilful portraiture of
contemporary personalities, and marvelous skill in argumentation. Dryden was made Poet
Laureate in 1668. He was the dominating figure of the Restoration Age. The poetry of
Dryden can be divided under three heads-Political satires, Doctrinal poems and The
Fables. The poetry of Dryden possesses all the characteristics of the Restoration Age and
is thoroughly representative of that age. His famous works are:Absolem and Religio Laici
The Age of Pope (1700-1744)
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Pope was the one predominant figure in the poetry of 18th
century. He was the high-priest of a rationalistic and fashionable age. To the wisdom of
common sense, to the generous feelings of the social man, to the foibles of men and
women in the society of his times, he has given finished expression in language, natural,
condensed and felicitous, and in words smooth and resonant. He’s famous for his mock-
epic, “The Rape of the Lock”,which satirises the high society. It deals with Lord Peter’s
forcibly cutting of a lock of Miss Arabella Fermor’s hair and subsequently a quarrel
between the two families.
Samuel Butler: His most famous poem is Hudibras which is a bitter satire on Puritanism
and was successfully published into three parts. It achieved a lot of popularity. Charles-II
was so much pleased with him that he rewarded the author with a handsome cash present.
Metaphysical Poetry: (c. 1633–1680 )
Metaphysical Poets: Coined by the critic Samuel Johnson, the term metaphysical poets
describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterized by
the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrical
quality of their verse. The greatest of Elizabethan lyric poets is John Donne (1572-1631),
whose short love poems are characterized by wit and irony, as he seeks to wrest meaning
from experience. The preoccupation with the big questions of love, death and religious
faith marks out Donne and his successors who are often called metaphysical poets. (This
name, coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson in an essay of 1779, was revived and popularized
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by T.S. Eliot, in an essay of 1921. It can be unhelpful to modern students who are
unfamiliar with this adjective, and who are led to think that these poets belonged to some
kind of school or group - which is not the case.) After his wife's death, Donne underwent
a serious religious conversion, and wrote much fine devotional verse. The best known of
the other metaphysicals are George Herbert (1593-1633), Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)
and Henry Vaughan (1621-1695).
1. Romantic poetry: This is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical
and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th
century.
2. Pastoral poetry: Pastoral refers to a literary work dealing with shepherds and rustic
life. Pastoral poetry is highly conventionalized; it presents an idealized rather than
realistic view of rustic life.
3. Lyric poetry: This is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or
feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
The American Romantic Movement: American Romanticism was the first full-fledged
literary movement that developed in the U.S. It was made up of a group of authors who
wrote and published between about 1820 and 1860, when the U.S. was still finding its feet
as a new nation.
Transcendentalism: This is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement

of the early nineteenth century, centered on Ralph Waldo Emerson. Other important
transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Amos Bronson Alcott,
Frederic Henry Hedge, and Theodore Parker.
 The Shakespearean Sonnet: It has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG,
forming three quatrains (four lines in a group) and a closing couplet (two rhymed lines).
The problem is usually developed in the first three quatrains, each quatrain with a new
idea growing out of the previous one.
 The Harlem Renaissance: This was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in
New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent
social and artistic explosion that resulted. Lasting roughly from the 1910s through the
mid-1930s, the period is considered a golden age in African American culture,
manifesting in literature, music, stage performance and art
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John Milton was a Puritan poet. He was a great poet of the English language. Milton’s
epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) is considered a masterpiece. His strong and rhetoric
prose, and the articulacy of his poetry had a massive effect especially on the eighteenth
century verse.
John Dryden (1631-1700) also wrote epic poetry, on classical and biblical subjects.
Though Dryden's work is little read today it leads to a comic parody of the epic form, or
mock-heroic. The best poetry of the mid 18th century is the comic writing of Alexander
Pope
Alexander Pope (1688-1744). Pope is the best-regarded comic writer and satirist of
English poetry. Among his many masterpieces, one of the more accessible is The Rape of
the Lock (seekers of sensation should note that “rape” here has its archaic sense of
“removal by force”; the “lock” is a curl of the heroine's hair). Serious poetry of the period
is well represented by the neo-classical Thomas Gray (1716-1771) whose Elegy Written
in a Country Churchyard virtually perfects the elegant style favoured at the time.
Characteristic of Metaphysical Poetry
1. Use of wit
2. Use of conceits
3. Dramatic manner and direct tone of speech
4. Metaphysical Poetry is the mixture of sensual and spiritual experience.
5. Metaphysical Poetry is a blend of passion and thought.
6. Metaphysical Poetry is a fusion of passionate feelings and logical arguments.
7. The use of colloquial speech and An expanded epigram
9. Usage of satire and irony
10. Concentration and Carelessness in diction
12. Affectation and hyperbolic expression
13. The lyrics of the metaphysical poems are very fantastic and peculiar
Henry Vaughan: Henry Vaughan was born in 1621 to Thomas Vaughan and Denise
Morgan. He is considered one of the major Metaphysical Poets, whose works ponder
one's personal relationship to God. He shares Herbert's preoccupation with the
relationship between humanity and God. He saw mankind as restless and constantly
seeking a sense of harmony and fulfillment through contact with God. Vaughan, in
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contrast, has the arrogance of a visionary. He feels humility before God and Jesus, but
seems to despise humanity. In contrast, Vaughan's images are more universal, or cosmic,
even to the point of judging man in relation to infinity. The term 'visionary' is appropriate
to Vaughan, not only because of the grand scale of his images, but also because his
metaphors frequently draw on the sense of vision.
Conclusion:
Metaphysical poets created a new trend in history of English literature. These poems have
been created in such a way that one must have enough knowledge to get the actual
meaning. Metaphysical Poets made use of everyday speech, intellectual analysis, and
unique imagery. The creator of metaphysical poetry john Donne along with his followers
is successful not only in that Period but also in the modern age. Metaphysical poetry
takes an important place in the history of English literature for its unique versatility and it
is popular among thousand of peoples till now.
Enlightenment (c. 1660–1790)

An intellectual movement in France and other parts of Europe that emphasized the
importance of reason, progress, and liberty. The Enlightenment, sometimes called the
Age of Reason, is primarily associated with nonfiction writing, such as essays and
philosophical treatises. Major Enlightenment writers include Thomas Hobbes, John
Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, René Descartes.
The Enlightenment was a sprawling intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social

movement that spread through England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe
during the 1700s. Enabled by the Scientific Revolution, which had begun as early as
1500, the Enlightenment represented about as big of a departure as possible from the
Middle Ages—the period in European history lasting from roughly the fifth century to the
fifteenth
The Augustan Age
The eighteenth century in English literature has been called the Augustan Age, the
Neoclassical Age, and the Age of Reason. The term 'the Augustan Age' comes from the
self- conscious imitation of the original Augustan writers, Virgil and Horace, by many of
the writers of the period. Specifically, the Augustan Age was the period after the
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Restoration era to the death of Alexander Pope (~1690 - 1744). The major writers of the
age were Pope and John Dryden in poetry, and Jonathan Swift and Joseph Addison in
prose. Dryden forms the link between Restoration and Augustan literature; although he
wrote ribald comedies in the Restoration vein, his verse satires were highly admired by
the generation of poets who followed him, and his writings on literature were very much
in a neoclassical spirit.
But more than any other it is the name of Alexander Pope which is associated with the
epoch known as the Augustan Age, despite the fact that other writers such as Jonathan
Swift and Daniel Defoe had a more lasting influence. This is partly a result of the politics
of naming inherent in literary history: many of the early forms of prose narrative common
at this time did not fit into a literary era which defined itself as neoclassic. The literature
of this period which conformed to Pope's aesthetic principles (and could thus qualify as
being 'Augustan') is distinguished by its striving for harmony and precision, its urbanity,
and its imitation of classical models such as Homer, Cicero, Virgil, and Horace, for
example in the work of the minor poet Matthew Prior. In verse, the tight heroic couplet
was common, and in prose essay and satire were the predominant forms. Any facile
definition of this period would be misleading, however; as important as it was, the
neoclassicist impulse was only one strain in the literature of the first half of the eighteenth
century. But its representatives were the defining voices in literary circles, and as a result
it is often some aspect of 'neoclassicism'
The Seventeenth Century
This history of American literature begins with the arrival of English-speaking Europeans
in what would become the United States. At first American literature was naturally a
colonial literature, by authors who were Englishmen and who thought and wrote as such.
John Smith, a soldier of fortune, is credited with initiating American literature. His chief
books included A True Relation of…Virginia…(1608) and The Generall Historie of
Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Although these volumes often
glorified their author, they were avowedly written to explain colonizing opportunities to
Englishmen. In time, each colony was similarly described: Daniel Denton’s Brief
Description of New York (1670), William Penn’s Brief Account of the Province of
Pennsylvania (1682), and Thomas Ashe’s Carolina (1682) were only a few of many
works praising America as a land of economic promise.
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The Revolutionary Period (1700–1800)
As dissatisfaction with the colonial system and the relations with Britain grew, the
literature gradually changed its shape. The writers became more politically, anti-British
and revolutionary oriented, rationalism and enlightenment prevailed. Essays,
speeches and pamphlets became more important, the Puritans’ religious poetry fell out
of favour as man was not considered naturally sinful any longer.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) is one of the most important figures of the period. He
can be described as what we call a “renaissance man” – a person of many skills. He was
a politician, scientist, philosopher, publisher, humourist, inventor and writer. The Way to
Wealth gives the reader advice how to become successful – hard work and common
sense are very important. Autobiography – Franklin writes about his life, his successes
and failures, individualism. His style is very plain. It is one of the first depictions of the
American dream.
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was an English-born essayist and pamphleteer. His
pamphlet “Common Sense” is a sharp critique of the colonial system and explains why
the Americans should rise against the English. JOHN HECTOR ST. JOHN (1735–
1813) was a French- American writer, one of the fathers of the American novel. His
epistolary novel Letters from an American Farmer deals with the differences between
life in Europe and in America.
Thomas Jeffers ON (1743–1826) was an architect, essayist, lawyer, politician, and later
became the 3rd President of the United States of America. His greatest contribution8 to
the history of America is that he is the main author of the Declaration of
Independence, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on 4th July 1776
during the War of Independence. For illustration, read the final section of the
Declaration:
Neoclassical (c. 1700-1750)
Neoclassical literature was written between 1660 and 1798. It was a time of both
formality and artificiality. In this lesson, we will examine the characteristics and literature
of this time period. Neoclassical literature was written between 1660 and 1798. This time
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period is broken down into three parts: the Restoration period, the Augustan period, and
the Age of Johnson. Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the
Romans and Greeks. Thus the combination of the terms 'neo,' which means 'new,' and
'classical,' as in the day of the Roman and Greek classics. This was also the era of The
Enlightenment, which emphasized logic and reason. It was preceded by The Renaissance
and followed by the Romantic era. In fact, the Neoclassical period ended in 1798 when
Wordsworth published the Romantic 'Lyrical Ballads'
Neoclassical literature has been written in a period where social order was undergoing a
tremendous change. In the so-called Enlightenment Period, people believed that natural
passions aren’t necessarily good; natural passions must be subordinated to social needs
and be strictly controlled.
Authors believed that reason was the primary basis of authority. They believed that social
needs are more important than the individual needs. It is quite on contrary to its preceding
age, in which emphasis was laid on individualism rather than the socialism.
Thus Neo-classical literature can be called as ‘Traditional’.The Neo-classical writers like

Dryden, Pope, Swift and Johnson were convinced that excellence and perfection in the
literary art have been attained by the Roman writers of antiquity, thus they can only copy
the models of perfection and excellence
Major characteristics of the Neo-Classical movement:
1- Focus on rationalism, science and philosophy

2- Following the laws and rules of the classical writers
3- General truth or knowledge, not individual in sights
4- General experience of the common man
5- Do not indulge in creating new worlds (the poet is not a creator but an
interpreter)
6- No respect for individualism
7- Interested in familiar appearances rather than mysteries
8- Favorite form of writing: comedy, epic, satire, elegy
9- Poetry is artificial, clear and crafty
10- Focus on form rather than content
11- Images were only visual impressions and simple metaphors.
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The Literature of the Seventeenth Century may be divided into two periods:
The Puritan Age or the Age of Milton (1600-1660), which is further divided into the
Jacobean and Caroline periods after the names of the ruled James I and CharlesI, who
rules from 1603 to 1625 and 1625 to 1649respectively; and the Restoration Period or the
Age of Dryden (1660-1700).
Classicism (1700-1800)
Classicism is a movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in
Europe that favored rationality, restraint and strict form. Actually the term classicism is
derived from the Ancient Greek and Romance. Generally by this term we refer to the
styles, rules, models, conventions, themes and sensibilities of classical authors and their
influence on and presence in the works of later authors. The major English poets and
writers who followed classical rules and modes were Ben Jonson, Pop, Swift, Dryden and
Addison. The eighteenth century novel At the beginning of the year 1740 the English
novel was in its infancy: fifteen years later three great novelists, Richardson, Fielding and
Smollett, had published almost all their major works. This transformation is remarkable
in that the novel as it took shape in those years was virtually a new form, yet was
extremely diverse in character.
Characteristics of Classism (1700-1800)
1. The London become the the center of of the bustling city life.
2. Literary mastered have their crafts and have written with sophistication and finesse.
3. The periodical and novel gained popularity and public acceptance.
4. The periodical became the origin of what we call now as clarity and public
acceptance.
Gothic fiction (c. 1764–1820s)
The term Gothic novel refers to a story of terror, suspense and mystery. It deals with
supernatural events with a mixture of horror and romance, or events that cannot be easily
explained or over which man has no control. Gothic fiction began in England in the late
18th and the early 19th century. It is a category of romantic literature because Gothic
fiction was very much influenced by the Romantic Movement. In Romanticism, reason is
not an important trait of human beings, because the romanticists believed that the world
39
cannot always be explained by reason. So they looked beyond the human reason.
Gothic fiction is darker and more tragic than the other romantic works. The Castle of
Otranto written in 1765 by the English writer Horace Walpole is thought to be the first
gothic novel. It was called Gothic novel because Walpole wrote it in his Gothic castle, or
because the contents of such novels were associated with the Middle Ages. Here is a list
of some common elements found in Gothic novels:
Characteristics of Gothic Fiction/Novel
 Gloomy, decaying setting (haunted houses or castles with secret passages,

trapdoors, and other mysterious architecture)
 Supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants)
 Curses or prophecies , Damsels in distress , Heroes , Romance and Intense
emotions
The 18th century (The Enlightenment)
In the 18th century Britain was as powerful as France. This resulted from the growth of
its industries and from the wealth of its large new trading empire. Britain had the
strongest navy in the world, the navy controlled Britain's own trade routes and
endangered those of its enemies. Britain became wealthy thanks to trade. This wealth
made possible both an agricultural and an industrial revolution which made Britain the
most advanced economy in the world. However, there was an enormous price to pay,
because while a few people became richer, many others lost their land, their homes and
their way of life. Families were driven off-the land in another period of enclosures. They
became the working "proletariat" of the cities that made Britain's trade and industrial
empire of the 19th century possible. The invention of machinery destroyed old "cottage
industries"-and created factories.
The development of industry led to the sudden growth of cities like Birmingham,
Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool and other centres in the north Midlands..This
century also saw the change of the ruling dynasty: after William and Mary, came Mary's
sister, Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, who reigned from 1702 to 1744. After her
death a difficult situation arose: the direct succession, to the throne belonged to the line of
the deposed James IL his son and then his grandson, who, supported by the "Jacobites",
were waiting in France . In order to avoid the Stuart succession, the crown was offered to
40
a cousin of Queen Anne, the ruler of a small German kingdom of Hanover, who took-the-
throne in 1714 as George I. He was followed-by his son, George fl, and grandson, George
III. The Hanovers were not a very happy choice, but two attempts to restore the Stuarts
proved a failure. The 18th century could also be called a century of wars. From the
beginning to the end of the century the great rival, the enemy was France. At first the
struggle was for European supremacy, but by the middle of the century the struggle with
France was for overseas empire. Here Britain had an advantage because she had the better
navy and knew how to use her sea-power. It was during these years that the huge British
Empire, ranging from Gibraltar to India and Canada was built up. But though it was the
century of wars,-they were completely different from what we understand by "war" in the
20th- 21st centuries: these were usually fought by small professional armies, and the
daily lives of most people were affected hardly at all. Even when Britain and France were
at war, trade and cultural exchanges continued between the two countries. The upper
classes and the middle classes in Britain during this age felt more complacent than they
had ever felt before or since. They felt that they lived in the best of all possible worlds.
This 18th century complacency was partly due to the work of the scientists and
philosophers. Human reason and "common sense" played such a significant role in this
period that it is often called "the age of reason".
The literature of the age of the Enlightenment may be divided into three periods:
- The first period lasted from the "Glorious Revolution" (1688-1689) till the
end of the 1730s. It is characterized by classicism in poetry, the greatest follower
of the classic style was Alexander Pope. Alongside with this high style there
appeared new prose literature, the essays of Steele and Addison and the first
realistic novels written by Defoe and Swift. Most of the writers of this time wrote
political pamphlets, but the best came from the pens of Defoe and Swift
- The second period of the Enlightenment was the most mature period: the
forties and the fifties of the 18th century. It saw the development of the realistic
social novel represented by Richardson, Fielding and Smollett.
- The third period refers to the last decades of the century. It is marked by the
appearance of the new trend: Sentimentalism. The representatives of this trend
were Goldsmith and Sterne. This period also saw the rise of the realistic drama
(Sheridan) and the revival of poetry.
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Humanism
The Renaissance scholars called Humanists revived the forgotten Greek and Roman
authors and their manuscripts and widely disseminated their ideas, materials and literary
forms and styles over Europe.
This Movement is called Humanism In 1808 Bavarian educational commissioner

Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer coined the term Humanismus to describe the new
classical curriculum he planned to offer in German secondary schools, and by 1836 the
word "humanism" had been absorbed into the English language in this sense. The coinage
gained universal acceptance in 1856, when German historian and philologist Georg Voigt
used humanism to describe Renaissance humanism, the movement that flourished in the
Italian Renaissance to revive classical learning, a use which won wide acceptance among
historians in many nations, especially Italy.But in the mid-18th century, during the
French Enlightenment, a more ideological use of the term had come into use. In 1765, the
author of an anonymous article in a French Enlightenment periodical spoke of "The
general love of humanity ... a virtue hitherto quite nameless among us, and which we will
venture to call 'humanism', for the time has come to create a word for such a beautiful and
necessary thing".
Douglas Adams is the British author, most notably, of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy series. The series began on radio and developed into a “trilogy” of five books as
well as a television series. His fans and friends knew Adams as an environmental activist
and a self-described “radical atheist.” In addition to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy, Adams wrote or co-wrote three stories of the science fiction staple Doctor Who.
His other works include the Dirk Gently novels, which is a series about a “holistic
detective” who is concerned with the interconnectedness of things, and a posthumous
collection of essays and other material, including an incomplete novel, published as The
Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand is described as “a novelist whose province is human
nature” in the International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. His
short stories and novels are known for their depiction of oppression and poverty in lower
social classes of the traditional caste system. His first novel, Untouchable, follows the life
of a young man considered “untouchable” because of his work as a toilet cleaner.
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Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God
(named one of the 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century by TIME
magazine). Hurston was, in the words of Rebecca Watson, a “New Atheist before New
Atheism was a thing.” Her freethinker roots extend back to childhood, as she questioned
the faith she was raised in as the daughter of a Baptist preacher. Her lack of religious
views, as she described in her autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road, are oft-quoted:
Doris Lessing was a British novelist, poet, playwright, and short story writer. Her novels,
like the famed The Golden Notebook and The Four-Gated City, often focus on the plight
of women and people of color during the World Wars, the rise of communism, and the
beginning of the women’s liberation movement. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 2007, with the Swedish Academy describing her as “that epicist of the
female experience, who with skepticism, fire, and visionary power has subjected a
divided civilization to scrutiny.”
Romanticism (c. 1798–1832)
Romantic poets write about nature, imagination, and individuality in England. Some
Romantics include Coleridge, Blake, Keats, and Shelley in Britain and Johann von
Goethe in Germany. Jane Austen also writes at this time, though she is typically not
categorized with the male Romantic poets. In America, this period is mirrored in the
Transcendental Period from about 1830-1850. Transcendentalists include Emerson
and Thoreau. Gothic writings, (c. 1790-1890) overlap with the Romantic and
Victorian periods. Writers of Gothic novels (the precursor to horror novels) include
Radcliffe, Monk Lewis, and Victorians like Bram Stoker in Britain.
In America, Gothic writers include Poe and Hawthorne. A literary and artistic
movement that reacted against the restraint and universalism of the Enlightenment. The
Romantics celebrated spontaneity, imagination, subjectivity, and the purity of nature.
Notable English Romantic writers include Jane Austen, William Blake, Lord Byron,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth.
Prominent figures in the American Romantic movement include Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, William Cullen Bryant, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
Romantic poets write about nature, imagination, and individuality in England. Some
Romantics include Coleridge, Blake, Keats, and Shelley in Britain and Johann von
Goethe in Germany. Jane Austen also writes at this time, though she is typically not
43
categorized with the male Romantic poets. In America, this period is mirrored in the
Transcendental Period from about 1830-1850. Transcendentalists include Emerson and
Thoreau. Gothic writings, (c. 1790-1890) overlap with the Romantic and Victorian
periods. Writers of Gothic novels (the precursor to horror novels) include Radcliffe,
Monk Lewis, and Victorians like Bram Stoker in Britain. In America, Gothic writers
include Poe and Hawthorne. Romanticism is a a literary, and a complex artistic, and
philosophical a style of art, literature movement , etc., during the late 18th and early 19th
centuries that emphasized the imagination and emotions, literary, and intellectual
movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, andgained
strength during the Industrialist was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political
norms of the Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature,
and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature Enlightenment or
Age of Reason such as William Blake (1757-1827), Among these are Thomas Hardy, ,
Edward Thomas
The main characteristics of Romantic Poetry

1. Romantic poetry shows a new faith in man with all his feelings, senses and all the
sides of his experiences.
2. It rejected rational intellect as the only source of poetry and stressed imagination
and intuition as the supreme faculties of the poet.
3. The poet of the Romantics was a man speaking to men, but he was endowed with
some special insight into the nature of things.
4. Poetry to the Romantics is an expression of emotions inspired by the feelings of
the individual poet. The Romantic poet is gifted with a strong “ organic
sensibility.
5. Al Romantic literature is subjective. It is an expression of the inner urges of the
soul of the artist. It reflects the poet’s own thoughts and feelings more than
anything else.
6. Nature to the Romantics is regarded as something divine. It is something really
living, something that has a soul and purpose; it can even share with the poet his
joys and sorrows.
7. A common and recurrent theme in Romantic poetry is man in solitude or man
with nature. They believed that the nature of man is best revealed when he is in
solitude or in communion with nature.
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8. The Romantic poetry is anti- heroic in the sense that the subject of this poetry is
common man, not heroes or men of high ranks. It also uses the language of
ordinary people.
9. The Romantic is extraordinarily alive to the wonder , mystery and beauty of the
universe. He feels the presence of unseen powers in nature. The supernatural has
a special charm for him; he is attracted by the stories of fairies, ghosts and
witchcraft.
10. Romantic poetry is individualistic; it stresses man’s individuality. Man is usually
presented alone. Every poet has his own individual personality which is rather
different from the others.
11. Another predominant feature of the Romantic poetry is the sense of nostalgia for
the past.
12. The Romantic poet sees the world through the eyes of a child. This is why
Romantic poetry was described as poetry of wonder.
The Romantic poets were greatly affected by:
A-The Industrial Revolution which caused changes in society that the Romantic poet
could not cope with. So, he turned to nature for escape and that is why Romantic poets
are sometimes described as escapists or dreamers.
B-The French Revolution with its principles of freedom, equality and fraternity.
English Romanticism is thus both a revolt and a revival: it is a revolt against 18th century
traditions and conventions: it is a revival of old English masters of poetry.
The first generation William Blake (1757-1827) William Wordsworth (1770-1850): the
Lake School S. T. Coleridge (1772-1834): the Lake School
The second generation Lord Byron (1788-1824): the Satanic School Percy
Shelley(1792-1822): the Satanic School John Keats (1795-1821): the Cockney School
William Blake (1757-1827): Blake's poetry dwelt upon his divine vision and rebelled
against traditional poetic forms and techniques. He created his own mythological world
with man as the central figure. His more famous poems include The Lamb, The Tyger,
The Chimney Sweeper, and The Clod and the Pebble. What makes Blake's poem
especially attractive for teaching in high school is he often wrote two poems with the
same title--one poem negative and one poem positive, excellent for compare and contrast
writing.
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William Wordsworth (1770-1850): The most famous of the British Romantics,
Wordsworth is considered the nature poet. He revolutionized poetic subjects, focusing on
ordinary people in rustic settings. He, in addition, wrote about and considered the poet as
superior to all other writers. His most famous poems include I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud, We are Seven, and I Travelled Among Unknown Men. Most high school literature
textbooks have at least one poem by Wordsworth.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834): Coleridge and Wordsworth are often grouped
together as The Lake Poets, and for good reason. Together they are credited as the
founders of the Romantic movement. Coleridge's most famous poems, Rime of the
Ancient Mariner, Kubla Kahn, and Christabel have a distinct supernatural element and
strongly influenced American Romantics such as Poe and Hawthorne.
Lord Byron (1788-1824): Lord Byron enjoyed unmatched popularity. Byron's most
famous creations are his dark heroes, called Byronic heroes, who, in fact, were not heroes
at all, but stood out from ordinary humans as larger than life. The Byronic hero brooded,
possessed insatiable appetites and incredible strength, rebelled against societal norms,
and forced upon himself exile. Byron's most famous works include Don Juan and Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage. Lord Byron is generally reserved for university level literature
courses and is rarely found in high school anthologies.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): Like all Romantics, Shelley was a radical non-
conformist. He campaigned for social justice, even marrying the daughter of Mary
Wollstonecraft, an English leader in the women's rights movement. His wife would later
write Frankenstein. His most famous poems include Mutability, Ozymandias, and Ode to
the West Wind.
John Keats (1795-1821): Perhaps the most popular Later Romantic poet, Keats
accomplished great things during his short life. His Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a
Grecian Urn, and Ode on Melancholy find their way into anthologies throughout the
English speaking world. Keats considered contact with poets as a threat to his
independence and therefore shunned his contemporaries.
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Robert Burns (1759-1796) who worked as a ploughman and farm labourer but
who had received a good education and was interested in early Scots ballads and folk-
song
Walter Scott (1771-1832), another Scot, who developed his interest in old tales
of the Border and early European poetry into a career as poet and novelist. "The first
generation of Romantics is also known as the Lake Poets because of their
attachment to the Lake District in the north-west of England"
Robert Southey (1774-1843), a prolific writer of poetry and prose who settled in the
Lake District and became Poet Laureate in 1813; his work was later mocked by Byron.
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was a poet but is best-known for his essays and
literary criticism; a Londoner, he was especially close to Coleridge.
8) Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) the youngest member of the group, best known as an
essayist and critic, who wrote a series of memories of the Lake Poets
The Main Characteristics of Romantic Poetry
1. Romantic poetry shows a new faith in man with all his feelings, senses and all the
sides of his experiences.
2. It rejected rational intellect as the only source of poetry and stressed imagination
and intuition as the supreme faculties of the poet.
3. The poet of the Romantics was a man speaking to men, but he was endowed with
some special insight into the nature of things.
4. Poetry to the Romantics is an expression of emotions inspired by the feelings of
the individual poet. The Romantic poet is gifted with a strong “ organic
sensibility.
5. Al Romantic literature is subjective. It is an expression of the inner urges of the
soul of the artist. It reflects the poet’s own thoughts and feelings more than
anything else.
6. Nature to the Romantics is regarded as something divine. It is something really
living, something that has a soul and purpose; it can even share with the poet his
joys and sorrows, A common and recurrent theme in Romantic poetry is man in
solitude or man with nature. They believed that the nature of man is best revealed
when he is in solitude or in communion with nature.
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7. The Romantic poetry is anti- heroic in the sense that the subject of this poetry is
common man, not heroes or men of high ranks. It also uses the language of
ordinary people, Another predominant feature of the Romantic poetry is the sense
of nostalgia for the past.
8. Reactions against Enlightenment, industrialization and wars (French revolution).
9. Celebrating nature, Feeling and emotion, rather than reasoning.
10. Originality of imagination and form, rather than refining existing models.
11. The religion of Nature, rather than empiricism.
12. Original expression and strong emotion, rather than wit.
Gothic Literature 1764–1820
The word Gothic originally referred to the Goths, an early Germanic tribe, then came to
signify "germanic," then "medieval." "Gothic architecture" now denotes the medieval
type of architecture, characterized by the use of the high pointed arch and vault, flying
buttresses, and intricate recesses, which spread through western Europe between the
twelfth and sixteenth centuries.
The Gothic novel, or in an alternative term, Gothic romance, is a type of prose fiction
which was inaugurated by Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story
(1764)—the subtitle refers to its setting in the middle ages—and flourished through the
early nineteenth century. Some writers followed Walpole's example by setting their
stories in the medieval period; others set them in a Catholic country, especially Italy or
Spain.
In this extended sense the term "Gothic" has been applied to William Godwin's Caleb
Williams (1794), Mary Shelley's remarkable and influential Frankenstein (1817), and the
novels and tales of terror by the German E. T. A. Hoffmann. Still more loosely, "Gothic"
has been used to describe elements of the macabre and terrifying in such later works as
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens' Bleak
House
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Characteristics of Gothic Literature.
1. Gothic literature or novel refers to stories that have elements of horror and
romanticism. The Gothic novel deals with supernatural events, or events occurring in
nature that cannot be easily explained, and it has a plot of suspense and mystery.
2. Gothic literature came in 18th century. Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto,
published in 1764 is considered to be the first novel of gothic genre.
Other famous examples of Gothic literature include The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde and Dracula.
3. Some common elements found in Gothic novels are Gloomy settings like haunted
houses or castles.
4. Supernatural beings or monsters like ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants. The main
feature has been the Curses or prophecies. We can also find Romance and Intense
emotions in gothic novels.
5. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense is always found in gothic literature. A fear
enhanced by the unknown. This atmosphere is sometimes advanced when characters
see only a glimpse of something like a person rushing out the window or only the
wind blowing a curtain. Often the plot itself is built around a mystery, such as a
disappearance, or some other inexplicable event.
6. Omens and visions are the common characteristics. A character may have a
disturbing dream vision, or some phenomenon may be seen of coming events.
7. Ghosts or giants walking, or inanimate objects such as a suit of armor or painting
coming to life are the inexplicable events of these novels. Some works gives natural
explanation, while in others the events are truly supernatural.
8. High and intense emotions are also put in these novels. The narration may be highly
emotional, and the characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise, and
especially, terror. Characters suffer nerves and the upcoming danger. Characters can
be found Crying and giving emotional speeches. Panics and screaming is also
common.
9. In order to appeal the pathos and sympathy of the reader, the female characters face
events that leave them fainting, terrified, screaming, and sobbing. An oppressed
heroine is often the central figure of the novel. The women suffer all the more
because they are often abandoned, left alone and have no protector at times.
Women are threatened by a powerful and cruel male. The woman may be
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commanded to marry someone she does not love or commit a crime. In modern
gothic novels, there is the threat of physical violation.
10. Novelists always use night time to show gloom and horror. Rain also helps in
creating a horrible atmosphere. For example, raining in funeral scenes.
11. Last but not the least, gothic novels contain elements of romance. Elements of
romance include Powerful love, Unreturned love. Tension between true love and
father's control, disapproval, or choice, Lovers parted. Some obstacle arises and
separates the lovers, Illicit love or lust. The young woman becomes a target of some
evil man's desires.
Marxism
Marxism is a social, political and economic philosophy that examines the effect of
capitalism on labor, productivity and economic development. Marxism posits that the
struggle between social classes, specifically between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and
proletariat, or workers, defines the development of the state, and the bourgeoisie seek to
gain control of the factors of production from the "masses." Only by eliminating the
control of the economy from private ownership will the economy continue to grow means
ability to read and write. Literature is any form of printed and unprinted material that
informs, entertains and educates people and further more explanation according to
midson .It may be define as the caricature of human society whose tells their activities(ie
culture and tradition) and their is a kind of reciprocal relationship btw literature and life
Revolutionary Literature, 1776–1820

Although the triumph of America in the Revolutionary War heralded to many the promise
of a great new literature, there was little literature of significance in the first years
following the war except for outstanding political writing.
The poet Philip Freneau (1752–1832) was one of the few exceptions. He stood out
among his contemporaries for his passionately democratic spirit. Although he came from
the same educated and aristocratic background as other writers of the time, he embraced
liberal and democratic causes and opposed the other writers’ tendencies to support the
monarchy. In addition to his poetry, Freneau became a well-known newspaper editor,
crusading for democratic ideals and establishing a tradition later followed by WILLIAM
CULLEN BRYANT (1794–1878) and H. L. MENCKEN (1880–1956), among others. A
slave who was brought to Boston, Massachusetts, from Africa when she was seven,
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Phillis Wheatley (1753–84) became one of the most notable poets of her age and the first
African-American writer of note. Her poetry resembles Freneau’s in its religious subject
matter and neoclassical style. With the turn of the 18th century, American intellectuals
became obsessed with the search for a native literature, something that would loosen the
apron springs of attachment to the cultural and literary models of England. Such cultural
independence cannot be won with the speed of a military revolution. Only time and
shared experience contribute to the eventual expression of the heart of a place by its
people. Practical reasons also delayed the development of American literature.
With no tradition to imitate, American writers of the Revolutionary period had only their
forebears to look to for inspiration. American writers continued to anticipate and imitate
new writing from England, as did American readers. In addition, with America growing
so quickly, talented and educated people found rewarding work in politics, diplomacy,
and law. These professions brought fame as well as fortune, while writing paid little or
nothing. The publishing industry was slow to establish itself in America, and without
publishers, there was no ready audience. Until about 1825, most writers paid printers to
publish their own work, which meant that most published writing came from the wealthy,
who could afford such a luxury. Another issue hampering the American literary scene
was the lack of copyright laws protecting American writers.
James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) Cooper began his writing career at the age of 30.
He wrote his first book, Precaution (1820), primarily to demonstrate to his wife that he
could write a better novel than the one he was reading to her at the time. Precaution was
a conventional novel of English manners and was not a success. Cooper chose for his
second book a subject closer to home, and the result, The Spy (1821), a novel about the
American Revolution (1775-1783) in New York State, was successful both in the United
States and abroad. In 1823 Cooper wrote The Pioneers, the first of the five novels that
make up the Leather-Stocking Tales. The remaining four books—The Last of the
Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841).
The Colonial Period (1492–1700)
Native Americans, the first inhabitants of the continent, did not develop anything we can
call “literature” – their stories and poems were spread orally, which means the American
literally history begins with the age of colonialism.
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The character of early American literature is strongly influenced by several factors:
1- It was the era of colonising the continent. Since not only the English explored and
claimed the territories, the beginnings of American literature are more or less
connected also with French, Spanish or Dutch literatures as well.
2- The first writers brought mainly English ideas and ways of writing, which means
early American literature is based on the literature of England. As years passed and
literary theory developed, the writers who adopted the English style are now
sometimes called pale faces (Franklin, Longfellow, James, Pound). Their poetry is
sometimes referred to as “cooked poetry”. On the other hand, there were authors who
explored new topics and helped shape1 America’s own literary tradition. Those are
called redskins (Whitman, Emerson, the Beat Generation). Their poetry is referred
to as “raw poetry”.
3- Religion played an important part in the writers’ lives. Many writings of the period
were sermons2 and theological books. The fact that the Pilgrims landed in the
Massachusetts Bay in 1620 had an immense3 influence on the culture of the newly
developing colonial system.
4- The topics common in the early periods were connected with the issues of living in a
new land (agriculture, explorations, and relations with the native people) and
travelling (travel logs4, journals).

John Smith (1580–1631) is considered to be the first American writer. He was an
explorer and colonist; he helped found Jamestown in 1607.5 His A True Relation of
Virginia is said to be the first American book written in English. It describes the
problems of colonising the area.
William Bradford (1590–1657) was a Puritan writer who described life in the early
English settlements. His book Of Plymouth Plantation is full of religious topics and
depictions6 of a difficult life in the colony.
Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672) wrote lyrical, religious and personal poetry. She is the
author of To My Dear and Loving Husband. MARY ROWLANDSON (1637–1711)
gives us the image of a woman’s life in the colonial period. Her A Narrative of the
Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson tells her story of being kidnapped
by Native Americans. The book became a bestseller.
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Realism Period c1830–1900
Realism is a loose term that can refer to any work that aims at honest portrayal over
sensationalism, exaggeration, or melodrama. Technically, realism refers to a late-19th-
century literary movement— primarily French, English, and American that aimed at
accurate detailed portrayal of ordinary, contemporary life. Many of the 19th century’s
greatest novelists, such as Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Gustave
Flaubert, and Leo Tolstoy, are classified as realists. Realism reaction against
Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards romance and selfcreating fictions; a
great interest in the realities of life, everyday existence, what was brutal or sordid and
class struggle; three dominant figures, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Henry
James
Eighteenth Century
The Rise of English In eighteenth-century England, the concept of literature was not
confined as it sometimes is today to 'creative' or 'imaginative' writing. It meant the whole
body of valued writing in society: philosophy, history, essays and letters as well as
poems. What made a text 'literary' was not whether it was fictional - the eighteenth
century was in grave doubt about whether the new upstart form of the novel was
literature at all - but whether it conformed to certain standards of 'polite letters'. The
criteria of what counted as literature, in other words, were frankly ideological: writing
which embodied the values and 'tastes' of a particular social class qualified as literature,
whereas a street ballad, a popular romance and perhaps even the drama did not. At this
historical point, then, the 'value-ladenness' of the concept of literature was reasonably
self-evident.
In the eighteenth century, however, literature did more than 'embody' certain social
values: it was a vital instrument for their deeper entrenchment and wider dissemination.
Eighteenth-century England had emerged, bat- tered but intact, from a bloody civil war
in the previous century which had set the social classes at each other's throats; and in the
drive to reconsolidate a shaken social order, the neo-classical notions of Reason, Nature,
order and propriety, epitomized in art, were key concepts. With the need to incorporate
the increasingly powerful but spiritually rather raw middle classes into unity with the
ruling aristocracy, to diffuse polite social manners, habits of 'correct' taste and common
cultural standards, literature gained a new importance. It included a whole set of
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ideological institutions: periodicals, coffee houses, social and aesthetic treatises, sermons,
classical translations, guidebooks to manners and morals. Literature was not a matter of
'felt experience', 'personal response' or 'imaginative uniqueness': such terms, indissociable
for us today from the whole idea of the 'literary', would not have counted for much with
Henry Fielding.
It was, in fact, only with what we now call the 'Romantic period' that our own definitions
of literature began to develop. The modern sense of the word 'literature' only really gets
under way in the nineteenth century, Literature in this sense of the word is an historically
recent phenomenon: it was invented sometime around the turn of the eighteenth century,
and would have been thought extremely strange by Chaucer or even Pope. What
happened first was a narrowing of the category of literature to so-called 'creative' or
'imaginative' work.
The final decades of the eighteenth century witness a new division and demarcation of
discourses, a radical reorganizing of what we might call the 'discursive formation' of
English society. 'Poetry' comes to mean a good deal more than verse: by the time of
Shelley's Defence of Poetry (1821), it signifies a concept of human creativity which is
radically at odds with the utilitarian ideology of early industrial capitalist England. Of
course a distinction between 'factual' and 'imaginative' writing had long been recognized:
the word 'poetry' or 'poesy' had traditionally singled out fiction, and Philip Sidney had
entered an eloquent plea for it in his Apology for Poetry. But by the time of the Romantic
period, literature was becoming virtually synonymous with the 'imaginative': to write
about what did not exist was somehow more soul-stirring and valuable than to pen an
account of Birmingham or the circulation of the blood.
The word 'imaginative' contains an ambiguity suggestive of this attitude: it has a

resonance of the descriptive term 'imaginary', meaning 'literally untrue', but is also of
course an evaluative term, meaning 'visionary' or 'inventive'.
Victorian Literature: (c. 1832-1901)
Victorian Age is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
and corresponds to the Victorian era. It forms a link and transition between the writers of
the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century. The Victorian
age (1832-1887) which follows the romantic age is generally called the golden age of the
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literature. It grew in the peaceful reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1907) who ascended to
the throne in 1837, and it lasts until her death in 1901. It was a time of great social,
religious, intellectual, and economic issues, heralded by the passage of the Reform Bill,
which expanded voting rights. The period has often been divided into “Early” (1832–
1848), “Mid” (1848–1870) and “Late” (1870–1901) periods or into two phases, that of
the Pre-Raphaelites (1848–1860) and that of Aestheticism and Decadence (1880–1901).
This period is in strong contention with the Romantic period for being the most popular,
influential, and prolific period in all of English (and world) literature. Poets of this time
include Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Lord
Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold, among others. Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and Walter
Pater were advancing the essay form at this time. Finally, this age produced great literary
figures like Tennyson, Browning, Mathew Arnold, Hardy and George Eliot. The prose
fiction truly found its place under the auspices of Charles Dickens, Charlotte and Emily
Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Anthony Trollope, Thomas
Hardy, William Makepeace Thackeray, and Samuel Butler.
The Characteristics of the Victorian poetry

Victorian poetry has certain characteristic which differentiate it from the poetry of the
other ages. These qualities also show the greatness of the poets of the age. They also
make the poetry of the age varied and vast.
The various characteristics of the Victorian poetry can be discussed as follows:
1- Influence of Romanticism: Victorian poetry contains romantic elements. In fact,
the Victorian age gave importance of Reason and Rationality.
However, it could not completely cut itself off from the main springs of romanticism.
The poetry of great poets like Tennyson and Arnold contains principles of
romanticism.
2- Pessimism and Optimism: Pessimism pervades almost the entire poetry of the age.
Most of the poets are pessimistic. Their poems permit melancholy. Also the poetry of this
age bears the note of optimism too.
3- Conflict between Religion and Science: Science was upheld during the Victorian
period, however some poets are still stuck to religion.
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4- Moral Note: The great poets of the age like Tennyson, Arnold and Browning had
moral messages for the readers of their age. They aimed at uplifting their countrymen
morality.
5- Sense of patriotism: one more feature of the poetry of the Victorian age is sense of
patriotism. For example, Tennyson felt a sense of national pride in his county's
superiorities over other countries.
6- Nature and Love: Nature and love are remarkable qualities of the Victorian poetry.
7- Foreign influence: The Victorian age was influenced by the poetry of other ages. For
example the poetry of Arnold is greatly influenced by the writing of German
philosophers. Similarly, much Greek influence is noticed on the poetry of Tennyson
Browning.
Lord Alfred Tennyson: Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) was the greatest poet of the
Victorian Age. He is also one of the greatest poets in the entire history of English poetry.
He was so great a poet that he was appointed as poet Laureate after Wordsworth in 1850.
Tennyson is the representative poet of his age. Love, Nature, religion, and human
suffering are some of his notable themes. Victorian novels tend to be idealized portraits
of difficult lives in which hard work, perseverance, love and luck win out in the end;
virtue would be rewarded and wrongdoers are suitably punished. They tended to be of an
improving nature with a central moral lesson at heart. While this formula was the basis
for much of earlier Victorian fiction, the situation became more complex as the century
progressed.
Robert Bridges (1840-1930) Robert Bridges, though a twentieth century poet, may be
considered as the last of the Great Victorians as he carried on the Victorian tradition. He
is not a poet of the modern crisis except for his metrical innovations. Belonging to the
aristocracy his work is also concerned with the leisured and highly cultivated aristocratic
class of society.
A. E. Houseman (1859-1936) Alfred Edward Houseman was a great classical scholar.

He wrote much of his poetry about Shorpshrie, which like Hardy’s Wessex, is a part of
England, full of historic memories and still comparatively free from the taint of
materialism. Out of his memories of this place, Houseman created a dream world, a type
of arcadia. His most celebrated poem, Shorpshire Lad, which is a pseudo-pastoral fancy,
deals with the life of the Shorpshire lad who lives a vigorous, care-fee life.
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Oscar Wilde (1856-1900) Another dramatist who took an important part in the revival of
drama in the later part of the nineteenth century was Oscar Wilde. It was only during the
last five years of his life that he turned his attention to writing for the stage. During his
lifetime his plays became very popular, and they were thought to represent a high mark in
English drama.
John Galsworthy (1867-1933) Galsworthy was a great dramatist of modern times, who
besides being a novelist of the first rank, made his mark also in the field of drama. He
believed in the naturalistic technique both in the novel and drama. According to him,
“Naturalistic art is like a steady lamp, held up from time to time, in whose light things
will be seen for a space clearly in due proportion, freed from the mists of prejudice and
partisanship.” Galsworthy desired to reproduce, both upon the stage and in his books, the
natural spectacle of life, presented with detachment. Of course his delicate sympathies for
the poor and unprivileged classes make his heart melt for them, and he takes sides with
them.
H. G. Wells (1866-1946) Among the writers of twentieth century Herbert George Wells
was the greatest revolutionary, and like Barnard Shaw, he exerted a tremendous influence
on the minds of his contemporaries. Wells was the first English novelist who had a
predominantly scientific training, and who was profoundly antagonistic to the classics.
He insisted that classical humanism should be discarded in favour of science, and that
Biology and World History should take the place of Latin and Greek.
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) Unlike Wells, Bennett was more concerned with the craft
of fiction and was not disposed to preach in his novels. That is why, during his time he
was the most popular novelist. He looked at the world as a spectacle and recorded in his
novels his impressions with complete detachment. Following the example of French
novelists, Maupassant, Flaubert and Balzac, he aimed at recording life—its delights,
indignities and distresses—without conscious intrusion of his own personality between
the record and the reader. He was a copyist of life, and only indirectly did he play the role
of a commentator, an interpreter, or an apologist.
Henry James (1843-1916)
Henry James, one of the important of elder novelists, was an American naturalised in
England. It was, perhaps, because of his foreign origin, that Henry James was untouched
57
by the pessimism of the age, whereas almost all his contemporaries who tried to
investigate the human mind showed unmistakable signs of depression. Moreover, his
characters have no background, and they move from country to country. The emphasis is
more on their mental and emotional reactions
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) Forster belonged to the group of elder novelists of the

twentieth century and occupied an exceptional place in the history of the modern novel.
Unlike his contemporaries, Forster had never tried to impose on his readers a new creed
or astonish him by some technical novelty. Though he was the most popular of all living
novelists, yet his production had been small. His last novel—A Passage to India, was
published in 1924, and after that he did not write any new novel except a few volumes of
short stories. Forster’s earliest novel Where Angles Feared to Tread appeared in 1905. It
was followed by The Longest Journey in 1907, and A Room with a View in (1908). By
this time Forster’s reputation had been firmly
James Joyce (1822-1941) was a novelist of unique and extraordinary genius. He was
born in Dublin, but he left Ireland in 1904 to become a European cosmopolitan. Most of
his life was spent in retirement in Paris. He was a highly gifted man and was acutely
responsive to observed details. By temperament he was an artist and symbolist. He found
around him an atmosphere of frustration, aimlessness and disintegration, and thus in
order to express himself as a novelist he had to create for himself a different medium. He
leant from the psychologists and biologists of his day that our speech occupies the
dominant ‘association area’ in the brain.
Virgina Woolf (1882-1941) Virginia Woolf, who was the most distinguished woman
writer of her generation, made a far more exciting use of the ‘stream of consciousness’
technique than James Joyce. She was greatly impressed by Ulysses, in which Joyce had
found an alternative to the well-made plot and external characterisation. She found that
this conception of the inner drama of the mind was fraught with tremendous possibilities,
and she decided to exploit it to the fullest extent. This method suited her admirably
because having a purely literary background, much of her experience had come from
books rather than from actual life. Moreover, like Joyce, she had a fine sense of language,
and was gifted with a poetic temperament.
D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) Lawrence was a great and original writer who brought a
new kind of poetic imagination to English fiction. To the man in the street Lawrence is
still a great ‘sex novelist’. But he himself said, “I, who loathe sexuality so deeply am
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considered a lurid sexuality specialist’ Lawrence was a passionate Puritan, and his sexual
idea was high and lofty., he drives on towards anarchy and despair, and his living purpose
collapses. Sex is the door. Beyond lies an ultimate, impersonal relationship, free of all
emotional complications. Beyond lies the service of God.”
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) His famous novels are The Pickwick Papers (1837),
Oliver Twist (1838, was first published with the title Oliver Twist with a subtitle, The
Parish boy’s Progress ), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841),
Barnaby Rudge (1841), Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son (1844), David Copperfield
(1850) , Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two
Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1861), Our Mutual Friend (1865), The Mystery of
Edwin Drood (unfinished, 1870). Apart from these he has also written many short stories,
essays and travel books. Dickens has given his many literary contributions with the pen
name ‘Bos’
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) His well-known novels are The Desperate Remedies (1871,
first novel), Under the Greenwood Tree (1872, first Wessex novel), Far from the
Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of the Casterbridge
(1886), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), Jude the Obscure (1895, last novel). Apart from
these he has also written poems and short stories.
George Eliot (1819-1880) She stands at the gateway between the old novel and the new,
no unworthy heir to Thackeray and Dickens and no unworthy forerunner of Hardy and
Henery James. Her most talked about novels are Adam Bede (1859), Mill on the Floss
(1860, it is a spiritual autobiography), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1872), Romola
(1863) , etc. George Eliot is her pen name but her original name is Mary Ann Evans.
Jane Austen (1775-1817) We can say that Austen belongs to the later part of the
Romantic Age; it means the earlier part of the Victorian Period. Her greatest novels are
Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma
(1816), Northanger Abbey (1818), Persuasion (1818). , etc.
Robert Browning (1812-1889) He was the lover of music. His famous poems are A
Toccato of Galuppi, The Last Rider Together, My Last Duchess, Rabbi Ben Ezpa, Fra
Lippo Lippa, A Death to the Desert, Men and Women (a collection of poems) etc. He was
the supreme master of the Dramatic Mononlogue
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Matthew Arnold (1822-1883) He is a poet cum critic. His famous poems are Rugby
Chapel, Thyrsis, Scholar Gypsy, Dover Beach, Soharab and Rustam, Shakespeare (it is a
sonnet), etc. Thyrsis is a great pastoral elegy and in this poem he mourns the death of his
friend, Arthur Clough. Rugby Chapel is also his elegy in which he mourns the death of
his father. However, he is mainly famous for his essay (critical works) like, Culture and
Anarchy, Literature and Dogma.
Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1888) He is mainly famous for his verse translation of the
Persian Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His pessimism was inherent in his acceptance of the
life’s purposelessness. His pessimism was the cause of his epictureanism. Wine, women
and music were the chief objects of his pleasure in the life as he believed that the life was
sort and may end at any moment.
The Pre-Raphaelite
The Pre-Raphaelite was a movement. It was begun in 1848 by three painters in England
including Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It aimed at a return to older principles in painting, but
as Rossetti and other followers like William Morris and Suinburne were also gifted
writers, they aimed to bring about a change in literary manner as well.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) D.G. Rossetti, the leader of the Pre-Raphaelite
school of poetry during the Victorian age was a painter who instilled his poetry with
visual images and picturesqueness. He was one of the most successful pictorial artists, he
reveled in colours, and thought and felt in pigments. His best works include, ‘The Blessed
Damozel’, ‘My Sister’s Sleep’, ‘Sister Helen’, ‘Rose Mary’, Love’s Nocturne
William Morris (1834-1896) Morris was a pictorial artist like his leader Rossetti. Morris
employed poetry as an instrument for social emancipation and amelioration of the down
trodden classes. Some of his famous works are ‘The Life and Death of Jason’
(1867), ‘The Earthly Paradise (1870), ‘The Pilgrim of Hope’ (1886) and ‘Chant for
Socialist’ (1885).
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A.C. Swineburne (1837-1909) Algernon Charles Swinburne was the spoilt child of the
Pre-Raphaelite group, at once its prodigy and its embarrassment. Unlike the other
members of the group he was a musician rather than a painter. His poetry is although
pictorial but is the poetry of a melodist. In his treasure trove of poetry, we have poems
like ‘Atlanta in Calydon’, a tragedy in the classical style, ‘Poems and Ballads’ (1886), a
pagan collection of poems, ‘Songs before Sunrise’ (1871),.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) His first comedy is Widowers Houses (1893). Then
he gave a series of plays like The Philanderer, Arms and Superman, The Doctor’s
Dilemma, Getting Married, Fanny’s First Play, Androcles and the Lion, Pygmalion,
Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah, Saint Joan (for this, he received the Nobel Prize
in 1925), The Apple Cart, Too True to be Good, Geneva.
John Galsworthy (1867-1933) His novel The Man of Property has made him widely
known. However, he is better known as a playwright than a fiction writer. His famous for
his problem plays. His famous plays are Strife (for this work hi received the Nobel Prize
for Literature), Justice (1910), Loyalties, The Silver Box, Escape, etc. The Victorian
Pessimistic Writers: Matthew Arnold, James Thompson, Edward Fitzgerland, Thomas
Hardy, A. E. Housman, Davidson, Dowson, etc are known as the pessimistic writers of
the Age. Conclusion:
Thus, this period has given a great contribution to the English literature in the form of
novels, essays, critical essays, poetries and plays as well. However, it is the novels of this
period that attracts the reader to read and re-read the works of the great writers of the
Age. No doubt that whenever novel as a literary term is thought about or talked about,
four wheels of novel would come first to our mind that remind the names of great
novelist like, Samuel Richardson, Lawrence Sterne, Tobias Smollett, and Henry Fielding.
However, the reader would love more to read the novels of the particular Victorian
Period. We find a good chemistry between the reflection of the image of the
contemporary Age and the creative faculty of the writers with their free expression of the
imagination and emotion that touch the reader of all Ages and of all age.
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George Byron is a British poet-cum-Greek hero. He travelled far and wide and also
fought against short lyric, She Walks in Beauty where he describes a woman who is as
beautiful as a cloudless night of stars (It is really moving, that poem I mean).
Lord Alfred Tennyson was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland and remains one
of the most popular poets till date. He is best known for penning short lyrics such as
TheCharge of the Light Brigade which depicts the courage and loyalty of people in a
short amount of lines Most of his works, however were based on epics such as Ulysses
and characters from epics such as The Kraken and Tithonus.
Elizabeth Browning is a well-acclaimed poet of the Victorian Era who was known
throughout Britain and the Unted the Ottoman Empire His most famous work was Don
Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, two narrative works whereboth depict their
characters' adventures in their life and in foreign lands. He is also known for his States.
She wrote poems from the age of 6 and her collection was one of the largest of any
juvenile in that age. Her most notable works include the volume Poems, The Seraphim
and Other Works.
Salient features of the Modern Poetry

English poetry was in its golden days in the romantic and Victorian ages. But in the
modem, it has lost its days of prosperity. But this does not mean that in modern age
poetry has lost its power. The poets like Eliot and Yeats have kept modern poetry living
and vigorous. The various salient features of modern poetry can be discussed as follows:
1. Variety of themes: Poetry today can be written on almost any subject. Modem poets
have not accepted the theory of great subjects for poetic composition. The whole
universe is the modern poet's experience.
2. Democratic note: Modern poetry is marked with a note of democratic feeling. The
modern poet is interested in the life of common people like laborers, farmlands,
soldiers etc. there is a note of sympathy for their miserable life.
3. Realism: The modern poet sees life and paints it as it is with all its ugliness.
4. Pessimistic note: The poets of our age have realized the pessimism of human life and
tragedy. suffering of the common and poor people. Thomas hardy is the best example
of pessimistic poets.
5. Religion and Mysticism: The age of ours is the age of science. But even in this age of
science, we have poems written on the subject of religion and mysticism. W. B.
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Yeats G.M. Hopkins and T S. Eliot are some of the notable poets of religion in
modern poetry.
6. Love and nature Love and nature are another tendency found in modern poetry.
7. Complexity and psychology: Modem poetry is highly complex and psychological,
some modern poets are interested in diving deep into the recesses of the sub-
conscious mind.
8. Romantic element: The spirit of romantic continues to impress the minds of certain
poets like W.B. Yeats and Edward Thomas,
9. Diction and styles: Modem poets have preference for simple and direct expression
Old archaic worlds are longer in vogue. Modem poets have chosen to be free in the
use of meter.
The most important Modern Poets: W.B. Yeats. , T.S. Eliot. , W.H. Auden,Philip Larkin.
And Dylan Thomas.
The Transitional Poets
The transitional poetry marks the beginning of a reaction against the rational, intellectual,
formal, artificial and unromantic poetry of the age of Pope and Johnson. It was marked by
a strong reaction against stereotyped rules. The transitional poets derived inspiration from
Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton. Unlike the Augustan poetry, it is poetry of countryside,
of common and ordinary people, and not of the fashionable, aristocratic society and town
life. Love of nature and human life characterise this poetry. The transitional poets
revolted against the conventional poetic style and diction of the Augustan poetry. They
aimed at achieving simplicity of expression. This poetry appealed to emotions and
imagination.
It is marked by the development of naturalism. Crabbe, Burns, Blake and many others are
the pioneers of naturalism. The transitional poets are the forerunners of the splendid
outburst of the romantic poetry of the nineteenth century. Let‘s study briefly about these
poets and their works.
James Thomson (1700-48) was the first to bring the new note in poetry both in his
Seasonsand The Castle of Indolence. The Seasons is a blank verse poem and consists of a
long series of descriptive passages dealing with natural scenes. Though its style is
clumsy, the treatment is refreshing, full of acute observation and acute joy in nature. The
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Castle of Indolence is written in Spenserian Stanza and is remarkable for suggestiveness,
dreamy melancholy and harmonious versification.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74) represents the poetic tradition of neo-classicism so far as

the use of the heroic couplet is concerned. His treatment of nature and rural life, note of
human sympathy and simplicity of expression are characteristics of the transitional
poetry. His first poem, The Traveller is written in the heroic couplet and deals with his
wanderings through Europe. He uses simple and polished language. He reveals human
sympathy for the sufferings of the poor. In The Deserted Village Goldsmith described the
memories of his youth.
Thomas Gray (1716-71) epitomises the changes which were coming, over the literature
of his age. He was ―a born poet, fell upon an age of prose‖. His early poems Hymn to
Adversityand the odes To Spring and On a Distant Prospect of Eton College strike the
note of melancholy that characterises the entire poetry of this period. Nature is described
as a suitable background for the play of human emotions. His finest poem The Elegy
Written in A country Churchyard has many new features in it. It is remarkable for the
minute observation in the descriptions of nature, love and sympathy for the humble and
the deprived, expression of the primary emotions of human life. His two odes, The
Progress of Poesy and The Bard express the new conception of the poet as an inspired
singer.
The first shows Milton‘s influence as regards melody and variety of expression. The Bard
is even more romantic and original. It breaks with the classical school and proclaims a
literary declaration of independence. In The Fatal Sisters and The Descent of Odin he
reveals interest in noise legends.
William Cowper (1731-1800) is an immediate forerunner of the romantics. His first

volume of poems, containing The Progress of Error, Truth, Table Talk etc. shows the
influence of the neo-classical rules. The Tasks is Cowper‘s longest and finest poem. His
descriptions of homely scenes of woods and brooks, of plowmen and teamsters and the
letter carriers indicate the dawn of a new era in poetry. Cowper was a pioneer who
preached the gospel ―return to nature‖. He foreshadowed Wordsworth and Byron. In his
love of nature, his emotional response to it and in his sympathetic handling of rural life he
certainly anticipates Wordsworth. His minor poems On the Receipt of My Mother’s
Picture and Alexander Selkirkshow the rise of romanticism in English poetry.
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Transcendentalism (c. 1835–1860)
An American philosophical and spiritual movement, based in New England, that focused
on the primacy of the individual conscience and rejected materialism in favor of closer
communion with nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Henry David
Thoreau’s Walden are famous transcendentalist It is a philosophy propounded in
Germany by Kant, Hegel, and Shelling. It emphasizes on idealism and spiritual truth.
Idealism is not based on experiences. It is obtained by the study of mental process not by
experiences. It goes beyond human knowledge and based on intuition. We can apprehend
reality by spiritual insight. Emerson is the founder and father of American
Transcendentalism and his follower Thoreau, Whitman, Melville, and Hawthorne acquire
partly from Germans, partly from English Coleridge and Carlyle. In his essay Self-
Reliance, he stresses the value of human soul or intuition and moreover his dictum is
“Trust Themselves”. Emerson derived some suitable themes and title from Hindu
Scriptures. For Example – “Brahma” comes from the Upanishad.
Mark Twain (1835 – 1910) American writer and humorist, considered the ‘father of
American literature’. Famous works include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by
his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Mark Twain wrote the
classic American novels Twain, was one of the premier writers of late 19th century
America. He based his fictional works Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876) and its sequel,Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often
called "The Great American Novel".
Aestheticism (c. 1835–1910):

A late-19th-century movement that believed in art as an end in itself. Aestheticism,
known as the aesthetic movement began towards the close of 19th century. The origin of
this movement dates to the reverence of beauty instilled by Keats and Pre-Raphaelites.
Oscar Wilde (1856-1900), the foremost of this group was influenced by the theories of
Walter pater Wilde was the mentor of this movement
Aesthetes such as Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater rejected the view that art had to posses a
higher moral or political value and believed instead in “art for art’s sake.” The movement
began in reaction to prevailing utilitarian social philosophies and to what was perceived
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as the ugliness and philistinism of the industrial age. Its philosophical foundations were
laid in the 18th century by Immanuel Kant, who postulated the autonomy of aesthetic
standards, setting them apart from considerations of morality, utility, or pleasure. This
idea was amplified by J.W. von Goethe, J.L. Tieck, and others in Germany and by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle in England. It was popularized in France
by Madame de Staël, Théophile Gautier, and the philosopher Victor Cousin, who coined
the phrase l’art pour l’art (“art for art’s sake”) in 1818.
In England, the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, from 1848, had sown the seeds
of Aestheticism, and the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, and
Algernon Charles Swinburne exemplified it in expressing a yearning for ideal beauty
through conscious medievalism. The attitudes of the movement were also represented in
the writings of Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater and the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley in
the periodical The Yellow Book. The painter James McNeill Whistler raised the
movement’s ideal of the cultivation of refined sensibility to perhaps its highest point.it
often associated with Romanticism, a philosophy defining aesthetic value as the primary
goal in understanding literature.
Pre-Raphaelites (c. 1848–1870)

The literary arm of an artistic movement that drew inspiration from Italian artists
working before Raphael (1483–1520). The Pre-Raphaelites combined sensuousness and
religiosity through archaic poetic forms and medieval settings. William Morris,
Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Charles Swinburne were leading poets in
the movement.
The Realistic Period (1865 – 1900)
As a result of the American Civil War, Reconstruction and the age of Industrialism,
American ideals and self-awareness changed in profound ways, and American literature
responded. Certain romantic notions of the American Renaissance are replaced by
realistic descriptions of American life, such as those represented in the works of William
Dean Howells, Henry James and Mark Twain. This period also gave rise to regional
writing, such as the works of Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Bret Harte, Mary Wilkins
Freeman and George W. Cable. In addition to Walt Whitman, another master poet, Emily
Dickinson, appeared at this time
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Naturalism (c. 1865–1900)
A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity,
and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. Leading writers in
the movement include Émile Zola, Theodore Dreiser, and Stephen Crane Naturalism as a
literary movement has been widely influenced by contemporary social and intellectual
context. Two important factors that helped shaping the ideas and techniques of
Naturalism in American literature are first the influence of Darwinism and the second the
influence of French literary Naturalism. Naturalist writer positioned themselves further
from the centre of literary field. Hamlin Garland (1860-1940)was an American naturalist
writer his writing was a form of social protest. In his book Main Travelled 1891 he
protest against the condition which made the lives of mid western farmers so painful and
unhappy.
He described e people places in a careful and factual manner.his style was impressionistic
he mixes emotion colour and sights Norris a California's writer he describe urbanization
and incorporation of the west coast. In MC Teogue1899 describe California landscape in
which a tremendous immeasurable life pushed steadily heavenward without sound
without a motion in the next paragraph he describes the mechanical power which opposes
it.
Naturalism is a word derived from nature. It is the suggestion that art and literature
should present the world and people just as science shows they really are. Naturalism is
not easy to define and sometimes used as synonym of realism. It is more pessimistic trend
and it originated in France around 1870 with the first novels of Emile Zola. Naturalism
was a literary movement of the 19 century. It is an extension of Realism and developed
out of it. It came as a reaction against the restriction inherent in the realistic focus of the
ordinary as naturalists insisted that extraordinary is real too. Naturalists were writing
about criminal, slums, labourer and prostitute they attacked capitalism but also explain
society in Darwinist terms.
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,
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Symbolists (1870–1890s)
A group of French poets who reacted against realism with a poetry of suggestion based
on private symbols, and experimented with new poetic forms such as free verse and the
prose poem. The symbolists—Stép hane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Verlaine
are the most well known—were influenced by Charles Baudelaire. In turn, they had a
seminal influence on the modernist poetry of the early 20th century.
Modernism (1890s–1940s)
A literary and artistic movement that provided a radical breaks with traditional
modes of Western art, thought, religion, social conventions, and morality. Major themes
of this period include the attack on notions of hierarchy; experimentation in new forms
of narrative, such as stream of consciousness; doubt about the existence of knowable,
objective reality; attention to alternative viewpoints and modes of thinking; and self-
referentiality as a means of drawing attention to the relationships between artist and
audience, and form and content.
In Britain, modernist writers include W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Dylan Thomas,
W. H. Auden, Virginia Woolf, and Wilfred Owen. In America, the modernist period
includes Robert Frost and Flannery O'Connor as well as the famous writers of The
Lost Generation (also called the writers of The Jazz Age, 1914-1929) such as
Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. "The Harlem Renaissance" marks the
rise of black writers such as Baldwin and Ellison. Realism is the dominant fashion,
but the disillusionment with the World Wars lead to new experimentation.
Modernists writers are so called as they during that period rejecting the traditions and
conventions, became eager to incorporate new experiments in style , language, form and
narrative method in their writing. T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf were the
major exponents of the Modernist movement in literature .
James Joyce (1882-1941) whose work is at once intensely local and universal, is a
striking instance of this interdependence. He attributed his most famous innovation in
fictional method to a Frenchman, Edward Dujardin. He is known for six works book of
poems a play and four other works of far larger scope. These four comprise Dubliners
(1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a young Man (1916) Ulysses (1922) and Finnegan's
Wake (1939). A Portrait of the Artist is much more directly autobiographical than the
other although its hero Stephen Dedalus, is a 'young man' on whom the writer looks back
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with sometimes ironical detachment. This young man renounces his family and country
and sets out to encounter the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul
the uncreated conscience of my race. He named his hero after Daedalus, the legendary
Greek inventor who designed the labyrinth of Crete, was imprisoned to protect from
Ireland and takes flight, only to penetrate every secret of the labyrinth of Irish
consciousness from Ireland and takes flight, only to penetrate every secret of the
labyrinth of Irish consciousness from afar and to judge all he has known.
Some of the characteristic features of modernist literature are:
1- A drawing of inspiration from European culture as a whole; experimentation with

form, such as the fragmentation and discontinuity found in the free verse of ‘The
Waste Land’ by T. S. Eliot;
2- The radical approach to plot, time, language, and character presentation as seen in
Ulysses by James Joyce and the novels of Virginia Woolf; a decrease in emphasis
on morality, and an increase in subjective, relative, and uncertain attitudes;
3- In poetry, a move towards simplicity and directness in the use of language.
4- Dada, Surrealism, The Theatre of the Absurd, and stream of consciousness are all
aspects of Modernism.
The Main Characteristics of Modern Poetry
1. Modern poetry is free from traditional restrictions of rhyme and rhythm.

2. It is greatly affected by modern science and technology.
3. The modern poet is pessimistic about the future of modern man and his world.
4. Modern poetry is affected by modern political , social and economic theories.
5. In modern poetry, words are used more symbolically than literally.
6. The language of modern poetry is that of everyday conversation. The modern
poet is speaking to his reader in an intimate tone of voice.
Trends and Movements in Modern Poetry:

Throughout history, there have been hundreds of major and minor poetic movements and
trends. The innovation and experimentations on the form and style of poetry in the Modern
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period arouses wide attention of poets of different schools and as a result, many poetical
movements have emerged during the period. Some of the major movements that greatly
shaped and influence modern poetry are discussed below:
Imagism:
Imagism was a major Modernist movement in poetry led by poets of both England and
America in the early 20th century. This school of poetry flourished in England and
America between 1912 and 1914. Ezra Pound, the founder of the school, later developed
his idea into three Imagist poetic principles.Imagism emphasized the virtue of clarity,
compression and precision of language. They used sharp language and embrace imagery.
The movement reached its climax in 1914 when Pound published both in England and
America the anthology of imagist poetry entitled Des Imagists. The anthology contained
poems by Pound, H. D. Richard Aldington, F. S. Flint, Amy Lowell,James Joyce and
William Carol Williams. When Pound found Vorticismto be more appealing in 1914,
Amy Lowell took over the leadership of the movement.
Surrealism:
Surrealism is one of the chief channels of 20th century Modernism. It is a
modernist movement in the arts attempted to express the workings of the unconscious by
fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of content. The movement grew out of
Dadaism, was orchestrated by Andre Breton, the French poet and critic. Depending on its
proponents, the movement drew on the troubled politics of the inter-war years, the dream
theories of Jung and Freud, studies of the occult and irrational. The Surrealist sought to
represent the true process of thought and true reality Though painting is the main arena
for surrealism to show its talent, it also included important poets and novelists. W. H.
Auden,Dylan Thomas, Ted Hughes, Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Duncan etc.
Symbolism:
Symbolism is a major literary movement of the 19th century based in France. It is often
associated with other labels—decadence, aestheticism, neo-romanticism, hereticism,
modernism and imagism. It is the usage of literary historians. Symbolism designates
specifically a group of French writers, which included Charles Baudelaire, Arthur
Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Stephane Mallarme and Paul Valery.The French symbolists
exploited an order of private symbols in poetry of rich suggestiveness rather than explicit
signification. This technique had an immense influence throughout Europe and in
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England and America on poets like Arthur Symons, Ernest Dowson, W. B. Yeats, Ezra
Pound, Dylan Thomas, Hart Crane, Wallace Stevens etc. In the decades after World War I
was a notable era of symbolism in literature. Many major modern poets exploit symbols
some of which are drawn from religious and esoteric traditions and some are invented.
Symbolism was the poetry of disgusted and sometimes disillusioned idealists who sought
in poetry an escape from the ugliness, hypocrisy and rapacity of the 19th century
industrialized society. In contrast to the materialist, utilitarian and practical view of the
world, symbolist poetry emphasized an ideal world beyond the material and sought an
ideal language to express that world.
Objectivism:
Objectivism is a term to designate a loose-knit group of second generation Modernists

who emerged in 1930s mainly in America. The Objectivists were highly influenced by
Ezra Pound and William Carol Williams. Objectivism is developed out of Imagism. The
Objectivist presents concrete objects not in order to convey abstract ideas but for the sake
of their sensuous qualities. It reflects the poet’s primary interest in composing a structure
of relationships apprehensible as a whole, rather than in offering interpretations of
experience. The Objectivists also like to use language more literally than figuratively.
They produced a considerable diversity of styles and were highly influential for later
generations of writers working in the tradition of Modernist.
Modernism begins in the late 1800s or early 1900s, climaxing from the 1910s to 1930s as
writers and artists throughout Europe, the USA, and beyond create and publish numerous
revolutionary works that are still recognized as titanic and influential, even if, a century
later, their application as models grows more remote and limited. The great decades of
Modernism parallel profound world events, particularly the two World Wars (1914-18 &
1939-45) and the Great Depression (1929-1940?). World War 1 is often seen as a starting
event of Modernism. The devastation and disillusion of Western Civilization in the Great
War accelerated and deepened Modernist thinking. However, harbingers of Modernism
are visible in late fiction of Henry James and Joseph Conrad, poetry of Charles
Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud, or late Impressionist paintings by Manet or Monet.
Monumental political revolutions or reforms are contemporary with cultural Modernism:
Russian Revolution (1917), Nazism & Fascism (1930s), USA New Deal (1930s), Chinese
Revolution (1946-52). Modernism may or may not end at mid-20th century, depending
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on definitions of postmodernism, but certainly the heroic age of Modernism has passed;
the current cultural era may be, like Realism following Romanticism, both an extension
of and an exhaustion from a revolutionary period. Breakdown of Western Civilization in
World Wars 1
Modernist Artists of various disciplines or media
- Ireland: James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Becket

- England: Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Dylan Thomas, D.H. Lawrence
- France: Marcel Proust, Jean-Paul Sarte, Albert Camus, Paul Eluard
- Germany: Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse
- other European authors: Franz Kafka, Luigi Pirandello
- South America: Jorge Luis Borges
- Prose: Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Katherine
- Anne Porter, Dashiell Hammett, late Henry James,
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, Zora Neale Hurston,
- Djuna Barnes, Patricia Highsmith, Jean Toomer
- Poetry: Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, H.D.,
Langston Hughes .
Characteristics of Modernism
1- Rejected traditional ways

2-Promoted experimentation and individualism 3- Attack on the notions of
hierarchy/class/race
4- Preoccupation with the inner self and consciousness
5- Disillusionment and loss of faith and innocence
6- Rejection of the ideal hero in favor of a realistically flawed hero
7- Optimism in response to cynicism and alienation
8-"Unreliable" narrator in many novels
9- Stream-of-consciousness
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The Edwardian Period (1901–1914)
This period is named for King Edward VII and covers the period between Victoria’s
death and the outbreak of World War I. Although a short period (and a short reign for
Edward VII), 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 era includes incredible classic novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford,
Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Henry James (who was born in America but who spent
most of his writing career in England), notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William
Butler Yeats, as well as dramatists such as James Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, and John
Galsworthy.
Imagism Movement (1909 c. -1917 c.)
A school of poetry prominent in Great Britain and North America between 1909
and 1918. According to T. E. Hulme, poetry should eliminate excess verbiage and
concentrate on the absolutely accurate presentation of a concrete and precise image. The
objectives of Imagism were accurate description, objective presentation, concentration
and economy, new rhythms, freedom of choice in subject matter, suggestion rather than
explanation, and the absence of clichés.
In Ezra Pound's phrase, the natural object is always the adequate symbol The
Imagist movement in modern poetry focused on describing objects as opposed to the long
philosophical discussions of traditional poetry. Read on to find out more about Imagism
and read poems by two of its founders, H.D. and Amy Lowell. Imagism is a type of
poetry that describes images with simple language and great focus. It came out of the
Modernist movement in poetry. In the early 1900s, poets abandoned the old ways of
writing poems and created a new movement in poetry called Modernism. Modernist poets
changed the style and content of poetry by abandoning rhyme and meter, among other
things. There were many famous American Imagist poets, including Ezra Pound ,William
Carlos Williams, H.D., and Amy Lowell.
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The Rules of Imagism
Ezra Pound, one of the founders of Imagism, said that there were three tenets, or rules, to
writing Imagist poetry.
1- Direct treatment of the subject. That is, the poem should deal directly with what's
being talked about, not try to use fancy words and phrases to talk about it.
2- Use no word that does not contribute to the presentation. Use as few words as
possible.
3- Compose in the rhythm of the musical phrase, not in the rhythm of the
metronome. In other words, create new rhythms instead of relying on the old,
boring ones. Imagism is an early 20th Century poetry movement started by Ezra
Pound and a few other contemporaries in Europe.
Georgian Period ( 1910-1936 )
This term usually refers to the reign of George V (1910-1936) but sometimes also
includes the reigns of the four successive Georges from 1714-1830. Here, we refer to the
former description as it applies chronologically and covers, for example, the Georgian
Poets, such as Ralph Hodgson, John Masefield, W.H. Davies, and Rupert Brooke.
Georgian Poetry today is typically considered to be the works of minor poets,
anthologized by Edward Marsh. The themes and subject matter tended to be rural or
pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than with passion (such as
was found in the previous periods) or with experimentation (as would be seen in the
upcoming Modern period). 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.
The Bloomsbury Group ( 1906–1930s )
The Bloomsbury Group was an informal group of friends and lovers, including Clive
Bell, E. M. Forster, Roger Fry, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, and John Maynard
Keynes, who lived in the Bloomsbury section of London in the early 20th century and
who had a considerable liberalizing influence on British culture. The Bloomsbury Group
was a small, informal association of artists and intellectuals who lived and worked in the
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Bloomsbury area of central London. Most prominent of these was novelist and essayist
Virginia Woolf. In all, only about a dozen people at any one time could have called
themselves members of the group. Beginning shortly before 1910, the Bloomsbury Group
gathered at irregular intervals for conversation, companionship, and the refueling of
creative energy. The members of Bloomsbury, or “Blooms berries,” would more or less
maintain allegiance to their mutual philosophy of an ideal society, even through a World
War and three decades of tectonic shifts in the political climate. They had no codified
agenda or mission. They were not political in the ordinary sense of the word.
Most importantly, there was no application or initiation required to become a member.

Bloomsbury was an informal hodgepodge of intellectual friends, and one either merited
inclusion to that circle or one did not. No rules of order, as in a committee, governed the
way in which Bloomsbury managed their interactions. Instead, they held impromptu
dinners and gatherings where any number of topics was the subject of serious discussion
and contemplation. These intellectual exchanges served as the main influence on later
work by individual members. By no means were all members in full agreement on all
subjects. Some of Bloomsbury’s most stimulating ideas and writings were borne out of
internal disagreement and strife. One can safely say that each member of Bloomsbury
was leftist in his or her politics, although as individuals they expressed their politics in
very different ways.
Members of the Bloomsbury Group :Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941) , Forster, E. M.

(1879-1970) ,Strachey, Giles Lytton (1880-1932), Keynes, John Maynard (1883-1946) ,
MacCarthy, Desmond (1877-1952) ,Bell, Vanessa Stephen (1879-1961) ,Woolf, Leonard
(1880-1969) ,MacCarthy, Mary (1882-1953 ,Stephen, Thoby (1880-1906) and Stephen,
Adrian (1883-1948)
Dadaism (1916–1922)
An avant-garde movement that began in response to the devastation of World War I.

Based in Paris and led by the poet Tristan Tzara, the Dadaists produced nihilistic and
antilogical prose, poetry, and art, and rejected the traditions, rules, and ideals of prewar
Europe.
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The Lost Generation 1918–1930s
The Lost Generation is a term invented by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group of writers
who felt alienated to the world. They wrote about young people who do not find any
pleasure in everyday life or becoming rich. The group included Ernest Hemingway, F.
Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, John Dos Passos and William Faulkner. ERNEST
HEMINGWAY (1899–1961) is probably the most famous representative. His writing
style is very plain, however, his stories and novels are sometimes compared to an iceberg
(you only see its one eighth; the rest is hidden below the surface). His novelette The Old
Man and the Sea (1952) earned him the Nobel Prize for literature. It shows the struggle
between a fisher-man called Santiago and the natural world. The moral of the story can
be summed up as “a man can be destroyed, but not defeated”. The Sun Also Rises is about
a group of young people who drink, have love affairs and attend bullfights, all these
without any mental satisfaction. A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are
Hemingway’s accounts of war in Europe. Major Writers of the Beat Generation :
Ginsberg, Allen (1926-1997) , Kerouac, Jack (1922-1969) , Burroughs, William S. (1914-
1997), Corso, Gregory (1930-2001) ,Ferlinghetti, Lawrence (1919-) ,Cassady, Neal
(1926-1968) ,Solomon, Carl (1928-1993) ,Holmes, John Clellon (1926-1988)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) is well known for The Great Gatsby (1925). It is a short
novel about Nick Carraway, who meets a mysterious rich man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby
spends time throwing lavish parties; however, this does not make him feel happy. The
book shows the negative aspects of high society in the roaring twenties. “The Curious
Case of Benjamin Button” is a short story about a man suffering from reverse ageing.
William Faulkner (1897–1962) is one of the most important writers of the American
South. He situated his writings in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi. In
his books, he concentrates on the fall of the Southern aristocracy. His texts are often
very demanding, the reader does not know who says what. He wrote The Sound and the
Fury, Light in August or Absalom, Absalom!.
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) was a satirist from the American Midwest. He is the first
American writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. His best novel is Babbitt,
which tells the story of a typical middle class man. JOHN STEINBECK (1902–68) is
one of the best known socially critical writers of all time. His style is very realistic, he
wrote about exploited49 people who fall to the bottom of the society. Of Mice and Men
is a novel about two homeless farm workers. The Grapes of Wrath is probably his most
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famous novel; it is the story of the Joad family moving from Oklahoma to California to
work there on fruit farms in terrible conditions. East of Eden is another of his great
works.
Harlem Renaissance (c. 1918–1930):

A flowering of African-American literature, art, and music during the 1920s in New York
City. W. E. B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk anticipated the movement, which
included Alain Locke’s anthology The New Negro, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their
Eyes Were Watching God, and the poetry of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.
The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African-American literature, art, and music
during the 1920s in New York City. W. The New Negro Movement The Harlem
Renaissance Originally known as the "The New Negro Movement", The Harlem
Renaissance marked a period 1919 to 1933 where African-American artistic expression
was redefined. The Harlem Renaissance also marked a period of tremendous quantity and
quality of literary output.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in
Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. During the time, it was known as the "New
Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. The Movement also
included the new African-American cultural expressions across the urban areas in the
Northeast and Midwest United States affected by the African-American Great Migration,[
of which Harlem was the largest. The Harlem Renaissance was considered to be a rebirth
of African-American arts. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of the
borough of Manhattan in New York City, many francophone black writers from African
and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem
Renaissance. Alain Locke is the acknowledged Father of the Harlem Renaissance. A
highly educated man and the first African American to be awarded a Rhodes scholarship,
Locke served as the bridge between a burgeoning literary expression centered in Harlem,
New York, and the mainstream literary world. He brought the star writers of the
renaissance, including Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay, broad
literary attention and patrons wealthy supporters who provided financial support for
struggling writers and artists. In this landmark anthology, Locke set forth the defining
characteristics of the new Negro who was emerging in America’s northern cities: literary,
artistic, cosmopolitan, and urbane.
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High modernism (1920s):
Generally considered the golden age of modernist literature, this period saw the
publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, Virginia Woolf’s
Mrs. Dalloway, and Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.
Surrealism (1920s–1930s):
An avant-garde movement, based primarily in France, that sought to break down the
boundaries between rational and irrational, conscious and unconscious, through a variety
of literary and artistic experiments. The surrealist poets, such as André Breton and Paul
Eluard, were not as successful as their artist counterparts, who included Salvador Dalí,
Joan Miró, and René Magritte.
Absurd Literature of the (c. 1930–1970)
A movement, primarily in the theater, that responded to the seeming illogicality and
purposelessness of human life in works marked by a lack of clear narrative,
understandable psychological motives, or emotional catharsis. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting
for Godot is one of the most celebrated works in the theater of the absurd.
American Dream 1931
The term “American Dream” is interpreted in a number of ways, but it is a national ethos
of the United States of America which advocates that all people can succeed through hard
work, and that all people have the potentiality to live happy and prosperous lives.
Divergent interpretations of the definition of the American Dream have also invited a fair
amount of criticism. Many people believe that the structure of American society
beleaguered by discrimination based on class, race, ethnicity and unequal distribution of
wealth itself controverts the realization of the American Dream.
The Contemporary Period (1939 – Present)
After World War II, American literature becomes broad and varied in terms of theme,
mode, and purpose. Currently, there is little consensus as to how to go about classifying
the last 80 years into periods or movements – more time must pass, perhaps, before
scholars can make these determinations. That being said, there are a number of important
writers since 1939 whose works may already be considered “classic” and who are likely
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to become canonized. Some of these are: Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Tan, John Updike, Eudora
Welty, James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Joan
Didion, Thomas Pynchon, Elizabeth Bishop, Tennessee Williams, Sandra Cisneros,
Richard Wright, Tony Kushner, Adrienne Rich, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Joyce
Carol Oates, Thornton Wilder, Alice Walker, Edward Albee, Norman Mailer, John Barth,
Maya Angelou and Robert Penn Warren.
The Beat Generation (1944 – 1962)
Beat writers, such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, were devoted to anti-traditional
literature, in poetry and prose, and anti-establishment politics. This time period saw a rise
in confessional poetry and sexuality in literature, which resulted in legal challenges and
debates over censorship in America. William S. Burroughs and Henry Miller are two
writers whose works faced censorship challenges and who, along with other writers of the
time, inspired the counterculture movements of the next two decades.
Magic realism (c. 1935–present):

A style of writing, popularized by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Günter
Grass, and others, that combines realism with moments of dream-like fantasy within a
single prose narrative. The term "magical realism" was coined by European art historian
Franz Roh in the 1920s. Roh believed that the form was a reaction to expressionism and a
return to celebrating the autonomy of the objective world. In the 1950s, influenced by a
1949 essay on the topic by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, Latin American authors
embraced the style and combined it with French surreal concepts as well as folklore. In
American and British literature, magical realism has been a popular genre since the
1960s, and has been an important branch of postmodernism.
Magical Realism is a style of writing, popularized by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García
Márquez, Günter Grass, and others, that combines realism with moments of dream-like
fantasy within a single prose narrative. Magical Realism is a style of writing, popularized
by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Günter Grass, and others, that combines
realism with moments of dream-like fantasy within a single prose narrative.
Characteristics Magical realism is a literary genre that has sometimes frustrated critics
who have been unable to define the style with any precision. However, certain traits are
singled out as being typical of the genre. Magical realism, as the name would imply, is a
story that is set in a mostly realistic setting, but with some magical elements. Often,
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magical realism features social or political commentary. Finally, the narrator, if there is
one, takes a tone toward the fantastical elements that would indicate that she finds them
completely normal. Authors Franz Kafka, German-born author of ‘The Metamorphosis’,
is considered an influential early practitioner
Literature Since 1945

The sense of dislocation that pervaded modernist literature carried over into the postwar
period, encouraged by the Holocaust of World War II, an increase in materialism, the
protest movements of the 1960s, the cold war, and the Vietnam War, among other events.
Perhaps greatest of all the influences, however, was the development of a pervasive mass
media culture. In poetry, the shift away from traditional forms and ideas produced a
myriad of styles that are quite varied and numerous. Poets who carried on or revitalized
traditions include the Fugitive Poets John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, And Robert Penn
Warren, Louise Bogan (1897–1970), Robert Lowell (1917–77), James Merrill
(1926–95), and WENDELL BERRY (1934– ), among others. These poets were not shy
about using poetic diction, meter, and rhyme, though they often reinterpreted a traditional
form by applying a modern twist. Other poets shaped their own unique styles. Although
they may have drawn on tradition, they ultimately differentiated themselves as wholly
contemporary. The poets of the confessional school fell into this category. JOHN
BERRYMAN (1914–72), SYLVIA PLATH (1932–63), and ANNE SEXTON (1928–74)
expressed a direct relationship to poetic traditions in many of their earlier poems but went
on to write in their own unique, idiosyncratic styles. Other poets whose relationship to
tradition was similar include THEODORE ROETHKE (1908–63), ELIZABETH
BISHOP (1911–79), ADRIENNE RICH (1929– ), PHILIP LEVINE (1928– ), and
JAMES DICKEY (1923–97).
A number of experimental schools of poetry emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. These
included the Black Mountain School, the New York school, the Beats, and the surrealist
and existentialist poets. The poets associated with these schools tended to be outspoken
and independent of mainstream intellectual communities at universities. Their poetry was
daring, sometimes shocking, and generally committed to the spontaneous and organic.
Some of the notable writers of these movements include the Black Mountain poets
ROBERT CREELEY (1926– ) and DENISE LEVERTOV (1923– ), whose minimalist
styles reflect the philosophy of projective verse that was the theoretical focus of their
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movement. Apolitical and disinterested in moral questions, poets of the New York
school, including KENNETH KOCH (1925– 2002) and JOHN ASHBERY, (1927– ),
became known for their reliance on hallucinatory images and mysterious prose written in
experimental forms. Their verbal puzzles often seemed to hold littl meaning, existing
only for themselves. Absurdity and abstraction, with a self-mocking tone, defined the
poets of the New York school, who became known by this name because of their location
and their many references to the city.
Postmodernism (c. 1945–present):

A notoriously ambiguous term, especially as it refers to literature, postmodernism can be
seen as a response to the elitism of high modernism as well as to the horrors of World
War II. Postmodern literature is characterized by a disjointed, fragmented pastiche of
high and low culture that reflects the absence of tradition and structure in a world driven
by technology and consumerism. Julian Barnes, Don DeLillo, Toni Morrison, Vladimir
Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie, and Kurt Vonnegut are among many who
are considered postmodern authors.
The postmodern period begins about the time that World War II ended. Many believe it is
a direct response to modernism. Some say the period ended about 1990, but it is likely
too soon to declare this period closed. Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism
developed during this time. Some notable writers of the period include Samuel Beckett,
Joseph Heller, Anthony Burgess, John Fowles, Penelope M. Lively, and Iain Banks.
Many postmodern authors wrote during the modern period as well T. S. Eliot, Morrison,
Shaw, Beckett, Stoppard, Fowles, Calvino, Ginsberg, Pynchon, and other modern
writers, poets, and playwrights experiment with metafiction and fragmented poetry.
Multiculturalism leads to increasing canonization of non-Caucasian writers such as
Langston Hughes, Sandra Cisneros, and Zora Neal Hurston.
Magic Realists such as Gabriel García Márquez, Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier,
Günter Grass, and Salman Rushdie flourish with surrealistic writings embroidered in
the conventions of realism.
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Postmodernism
The term postmodernism literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post-World

War II literature. It is both a continuation of the experimentation championed by writers
of the modernist period (relying heavily, for example, on fragmentation, paradox,
questionable narrators, etc.) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in
Modernist literature. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is difficult to
define and there is little agreement on the exact characteristics, scope, and importance of
postmodern literature. Henry Miller, William S. Burroughs, Joseph Heller, Kurt
Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, Thomas Pynchon
Postmodernism is a notoriously ambiguous term, especially as it refers to literature,

postmodernism can be seen as a response to the elitism of high modernism as well as to
the horrors of World War II. Postmodern literature is characterized by a disjointed,
fragmented mash-up of high and low culture that reflects the absence of tradition and
structure in a world driven by technology and consumerism. Julian Barnes, Don DeLillo,
Toni Morrison, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie, Alan Moore, and
Kurt Vonnegut are among many who are considered postmodern authors. T. S. Eliot,
Morrison, Shaw, Beckett, Stoppard, Fowles, Calvino, Ginsberg, Pynchon, and other
modern writers, poets, and playwrights experiment with metafiction and fragmented
poetry. Multiculturalism leads to increasing canonization of non-Caucasian writers such
as Langston Hughes, Sandra Cisneros, and Zora Neal Hurston. Postmodernism is the
reaction against Modernism. The movement‘ Modernism’ is roughly coterminous with
20thcentury western ideas about art. As we probably know, is the movement in visual
arts, music, literature, and drama which rejected the old Victorian Standards of how art
should be made , consumed, and what it should mean. Postmodernism is a complicated
term or set of ideas, one that has only emerged as an area of academic study since the mid
1980. The writers such as T. S. Eliot, Morrison, Shaw, Beckett, Stoppard, Fowles,
Calvino, Ginsberg, Pynchon, and other modern writers, poets, and playwrights
experiment with met fiction and fragmented poetry. Multiculturalism leads to increasing
canonization of non-Caucasian writers such as Langston Hughes, Sandra Cisneros, and
Zora Neal Hurston. Magic Realists such as Gabriel García Márquez, Luis Borges, Alejo
Carpentier, Günter Grass, and Salman Rushdie flourish with surrealistic writings
embroidered in the conventions of realism.
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The Beat Generation 1950s–1960s
The Beat Generation was a group of American writers in the 1950s and 1960s who
sought release and illumination though a bohemian counterculture of sex, drugs, and Zen
Buddhism. Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Allen Ginsberg
(“Howl”) gained fame by giving readings in coffeehouses, often accompanied by jazz
music.
The Modern Period (1914 – 1939)
The modern period traditionally applies to works written after the start of World War I.
Common features include bold experimentation with subject matter, style, and form,
encompassing narrative, verse, and drama. W.B. Yeats’ words, “Things fall apart; the
center cannot hold” are often referred to when describing the core tenet or “feeling” of
modernist concerns. Some of the most notable writers of this period, among many,
include the novelists James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence,
Joseph Conrad, Dorothy Richardson, Graham Greene, E.M. Forster, and Doris Lessing;
the poets W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, Wilfred Owens, Dylan
Thomas, and Robert Graves; and the dramatists Tom Stoppard, George Bernard Shaw,
Samuel Beckett, Frank McGuinness, Harold Pinter, and Caryl Churchill. New Criticism
also appeared at this time, led by the likes of Woolf, Eliot, William Empson, and others,
which reinvigorated literary criticism in general. It is difficult to say whether modernism
has ended, though we know that postmodernism has developed after and from it; for now,
the genre remains ongoing. The Modern Period contains within it certain major
movements including the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Lost Generation.
Many of these writers were influenced by World War I and the disillusionment that
followed, especially the expatriates of the Lost Generation. Furthermore, the Great
Depression and the New Deal resulted in some of America’s greatest social issue writing,
such as the novels of Faulkner and Steinbeck, and the drama of Eugene O’Neill.
The Main Characteristics of Modern Poetry
1- Modern poetry is free from traditional restrictions of rhyme and rhythm.

2- It is greatly affected by modern science and technology.
3- The modern poet is pessimistic about the future of modern man and his world.
4- Modern poetry is affected by modern political , social and economic theories.
5- In modern poetry, words are used more symbolically than literally.
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6- The language of modern poetry is that of everyday conversation. The modern poet is
speaking to his reader in an intimate tone of voice.
7- In modern poetry, man is represented as a lonely exile who is seeking his home.
What are characteristics of Modernist literature, fiction in particular?
Modernist literature was a predominantly English genre of fiction writing, popular from
roughly the 1910s into the 1960s. Modernist literature came into its own due to increasing
industrialization and globalization. New technology and the horrifying events of both
World Wars (but specifically World War I) made many people question the future of
humanity: What was becoming of the world? Writers reacted to this question by turning
toward Modernist sentiments. Gone was the Romantic period that focused on nature and
being. Modernist fiction spoke of the inner self and consciousness. Instead of progress,
the Modernist writer saw a decline of civilization. Instead of new technology, the
Modernist writer saw cold machinery and increased capitalism, which alienated the
individual and led to loneliness. (Sounds like the same arguments you hear about the
Internet age, doesn't it?) A short list of some of famous Modernist writers includes
Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, John
Steinbeck, E.E. Cummings, Sylvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Butler Yeats, Ezra
Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and Gertrude Stein. From
the above list, two specific works that epitomize Modernist literature are Faulkner's As I
Lay Dying and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.
The Irish Literary Revival
The Irish Literary Revival was an early 20th century movement in Ireland aimed at
reviving ancient Irish folklore, legends and traditions into new works of literature. The
movement was closely related to the nationalist poltics of the time and much of the
literature it produced was concerned with rediscovering Ireland's literary past in a way
that supported the struggle for Irish independence. The revival produced some of the best
plays of the 20th century in the dramas of J. M. Synge and Sean O'Casey and some of the
greatest poetry in the works of W. B. Yeats. Another of the revival's most important
achievements was the establishment of the national theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre.
This timeline is a general introduction to the historical background of the revival and is
designed for use with the Junior Certificate short course 'The Irish Literary Revival'."
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Modern Literature (1900-1961)
The term modernism refers to the radical shift in aesthetic and cultural sensibilities
evident in the art and literature of the post-World War I period. The ordered, stable and
inherently meaningful world view of the nineteenth century could not, wrote T.S. Eliot,
accord with "the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary
history”.
Modernism thus marks a distinctive break with Victorian bourgeois morality; rejecting
nineteenth-century optimism, they presented a profoundly pessimistic picture of a culture
in disarray. This despair often results in an apparent apathy and moral relativism. Causes:
Growth of science and technology, new and richer life, new inventions upsetting old
ways, became difficult to find order in life, “machine age”, developments influenced
man’s thought, human behaviour was no longer easily explainable, upheaval of ideas,
religious controls and social conventions were challenged
Major Modernist Writers :Bishop, Elizabeth (1911-1979), Eliot, Thomas Stearns

(1888-1965) Faulkner, William (1897-1962), Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896-1940),
Hemingway, Ernest (1899-1961) James, Henry (1843-1916) , Lawrence, D. H. (1885-
1930), Pound, Ezra (1885-1972) Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950), Stevens, Wallace
(1879-1955) ,Williams, Tennessee (1882-1941) ,Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941) ,Yeats,
William Butler (1865-1939)
Surrealism 1920s–1930s
Surrealism was an avant-garde movement, based primarily in France, that sought to break
down the boundaries between the rational and irrational, conscious and unconscious,
through a variety of literary and artistic experiments. The surrealist poets, such as André
Breton and Paul Eluard, were not as successful as their visually artist counterparts, who
included Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and René Magritte. Surrealism movement that
features dream sequences and images from the unconscious, often sexual in nature). At
other times, both dialogue and incidents may appear to the audience as completely
nonsensical, even farcical. However, beneath the surface the works explore themes of
loneliness and isolation, of the failure of individuals to connect with others in any
meaningful way, and of the senselessness and absurdity of life and death.
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1- The writers most commonly associated with Absurdism are Samuel Beckett, Eugene
Ionesco, ` Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter, and Edward Albee, as well as a
number of lesser known dramatists.
2- The avant-garde nature of absurdist writing contributed in part to its shortlife as a
literary movement. Features of the plays that seemed completely new and mystifying to
audiences in the 1950s when absurdist works first appeared, soon became not only
understandable, but even commonplace and predictable.
3-
Theater of the Absurd 1930–1970
The Theater of the Absurd was a movement, primarily in the theater, that responded to
the apparent illogicality and purposelessness of human life in works marked by a lack of
clear narrative, understandable psychological motives, or emotional catharsis. Samuel
Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is one of the most celebrated works in the theater of the
absurd.
The Twentienth Century

This age represented the triumph of science, invention, technology, and social
welfare. Man travelled faster and faster, farther and farther. He was able to invent
machines that do more and more of his work for him. By means of public health
services and the use of antibiotics and other new drugs he had been able to save
countless millions of lives that could have been lost in any former age. The mass of
people in Western Europe and North America were better fed, better housed, better
clothed, and better educated than they or anyone else- had ever been before. On all this,
and much more besides, the twentieth century can congratulate itself.
But there was another side to the picture. The literature of this age was
impossible to understand. This century had already witnessed the two most destructive
and terrible wars in all history. Science saved many lives; but with two thirds of the
world's inhabitants continually threatened by starvation, it had not yet found the way to
produce enough food for the tremendously rapidly increasing population of the earth. It
might had been important to travel through space to the moon and beyond, but it was
even more important to insure somehow that all the people on this planet were
adequately fed, housed, and clothed, and that they had at least chance of good health
and attaining a good education.
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In this age, three important things had happened to Britain. First she had to face
two ruinous wars. These had cost her lives, chiefly of young men, that she could ill
spare. They had also caused the destruction of much property; and in order to pay for
the wars. Britain had to relinquish many of the investments abroad that made London
the financial capital in the nineteenth century. Second, Britain had lost the dominant
position in world politics that she had during the nineteenth century and it acquired the
third place, behind the United states and the Soviet Union. And third- a gain now
instead of a loss- first through the Liberal Party, then through the Labor Party, Britain
not only had achieved full political democracy but also had raised the standard of living
and finally created as welfare state. Major writers of the Age : Joseph Conrad (1857-
1924) , James Joyce (1882– 1941), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), Aldous Leonard
Huxley (1894-1963)
Existentialism
Soren Kierkegaard was the first philosopher to actually consider that he wrote about
Existentialism. Since his time existential approaches to philosophy about life have grown
very greatly in influence and also appeared in several forms influenced by numerous
writers and thinkers. In retrospect several writers who lived before Kierkegaard are seen
as having been concerned with the same subject matter. All these earlier and later writers
works have influenced the modern world - and perhaps by more than we can know.
Existentialism is a movement in philosophy and literature that emphasizes individual

existence, freedom and choice. It is based on the view that humans define their own
meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational
universe. It focuses on the question of human existence. Existentialists refuse to belong
to any school of thought, any body of beliefs or systems, claiming them to be superficial,
academic and remote from life.
It is a reaction against traditional schools of philosophy, such

as Rationalismand Positivism, that seek to discover an ultimate order and
universal meaning in metaphysical principles or in the structure of the observed world
Existentialism originated with the 19th Century philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and
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Friedrich Nietzsche, although neither used the term in their work. In the 1940s and 1950s,
French existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre,
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960) wrote scholarly and fictional works that popularized
existential themes, such as dread, boredom, alienation, the absurd, freedom, commitment
and nothingness After World War II, some philosophers and writers saw the world as an
indifferent or place without a set of universal rules that applied to everyone. In light of
the large number of casualties and destruction, leading to create a state of sadness and
suspicion of morality, the presence of God, human values. Post-war writers in particular
found societal rules and views especially unreliable. They aimed to explore the meaning
individuals created for themselves. They were not interested in painting a rosy or
optimistic picture of the world; instead, they were willing to point out challenges that
often had no solutions.
Major Existentialist Writers : Søren, Kierkegaard, (1813-1855) /Jean-Paul Sartre,

(1905-1980) /Friedrich, Nietzsche, (1844-1900) Albert,Camus (1913-1960) de Beauvoir,
Simone (1908-1986), Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989) ,Bukowski, Charles (1920-1994),
Camus, Albert (1913-1960),Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976) ,Ionesco, Eugène (1909-
1994), Kafka, Franz (1883-1924),Kierkegaard, Søren (1813-1855), Marcuse, Herbert
(1898-1979) ,Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900), Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862),
Sartre, Paul (1905-1980)
A literary work belongs to existential literature when it contains these patterns:
1- The novel deals with complex philosophical questions such as the meaning of life
and divine justice.
2- The hero of the novel is a problematic hero, that around him -revolves the rest of
the characters and events.
3- The existential hero has a normal explicit life, and inner life that is furnished by
his imagination and the fall of ideas, the so-called stream of consciousness.
4- The existential hero is radically different from the rest of the characters. He is
engaged in many experiences.
5- He is usually brave and challenges the familiar and the common phenomena to
find the real meaning of life
6- Existential literature employ the symbol ;night and day, the desert and the forest
.All times and places have meaning not mentioned only to build the novel.
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Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Generally thought to be founder of existentialism
particularly Christian existentialism.Kierkegaard thought that the individual, the personal,
the subjective aspects of human life are the most important. Most important human
activity is decision-making: through our choices, we create our lives and become
ourselves. Kierkegaard’s most important works are pseudonymous, written under
fictional names, often very obviously fictional. The issue of pseudonymity has been
variously interpreted as a literary device.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980): internationally known philosopher, novelist, playwright.

He coined the description: Existence precedes essence. Any attempt to rationalize or
deny evil fails: an ordered universe governed by a loving, powerful God is not possible;
the universe is indifferent to us. Even the order of Nature is a delusion; nature does not
care about us.
Albert Camus (1913-1960 : Author of “existential” or “absurdist” novels: The Stranger

(1942), The Plague(1947), The Fall(1956). Coined description “absurd”: the situation in
which human beings demand that their lives should have significance in an indifferent
universe which is itself totally without meaning or purpose.
Main characteristics:
1- Preoccupation with human existence

2- Absurdity of existence
3- Limitations of reason
4- Interest in dramatic and tragic aspects of life
5- Interest in various forms of consciousness
6- Literary analysis of self-deception
7- Themes of anxiety, guilt, and solitude
8- Anguish as a universal element of life
9- Unpredictable and perversely self-destructive characters
10- Individuals bear responsibility for their actions
Notable writers outside mainstream movements
Any list of "important" names is bound to be uneven and selective. Identifying broad
movements leads to the exclusion of those who do not easily fit into schematic outlines of
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history. Writers not referred to above, but highly regarded by some readers might include
Laurence Sterne (1713- 68), author of Tristram Shandy, R.L. Stevenson (1850-94) writer
of Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Oscar Wilde (1854-
1900), author of The Importance of Being Earnest, and novelists such as Arnold Bennett
(1867-1931), John Galsworthy (1867-1933) and the Americans F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-
1940), Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961), John Steinbeck (1902-68) and J.D. Salinger (b.
1919). Two works notable not just for their literary merit but for their articulation of the
spirit of the age are Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
The American dramatist Arthur Miller (b. 1915) has received similar acclaim for his play
Death of a Salesman (1949). Miller is more popular in the UK than his native country,
and is familiar to many teachers and students because his work is so often set for study in
examinations.
Confessional poetry
An approach to poetry in which the poet employs his or her own life and feelings as
subject matter, often using verse as an outlet for powerful emotions. The attitude was a
break from the view that poetry should be impersonal, advocated by T. S. Eliot. The style
emerged in America with Robert Lowell’s volume Life Studies (1959), other
practitioners being John Berryman (1914-1972), Anne Sexton (1928-1974), and Sylvia
Plath (1932-1963)
Angry Young Men (1950s–1980s)
A group of male British writers who created visceral plays and fiction at odds with the
political establishment and a self-satisfied middle class. John Osborne’s play Look Back
in Anger (1957) is one of the seminal works of this movement.
Postcolonial Literature 1950s–present
Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over
another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. (Oxford
Dictionary) An extension of a nation’s rule over territory beyond its borders.
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Post Colonialism Theory
Postcolonial theory is a literary theory or critical approach that deals with literature
produced in countries that were once, or are now, colonies of other countries (Algeria,
Australia, India, New Zealand, Africa, and South America). It may also deal with
literature written in or by citizens of colonizing countries that takes colonies or their
peoples as its subject matter. postcolonial literature and critics examine what happens
when two cultures collide, and more specifically, when one of those cultures dominates
over and deems itself superior to the other culture. Its main aim is to trace the legacy of
colonial rule through literature and restored the accurate image of the colonized. Its
common themes are: the struggle for independence, emigration, national identity,
allegiance and childhood etc. The beginning of post colonialism’s theoretical and social
concern can be traced to the 1950s along the Indian independence, so many scholars,
writers, and critics believed that this event marked as the beginning of post colonialism
or third-world studies. Thus, It was the role of intellectuals to write back the history that
was fabricated by the westerns writers. It was crucial for intellectuals like Edward Said,
Chinua Achebe and Frantz Fanon to resist and correct the myths created by the colonial
writers. Frantz Fanon was the first missionary of post-colonial theory. Fanon said: ''we
should flatly refuse the situation to which western countries wish to condemn us.
Colonialism& imperialism had not paid their score when they withdraw their flags and
their police forced from our territories.'' In doing so, the intellectuals reclaimed for their
people and their right of self-determination in history and literature. From this, post-
colonial literature begun to emerge.
Edward Said: (1935-2003) Said could be considered the 'father' of post-colonialism.

His work, including Orientalism , focused on exploring and questioning the artificial
boundaries, or the stereotypical boundaries, that have been drawn between the East and
West.
Homi K. Bhabha: (1909-1966 ): He focuses on the issue of belonging says: that white
people ‘instead of seeing the world as a huge coat of many colours, they see it in terms of
good/bad opposites, putting themselves always at the “good” end and everyone else who
is different at the “bad” end: East/West, civilized / savage, First World/Third World,
Western liberalism/Islamic fundamentalism and on and on.. He is also a follower of
Edward Said.
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak : (24 February 1942) In her landmark essay "Can the
Subaltern Speak?", she deals with the problem of "how the third world subject is
represented within Western discourse" (Brydon 1427). She shows that even now the
powerless are unable to express themselves, and that the experiences of such groups are
inevitably distorted by the perspectives of the elite, such as academics, who are
describing them. According to her "Certain varieties of the Indian elite are at best native
informants for first world intellectuals interested in the voice of the Other. Gayatri Spivak
agrees that there is a severe need to reread European literature, having in mind that this
literature, mainly that of the 19th century, reflects imperialism, which was part of the
cultural representation of the empire.
Pantheism
The first known use of the term "pantheism" was in Latin, by the English mathematician
Joseph Raphson in his work De spatio reali, published in 1697.[24] In De spatio reali,
Raphson begins with a distinction between atheistic "panhylists" (from the Greek roots
pan, "all", and hyle, "matter"), who believe everything is matter, and Spinozan
"pantheists" who believe in "a certain universal substance, material as well as
intelligence, that fashions all things that exist out of its own essence."[25][26] Raphson
thought that the universe was immeasurable in respect to a human's capacity of
understanding, and believed that humans would never be able to comprehend it.[27]
The term was first used in English by Irish writer John Toland in his work of 1705
Socinianism Truly Stated, by a pantheist Toland was influenced by both Spinoza and
Bruno, and had read Joseph Raphson's De Spatio Reali, referring to it as "the ingenious
Mr. Ralphson's (sic) Book of Real Space".[28] Like Raphson, he used the terms
"pantheist" and "Spinozist" interchangeably.[29] In 1720 he wrote the Pantheisticon: or
The Form of Celebrating the Socratic-Society in Latin, envisioning a pantheist society
that believed, "All things in the world are one, and one is all in all things ... what is all in
all things is God, eternal and immense, neither born nor ever to perish."He clarified his
idea of pantheism in a letter to Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 when he referred to "the
pantheistic opinion of those who believe in no other eternal being but the universe.
In the mid-eighteenth century, the English theologian Daniel Waterland defined

pantheism this way: "It supposes God and nature, or God and the whole universe, to be
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one and the same substance—one universal being; insomuch that men's souls are only
modifications of the divine substance.In the early nineteenth century, the German
theologian Julius Wegscheider defined pantheism as the belief that God and the world
established by God are one and the same.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the consisting of several cultural or ethnic groups within a society. It

is the term that emerged in the 1960s in Anglophone countries in relation to the cultural
needs of non-European migrants. It means the appreciation and acceptance of multiple
cultures. In this sense, multiculturalism approximates to respect for diversity. The term
may also describe people who have more than one culture at the same time. It now means
the political accommodation by the state defined first by reference to race or ethnicity.
The countries that contained different cultural groups as a result of migration policies
contended that assimilation was either not possible or not desired for a large portion of
groups. The contemporary official policies of multiculturalism aim to manage cultural
diversity through welfare culture and social justice initiatives. The intention is to move
away from “assimilation” of migrant towards wider social acceptance of differences. So,
multiculturalism is a social ideology predicted on the belief that no system of values is
superior to any other. In recent years, multiculturalism has developed into a social
movement that encompasses political and economic viewpoints. Today, it is one of the
most controversial issues in the US. It has greatly influenced many aspects of American
life including media, economic, politics, art and literature.
Colonialism
Colonialism is a process of extension of a nation's sovereignty outside its own

boundaries. It describes the process of European settlement and political control over
other continents, including Americas, Australia, and parts of Africa and Asia.
Colonialism is a process where the social structure, government, and economics of the
colony are changed by colonists. It is a set of unequal relationships between the
colonizers and native settlers. The justification for colonialism included various factors
such as the profits from trade and the expansion of the power. For example, the use of
English in India changed many fields of life. So, English becomes a vehicle for the
expression of the local culture.
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Post-Colonialism
The term "Post-colonialism" is started after the II World War to refer to historical and
chronological period. It is the moment that colonies become independent after the
dominance of colonial rule. The literature of this period is written by writers from the
countries which were once colonized and were set free. There were 6 broad regions under
Post-colonialism, Africa, West Indies, Indian sub-continent which are called occupied
colonies; Canada, Australia and New Zealand are called settler colonies.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction, form of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from work
begun in the 1960s by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, that questions the
fundamental conceptual distinctions, or “oppositions,” in Western philosophy through a
close examination of the language and logic of philosophical and literary texts.
Deconstruction , form of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from work
begun in the 1960s by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, that questions the
fundamental conceptual distinctions, or “oppositions,” in Western philosophy through a
close examination of the language and logic of philosophical and literary texts. In the
1970s the term was applied to work by Derrida, Paul de Man, J. Hillis Miller, and
Barbara Johnson, among other scholars. In the 1980s it designated more loosely a range
of radical theoretical enterprises in diverse areas of the humanities and social sciences,
including—in addition to philosophy and literature—law, psychoanalysis, architecture,
anthropology, theology, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, political theory,
historiography, and film theory.
Early National Period
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.
Contemporary Literature
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As the 20th century ended and the 21st century began, mass social and geographic
mobility, the Internet, immigration, and globalization only emphasized the subjective
voice in a context of cultural fragmentation. Some contemporary writers reflect a drift
towards quieter, more accessible voices. For many prose writers, the region, rather than
the nation, provides the defining geography. One of the most impressive contemporary
poets is LOUISE GLÜCK1943-49 Born in New York City, Glück, the U.S. poet she
studied with poets Leonie Adams and Stanley Kunitz. Much of her poetry deals with
tragic loss. Each of Glück’s books attempts new techniques, making it difficult to
summarize her work. In Glück’s memorable The Wild Iris (1992), different kinds of
flowers utter short metaphysical monologues. The book’s title poem, an exploration of
resurrection, could be an epigraph for Glück’s work as a whole. The wild iris, a gorgeous
deep blue flower growing from a bulb that lies dormant all winter.
Platonism
Platonism is the view that there exist abstract (that is, non-spatial, non-temporal) objects
(see the entry on abstract objects). Because abstract objects are wholly non-
spatiotemporal, it follows that they are also entirely non-physical (they do not exist in the
physical world and are not made of physical stuff) and non-mental (they are not minds or
ideas in minds; they are not disembodied souls, or Gods, or anything else along these
lines). In addition, they are unchanging and entirely causally inert — that is, they cannot
be involved in cause-and-effect relationships with other objects.[1] All of this might be
somewhat perplexing; for with all of these statements about what abstract objects are
But according to platonism, 3 is different from the moon in that it is not a physical object;
it is wholly non-physical, non-mental, and causally inert, and it does not exist in space or
time. One might put this metaphorically by saying that on the platonist view, numbers
exist “in platonic heaven”. But we should not infer from this that according to platonism,
numbers exist in a place; they do not, for the concept of a place is a physical, spatial
concept. It is more accurate to say that on the platonist view, numbers exist
(independently of us and our thoughts) but do not exist in space and time.
American literature,
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American literature the body of written works produced in the English language in the
United States. Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the
history of the country that produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was
merely a group of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North American
continent—colonies from which a few hardy souls tentatively ventured westward. After a
successful rebellion against the motherland, America became the United States, a nation.
By the end of the 19th century this nation extended southward to the Gulf of Mexico,
northward to the 49th parallel, and westward to the Pacific. By the end of the 19th
century, too, it had taken its place among the powers of the world—its fortunes so
interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became involved in two world
wars and, following these conflicts, with the problems of Europe and East Asia.
Meanwhile, the rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and
feeling, wrought many modifications in people’s lives. All these factors in the
development of the United States molded the literature of the country.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) has often been called "the Father of American
Literature." He is thought of, for instance, as the first American writer to make his living
primarily through his creative work, and he is the first American acclaimed by the
English literary establishment as worthy of recognition. In effect, Irving was seen as our
literary declarer of Independence.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) is notable for his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, a
novel about adultery. Hawthorne influenced Herman Melville (1819–1891) who is
notable for the books Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. America's two greatest 19th-century
poets were Walt Whitman (1819–1892) and Emily Dickinson (1830–1886). American
poetry reached a peak in the early-to-mid-20th century, with such noted writers as
Wallace Stevens, T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Hart Crane, and E. E. Cummings.
Mark Twain (the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835–1910) was the
first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast. Henry James (1843–
1916) was notable for novels like The Turn of the Screw. At the beginning of the 20th
century, American novelists included Edith Wharton (1862–1937), Stephen Crane (1871–
1900), Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945), and Jack London (1876–1916). Experimentation
in style and form is seen in the works of Gertrude Stein (1874–1946). American writers
expressed disillusionment following WW I. The stories and novels of
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F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) capture the mood of the 1920s, and John Dos Passos
wrote about the war. Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) became notable for The Sun Also
Rises and A Farewell to Arms; in 1954, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
William Faulkner (1897–1962) is notable for novels like The Sound and the Fury.
American drama attained international status only in the 1920s and 1930s, with the works
of Eugene O'Neill, who won four Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize. In the middle of the
20th century, American drama was dominated by the work of playwrights Tennessee
Williams and Arthur Miller, as well as by the maturation of the American musical.
Depression era writers included John Steinbeck (1902–1968), notable for his novel The
Grapes of Wrath. Henry Miller assumed a unique place in American Literature in the
1930s when his semi-autobiographical novels were banned from the US. From the end of
World War II up until, roughly, the late 1960s and early 1970s saw the publication of
some of the most popular works in American history such as To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee. America's involvement in World War II influenced the creation of works
such as Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1948), Joseph Heller's Catch-22
(1961) and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). John Updike was notable for
his novel Rabbit, Run (1960). Philip Roth explores Jewish identity in American society.
From the early 1970s to the present day the most important literary movement has been
postmodernism and the flowering of literature by ethnic minority writers.
Structuralism
Structuralism is a 20th Century intellectual movement and approach to the human

sciences (it has had a profound effect on linguistics, sociology, anthropology and other
fields in addition to philosophy) that attempts to analyze a specific field as a complex
system of interrelated parts. Broadly speaking, Structuralism holds that all human activity
and its products, even perception and thought itself, are constructed and not natural, and
in particular that everything has meaning because of the language system in which we
operate. it is closely related to #Semiotics, the study of signs, symbols and
communication, and how meaning is constructed and understood.
There are four main common ideas underlying Structuralism as a general

movement:
Firstly, every system has a structure;
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Secondly, the structure is what determines the position of each element of a whole;
Thirdly, "structural laws" deal with coexistence rather than changes; and
Fourthly, structures are the "real things" that lie beneath the surface or the appearance of
meaning.
Structuralism
Structuralism is widely regarded to have its origins in the work of the Swiss linguistic
theorist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913) in the early 20th Century, but it soon came
to be applied to many other fields, including philosophy, anthropology, psychoanalysis,
sociology, literary theory and even mathematics. in the early 20th Century]
Saussure developed a science of signs based on linguistics (semiotics or semiology). He

held that any language is just a complex system of signs that express ideas, with rules
which govern their usage. He called the underlying abstract structure of a language,
"langue", and the concrete manifestations or embodiments, "parole". He concluded that
any individual sign is essentially arbitrary, and that there is no natural relationship
between a signifier (e.g. the word "dog") and the signified (e.g. the mental concept of the
actual animal). Unlike the Romantic or Humanist models, which hold that the author is
the starting point or progenitor of any text, Structuralism argues that any piece of writing
(or any "signifying system") has no origin, and that authors merely inhabit pre-existing
structures ("langue") that enable them to make any particular sentence or story ("parole"),
hence the idea that "language speaks us", rather than that we speak language.
Structuralism was also to some extent a reaction against Phenomenology in that it argued
that the "depth" of experience could in fact only be an effect of structures which are not
themselves experiential.
Although they would probably all have denied being part of this so-called
movement, the philosopher Michel Foucault, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss
(1908 - 2009), the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901 - 1981), the developmental
psychologist Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980), the linguists Roman Jakobson (1896 - 1982) and
Noam Chomsky (1928 - ), the literary critic Roland Barthes (1915 - 1980) and the
Marxist theorists Louis Althusser (1918 - 1990) and Nicos Poulantzas (1936 - 1979) were
all instrumental in developing the theory and techniques of Structuralism, most of this
development occurring in France Barthes, in particular, demonstrated the way in which
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the mass media disseminated ideological views based on its ability to make signs, images
and signifiers work in a particular way, conveying deeper, mythical meanings within
popular culture than the surface images immediately suggest (e.g. the Union jack
signifies the nation, the crown, the empire, "Britishness", etc).
By the 1960s, it had become a major force within the overall Continental Philosophy
movement in Europe, and came to take Existentialism’s pedestal in 1960s France. In the
1970s, however, it came under increasing internal fire from critics who accused it of
being too rigid and ahistorical, and for favouring deterministic structural forces over the
ability of individual people to act, and schools like Deconstructionism and Post-
Structuralism attempted to distinguish themselves from the simple use of the structural
method and to break with structuralistic thought. In retrospect, it is more these
movements it spawned, rather than Structuralism itself, which commands attention.
Post structuralism (1950-1960)
Post structuralism is a movement associated with a wave of French thinkers: Jacques

Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari and Michel
Foucault. Poststructuralists tend to see all knowledge—history, anthropology, literature,
psychology, etc., as textual. This means that knowledge is not composed just of concepts,
but of words . Post-structuralists generally assert that post-structuralism is historical, and
they classify structuralism as descriptive. This terminology relates to Ferdinand de
Saussure's distinction between the views of historical (diachronic) and descriptive
(synchronic) reading. From this basic distinction, post-structuralist studies often
emphasize history to analyze descriptive concepts. By studying how cultural concepts
have changed over time, post-structuralists seek to understand how those same concepts
are understood by readers in the present. For example, Michel Foucault's Madness and
Civilization is both a history and an inspection of cultural attitudes about madness. The
theme of history in modern Continental thought can be linked to such influences as Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals and Martin
Heidegger's Being and time.
The uncertain distance between structuralism and post-structuralism is further blurred by

the fact that scholars rarely label themselves as post-structuralists. Some scholars
associated with structuralism, such as Roland Barthes and Foucault, also became
noteworthy in post-structuralism.
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Post-structuralism emerged in France during the 1960s as a movement critiquing
structuralism. According to J.G. Merquior a love–hate relationship with structuralism
developed among many leading French thinkers in the 1960s.In a 1966 lecture "Structure,
Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences", Jacques Derrida presented a
thesis on an apparent rupture in intellectual life. Derrida interpreted this event as a
"decentering" of the former intellectual cosmos. Instead of progress or divergence from
an identified centre, Derrida described this "event" as a kind of "play." In 1967, Barthes
published "The Death of the Author" in which he announced a metaphorical event: the
"death" of the author as an authentic source of meaning for a given text. Barthes argued
that any literary text has multiple meanings, and that the author was not the prime source
of the work's semantic content. The "Death of the Author," Barthes maintained, was the
"Birth of the Reader," as the source of the proliferation of meanings of the text.The
period was marked by the student and worker rebellion against the state in May 1968,
nearly causing the downfall of the French government.
Functionalism,
Functionalism, on the other hand, proposes that consciousness could not have a basic
structure, so it would not be useful to study it from this point of view. Rather, the idea
behind functionalism is that it would be effective to study the functions and roles of the
human mind rather than its structure. Functionalism was more focused on behavior
(Goodwin, 2008).
Functionalism appeared as a reaction to structuralism, which was not accepted in

America. Psychologists like William James criticized structuralism and proposed
alternatives. James suggested that the mind and consciousness existed for a purpose,
which should be the focus of the study. He also suggested that psychology needed to be
practical rather than purely theoretical as was proposed in the structuralist approach.
Functionalism also was focused on more objective aspects rather than introspection.
James believed in consciousness, however, he could not find a scientific way to study it,
so he chose to focus on behavior, which could be studied objectively (Schultz & Schultz,
2011). With its practical approach, functionalism laid the groundwork for behaviorism, a
theory that was very focused on objective measures of human behavior and on seeing the
function rather than the structure of the human mind (Schultz & Schultz, 2011).
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Both structuralism and functionalism were important theories in their time and were
among the first formal psychological theories. Structuralism influenced the development
of experimental psychology and was a theory that began shaping psychology as a
separate field. Functionalism appeared as an answer to structuralism. It also influenced
the development of behaviorism, a theory that was very significant in psychology.
It can be said that the main difference between structuralism and functionalism is in what
they study. Structuralism studies the human mind and the basic units that can be
identified through introspection. Functionalism focuses on more objective forms of study
and argues that it’s necessary to study aspects of the mind and behavior in terms of
function. Both approaches have an important historical significance and have influenced
the development of psychology.
War Poetry
Poets have written about the experience of war since the Greeks, but the young soldier
poets of the First World War established war poetry as a literary genre. Their combined
voice has become one of the defining texts of Twentieth Century Europe. In 1914
hundreds of young men in uniform took to writing poetry as a way of striving to express
extreme emotion at the very edge of experience. The work of a handful of these, such as
Owen, Rosenberg and Sassoon, has endured to become what Andrew Motion has called
‘a sacred national text’. Although ‘war poet’ tends traditionally to refer to active
combatants, war poetry has been written by many ‘civilians’ caught up in conflict in other
ways: Cesar Vallejo and WH Auden in the Spanish Civil War, Margaret Postgate Cole
and Rose Macaulay in the First World War, James Fenton in Cambodia. In the global,
‘total war’ of 1939-45, that saw the holocaust, the blitz and Hiroshima, virtually no poet
was untouched by the experience of war. The same was true for the civil conflicts and
revolutions in Spain and Eastern Europe.
American Literature
Ralph Waldo Emerson is a key writer who popularized the Transcendentalism in 1836.
This writer lived in 1803 till 1882. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the literature by Harriet
Beecher Stowe. She was inspired by the political conflict and absolutism. Slavery is one
of the main topics in American literature. You can see the slavery narrative
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autobiography. You can check Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. It was written
by Frederick Douglass. The famous novel about adultery is The Scarlet Letter. It was
written by the famous Nathaniel Hawthorne. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the
two greatest 19th century American poets. In the beginning of 20th century, there were
many other poets who gained a lot of attention.
Mark Twain is the famous American who wrote the Adventure of Tom Sawyer. His real
name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was the American writer who was born far away
from East Coast
African literature
African literature, the body of traditional oral and written literatures in Afro-Asiatic and
African languages together with works written by Africans in European languages.
Traditional written literature, which is limited to a smaller geographic area than is oral
literature, is most characteristic of those sub-Saharan cultures that have participated in the
cultures of the Mediterranean. In particular, there are written literatures in both Hausa and
Arabic, created by the scholars of what is now northern Nigeria, and the Somali people
have produced a traditional written literature. There are also works written in Geʿez
(Ethiopic) and Amharic, two of the languages of Ethiopia, which is the one part of Africa
where Christianity has been practiced long enough to be considered traditional.
Works written in European languages date primarily from the 20th century onward. The
literature of South Africa in English and Afrikaans is also covered in a separate article,
South African literature. The relationship between oral and written traditions and in
particular between oral and modern written literatures is one of great complexity and not
a matter of simple evolution. Modern African literatures were born in the educational
systems imposed by colonialism, with models drawn from Europe rather than existing
African traditions. But the African oral traditions exerted their own influence on these
literatures. Africa is a vast continent that is home to hundreds of different peoples, all
with their own language and culture. All of these peoples have a rich collection of poems,
stories, drama, and history that has been passed down through the years through speech
and song. These oral traditions date back many centuries and make up one type of
African literature. Black Africa south of the Sahara has two distinct kinds of literature.
Traditional poetry and folklore, which were transmitted orally, date back to early days of
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various tribal cultures. Written literature emerged much later and at different times
among the diverse groups living in the region-in the 17th century in the Swahili language,
for example, in the 19th century in Xhosa, and in the 20th century in Yoruba. Most of the
written literature of sub-Saharan Africa has been produced since the 19th century.
New Historicism
New Historicism is an approach in literary theory based on the premise that a literary
work should be considered a product of the time, place, and historical circumstances of
its composition. It has its roots in a reaction to the "New Criticism" (Formal Analysis of
literature), which was seen by a new generation of professional critics as ignoring the
greater social and political consequences of the production of literary texts. New
Historicism was basically developed by the works of Stephen Greenblat.
The literature could be understood by :
1- Through its historical context
2. Construction of Cultural and Intellectual history through literature.
Symbolism
The Symbolist movement originated in France with the volume of poetry Les Fleurs du
Mal (1857) by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), and was taken up by such poets as
Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Jules Laforgue. They aimed to
break away from the formal conventions of French poetry, and attempted to express the
transitory perceptions and sensations of inner life, rather than rational ideas. They
believed in the imagination as the arbiter of reality, were interested in the idea of a
correspondence between the senses, and aimed to express meaning through the sound
patterns of words and suggestive, evocative images, rather than by using language as a
medium for statement and argument. The Symbolists were a major influence on British,
Irish, and American writers such as W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound,T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas,
e e Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and William Faulkner
Imperialism
Imperialism: (According to OED may be defined as): aggressive expansion of peoples at

the expense of the neighbors. This has been going on for years. Imperialism implies some
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sort of collective premeditation which means a policy formed at home by the imperialistic
force before launching an offensive against another nation. The Historian Solomon
Modell, “Imperialism is a policy extending a country’s power beyond its own borders for
the purpose of exploiting other lands and other peoples by establishing economic, social
and political control over them.”
Imagism
The Imagists were a group of poets who were influenced by Ezra Pound, who in turn had
been influenced by the French Symbolist poets, Japanese haiku, and the writings of the
poet and critic T. E. Hulme (1883-1917). The Imagist movement, which originated in
London and was prominent in England and America from around 1912 to 1917, was
crucial to the development of Modernist poetry. These poets aimed to free poetry from
the conventions of the time by advocating a free choice of rhythm and subject matter, the
diction of speech, and the presentation of meaning through the evocation of clear, precise,
visual images.Among the poets associated with Ezra Pound in this movement were Hilda
Doolittle, Amy Lowell, and William Carlos. Many English and American poets were
influenced by Imagism, such as D. H. Lawrence,T. S. Eliot, Conrad Aiken, Marianne
Moore, and Wallace Stevens.
Logo centrism
It is a term coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s. It refers to
the tradition of Western science and philosophy that regards words and language as a
fundamental expression of an external reality. It holds the logos as epistemologically
superior and that there is an original, irreducible object which the logos represents. It,
therefore, holds that one's presence in the world is necessarily mediated. According to
logo centrism, the logos is the ideal representation of the Platonic Ideal Form
Absurdism
Absurdism, and its more specific companion term Theatre of the Absurd, refers to the
works of a group of Western European and American dramatists writing and producing
plays in the 1950s and early 1960s. The term ‘‘Theatre of the Absurd’’ was coined by
critic Martin Esslin, who identified common features of a new style of drama that seemed
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to ignore theatrical conventions and thwart audience expectations. Characterized by a
departure from realistic characters and situations, the plays offer no clear notion of the
time or place in which the action occurs. Characters are often nameless and seem
interchangeable.
Afro-Americans
They liked the idea of the free democratic and freedom , but they did not get it . They did
not feel the same nationalism and that America is the land of freedom . They lacked the
idea of liberty . In other words , there was a racial bias . That is to say , those Africans
were slaves and therefore s they did not have deal of equality or liberty
Expressionism Movement Origin C. 1900
Expressionism arose in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a
response to bourgeois complacency and the increasing mechanization and urbanization of
society. At their most popular between 1910 and 1925, just before and just after World
War I, expressionist writers distorted objective features of the sensory world using
Symbolism and dream-like elements in their works illustrating alienating and often
emotionally overwhelmed sensibilities. Painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul
Gauguin, and Edvard Munch helped to lay the foundation for Expressionism in their use
of distorted figures and vibrant color schemes to depict raw and powerfully emotional
states of mind. Munch’s The Scream (1894), for example, a lithograph depicting a figure
with a contorted face screaming in horror, epitomized the tone of much expressionist art.
In literature, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche emphasized cultivating individual

willpower and transcending conventional notions of reasoning and morality. His Thus
Spake Zarathustra (1885), a philosophic prose poem about the ‘‘New Man,’’ had a
profound influence on expressionist thought. In France, symbolist poets such as Arthur
Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire wrote visionary poems exploring dark and ecstatic
emotional landscapes. In Germany in the twentieth century, poets such as Georg Trakl
and Gottfried Benn practiced what became known as Expressionism by abandoning
meter, narrative, and conventional syntax, instead organizing their poems around
symbolic imagery. In fiction, Franz Kafka embodied expressionist themes and styles in
stories such as
Humanism
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Humanism is an educational and cultural philosophy that began in the Renaissance when
scholars rediscovered Greek and Roman classical philosophy and has as its guiding
principle the essential dignity of man. Humanism was the intellectual movement that
informed the Renaissance, although the term itself was not used to describe this discovery
of man until the early nineteenth century. Humanist thinking came about as a response to
the scholasticism of the universities. The Schoolmen, or scholastics, valued Aristotelian
logic, which they used in their complicated method of defending the scriptures through
disputation of isolated statements. Humanists accused the scholastics of sophistry and of
distorting the truth by arguing philosophical phrases taken out of context.
Modernism and the Literature of the First Half of the 20th Century
Since the dawn of the 20th century, writers were looking for new ways of writing and
new topics. Their writings expressed their feelings about living in the modern age,
some of them wrote positively, some negatively. Their style became more complicated,
experiments were quite common. Many movements appeared; together they might be
called “modernism”.
Ezra Pound (1885–1972) was one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. He
was born in the USA but he spent a long time in Europe, he also spoke many languages.
He is one of the most complex writers in the American history. He was involved in
pioneering new styles and movements – imagism (words provoke pictures in the
reader’s mind) or vorticism. His most important work is called Cantos. T. S. ELIOT
(1888–1965) lived in Britain and wrote “The Waste Land”, a very complicated
modernist poem. E. E. CUMMINGS (1894–1962) was an experimental poet. His poems
often played with form:
The Chicago Renaissance was a movement consisting of Illinois poets. CARL
SANDBURG (1878–1967) was optimistic about America’s future; he expressed his
passion for the rhythm of a modern city in his Chicago Poems. American Literature in the
2nd Half of the 20th Century and Contemporary American Literature The authors of the
2nd half of the 20th century followed in the tradition developed by their predecessors.
More movements appeared (the Beat Generation, Hippies), ethnic writers (African-
American, Asian, Native American, Jewish) became more involved and some of the
authors may be called “post-modernist”. New topics became popular (the revolt against
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the system, ethnic and racial issues, the holocaust), new genres flourished (comic books,
fantasy novels, sci-fi, horror stories). American drama was going through its best times..
William Styron (1925–2006) was a southern writer who is best known for Sophie’s
Choice (1979). It is the story of a young Southerner Stingo who befriends a Polish
immigrant Sophie and her paranoid lover Nathan. Sophie tells him her story of having to
choose between sacrificing one or the other child in a concentration camp during WWII.
As for authors writing about war, NORMAN MAILER (1923–2007) is best known for
his novel The Naked and the Dead (1948), which takes place during WWII in the Pacific.
JOSEPH HELLER (1923–99) wrote Catch-22, a war novel taking place in the
Mediterranean50. A group of pilots is added new and new flights to their schedule instead
of being laid off.
Tennessee Williams (1914–83) wrote psychological plays. He is the author of A Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof or A Streetcar Named Desire. The latter is the tragedy of a woman raped by
her brother-in-law. It is one of the most quoted American plays ever written. ARTHUR
MILLER (1915–2005) wrote Death of a Salesman, the tragedy of a disappointed ageing
man who commits suicide to ensure his family money from his life insurance. Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by EDWARD ALBEE (1928) is another famous drama of the
period. In the 1950s, a group of non-conformist authors emerged, which is now known as
the Beat Generation. They refused to fit in the society, revolted against the
establishment, experimented with drugs and criticised consumerism. They preferred
spontaneity and travelling, San Francisco became their centre. Their literature is still
popular and inspirational for many young people.
Jack Kerouac (1922–69) wrote On the Road, which became a kind of a Bible for his
followers. It tells stories of people travelling across America. LAWRENCE
FERLINGHETTI (1919) is the best known poet of the generation, together with ALLEN
GINSBERG (1926– 1997), who wrote “Howl”, a poem expressing the beatniks’
attitudes:
Charles Bukowski (1920–94) is well known for his poems and stories full of sex,
alcohol and drugs. KEN KESEY (1935–2001) is the author of One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest, a novel taking place in a mental asylum whose patients rebel against the
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oppressing system represented by nurse Ratched. TRUMAN CAPOTE (1924–84) was a
post-modernist writer who combined fiction and non-fiction (e.g. In Cold Blood).
J.D. Salinger (1919–2010) wrote The Catcher in the Rye (1951), a short novel about a
young man leaving his university studies, disgusted with people around him
African-American Literature
African-American literature became more prominent as the struggle for human rights
intensified. They followed the so called Harlem Renaissance, a movement of black
writers (e.g. the poet Langston Hughes) from the 1920s.
James Baldwin (1924–87) was an essayist and novelist writing not only about black
people’s problems, but also about homosexuals’ problems.
Toni Morrison (1931) is famous for her novel The Bluest Eye (1970) about a black
girl who is raped by her father and becomes pregnant with him. The book criticises
black girls’ pursuit of the ideal of beauty embodied51 by white girls.

Jewish American literature draws inspiration from the painful experience of the
holocaust, but also from the Jewish spirit, traditions and humour. The main hero is often
an unlucky outsider.
Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–91) wrote Gimpel the Fool, the story of an unlucky man
who has five children without sleeping with his wife.
Bernard Malamud (1914–86) is the author of The Fixer, a book about Jews
experiencing anti-Semitism in Ukraine.
Philip Roth (1933) was accused of being anti-Semitic even though he is Jewish. He
wrote Portnoy’s Complaint, a book about a boy spied by his mother.
N. Scott Momaday (1934) is probably the best known Native American writer. He
wrote The House Made of Dawn, a non-linear novel about an Indian man who belongs
neither to his tribe nor to the majority. Asian-American (John Okada, Maxine Hong
Kingston) and Latin- American (Sandra Cisneros) writers also appeared.
New genres have become more popular in the past decades. As for sci-fi, PHILIP K.
DICK (1928–82) and RAY BRADBURY (1920–2012) are worth mentioning. The
former is the author of dystopian novels Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and A
Scanner Darkly, the latter wrote many short stories and the novel Fahrenheit 451 about
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a society where books are banned and burnt. GEORGE R.R. MARTIN (1948) is the
author of A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy books beginning with the bestselling
A Game of Thrones. STEPHEN KING (1947) is the example of modern horror fiction –
his books The Dreamcatcher, Carrie, ’Salem’s Lot, It, Misery or The Dark Tower
became hits. Teen fiction has become very popular in the past few years, The Maze
Runner by JAMES DASHNER (1972) being an example of a contemporary bestseller.
Contemporary African Writers
Chinua Achebe: One of the continent’s most widely recognized and praised writers,
Chinua Achebewrote some of the most extraordinary works of the 20th century. His most
famous work, Things Fall Apart (1958), is a devastating depiction of the clash between
traditional tribal values and the effects of colonial rule, as well as the tension between
masculinity and femininity in highly patriarchal societies. Achebe is also a noted literary
critic, particularly known for his passionate critique of Joseph Conrad’sHeart of Darkness
(1899), in which he accuses the popular novel of rampant racism through its othering of
the African continent and its people.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :Born in Nigeriain 1977, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is

part of a new generation of African writers taking the literary world by storm. Adichie’s
works are primarily character-driven, interweaving the background of her native Nigeria
and social and political events into the narrative. Her novel Purple Hibiscus (2003) is a
Bildungsroman, depicting the life experience of Kambili and her family during a military
coup, while her latest work Americanah (2013) is an insightful portrayal of Nigerian
immigrant life and race relations in America and the western world. Adichie’s works
have been met with overwhelming praise and have been nominated for and won
numerous awards, including the Orange Prize and Booker Prize.
Ayi Kwei Armah : Ayi Kwei Armah’s novels are known for their intense, powerful
depictions of political devastation and social frustration in Armah’s native Ghana, told
from the point of view of the individual. His works were greatly influenced by
Frenchexistential philosophers, such as Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, and as such
hold themes of despair, disillusionment and irrationality. His most famous work, The
Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968) centers around an unnamed protagonist who
attempts to understand his self and his country in the wake of post-independence.
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Mariama Bâ: One of Africa’s most seminal female authors, Mariama Bâ is known for
her powerful, feminist texts which address the issues of fierce gender inequality in her
native Senegal and wider Africa. Bâ herself experienced many of the prejudices facing
women: she struggled for an education in the face of her traditional grandparents, and
after her divorce from a prominent politician, was left to look after their nine children.
Her anger and frustration at the patriarchal structures which defined her life spill over
into her literature: her novel So Long A Letter(1981) depicts the simultaneous strength
and powerlessness of her protagonist within her marriage and wider society.
Nuruddin Farah Born in Somaliain 1945, Nuruddin Farah has written numerous plays,
novels and short stories, all of which revolve around his experiences of his native
country. The title of his first novel From a Crooked Rib (1970) stems from a Somalian
proverb ‘God created woman from a crooked rib, and anyone who trieth to straighten it,
breaketh it’, and is a commentary on the sufferings of women in Somalian society
through the narrative of a young woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. His subsequent
works feature similar social criticism, dealing with themes of war and post-colonial
identity.
Aminatta Forna : Born in Glasgow but raised in Sierra Leone, Aminatta Forna first drew
attention for her memoir The Devil That Danced on Water(2003), an extraordinarily
brave account of her family’s experiences living in war torn Sierra Leone, and in
particular her father’s tragic fate as a political dissident. Forna has gone on to write
several novels, each of them critically acclaimed: her work The Memory of Love (2010)
juxtaposes personal stories of love and loss within the wider context of the devastation of
the Sierre Leone civil war, and was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Nadine Gordimer : One of the apartheid era’s most prolific writers, Nadine Gordimer’s
works powerfully explore social, moral, and racial issues in a South Africa under
apartheid rule. Despite winning a Nobel Prize in Literature for her prodigious skills in
portraying a society interwoven with racial tensions, Gordimer’s most famous and
controversial works were banned from South Africa for daring to speak out against the
oppressive governmental structures of the time. Her novel Burger’s Daughter follows the
struggles of a group of anti-apartheid activists, and was read in secret by Nelson Mandela
during his time on Robben Island.
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Alain Mabanckou : Originating from the Republic of Congo, Alain Mabanckou’s works
are written primarily in French, and are well known for their biting wit, sharp satire and
insightful social commentary into both Africa and African immigrants in France. His
novels are strikingly character-focused, often featuring ensemble casts of figures, such as
his book Broken Glass, which focuses on a former Congolese teacher and his interactions
with the locals in the bar he frequents, or his novel Black Bazar, which details the
experiences of various African immigrants in an Afro-Cuban bar in Paris.
Ben Okri’s childhood was divided between England and time in his native Nigeria. His
young experience greatly informed his future writing: his first, highly acclaimed novels
Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981) were reflections on the
devastation of the Nigerian civil war which Okri himself observed firsthand. His later
novels met with equal praise: The Famished Road (1991), which tells the story of Azaro,
a spirit child, is a fascinating blend of realism and depictions of the spirit world, and won
the Booker Prize.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of Africa’s most important and influential postcolonial

writers. He began his writing career with novels written in English, which nevertheless
revolved around postcolonial themes of the individual and the community in Africa
versus colonial powers and cultures. Wa Thiong’o was imprisoned without trial for over a
year by the government for the staging of a politically controversial play; after his
release, he committed to writing works only in his native Gikuyi and Swahili, citing
language as a key tool for decolonizing the mindset and culture of African readers and
writers.
African American Literature (Black)
African American literature, a body of literature is written by Americans of African

descent. Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers
have engaged in a creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The
result is a literature rich in expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating
assessments of American identities and history.
The birth of African American literature is an evidence of the irresistible human
urge for freedom and for freedom of expression. Slavery is described as being “naturally
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and necessity” the “Enemy of literature”. Yet ironically, it provided a fertile ground for
the creation of a new literature that was produced by the oppressed and that indicted the
oppressors. These African American writers were basically African in origin and were
great story tellers long before they first appeared in 1619 in Virginia. But they are called
Afro American because of their contribution of literary work to America which focuses
on the theme of slavery and struggle for freedom. After the American Civil war, African
Americans were successful in promoting their literature in the land of United States.
This type of literature gives emphasis on the black people, their culture and
history. This literature is written by African born people who settled in America during
18th & 19th century and wrote on issues like culture, slavery, freedom and pleaded for
equality. And it was their laborious attitude and bent of mind which ultimately gave
them recognition throughout the world and today African American literature has
become an integral part of American literature.
Afro-American literature is a literature of pain and survival, of struggle for
freedom and equality and of the quest for identity. It is a literature that records their
triumphs and defeats, their fears and dreams.
Some popular African American writers are Phillis Wheatley, Gwendolyn
Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Toni Morrison Alice Walker, Jupiter Hammon, Maya
Angelou, Ralph Ellison etc.
Characteristics of African American Literature
1- African ancestors gifted their successors with oral poetry which was the most
popular form of cultural literature and it was heart touching due to its simplicity.
2- Prose is basically a slave narrative that mentioned the literature written by the
Slaves. ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas’ by Frederick Douglas is the
most revolting story about his own life written in 1845.
3- Harlem Renaissance: - It was also called New Negro Movement which bloomed
during 1920’s to 1930’s in Harlem near to New York City.
4- Harlem Renaissance was the cultural movement that helped to promote African
American dance, drama and visual art in America. Moreover, it was a social
integration of Africans all over the world that came together to revolt against the
issues like equality, racial discrimination and human rights.
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5- The Harlem Renaissance was characterized by a new spirit of achievement and
opportunity for collective creative expression by African American writers. This
was in contrast to the individual efforts by earlier literary figures. The movement
was also marked by an emphasis on the African heritage of American Blacks. Africa
was no longer perceived as a primitive land or source of shame and hatred for black
Americans. It became a symbol of Pride.The end of Harlem Renaissance was
triggered off by the Great Depression of 1929.
6- African American music has a blend of different styles of music and some other
characteristics include rap, hip hop dance.
Civil Rights Movement Era
A large migration of African Americans began during World War I, hitting its high point
during World War II. During this Great Migration, Black people left the racism and lack
of opportunities in the American South and settled in northern cities like Chicago, where
they found work in factories and other sections of the economy. This migration produced
a new sense of independence in the black community and contributed to the vibrant Black
Urban culture seen during the Harlem Renaissance. The migration also empowered the
growing American Civil Rights movement, which made a powerful impression on Black
writers during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Just as black activist were pushing to end
segregation and racism and create a new sense of Black Nationalism so too were Black
authors attempting to address these issues with their writings like Gwendolyn Brooks,
Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison.
Literature from 1970 – Present
Beginning in the 1970s, African American literature reached the main stream as
books by Black writers continually achieved best-selling and award winning status. This
was also the time when the work of African American writers began to be accepted by
academia as a legitimate genre of American literature.
As part of the larger Black Arts Movement, which was inspired by the Civil
Rights and Black Power Movements, African American literature began to be defined
and analyzed. A number of scholars and writers are generally credited with helping to
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promote and define African American literature as a genre during this period, including
fiction writers Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and poet James Emanuel etc.
Amiri Baraka (1934-2014):-Well known as LeRoi Jones. He was Afro-American
writer of poetry, drama, fiction essays and music criticism. Early in his career, with the
publication in 1960 of his collection of poems entitled Preface to a Twenty Volumes
Suicide Note- followed by The Dead Lecturer (1964) Black Art (1966) Black Magic:
Poetry 1961-67(1969) and its Nation Time (1970) he established his character themes of
distrust and hatred towards the Caucasian world. By the publication in 1972 of Spirit
Reach, Leroi Jones had become Imamu Amiri Baraka was well established as the
leading black militant of the world of the poetry, but he was also establishing himself as
a playwright, in addition, he had written a novel and a collection of short stories. He
was inspired more scholarship since 1973 than any other black poet in the U.S. His
earliest work was line-phrased prose, and as he matured he sometimes treated prose in
the manner of Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg, writing in grammatical parallels.He
was deeply influenced and associated with the Black Mountain School, in particular by
the poetry and preachments of its founder, Charles Olson. His novel The System of
Dante’s Hello (1966) was followed by a collection of short stories entitled “Tales”
(1967). In addition, he has published or produced over three dozen plays, including A
Good Girl is Hard to Find (1958), The Slave (1964), A Black Mass (1966) The Death of
Malcolm X (1969), Four Black Revolutionaries Plays (1971) and Black power Chant
(1972). He has also written non-fiction includes Blues People: Negro Music in White
America (1963) A Black Value System (1970) and The Music: Reflection on Jazz and
Blues written with his wife, Amina Baraka.
Toni Morrison :-( 1931-present) She stood among the top popular novelists in the U.S.
She was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993.
She has carved a niche for herself in the African history being the first winner of the
most prestigious prize. Her original name was Chloe Anthony Wofford. She got
extreme popularity for her first novel “The Bluest Eye” (1970) which presents a
sympathetic story of a little girl Pecola Breedlove who was raped by her father under
the influence of alcohol. The victim Pecola was hated by the white society as an ugly
and black girl. The novel is narrated by Claudia McTeer.
In the whole story, we found Pecola kept on asking her father if she would have
white skin with blue eyes. The writer, Toni Morrison arose many sensitive questions in
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the novel about race, child molestation and human rights in the society.
Among her most famous novels, “Beloved” (1987) tells the story of a slave who
found freedom but killed her infant daughter to save her from a life of slavery. This
novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. Another important novel is “Song of
Solomon” (1977) a tale about materialism and brotherhood.
Her next novel “Sula” was published in 1973. In Tar Baby (1981) the violence is
psychological rather than physical. Her most recent fiction are Jazz (1992), Paradise
(1997-98) Love (2003), A Mercy (2008) and Home (2012).
Canadian Literature
Canada is the second largest country on the basis of total area and fourth largest country
on the basis of land area. Aboriginals have inhabited the land of Canada. These are the
people who are in the boundaries of present day Canada. Canada was formed as feudal
dominion of four provinces. It officially became a country on July 1st 1867. It has two
official language- French and English. Their charter allows bilingualism and both the
languages have equal rights in parliament and other societies. But if compared English
is more dominate. Most of the citizens command over English, little less on French and
very few on both the languages. Quebec, one of the cities of Canada has 85% French
speaking people and had been given status of official language of this place whereas in
Ontario, another city of Canada also has some French speaking people but not fully
official besides some legal rights.
Literature in Canada is divided into two parts- one part is deeply rooted in
cultures and traditions of France and the other part is in England.
Canadian Perspective: Canadian writers mainly focus on- nature, frontier life
and Canada’s position in the world. Cultural and ethnic diversity can be found in its
literature.
The Canadian Literary Canon

The Canadian Literature in English is one of the most virile new literatures, and
that it has come of age. Its virility is due to its traditions and a canon . the making of a
Canadian literature, as is evident from the history of the Canadian nation, must have
been an exceptionally difficult process. Canadian tradition has had to emerge out of the
English, French and American influences. These influences, rich but diverse in nature,
represented three different varieties of literary heritage.
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Specialty/Features/Traits of Canadian Literature
1. Failure: Writers used to write such themes which used to fail in the market. Failure
and futility both feature in the works of Canadian Literature.
Eg.‘Not Wanted on the Voyage’- Timothy Findley
‘ KaKamouraska’- Anne Herbert
2. Humour: Serious subject was often blended with humour.

3. Mild Anti-Americanism: Canadian writers were not satisfied with what Americans
were doing. Sometimes they perceived malicious rivalry and sometimes friendly
that is why it is said with the term ‘mild’.
4. Multiculturalism: After the world war 2, writers used this theme
Authors and Poets of Canadian Literature:

Michael Odantjee: He is a Sri-Lankan born Canadian poet and novelist. His most
famous work is The English Patient (1992) for which he got the Booker Prize. The
English Patient: This story runs around four dissimilar people who brought together to an
Irish villa during an Italian campaign of World War II.
Margaret Laurence (1926-1987): Her most important achievement is the ‘Manawaka’

sequence, five works set in a financial Canadian small town and dealing largely with the
lives of women: The Stone Angel (1964),A Jest of God (1966), The Fire Dwellers (1969),
A Bird In The House (short stories, 1970) and The Diviners (1974), the most impressive
volume. She also published several books about Africa, personal essays, a non fictional
account of her life in Somaliland and an autobiographical memoir.
Susana Moodie (1803-1805): A poet, essayist and a novelist. She emigrated to Canada in
1832. Her most enduring works are Roughing It in the Bush: or, Life in Canada (1852)
and Life in the Clearings versus the Bush (1853).
Catherine Parr Traill (1802-1899):She wrote children’s literature and her most
enduring works grew out of her pioneering days: The Backwoods of Canada (subtitled
“Letters from the wife of an Emigrant Officer, Illustrative of the Domestic Economy of
North America’, 1836). An accomplished naturalist, she published several books on
Canadian wildlife.
Agnes Strickland (1796-1874): She is a writer of miscellaneous works. She wrote
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poetry’s on children’s literature before turning eventually to the short popular biographies
for which she is remembered. The Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman
Conquest (1840-8) and The Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses
(1850-9).
Australian Literature
Australian Literature and its Literary Canon have emerged and established themselves
well in and outside Australia. A.D. Hope , the foremost Australian poet, wrote that “in the
nineteen thirties… the very existence of a national literature was hardly recognized “ and,
referring to the American critic Hartley Gratton, he pointed out that there was no canon
available to evaluate Australian writing. It would be quite pertinent to mention in this
context that Australia does not have a Northrop Frye or a Margaret Atwood who helped
the Canadian canon take a definite shape. The emergence of the critical canon in
Australia was not, therefore, as remarkable as it was in Canada but the Australian was
not, therefore, as remarkable as it was in Canada but the Australian poet-critics definitely
left their mark on the development of the critical canon.
The criterion to judge what constitutes the Australian literature may be quite difficult or
misleading. It's necessary that Australian writer must be Australian born, but we have
successful writers who are considered but were born elsewhere. Like – Michael Wilding,
Victor Kelleher and Yasmine. Is an Australian writer one whose works are inspired by
local scenes? Australian Literature need not necessarily be concerned with the chosen
theme or birthplace of the writer, or even locality in which the author happens to have
been living at the time of writing. Like all literatures Australian literature is dynamic and
it is the response of creative writers to the condition of the people in Australia.
The women writers of Australia have produced sufficient work of merit and thereby got
worldwide attention. The tradition of Realism offers women writers to exploit female
experiences and therefore they have shown their concern with some vital problems like
the rural exploitation of black Women by White men. Some writers even portrayed the
areas which are very close to their hearts like marriage and their position in society. Some
of them are Germaine Greer who wrote "The Female Eunuch" and "The Change"; Kate
Millett (American) "Sexual Politics"
The Australian Literary scene is dominated by fiction "Longleg" by Glenda Adams were
is also a former winner of Mill Franklin Award, is a survivor story of a boy a banded by
his mother. The boy goes on searching for her all his life. The West Australian "Tim
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Winton" has been recognized as an Australian's enthralling prince of fiction and the story
is the tale of two battling families sharing an old house. Timminton made his debut with
an impressive novel "An Open Seminar". "The Great World" is a powerful novel by
David Malouf, Australia's prominent literary figure. In this novel a friendship develops
between two persons of war despite their early antipathy and their contrasting life as
civilians. The latest novel of Nicholas Hassluck – "The country Without Music" is
subtitled "a novel" which let us knew about the decline and fall of an autocratic
administrator. Peter Caery's new novel The Tax Inspector is short and the novel is easy to
read. It is a story of the "Catehprise family" who was an outer suburban Sidney car
Dealership. The novel's action is contained after the Catehpuc's get a visit from a Tax
Inspector. He is considered to be meet Australian contender for Nobel Prize. Australian
Literature began after the settlement of the colonies by the Europeans. The common
theme includes – identity alienation exile, settlers and Colonization.
The first Novel of Australia is Quintus Servinton; A Tale founded upon
Incidents of Real occurrence, was written and published in Tasmania in 1831 by Henry
Savery. He began writing the novel in his prison cell. Which largely is autobiographical
– it’s a story of what happens to a well educated man from a relatively well to do
family, who was sentenced to be hanged for passing forged cheques. It is also the
subject of an award winning Australian author – Ron Howard's latest book "A Forger's
Tale: The Extraordinary Story of Henry Savery". In 1838 "The Guardian: A Tale" by
Anna Maria Bunn was published in Sidney. It is the first Australian novel printed and
published in mainland and the first Australian novel written by a women. It is a Gothic
Romance.
Poetry played an important part in the making of Australian literature. Henry Lawson,
son of a Norwegian sailor, born in 1867, was widely recognized as Australia's poet of the
people and in 1922, became the first Australian writer to be honored with a state funeral.
Two other well distinguished poets are Christopher and Brannan and Adam Lindsay
Gordon. Who was once referred to as "The National Poet" and is the only Australian with
a monument in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey in England. Some of the other
prominent Australian poets of 20th century are A.D. Hope, Judith Wright, Gwen
Harwood, Kenneth Slessor, Les Murray, Robert Gray, John Forbes, John Tranter, Judith
Beveridge. Most of the contemporary Australian literature is published by small,
independent book publishers. One of the major publishing company is Red Room
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Company. From 1830s a lot of distinctive poetic voices began to emerge and among them
are Charles Harpur who was regarded as country's leading poet who wrote of the solitude
and grandeur of a landscape. Henry Kendel was very much like Harpur and became the
first Australian port to draw his inspiration from the life, landscape and tradition of
Australia and its influence on human beings. George Gordon McCrae incorporated
aboriginal themes into his poetry. Adam Lindsay Gordon with his Bush Ballad's and
Galloping Rhyme's (1870) revitalized the traditional ballad form by infusing it with bush
themes
A.D. Hope and Judith Wright were seen as the giants of post – war poetry in Australia.
Hope wrote about love, faith and spirituality. Judith Wright was the first white Australian
poet to publicly name and explore the experiences of its indigenous people
David Malouf's first poetry collection in 26 years, 'Typewriter Music' was released at
the Sydney Writers Festival in June 2007, selling out 3000 copies in 3 days. Other
leading contemporary poets include: Les Murray, John Tranter, Fay Zwicky, Billy
Marshal, Bobby Sykes and Samuel Wagon Wattson
Indian Literature
In the 20th century, several Indian writers have distinguished themselves not only in
traditional Indian languages but also in English, a language inherited from the British. As
a result of British colonization, India has developed its own unique dialect of English
known as Indian English. Indian English typically follows British spelling and
pronunciation as opposed to American, and books published in India reflect this
phenomenon. Indian English literature, however, tends to utilize more internationally
recognizable vocabulary then does colloquial Indian English, in the same way that
American English literature does so as compared to American slang.
The only Nobel laureate of India was the Bengali Writer in literature
was the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote some of his work originally in
English, and did some of his own English translations from Bengali. Some of the most
contemporary novelists of all-time are Chetan Bhagat, Manjiri Prabhu and Ashok
Banker, Nikita Singh, Durjoy Dutta. The major writers in English who are either Indian
or of Indian origin and have devoted much of their inspiration from Indian themes are
R. K. Narayan, Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Raja Rao, Amitav
Ghosh, Rohinton
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Mistry, Vikram Chandra, Mukul Kesavan, Raj Kamal Jha, Vikas Swarup, Khushwant
Singh, Shashi Tharoor, Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Ashok Banker,
Shashi Deshpande, Arnab Jan Deka, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kamala Markandaya, Gita Mehta,
Manil Suri, Manjiri Prabhu, Ruskin Bond, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Bharati
Mukherjee. In category of Indian writing in English is poetry. Rabindranath Tagore wrote
in Bengali and English and was responsible for the translations of his own work into
English. Other early notable poets in English include Henry Derozio, Michael
Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, and
her brother Harindranath Chattopadhyay.
Shobha De - Popular Indian columnist and novelist started her career as a model. The
present day flamboyance writer, editor for magazine likes Stardust, has too many good
reads to her name. Her famous column 'Politically Incorrect' beautifully and explicitly
explained the harsh realities of life. The blunt style of writing attracted the masses and
made her a respected writer. Strange obsessions, Starry nights and Second thoughts are
some from her huge pandora.
R K Narayan - The great Indian writer known best for his fictional South Indian work,
Malgudi. The novel was televised to Malgudi Days, which again ran on top of television
charts for long. His greatest achievement came with works that made India accessible to
the world. The simplicity of language and the art of story-telling came to life. He novel-
based movies and writings individually taught us simple things in life, taught us how to
read an engrossing-story.
Khushwant Singh - The Indo-Anglian writer, politician, lawyer has a mixed bag of
talents. He is best known for his secularism, humor and poetry. Awarded with several
laurels, this self-proclaimed agnostic brought the aspects of spirituality to human-life.
Things which can't be seen and believed and only aesthetically existed.
Kiran Desai : Kiran Desai is one of the best expat writers in India. She is the one who
gives popularity in Fictions in writing. She is the daughter of Anita Desai, another well-
known author. She was the author of 2006 Man Booker prize winning book The
Inheritance of Loss which also National Book Critics circle fiction award. She was born
on September 3, 1971. Her notable works are The Inheritance of Loss, Hullabaloo in the
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guava orchard. She is also awarded Berlin Prize Fellowship at American Academy in
Berlin in the year 2013.
Preethi Shenoy : Preethi is one of the best Indian authors and she also nominated in
Forbes list of 100 most influential Celebrities in India since 2013. She received so much
praise for her books from various mass media. She was born on 21st December 1971. Her
notable works are It’s all in the plants, It happens for a reason, The one you cannot have,
and The secret wish list.
Ashwin Sanghi : Ashwin Sanghi is one of the renowned writers in the genre of fiction-
thriller. He wrote his books based some of the mythological and historical themes. He is
one of the authors who retelling India’s History in Modern Manner. His notable works
are three best-selling books such as The Rozabal Line, The Krishna Key, and Chanakya’s
chant.
Rashmi Bansal : Rashmi is one of the best writers in Nonfictional literature. Her books
are mainly based on the entrepreneurship to provide good encouragement to youth man
and woman. She is the author of Stay Hungry; Stay Focused was the record breaking
Indian Nonfictional book with the sales of over 5 lakh copies. Her other notable works
are Connected the Dots, I have a Dream, Fellow Every Rainbow, and Take Me Home.
Vikram Seth : Vikram Seth is one of the great writers both in writing Novel and poetry.
He was born on 20th June by 1952. He received many awards for his works such as
Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Awards, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and Crossword Book
Award. His Notable works are The Golden Gate, A suitable Boy, An Equal Music and
Ravinder Singh : Singh is one of the youngest writers in India. He was the author of five
novels, namely I Too Had a Love Story, Can Love happens Twice, Your Dreams Are
Mine Now, This Love Feels Right Now, and Like It happened yesterday. He was Born on
the 4th of February 1982 in a Sikh family at Kolkata. He received good reviews for his
Novel I too had a Love story, which was based on his real life story about his love. He
wrote this novel after his girlfriend died in an accident before their engagement.
Anita Desai : Anita Desai is one of the best Indian Novelist. She received numerous
awards for her work on Novels. She was born in Missouri to a German Mother, Toni
Nime and a Bengali Businessman D. N. Mazumdhar on 24th of June 1937. She was
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shortlisted for Pulitzer prize for three times. Her novel Fire on the Mountain won her a
prestigious Sahitya Academy award. Her 1984 novel In Custody was later released as a
film under the same name. Her notable works are The Zigzag Way, In Custody, The
village by the Sea, and Clear Light of Day. She also received the Parma Bhutan from
Indian Government in the year 2014.
Salman Rushdie : Salman Rushdie is one of the best and most controversial writers
based in British India. He was born on 19th of June 1947. He won the Booker Prize in
1981 for his book Midnight’s Children. His book Satanic Verses creates major
controversy among the Muslims and he even receives death threat from all over the
world. He was elected as Fellow in Royal Society of Literature. His notable works are
Grimus, Shame, Fury, Shalimar The Crown, and Two Years Twelve Months and Twenty-
Eight Days.
Nobel laureate Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul is one of the most controversial and
prolific writers of the twentieth century. He was born in rural Chaguanas, Trinidad, on
August 17, 1932, a third generation West Indian of East Indian descent. His grandfather,
a Brahmin Hindu, was one of the North Indian immigrants who arrived in Port of Spain
as an indentured laborer in the latter half of the nineteenth century. As Naipaul's link with
India weakened with the passage of time, he sought a sense of belonging in the Western
literary tradition. His father, Seepersad Naipaul, shaped Naipaul's literary ambitions
significantly. A reporter for the Trinidad Guardian, and a short-story writer as well,
Seepersad provided the first models for his son's literary and journalistic interests.
Indian Diaspora
A Diaspora is a large group of people with a similar heritage or homeland who have since
moved out to places all over the world. The term diaspora comes from an ancient Greek
word meaning "to scatter about." And that's exactly what the people of a diaspora do —
they scatter from their homeland to places across the globe, spreading their culture as
they go. The Bible refers to the Diaspora of Jews exiled from Israel by the Babylonians.
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But the word is now also used more generally to describe any large migration of refugees,
language, or culture. When we speak of the Indian Diaspora we mean Indians settled in
England, America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Similarly one can discuss the Caribbean
Diaspora to England, Canada and France. Diaspora studies also became an academic
discipline. In literature too the text composed of such displacement constitutes the
Diaspora Literature
Characteristic Features of Diaspora Literature:
1- Displacement:
2- *Multicultural identities:
3- Diaspora and Utopia:
4- Hybridity:
Writers of the Indian diaspora have been fairly centrestage in the last decade primarily
because of the theoretical formulations which are now being generated by the critiquing
of their work and the growing interest in cultural studies. Language and cultures are
transformed as they come into contact with other languages and cultures. Diaspora
writing raises questions regarding the definitions of 'home' and 'nation'. Schizophrenia
and/or nostalgia are often the preoccupations of these writers as they seek to locate
themselves in new cultures. It becomes important to question the nature of their
relationship with the work of writers and literatures of the country of their origin and to
examine the different strategies they adopt in order to negotiate the cultural space of the
countries of their adoption. The essays in the present address these and many more
questions perceptively, critically, and with compassion. The contributors are both from
India and abroad, both Indians and non-Indians and hence the work represents
perspectives located in different cultures.
Caribbean Literature Many—perhaps most—West Indian writers have found it

necessary to leave their home territories and base themselves in the United Kingdom, the
United States, or Canada in order to make a living from their work—in some cases
spending the greater parts of their careers away from the territories of their birth. Critics
in their adopted territories might argue that, for instance, V. S. Naipaul ought to be
considered a British writer instead of a Trinidadian writer, or Jamaica Kincaid and Paule
Marshall American writers, but most West Indian readers and critics still consider these
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writers "West Indian". West Indian literature ranges over subjects and themes as wide as
those of any other "national" literature, but in general many West Indian writers share a
special concern with questions of identity, ethnicity, and language that rise out of the
Caribbean historical experience. One unique and pervasive characteristic of Caribbean
literature is the use of "dialect" forms of the national language, often termed creole.
Caribbean Literature
Caribbean literature is the term generally accepted for the literature of the various
territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English specifically from the former
British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts,
West Indian literature, although in modern contexts the latter term is rare.
European History and Literature
The history and literature of Continental Europe has been a specialty of the Newberry
since its beginning, but like many other such broad fields, there are particular areas of
great strength and others that are less well developed.
In general, materials concerning Central and Western Europe from the fourteenth century
to the end of the Napoleonic era are in scope for the library. Italy, France, and Germany
are best represented. The Spanish and Portuguese collections tend to emphasize the
imperial experiences of those countries but include major literary works, religious
history, and pamphlets in abundance. There are significant but less extensive collections
for Switzerland, Austria, the Low Countries, and some other areas. Literature and cultural
history are strongest, including politics, theology, Romance and Germanic philology,
education, and the classics. Philosophy, fine arts, architecture, law, and the natural
sciences are more unevenly included, though the library owns many important individual
works in these fields. In recent years, we have added only original sources in their
original form, reference guides, bibliographies, textual editions, and a select number of
monographs. The retrospective collections are also strong in monographs and scholarly
periodicals..
European Writers
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Eddie Izzard. : French writers and journalists sometimes use a metaphor to designate the
language of other European countries. English is then the language of Shakespeare,
German, the language of Goethe, Italian the language of Dante or Dutch the language of
Vondel. All these expressions refer to national literature heroes, which build the basis of
a culture, a history and a nation. Europe is not the harmonization of all those cultural
inheritance, but the full recognition of this diversity into a common and rich patrimony.
Most of the writers below are thus not only of national importance, but also of European
meaning to express what the humankind has done best on this continent.
Portugal Luís de Camões – Os Lusíadas Os Lusíadas, translated in English as The

Lusiads, is regarded as the best Portuguese piece of literature. His writer Luís Vaz de
Camões (c. 1524 – 1580) became the major figure of Portuguese culture all over the
world. Os Lusíadas is an epic and lyrical poetry in the vein of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
interpreting the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Spain Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes (1547 – 1616) left to
Spanish culture its most prominent masterpiece, in the name of Don Quixote. Fully
entitled as The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, Cervantes’ emblematic
work of Western literature is considered as the first modern novel. The story depicts an
idealist dreamer who feels himself as a modern knight.
France Molière – Tartuffe – L’Avare –Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme – L’école de

femmes Actually, there is not in the theater plays of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by
his stage name Molière (x – 1673), a major play more famous than another. The greatest
master of comedy in Western literature wrote 33 plays from which almost the half bears a
peculiar influence on French culture.
Iceland Hallgrímur Pétursson – Passíusálmar The most influential work of literature in

Iceland is without doubt the Passíusálmar, translated in English as the Passion Hymns.
Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 – 1674), a famous poet, priest and minister in Hvalfjörður,
wrote a collection of 50 poetic texts exploring the Passion narrative, from the point where
Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemane to his death and burial.
Ireland Thomas Moore – Irish Melodies : The poet, singer and songwriter Thomas
Moore (1779 – 1852) is an Irish literature hero. He composed the Irish Melodies
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containing the prominent song The Minstrel Boy and poem The Last Rose of Summer.
The song in particular became famous in Ireland, as it was sung during the United States
Civil War and the World War I
United-Kingdom : William Shakespeare – Hamlet – Othello – Macbeth – Romeo and

Juliet World’s most renowned dramatist William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) became
England’s national poet after the success of his renowned tragedies Hamlet, Othllo,
Macbeth or even more Romeo and Juliet. There are still a lot of controversies on his life
and on the possibility that some of his works were written by others.
Norway Henrik Wergeland – Mennesket After “Four Hundred Years of Darkness”

according to Ibsen’s sentence, during which Norway was a part of Denmark, the rebirth
of Norwegian Literature was to be found in the works of Henrik Wergeland (1808 –
1845), a poet known for his Magnum opus Mennesket (meaning “Man”),who was
remodeled from his previous work Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messias (“Creation, Man
and the Messiah”). This poem depicts the history of Man and God’s plan for humanity,
through the character of Stella, the embodiment of the writer’s ideal love.
Swede Carl Michael Bellman – Fredmans epistlar – Fredmans sånge : Carl Michael
Bellman (1740 – 1795) is certainly the most influential poet and composer of Sweden.
His main work is undoubtedly the Fredmans sånger (“Songs of Fredman”), a collection of
65 poems and songs, and the Fredmans epistler (“Epistles of Fredman”). His texts, often
comical in their description of Stockholm, were always tackling the tragic dimension of
human being with topics such as drunkenness, prostitution, illness and death.
Finland Johan Ludvig Runeberg – Fänrik Ståls sägne : The national poet of Finland
Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 -1877) wrote in Swedish. His main literature work Fänrik
Ståls sägner (in English, “The Tales of Ensign Stål”) is regarded as the greatest Finnish
epic poem dealing with the Finnish War of 1808–09 with Russia. This conflict resulted in
the incorporation of the Grand Duchy of Finland into the Russian Empire.
Denmark Adam Oehlenschläger – Hakon Jarl Død Adam Oehlenschläger (1779 –

1850) is a central figure of Danish literature and was crowned in 1829 as the “King of
Nordic poetry”. His masterpiece is certainly his first tragedy entitled Hakon Jarl Død,
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who was the de facto ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995 . He is also the writer of the
Danish national anthem Der er et yndigt land.
Joost van den Vondel – Joannes de Boetgezant : The greatest Dutch poet and literature
hero is to be found in the 17th century. Joost van den Vondel (1587 – 1679) wrote many
famous playwrights, such as Lucifer or Adam in Ballingschap but his prominent writing
was the epicJoannes de Boetgezant which tells the history of John the Baptist. This play
is still frequently performed.
Belgium Maurice Maeterlinck – L’Oiseau bleu The Belgian playwright, poet and
essayist Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 – 1949) was a prominent figure of Belgian
Symbolism. He was awarded in 1911 the Nobel Prize of Literature. His renowned drama
L’Oiseau bleu (‘The Blue Bird’) was first performed in 1909 and has been turned since
into several films and a TV series. It tells the story of Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl
seeking happiness, represented by The Blue Bird of Happiness, aided by the good fairy
Bérylune.
Some of the Major Schools of Literary Theory include :
Schools of Criticism
1- Structuralism Originated in the early 1900s and arose out of the fields of
anthropology, sociology, psychology, and literary criticism. Structuralism is all about
trying to look at literature with scientific objectivity. Literature is seen as a system
with a structure that can be studied. In this way of looking at narratives, the author
becomes less important and the text is seen as the function of a system, not of an
individual. Structuralism argues that no piece of writing is original, and that every
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text, and every sentence we speak or write, is made up of the "already written." Since
structuralism examines underlying structure, a structuralist would note that West
Side Story has the same structure as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.-- Ferdinand de
Saussure, Noam Chomsky, Roman Jakobson, Jacques Lacan.
2- Formalism Began in Russia in the 1920s and 1930s, as a reaction against

interpreting texts by considering their historical circumstances or intentions of the
author. Formalism flourished in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s and is
still popular today. Formalists study the form of the work rather than the content.
They focus on the features of the text itself rather than on its creation or its reception.
3- New Criticism (a type of formalism) An American approach to criticism that

reached its height in the 1940s and 1950s. It advocates a close reading of the text
itself and rejects criticism based on extrinsic information. New Critics see the text as
complete with in itself and not dependent on its relation to the author's life, intent, or
history. Weaknesses: Ignores diversity Ignores fact that literature can be important
represents values that a segment of the culture believes are important, or because it
can help us understand our history. Ignores fact that context is just as important as
form to understanding a work.
4- Psychoanalytic Criticism Originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst

Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. His theories are
concerned with the unconscious mind. After 1950, psychoanalytic critics began to
emphasize the ways in which authors create works that appeal to readers' repressed
wishes and fantasies. Consequently, they shifted their focus away from the author's
psyche toward the psychology of the reader and the text.
5- Marxist Criticism A type of criticism in which literary works are viewed as tainted
products of exploited labor. Marxist critics look at the role of class, ideology, and
revolutionary thought as reflected in texts. They are concerned more with the
historical context than hidden meanings.--Terry Eagleton, Karl Marx, Friedrich
Engels.
6- Reader-Response Criticism Arose in the 1960s as a reaction against New Criticism,

which ignores the role of the reader in determining the meaning of a text. Reader-
response criticism suggests that a text is given meaning by the reader and that the
reader "co-authors" the text by the act of reading and interpreting it. It is similar to
new historicism in that it values the reader. However, unlike new historicist critics,
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reader-response critics are not interested in exploring the writer's intentions. It is the
total opposite of formalism and new criticism, text-oriented theories in which don't
take the reader's role interpreting literary works into account.--Norman Holland,
Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser, Hans-Robert Jauss, Roland Barthes, Louise Rosenblatt,
C.S. Lewis.
7- Deconstruction a critical approach that debunks single definitions of meaning based

on the instability of language. It "is not a dismantling of a structure of a text, but a
demonstration that it has already dismantled itself."
8- Post-structuralism began in France but became popular in the United States in the
mid-to late 1960s. It arose as a reaction against structuralism and the belief that
language can represent logical, finite truths. The goal of poststructuralists is to show,
by examining texts, that truth is resistant to scientific methodology. Poststructuralists
see 'reality' as fragmented, diverse, and tenuous Since we live in a linguistic universe,
and linguistic sis made up of symbols, we can only speak of only what we have
symbols (language) for. So, there is a limit to knowledge and it is impossible to
arrive at final theories or final truths. --Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Jacques
Derrida, Louis Althusser.
9- Feminist Criticism America, 1970s. Goals: to examine how female characters are
portrayed in literature to expose the patriarchal ideology implicit in the literary canon
to increase awareness of sexual politics in language to uncover the female tradition
of writing (which may include rediscovering old texts) to study writings by women
to find out how women writers across the ages have perceived themselves. However,
feminists of color, third wave feminists, postcolonial feminists, and lesbian feminists
stress that women are not defined solely by the fact that they are female. Other
factors, such as religion, class, and sexual orientation, are also important, and make
the problems and goals of one group of women different from those of another.--
Isobel Armstrong, Nancy Armstrong, Barbara Bowen, Jennifer DeVere Brody, Laura
Brown, Margaret Anne Doody, Eva Figes, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Gayatri
Spivak, Judith Butler, Toril Moi, Lisa Tuttle.
10- Queer Theory A paradigm that proposes that categories of sexual identity are
social constructs and that no sexual category is fundamentally either deviant or
normal; this paradigm emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects as
restrictive the idea of innate sexual identity.
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11- New Historicism also called "Contextualism," developed in the 1980s and was
popular in the 1990s. A reaction against the new criticism, it focuses on a work's
historical content and the relationship between the text and other factors, such as the
author's life or intentions in writing the work. New historicism was influenced by the
poststructuralist and reader-response theories of the 1970s and by the feminist and
Marxist critics of the 1980s.
12- Postcolonial Criticism Type of cultural criticism that involves the analysis of
literary texts produced in countries that have come under the control of European
colonial powers at some point in their history. Postcolonial criticism focuses on the
way in which the colonizing First World invents false, stereotypical images of the
Third (postcolonial) World to justify its exploitation. Postcolonial critics look at the
literature that arises after the colonizer has left as its victims grapple with the
consequences of having been exploited. Common themes: rape metaphor (J.M.
Coetzee's Disgrace), racial self-hatred, the struggle to resurrect native
culture/folklore. -- Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, Frantz Fanon, Homi K. Bhabha,
Chinua Achebe.
Critical Approaches to Literature
There are nine Critical Approaches of Literature & it's criticism that follows as:
Deconstruction is a school of literary criticism that suggests that language is not a

stable entity, and that we can never exactly say what we mean. Therefore, literature
cannot give a reader any one single meaning, because the language itself is simply too
ambiguous. Deconstructionists value the idea that literature cannot provide any outside
meaning; texts cannot represent reality. Thus, a deconstructionist critic will deliberately
emphasize the ambiguities of the language that produce a variety of meanings and
possible readings of a text.
Feminist criticism tries to correct predominantly male-dominated critical perspective
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with a feminist consciousness. This form of criticism places literature in a social context
and employs a broad range of disciplines, such as history, psychology, sociology, and
linguistics, to create a perspective that considers feminist issues. Feminist theories also
attempt to understand representation from a woman’s point of view and analyze
women’s writing strategies in the context of their social conditions.
Marxist criticism is a strongly politically-oriented criticism, deriving from the theories

of the social philosopher Karl Marx. Marxist critics insist that all use of language is
influenced by social class and economics. It directs attention to the idea that all language
makes ideological statements about things like class, economics, race, and power, and
the function of literary output is to either support or criticize the political and economic
structures in place. Some Marxist critics use literature to describe the competing
socioeconomic interests that advance capitalistic interests such as money and power
over socialist interests such as morality and justice. Because of this focus, Marxist
criticism focuses on content and theme rather than form.
New criticism evolved out of the same root theoretical system as deconstructionism,
called formalist criticism. It was popular between the 1940’s and the 1960’s, but can
still be found in some mutated forms today. New criticism suggests that the text is a
self-contained entity, and that everything that the reader needs to know to understand it
is already in the text. New critics totally discount the importance of historical context,
authorial intent, effects on the reader, and social contexts, choosing to focus instead on
the layers in the next. This school of criticism works with the elements of a text only –
irony, paradox, metaphor, symbol, plot, and so on – by engaging in extremely close
textual analysis.
New Historicism focuses on the literary text as part of a larger social and historical
context, and the modern reader’s interaction with that work. New historicists attempt to
describe the culture of a period by reading many different types of texts and paying
attention to many different dimensions of a culture, including political, social,
economic, and aesthetic concerns. They regard texts as not simply a reflection of the
culture that produced them but also as productive of that culture by playing an active
role in the social and political conflicts of an age. New historicism acknowledges and
then explores various versions of “history,” sensitizing us to the fact that the history on
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which we choose to focus is colored by being reconstructed by our present perspective.
Psychological criticism uses psychoanalytic theories, especially those of Freud and

Jacques Lacan, to understand more fully the text, the reader, and the writer. The basis of
this approach is the idea of the existence of a human consciousness – those impulses,
desires, and feelings about which a person is unaware but which influence emotions or
behavior. Critics use psychological approaches to explore the motivations of characters
and the symbolic meanings of events, while biographers speculate about a writer’s own
motivations – conscious or unconscious – in a literary work.
Queer theory, or gender studies, is a relatively recent and evolving school of criticism,
which questions and problematizes the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation
in literary texts. Queer theory overlaps in many respects with feminist theory in its aims
and goals, being at once political and practical. To many queer theorists, gender is not a
fixed identity that shapes actions and thoughts, but rather a “role” that is “performed.” It
also challenges the notion that there is such a thing as “normal,” because that assumes
the existence of a category for “deviant.” Queer theorists study and challenge the idea
that these categories exist at all, but particularly in terms of sexual activities and
identities.
Reader-response criticism removes the focus from the text and places it on the reader
instead, by attempting to describe what goes on in the reader’s mind during the reading
of a text. Reader- response critics are not interested in a “correct” interpretation of a text
or what the author intended. They are interested in the reader’s individual experience
with a text. Thus, there is no single definitive reading of a text, because the reader is
creating, as opposed to discovering, absolute meanings in texts. This approach is not a
rationale for bizarre meanings or mistaken ones, but an exploration of the plurality of
texts. This kind of strategy calls attention to how we read and what influences our
readings, and what that reveals about ourselves.
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Literature
Literature - a word derived from the latin word "litera" which means letter - it is defined
as a piece of printed work related to ideas and feelings of the people tgat may be true or
just a product of the writers imagination.
Divisions of Literature
A. Prose : a spoken or written language without metrical regularity that in paragraph
form: letter/greetings, essay, news article, speech, story, legend, fable, parable,
biography, eulogy, novels, play ..etc
B. Poetry : has metrical regularity abd uses figurative language that in stanza/verse
form. Epic, riddle, lyric poetry/song, proverbs, psalm, elegy ..etc
Types of Prose
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1. Novel : an extended fictional prose narrative, often including the psychological
development of the central characters.
2. Short Story : an artistic form of prose fiction which in centered on a single main
incident whose aim is to produce a single dominant impression.
3. Play : a piece of creative work presented on the page.
4. Legend : a traditional or undocumented story about famous people.
5. Fable: animals or inanimate objects are given the mentality and speech of human
beings to point out moral lessons.
6. Anecdote : a product of the writers imagination whose aim is to bring out lessons to
the reader's.
7. Essay : a short piece of nonfiction dealing with a particular subject from a personal
point of view.
8. Biography: an account of a person's life ; it may consist of factual details of a

person's life tood in a chronological order.
9. News : a report of daily events in society, government or in science and industry.
10. Oration: is a piece of work relative to speech whose aim is to arouse the listeners
interest and emotion.
Elements of a Short Story

• Setting
• Characters
• Plot
• Conflict
• Theme
• Point Of View
Types of Poetry
1. Narrative Poetry - it describes important details in life following the order events
either real or imaginary.
a. Epic- is a narrative peom or cycle of poem dealing with some great deeds like the
founding of a nation or the forging of national unity.
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b. Metrical Tales- type of narrative writers in verse. It is classified as either ballad or
metrical romance.
c. Metrical Romance- composed of a long rambling love story in verse.
d. Ballad- a poem that is metrically simple sometimes unstrophic and unrhymed or

dependant in assonance. It is concerned with some strongly emotional event.
2. Lyric Poetry- means any short poem which is song-like.
a. Haiku- a short japanese poem consisting of 17 syllables arranged in 3 lines.
b. Ode- a serious lyric poetry which commemorate important public event
c. Elegy- a poem or song that express sorrow for someone who is dead.
Poetry
Poetry then is one of the three major branches of literature. All through the ages
efforts have been made to define poetry, and determine its nature and function: For
example, Dr. Johnson, the great scholar and literary critic of the 18th century, defined
poetry as, “metrical composition”, and added that it is “the art of uniting pleasure with
truth by calling imagination to the help of reason.” Poetry, according to Macaulay is, “the
art of doing by means of words what the painter does by means of colours.” Poetry,
declares Carlyle, is “Musical Thought”.
Poetry, says Shelley, may be defined as the expression of the imagination; it is, says
Hazlitt, the language of the imagination and the passions. In Coleridge’s view poetry is
the antithesis of science, having for its immediate object pleasure, not truth; in
Wordsworth’s phrase, it is “the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge,” and “the
impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all science.” According to
Poetry is imaginative and emotional interpretation of life. Poetry deals with facts,
experience and problems of life, but first, it relates them to our emotions, and secondly, it
transfigures and transforms them by the exercise of imagination. It treats reality
imaginatively, colours it with emotion, but it does not falsify or distort it. Imagination and
emotion predominate in poetry, they are the essential qualities of poetry and without them
much that passes as poetry, is in reality unworthy of the name of poetry.
Types of Poems
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Define poetry. Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of
language --- such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre -- to evoke meanings in
addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.
1- Aubade : is a love poem welcoming or lamenting the arrival of the dawn. One of
the finest aubades in literature occurs in Act II, Scene III, of Shakespeare's play
Cymbeline. It begins with the famous words, "Hark, hark! The lark at heaven's
gate sings". Donne's "The Sun Rising" is also an aubade.
2- Ballad : A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting
of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain. The Anonymous medieval ballad,
"Barbara Allan", exemplifies the genre.
3- Folk Ballad : is a song that it traditionally sung by the common people or a

region and forms part of their culture. Folk ballads are anonymous and recount
tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event.
Examples include "Barbara Allan" and "John Henry".
4- A Carol : is a hymn or poem often sung by a group, with an individual taking the
changing stanzas and the group taking the burden or refrain. Examples include
"The Burning Babe" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
5- Dramatic Monologue : is a poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a

silent listener. It is a 'mono-drama in verse'. Examples include Robert Browning's
"My Last Duchess" and T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".
6- An Elegy. is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral

song of a lament for the dead. It usually ends in consolation. Examples include
John Milton's "Lycidas" and W.H. Auden's "In Memory of W.B. Yeats".
7- An Epic. is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject

containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
narrated in elevated style. For example, Homer's "Iliad" is an epic.
8- A Mock Epic; is a satire or parody that mocks common classical stereotypes or

heroes and heroic literature. Typically, a mock epic either puts a fool in the role of
the hero or exaggerates the heroic qualities to such a point that they become
absurd. Examples include John Dryden's "Mac Flecknoe" and Alexander Pope's
"The Rape of the Lock".
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9- An epigram is a short, satirical and witty poem (statement) usually written as a
couplet or quatrain but can also be a one lined phrase. It is a brief and forceful
remark with a funny ending. Examples include Walter Savage Landor's "Dirce"
and Ben Jonson's "On Gut".
10- An epithalamion is a lyric ode in honour of a bride and bridegroom usually

containing suggestive language and innuendo. Examples include Theocritus' "The
18th Idyll" and Edmund Spenser's "Epithalamion".
11- A hymn is a religious poem praising God or the divine, often sung. In English,
the most popular hymns were written between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Examples include Isaac Walts' "Our God, Our Help" and Charles Welsey's "My
God! I Know, I Feel Thee Mine".
12- A lyric is a short poem which expresses personal emotions or feelings, often in a
song-like style or form. It is typically written in the first person. Examples include
John Clare's "I Hid My Love" and Louise Bogan's "Song for the Last Act".
13- An ode is a long, often elaborate stanzaic poem of varying line lengths and
sometimes intricate rhyme schemes devoted to the praise of a person, animal,
place, thing or idea. Examples include P.B. Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and
John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn".
14- Sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme
schemes. In English, a sonnet has 3 quatrains followed by a couplet and ten
syllables per line. (iambic pentameter). It usually expresses a single, complete
thought, idea or sentiment. Examples include P.B. Shelley's "Ozymandias" and
John Keats' "When I Have Fears".
Structure and Poetry
Stanzas: Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line
from other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to
identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:
 couplet (2 lines)
 tercet (3 lines)
 quatrain (4 lines)
 cinquain (5 lines)
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 sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain)
 septet (7 lines)
 octave (8 lines)
Form: A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme scheme and/or
metrical pattern, but it can still be labeled according to its form or style. Here are the
three most common types of poems according to form:
1. Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who
expresses strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are
lyric poems.
2. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles the plot
line of a story [i.e. the introduction of conflict and characters, rising action, climax
and the denouement
3. Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the
speaker. It uses elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more
"outward-focused" than lyric poetry, which is more personal and introspective.
Sound Patterns
Three other elements of poetry are rhyme scheme, meter (ie. regular rhythm) and word
sounds (like alliteration). These are sometimes collectively called sound play because
they take advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry.
Rhyme Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most common kind of
rhyme is the end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually
identified with lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound.
Take a look at the rhyme scheme for the following poem :
I saw a fairy in the wood,

He was dressed all in green.
He drew his sword while I just stood, And realized I'd been seen.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.
Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as in these lines from Coleridge, "In mist
or cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white" ("The
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Ancient Mariner"). Remember that most modern poems do not have rhyme.
Word Sounds
Another type of sound play is the emphasis on individual sounds and words:
- Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds on the same line or stanza - Big bad Bob
bounced bravely.
- Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line
or stanza) - Tilting at windmills
- Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a

line or stanza) - And all the air a solemn stillness holds. (T. Gray)
- Onomatopoeia: words that sound like that which they describe - Boom! Crash!
Pow! Quack! Moo! Caress...
- Repetition: the repetition of entire lines or phrases to emphasize key thematic ideas
Meaning and Poetry
Poetry is not always about hidden or indirect meanings (sometimes called meaning
play). Nevertheless, if often is a major part of poetry, so here some of the important
things to remember:
Figurative/Connotative Devices
1. Simile is the rhetorical term used to designate the most elementary form of
resemblances: most similes are introduced by "like" or "as." These comparisons
are usually between dissimilar situations or objects that have something in
common, such as "My love is like a red, red rose."
2. A metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between
objects or situations. "All flesh is grass." For more on metaphor, click here.
3. Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and

attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
4. Metonymy is similar to synecdoche; it's a form of metaphor allowing an object

closely associated (but unattached) with a object or situation to stand for the
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thing itself (e.g. the crown or throne for a king or the bench for the judicial
system).
5. A symbol is like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My love is
like a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification of the rose
with the beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose with her and her
particular virtues. At this point, the rose would become a symbol.
6. Allegory can be defined as a one to one correspondence between a series of

abstract ideas and a series of images or pictures presented in the form of a story
or a narrative. For example, George Orwell's Animal Farm is an extended
allegory that represents the Russian Revolution through a fable of a farm and its
rebellious animals.
7. Personification occurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate objects as

human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings (e.g., "nature
wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me").
8. Irony takes many forms. Most basically, irony is a figure of speech in which
actual intent is expressed through words that carry the opposite meaning.
• Paradox: usually a literal contradiction of terms or situations
• Situational Irony: an unmailed letter
• Dramatic Irony: audience has more information or greater perspective than the
characters
• Verbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning another : Overstatement (hyperbole)
Understatement (meiosis), Sarcasm
The Elements of Poetry
The basic elements of poetry include the speaker, content, theme, shape and form, mood or
tone, imagery, diction, figurative language and sound-effect devices.
1. Speaker : The poem’s speaker is the person who is addressing the reader. Sometimes,
the speaker is the poet, who addresses the reader directly or another person. The poet
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reveals the identity of the speaker in various ways. Choice of words, focus of
attention and attitudes will indicate the age, perspective and identity of the speaker.
2. Content : Content is the subject of the poem. It answers the question “what?” What is
the poem all about? What happens in the poem?
3. Theme : The theme of the poem is the meaning of the poem – the main idea that the poet
is trying to communicate. The theme may be stated directly or it may be implied.
4. Shape and Form : Basically, the actual shape and form of poems can vary dramatically
from poem to poem. In poetry, you will encounter two forms: structured and free
verse. Structured poetry has predictable patterns of rhyme, rhythm, line-length and
stanza construction. Some examples are the sonnet and the haiku. In free verse, the
poet experiments with the form of the poem. The rhythm, number of syllables per
line and stanza construction do not follow a pattern.
5. Mood or Tone : The mood or tone of a poem is the feeling that the poet creates and
that the reader senses through the poet’s choice of words, rhythm, rhyme, style and
structure. Poems may express many moods – humorous, sarcastic, joyous, angry or
solemn.
6. Imagery : Imagery refers to the “pictures” which we perceive with our mind’s eyes,
ears, nose, tongue, skin, and through which we experience the “duplicate world”
created by poetic language. Imagery evokes the meaning and truth of human
experiences not in abstract terms, as in philosophy, but in more perceptible and
tangible forms. This is a device by which the poet makes his meaning strong, clear
and sure. The poet uses sound words and words of color and touch in addition to
figures of speech. As well, concrete details that appeal to the reader’s senses are
used to build up images.
Love Story : By Conrado S. Ramirez
I walked last summer into the barrio of Niyugan.
7. Diction : Diction is the poet’s choice of words. The poet chooses each word carefully
so that both its meaning and sound contribute to the tone and feeling of the poem.
The poet must consider a word's denotation - its definition according to the
dictionary and it’s connotation - the emotions, thoughts and ideas associated with
and evoked by the word.
Types of Poetry
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Poetry can be classified into three types: narrative, lyric, and dramatic poetry.
Narrative Poetry
Along with dramatic and lyric verse, narrative poetry is one of the three main groups of
poetry. It is a form of poem that tells a series of events using poetic devices such as
rhythm, rhyme, compact language, and attention to sound. In other words, a narrative
poem tells a story, but it does it with poetic flair.
Kinds Of Narrative Poetry
a. Epic : An epic is a long unified narrative poem, recounting in dignified language the
adventures of a warrior, a king or a god, the whole embodying the religious and
philosophical beliefs, the moral code, customs, traditions, manners, attitudes, sciences,
folklore and culture of the people or country from which it came. Characteristics of the
classical epic include these: The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than
life, often the source and subject of legend or a national hero. The deeds of the hero are
presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well as his virtues.
1. The action, often in battle, reveals the more-than-human-strength of the heroes as

they engage in acts of heroism and courage.
2. The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe.
3. The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for some
of the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people.
4. The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions.
5. All of the various adventures form an organic whole, where each event relates in
some way to the central theme.
b. Metrical Romance
A metrical romance recounts the quest undertaken by a single knight in order to gain a
lady’s favor. Frequently, its central interest is courtly love, together with tournaments
fought and dragons and monsters slain for the damsel’s sake. It stresses the chivalric
ideals of courage, loyalty, honor, mercifulness to an opponent, and exquisite and
manners; and it delights in wonders and marvels.
c. Metrical Tale
A metrical tale is a simple, straightforward story in verse.
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A ballad is a narrative poem which is meant to be sung, usually composed in the ballad
stanza. Although some ballads (literary ballad) are carefully crafted poems written by
literate authors and meant to be read silently, the folk ballad (or popular ballad or
traditional ballad) is derived from the oral tradition.
2. Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry is generally considered the most intense genre of poetry, the form that
honors its musical origins. The term lyric comes from the Greek word for the lyre, a
stringed instrument similar to a guitar and suitable for the accompaniment of a solitary
singer. Like the concert of an impassioned singer, the lyric poem is a private, often
visionary act of intelligence and emotion that becomes public through the music of
language. It is also a highly concentrated poem of direct personal emotion, most often
written in the first person. Moreover, lyric poetry is an artifact of language, capable of
great beauty and excitement in its exploration of new perceptions.
Kinds of Lyric Poetry
a. Ode :An ode is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem praising and
glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually
rather than emotionally. Odes originally were songs performed to the accompaniment of a
musical instrument.
b. Elegy :An elegy is a lyric poem, written in elegiac couplets, that expresses sorrow or
lamentation, usually for one who has died. This type of work stemmed out of a Greek
word known as elegus, a song of mourning or lamentation that is accompanied by the
lyre.
c. Sonnet : A sonnet is a short poem with fourteen lines, usually written in iambic
pentameter. There are many rhyming patterns for sonnets. The Italian or Petrarchan has
two stanzas: the first of eight lines is called octave and has the rhyme-scheme abba abba;
the second of six lines is called the sestet and has the rhyme cdecde or cdcdcd. The
Spenserian sonnet, developed by Edmund Spenser, has three quatrains and a heroic
couplet, in iambic pentameter with rhymes ababbcbccdcdee. The English sonnet,
developed by Shakespeare, has three quatrains and a heroic couplet, in iambic pentameter
with rhymes ababcdcdefefgg.
Soledad
By Angela C. Manalang-Gloria
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It was a sacrilege, the neighbors cried,
The way she shattered every mullioned pane
To let a firebrand in. They tried in vain
To understand how one so carved from pride
And glassed in dream could have so flung aside
Her graven days, or why she dared profane
d. Song A song is a lyric poem which is set to music. All songs have a strong beat created
largely through the 3R’s: rhythm, rhyme, and repetition.
Song of a Mad Man

By Francisco G. Tonogbanua
I see the summer sun

Shine on the winter snow,
And the things I know in my heart
No other man may know.
e. Simple Lyric A simple lyric is a short poem expressing the poet’s thought, feeling, or
emotion.
Be Beautiful, Noble, Like The Antique Ant

By Jose Garcia Villa
Be beautiful, noble, like the antique ant

Who bore the storms as he bore the sun,
Wearing neither gown nor helmet,
Though he was archbishop and soldier:
Wore only his own flesh.
3. Dramatic Poetry : Dramatic poetry presents one or more characters speaking, usually
to other characters, but sometimes to themselves or directly to the reader.
Kinds of Dramatic Poetry
a. Dramatic Monologue : A dramatic monologue is a literary device that is used when a

character reveals his or her innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden
throughout the course of the story line, through a poem or a speech. This speech, where
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only one character speaks, is recited while other characters are present onstage. This
monologue often comes during a climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden
truths about a character, their history and their relationships. Also it can further develop a
character’s personality and also be used to create irony.
The Innocence of Solomon

By Nick Joaquin
Sheba, Sheba, open your eyes!

The apes defile the ivory temple,
the peacocks chant dark blasphemies;
but I take your body for mine to trample,
b. Soliloquy
A soliloquy is the act of speaking while alone, especially when used as a theatrical device
that allows a character’s thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience.
From A Portrait of the Artist as a Filipino
By Nick Joaqui “Oh, Paula, Candida—listen to me! By your dust, and by the dust of all
generations, I promise to continue, I promise to preserve!
English 8 Literary Terms
Irony - A contrast between two things. Three types of irony are:

1. Verbal is a contrast between what is said and what is meant (sarcasm).
2. Dramatic Irony happens when the reader or viewer is aware of something that
the characters involved are unaware of.
3. Situational Irony is when the opposite of what we expect to happen, happens.
Literal - means keeping accurate, exactly to the letter without embellishing.
Metaphor - is a figure of speech that implies comparison between two different things
(WITHOUT using like or as).
Mood - is the overall feeling or atmosphere the writer creates in a work through the
choice of setting, imagery, details, and descriptions.
Motif - is a term for a reoccurring theme or idea in a piece of literature. In The Outsiders,
one reoccurring motif is the repeated reference to literary works in an attempt by
the main character to make a connection with the reader about the characters within
the story.
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Narrative hook - is any device at the opening of a work to capture the interest of the
readers and make them continue reading. of related events which form a story. The
usual pattern of plot is (conflict), i
Oxymoron - is a combination of contradictory terms (silent scream, civil war, jumbo
shrimp, freezer burn).
Paraphrase - is a restatement of an idea that keeps the same meaning but uses different
words.
Personification - is when you give human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects.

Plot - A series ntroduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion.
Point of view - is the viewpoint from which an author presents a story
1. First person – The narrator “I” is a character in the story who can reveal only his
own thoughts and feelings and what he/she sees. “I couldn’t believe my eyes and
wondered how she could let that happen.”
2. Third person objective – The story is told by someone outside of the story. The
outsider can only report what he/she sees and hears: “He scanned the crowded
restaurant, obviously searching for a familiar face.”
3. Third person omniscient – The voice telling the story can enter the minds of all
or most of the characters. This POV is able to relates feelings, thought, and
emotions of all the characters with a god-like intuition: “Gary was afraid; he had
never felt like this before. His heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest.
She silently took his hand and instantly understood. They both knew they would
never forget what happened.”
4. Third person limited – The narrator is an outsider who can only enter the minds
of a limited number of characters. (Knows the thoughts of 1 or 2 characters)
“Lynn looked very angry and David instinctively knew he shouldn’t mess with
her when she got that way.”
Protagonist - is the chief or main character in a short story, play, or novel.
Pun – A play on words…humorous use of words that have different meanings. (ex. “A
bicycle can’t stand on its own because it’s two tired.”)
Rising action - includes events that complicate the conflict and it leads the story to the
climax. This is where the tension builds and the suspense grows in a story.
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Setting – The time and place in which the action of a narrative occurs.
Simile – A figure of speech involving a comparison using the words like or as
Stereotype – A conventional character or plot with little or no individuality

Symbol – Something concrete, such as an object, person, place or happening, that stands
for or represents something beyond itself. For example, a dove is a bird, but it
may also be a symbol for peace.
Theme - The central idea or underlying meaning of a work. It is the message about life or
human nature, but it is not always directly stated. Not all literary works have a
theme, although some have more than one. Some common themes found in
literature are abstract terms such as: love, faith, courage, survival, etc.
Tone - The way in which a writer uses their choice of words or arrangement of ideas and
events to convey the writer’s attitude toward a subject.
. Irony
An irony is a literary term referring to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance

is not as it would actually seem. Many times it is the exact opposite of what it appears to
be.
Kinds of Irony
1. Verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else.
2. Dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in the

literature does not know.
3. Situational irony is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results.
Characteristics of an Elegy
An elegy is a poem which expresses gloomy thoughts of a person. It is commonly written in

praise of the deceased and has an air of sorrow around it. An ‘elegy’ is very different from
‘eulogy’ which is an account that is put together in prose. Such an account praises the dead
person and is read at his or her funeral for all present to listen. Although an elegy may serve
the purpose of a eulogy yet it has certain characteristics which make it distinct from other
forms of expression or poetry. The characteristics of a traditional elegy are as follows:
1. An elegy begins with a lament of loss of life of a person or loss of a thing.
2. The sorrow is followed by the poet’s admiration for the person or thing lost. In the second
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part of the construction generally the lost person’s qualities and remarkable
performances or activities are endorsed.
3. An elegy is a kind of a lyric which centers on expression of sentiments, beliefs or
opinions.
4. The language and structure of an elegy is formal and ceremonial.
5. An elegy may be based on either the transience of life of a person or the

attractiveness and magnificence of somebody close to the speaker’s heart.
6. An elegy may search answers to questions related to the nature of life and death of the
body or immorality of the soul.
7. Sometimes an elegy also expresses the speaker’s resentment or rage about a loss or
demise.
8. The last or the third stage of the elegy is about its consolidation. This element may be more
religious.
9. It is of various types such as personal, impersonal or pastoral.
Pastoral Elegy
Pastoral elegy is a poem which dwells upon the combined subject of death and sublime
country life. This form of poetry usually includes shepherds who express their emotions. The
pastoral elegy takes the pastoral or rural components and connects them to expression of
sorrow on a loss. The pastoral form of poetry has numerous significant characteristics, like the
solicitation of the contemplate; manifestation of the sorrow or the heartache of the shepherd or
the poet; admiration of the dead; an outburst against demise; a particularization of the impacts of
that particular demise on nature; and last but not the least, poet’s concurrent acceptance of
certainty of death and at the same time his unflinching hope for immortality. Pastoral elegies
have also been seen sometimes to have included a mourners’ procession, humorous
deviations to diverse topics arising from decease, and representation by means of flowers,
refrains, and pompous queries
Famous Elegy Poets
Some of the famous poets who have written elegies are as follows: Thomas Gray: 1716 –
1771 , Rainer Maria: 1875 -1926 , John Donne: 1572 – 1631 ,Anna Akhmatova: 1889 – 1966
, Johannes Secundus: 1511 – 1563, Joachim du Bellay: 1522 – 1560
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Distich: It is defined as a couplet which consists of successive lines of metre in poetry. It
usually comprises of two successive lines that has a same meter.
Elegy: It is defined as a poem which expresses gloomy thoughts of a person and is commonly
written in praise of the deceased and has an air of sorrow around it.
Eulogy: It is defined as a piece of writing which praises someone and is usually a tribute to
the deceased person.
Pastoral elegy: It is defined as a poem which dwells upon the combined subject of death and
sublime country life. It usually includes shepherds who express their emotions.
Epic: It is defined as a lengthy poem that recounts the adventure of a hero or a great war.
Epic poetry
Epic poetry is one of the genres of poetry and a major form of narrative literature. It is one of the
oldest forms of poetry as well. An epic is often defined as a lengthy poem that recounts the
adventure of a hero or a great war. The narration is usually in a continuous form. Aristotle has
ranked the epic as second only to tragedy.
Characteristics of Epic Poetry
1. The hero is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance, and represents a
culture’s heroic ideal.
2. The setting of the poem is ample in scale, and may be worldwide, or even larger.
3. The action involves superhuman deeds in battle.
4. In these great actions, the gods and other supernatural beings take an interest or an
active part.
5. An epic poem is a ceremonial performance and is narrated in a ceremonial style

which is deliberately distanced from ordinary speech and proportioned to the
grandeur and formality of the heroic subject matter and the epic architecture.
Prologue: It is defined as an opening to the story which connects the background to the
main plot.
Typical scene: It is defined as events in an epic that tend to recur and whenever similar
events are described it follows set patterns.
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Characteristics of A Ballad
The following are some of the characteristics of a ballad:
1. A ballad is dramatic, condensed, and impersonal.
2. A ballad begins with a brief description or introduction and tells the story without self-
reference or the expression of personal attitudes or feelings.
3. Formulas (repeated words, phrases, sentences) are also used in the ballad to help the singer
remember the course of the song. Some of the examples are stock descriptive phrases, a
refrain in each stanza and incremental repetition, in which a line or stanza is repeated,
but with an addition that advances the story.
Like the traditional epic, the traditional ballad has greatly influenced the form and style of
literary ballad. The literary ballad imitates the form, language, and spirit of the traditional ballad
Mock-epic poetry
Mock-epic poetry is a typical form of satire or parody which makes fun of common conventional
stereotype heroes and the literature related to such heroes. It is also known as mock-heroic or
heroic-comic poetry. Characteristically, mock-heroic work generally will either induce a fool in a
hero’s role or blow his heroic qualities so much out of proportion and exaggerate them to such
a level that they start appearing ridiculous.
Mock-heroic poetry consists of such poems in which an average or insignificant

subject is described using a very majestic and ceremonial style which is no way appropriate to
the character of the subject. Thus, the mismatch created due to the large gap between the
subject’s character and its explanation leads to a comic effect.
Characteristics of Mock-epic poetry
The genre of mock-epic poetry aims at satirizing the genre of serious epic poetry. Mock-epic
poetry not only satirized this genre of poetry but also ridiculed heroic subjects and themes to
sarcastically address many other grand themes. Mock- epic poetry is not only limited to the
bonds of serious epic poetry. Poets making use of this form to write poetry are free to
make their point even in an ironic manner.
The main characteristics of mock-epic poetry are as follows:
 Mock-epic poetry is generally based on a sarcastic tone.
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 It is a transformed variety of serious epic poetry in which the subject is presented in
an amplified or raised style.
 The genre makes use features like prayer and appeal; skirmishes and epic similes.
 It also implies uses of ‘ex-machina’.
 The mock-epic style of poetry follows the formal characteristics of epic poetry
having a comical tenacity.
 A mock-epic poem happens to be lengthy and separated by cantos, just as the

case with traditional epics.
 The characteristics of the epic, for example formal solicitations, epic similes, and
comprehensive accounts of battles, are mocked.
 Mock-epic poetry is connected to parody and satire.
Famous mock-epic works and authors
Ultimately, the mock-epic genre of poetry reached to all corners of Europe, Russia, Scotland,
Bohemia, Poland and France. Some highly popular French mock-epic poems were Le Vergile
Travesti (The disguised Vergil) by Paul Scarron (1648–
52) and The Maid of Orleans by Voltaire (1730). Ignacy Krasicki was a well acclaimed
Polish mock-heroic poet who wrote works like Myszeida (Mouseiad) which he wrote in
1775 and Monacomachia (The War of the Monks) which he wrote in 1778 to his
credit.Another notable mock-epic work in Polish language is Organy written by Tomasz
Kajetan Wêgierski published in 1775-77.
Satire
Satire is a defined as a genre of literature which points out the vices, follies and
shortcomings of a person or a society. It is means to ridicule a person or a society so that it can
improve itself. It is a humourous attack; however, its purpose is to bring out a change in
society. Satire uses wit to draw the attention of the readers and it is considered as one of the
most effective source which can help an individual to understand the society. It is perhaps, the
oldest form of social study which helps to learn about the issues prevalent in a society.
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Classification of Satire
Satire can be divided into three categories which are as follows:
1. Horatian satire: Horatian satire is named after the ancient Roman satirists Horace, who
existed in the first century BCE.
Horace was a writer who found an innovative way to touch upon the problems
faced by people at large. He made fun of the prevalent norms of the society in a spirited
manner. Horatian satire is supposed to be ingenious and at the same time gentle on the
subjects. Horatian satire is not centered on criticizing evils; rather, it mocks general
human folly. Horatian satire is presented in such a manner that the reader of this work
automatically starts to relate with it. The reader is motivated to laugh at him/her and the
society.
2. Juvenal satire: Juvenal satire is named after Juvenal who lived during the late first
century BCE to early second centuryAD.
As compared to Horatian satire which focuses on the whole society, Juvenal satire
criticizes public administrators and government establishments. He considered their
ideas not just as incorrect, but also thought of them as evil. Thus, it will not be wrong to
call Juvenalian satire more scornful and rude. Juvenal has made use of strong irony and
scorn. Most of the political satires are also a part of Juvenal satire as it is aimed at
provoking change. It is therefore, not as amusing as other types of satire.
3. Menippean satire: Menippean satire is named after the ancient Greek parodist
Menippus.
Menippean satire is concentrated to condemn the mental approaches in place of

societal rules or particular people. This kind of satire generally mocks at single-
minded individuals, for example extremists, penny pinchers, boasters and so on.
Edmund Spenser is an English poet. He is known for his epic poem The Faerie Queene
which is a celebration of the Tudor dynasty. He is known for his experiments in the stanza
form. He divided his long poem into nine line stanzas of which the first eight lines are written in
iambic pentameter and the last line is in iambic hexameter. It follows the rhyming scheme of
‘ababbcbcc’. This stanza is called a Spenserian stanza. He has also written a sequence of
sonnets called Amoretti. The main theme of this sonnet is that it tells the story of Spencer’s own
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successful courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle. In this sonnet, he also experimented
with the basic form of sonnet. The resultant form is called the Spenserian sonnet. This sonnet is
also divided into three quatrains and a final couplet with iambic pentameter lines. The rhymes
are interlinked as in ‘ababbcbccdcdee’. The interlinking of rhymes in the three quatrains also
tells us that they speak of similar themes and the couplet will offer a conclusion. Let us look at
one of his sonnets
John Milton, the famous English poet, is known for his epic poem Paradise Lost. He was a civil
servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. However, like other English
poets, he has also written sonnets. Let us go through sonnet No. 19 from his poem, On His
Blindness.
Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the renowned Romantics. He is known for his powerful
poems like Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, and so forth. His sonnet Ozymandias is
also highly anthologized. Shelley innovated radically, creating his own rhyme scheme for the
sonnet Ozymandias
John Donne is recognized as one of the prominent metaphysical poets. Metaphysical poets are
largely cognizant for their use of metaphysical conceit in their poems. Metaphysical conceit
is an extended metaphor that combines two immensely diverse ideas into a single idea, often
using imagery. Poems like The Canonization, The Flea are all examples of the use of this
metaphysical style. Donne is known for his unique treatment of love and amorous courtship in
his poems. However, later in his life, he became an Anglican priest.
During the tenure of his poetic career, he is known for his famous Holy sonnets. Here, the
lover is mankind and the beloved is God, his creator. Let us go through the explanation of
one such sonnet of Holy Sonnets.
Wordsworth and Coleridge heralded a new era in English Literature with their publication
of the Lyrical Ballads. This period came to be known as the ‘Romantic period’. Wordsworth
defined ‘poetry’ as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquillity.
The Prelude is one of the significant poems written by Wordsworth. In addition, he has written
several sonnets as well. Some of his famous poems are Composed Upon Westminster
Bridge, The World is Too Much With Us and London, 1802. Let us study one of the
ecclesiastical sonnets from the poem, Inside of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge I which is
a historical record of the origin of theAnglican Church till his own time.
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Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the prominent poets of the Victorian period. However, his
experiments with the poetic form have categorized him as a Modern poet. He got converted to
Catholicism and became a priest. His religious conviction and reverence for nature is very
evident in all his poems. Most of his sonnets were written in sprung rhythm, for example The
Windhover. He like other English poets experimented with the sonnet form in Pied Beauty
and That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection. Let us study a
sonnet of the poem God’s Grandeur written by Hopkins.
Wilfred Owen is one of the famous English poets who wrote during the period of the First
World War. His poems showcase the excruciating experiences of the First World War. He
was influenced by his friend and mentor Siegfried Sassoon. Let us read some lines written by
Wilfred Owen in the Preface to an anthology of his poems.
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Short Story
It’s a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words, which can be read at one sitting.
Artistically, a short story is intended to create an impression via character, conflict,
theme, setting, symbols and point of view. Every detail contributes to this one impression
– a unity of effect. A short story is personal -- a part of the author -- and today is more
concerned with character than action.
Characteristics of A Short Story
1- A short story should create a single impression.
2- It should be highly economical with every word, all characters, dialogue and
description designed to develop single predesigned effect.
3- Most short stories revolve around a single incident, character or period of time,
4- Should be capable of being read at one sitting.
5- Opening sentence should initiate the predetermined or predesigned effect.
6- Once climax reached, the story should end with minimal resolution
The Five Elements of a Short Story
A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters,
the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the
story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader
can follow.
The Five Elements of a Short Story
1. Plot : A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central
conflict. The plot has a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot
so it can be read in one sitting.The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his
or her basic idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a planned,
logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has
one plot so it can be read in one sitting.
There are five essential parts of plot:
Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.
Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict
in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).
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Climax / Turning Point - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the
story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader
knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between
climax and denouement).
Resolution / Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.
It is helpful to consider climax as a three-fold phenomenon:
The main character receives new information
Accepts this information (realizes it but does not necessarily agree with it)
Acts on this information (makes a choice that will determine whether or not he/she
Character
A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a
short story. Short stories use few characters. One character is clearly central to the story
with all major events having some importance to this character. Short stories use few
characters. One character is clearly central to the story with all major events having some
importance to this character - he/she is the
Protagonist – the main character who is faced with a problem.
Antagonist – the person, place, idea or physical force against the protagonist
The Characteristics of a Person
In order for a story to seem real to the reader its characters must seem real.
Characterization is the information the author gives the reader about the characters
themselves. The author may reveal a character in several ways:
Through direct statements by the author/narrator (Direct Characterization
Types of Characters
1. Rounded Characters – many-sided and complex personalities that you would expect
of actual human beings.
2. Flat Characters – personalities that are presented only briefly and not in depth.
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3. Dynamic – many-sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of
the story.
4. Static – These characters are often stereotypes, have one or two characteristics that
never change that are emphasized e.g. brilliant detective, drunk, scrooge, cruel
stepmother, etc.
3.Setting
The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use
descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather to provide a strong
sense of setting.There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining
how setting contributes to a story (some, or all, may be present in a story):
1. Place - geographical location. Where is the action of the story taking place?
2. Time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc)
3. Weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
4. Social conditions - What is the daily life of the character's like? Does the story
contain local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs,
etc. of a particular place)?
5. Mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Is it
bright and cheerful or dark and frightening
4.Conflict
The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main
character is usually on one side of the central conflict. On the other side, the main
character may struggle against another important character, against the forces of nature,
against society, or even against something inside himself or herself (feelings, emotions,
illness).
There are two types of conflict:
1. External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.

2. Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome
pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.
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There are four kinds of conflict:
- Human vs. Human (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical
strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals
- Human vs. Nature - The leading character struggles the forces of nature
- Human vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas,
practices, or customs of other people.
- Human vs. Self (psychological) - The leading character struggles with
himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical
limitations, choices, etc.
4. Theme : The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story. It is the author's
underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey. The theme may be the
author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature.
Some simple examples of common themes from literature, TV, and film are:
1- Things are not always as they appear to be

2- Love is blind
3- Believe in yourself
4- People are afraid of change
5- Don't judge a book by its cover
Short Story
A short story is one of the most common forms of writing. It is often used to describe a
single event, a single episode, or a tale of one particular character.
A short story does not usually involve (a) major twists and conflicts, (b) various
sub-plots and (c) a large number of characters. A short story is basically fictional prose,
written in a narrative style. However, the narrative style may either be first person or
third, or whichever the author chooses.
The most important difference between a short story, novelette, novella, and a novel is
indeed the word count. An average short story usually has at least 3,500 words and no
more than 7,500. Traditionally, short stories were meant to be read in a single sitting.
They are usually published individually in magazines and then collected and published in
anthologies.
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Practitioners
Short story originated as a part of a magazine or periodical in the beginning. Its early
practitioners were Washington Irving (1783-1859), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) and
Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) in America; and Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Mary Shelley
(1797-1851) in England; T. E. Hoffmann (1776- 1822) in Germany; Balzac (1799-1850)
in France; and Gogol (1809-1852), Pushkin (1799-1837), and Turgenev (1818-1883) in
Russia. It was after these noted writers that the form was adopted seriously by other writers.
Almost all notable novelists of all European languages have contributed greatly in the realm of
short stories. This form has been practised vigorously in the United States. Frank O’Connor
(1903-1966) has named short story writing as their ‘the national art form’. The famousAmerican
short story writers includes authors such as Mark Twain (1835-1910), William Faulkner (1897-
1962), KatherineAnne Porter (1890- 1980), Eudora Welty (1909-2001), Flannery O’Connor
(1925-1964), John O’Hara (1905-1970), J F Powers (1917-1999), John Cheever (1912-
1982), and J D Salinger (1919-2010). Charles Lamb (1775-1834), Sir Walter Scott, R. L.
Stevenson (1850- 1894), Arnold Bennett, Thomas Hardy, Huge Walpole (1884-1941),
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), Sir Rudyard Kipling (1835-1936), H. G. Wells, Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900), Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, SirArthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), W W Jacobs
(1863-1943), John Galsworthy, Joseph Conrad, D H Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Walter De
La Mare (1873-1956), A E Coppard (1878-1957), H E Bates (1905-1974), and Rhys Davies
(1901-1978) are few notable short story writers of England.
Famous Short Stories
The short story as a form originated as anecdote. It was in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries in the English literature, that short story became popular as an individual form of
literature. The best short stories in English are Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and
Boccaccio’s Decameron written in the fourteenth century. The former belonged to England
and the latter Italy. Antoine Galland’s Translation of the Thousand and One Nights (or The
Arabian Nights) in 1710-12, Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1824-26), Nikolai Gogol’s
Evening on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831-32), Brown’s Somnambulism (1805), Irving’s Rip
Van Winkle (1819), and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820), Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque
and Arabesque (1840) and Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales (1842), Anton Chekhov’s (1860-
1904) Ward No. 6 (1892).
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In England, Charles Lamb was a famous essayist and short story writer. His Tales from
Shakespeare is still the part of study curriculum in India. Ernest Hemingway’s (1899-1961)
novella The Old Man and The Sea is regarded as the ‘longest story and the shortest novel’
of the world and it claimed the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.
Magical Realism has been a feature in the modern short stories of 1990s. Its chief
practitioners are Steven Millhauser (1943- ), Robert Olen Butler \-(1945-). Tim
O’Brien’s (1946- ) The Things They Carried speaks of the Vietnam War. Salman Rushdie’s
(1947) Luka and the Fire of Life (2010) is a recent publication. Jhumpa Lahiri (1967- ),
Karen Russel (1981- ) are recent short story writers. Stories of Birbal and Akbar (1542-
1605), Amar Chitra Katha, tales about religious deities are very popular in India.
Nonfictional Prose
Nonfictional prose is any literary work that is based mainly on fact, It may be based on
certain fictional elements. Nonfictional prose refers to essays, which present and
provide explanations of ideas or tell about real people, objects, places, or events. It can
be true or false. Still, it is commonly assumed that the writers that produced such
accounts hold them true when composing. Nonfiction includes biographies,
autobiographies, reports, newspaper articles, essays, letters, and memos.
Features of Nonfictional Prose
A. The events, places, people, and ideas found in nonfiction works are not invented,
they are real. The author of nonfiction is a real person.
B. Such essays describe true-life experiences, present facts, or discuss ideas.
C. Nonfiction prose is written specifically for a particular audience and has a clear
reason or purpose.
D. The author‘s tone and attitude towards the discussed subject or addressed readers
should be displayed through personal style and word choice.
E. The author contributes to nonfictional prose much more than information. For
example, style refers to particular way the author uses language. It reflects his/her
personality
F. Such factors as level of formality, diction, word choice figurative language, and
sentence patterns contribute to writer‘s style of custom nonfiction writing.
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Sir Walter Raleigh was a remarkable individual, was at once explorer, soldier, sailor,
statesman, poet, and historian. Fir his explorations in both North and South America, his
efforts to found a colony (Virginia) in the New World, and his loyal service as courtier to
the queen, he was awarded a knighthood and large tracts of land. He moved in and out of
royal favor, however, and in and out of prison, and finally was condemned and executed.
While serving a thirteen-year sentence in the Tower of London, Raleigh wrote his long
History of the World. Earlier he had written an account of his journey to the Americas.
More than a century after Raleigh's death, the eighteenth-century writer
Samuel Johnson, in his famous Dictionary, noted Raleigh as the authority on "the
phrases of policy, war, and navigation." Raleigh's place in history, however, is more often
thought of as that of a gallant courtier who epitomized the Elizabethan spirit and shared
the Elizabethan facility for turning out a graceful lyric.
Sir Philip Sidney began writing poetry in 1578, and his writing career only lasted 7-8
years. His “The Defence of Poesy” was originally published under two different titles,
The Defence of Poesie and An Apologie for Poetrie.
Short Story Terminology
1. Atmosphere – the general mood, feeling or spirit of a story.

2. Characterization – the way that the author creates characters..
3. Foreshadowing clues of hints which prepare the reader for future action
4. Chronological – places events in order of time from first to last.
5. Flashback – looks back at events that have already occurred.
6. Omniscient – narrator can see, know and tell all of the characters of a story.
7. Objective – narrator describes the characters statements but doesn’t reveal
thoughts or feelings.
8. Setting – the background where the action takes place.
9. Symbol – a similar object, action, person, or place or something else that
stands for something abstract.
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Introduction to Drama
Drama is a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform; it is a Greek word
which means action. The origin of Western theatre is supposed to be found in Ancient
Greece. Drama probably developed in Ancient Greece from the festivals, honouring
Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility and wine. In the Middle Ages, drama in Europe dealt
with religious characterizations. The plays were mainly Biblical, thus had substantial
relevance to Christian elements. Although the Christian church did much to suppress the
performance of plays, it is actually in the church that medieval drama began. Mystery
plays, the most famous of which is The Second Shepherd's Play, depicted Biblical
episodes from the Creation to Judgment Day. Another important type that developed
from church liturgy was the miracle play, based on the lives of saints rather than on
Bible. The miracle play reached its peak in France and the mystery play in England.
However, both types gradually became secularized. The Second Shepherds' Play, despite
its religious seriousness, is most notable for its elements of realism and farce, while the
miracle plays in France often emphasize comedy and adventure. A third type of religious
drama is the morality play. The morality plays, which were mainly religious allegories,
appeared early in the 15th century, the most famous being Everyman.
Drama has always been a target of the government and society. The reason why drama
was criticized in Middle Ages was probably because actors were considered to be persons
who were taking on other people's personalities, and were therefore thought either to be
insane or possibly possessed by evil spirits. A second reason why drama was so often
criticized might have been because theatre was considered immoral, blasphemous or
subversive - we must note that theatrical performances were sometimes used as criticism
of the government, able to awaken people. A third reason might have been religious since
many of the medieval dramas were based on Christian church. Many of the plays were
Biblical and were applicable to the Church.
Drama in England reached its peak during Queen Elizabeth's reign. Elizabethan drama ". .
. has been called a great national utterance because in it spoke the spirit of England,
despite all its imitations and borrowings from alien sources" and ". . . there has never
been an age which so immediately responded to an artistic appeal" (Schelling xiii). We
should notice the fact that ". . . [n]o plays closely resembling those of the great
Elizabethans appeared before the last quarter of the sixteenth century, before the tragedies
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of Kyd and Marlowe and the comedies of Lyly and Greene" The public theatres were
being built in 1576; and "the first powerful plays appeared about 1587" (Wells 4).
Queen Elizabeth died in 1603. In 1642 The English Civil War broke out between the
Parliamentarians (Puritans) and the Royalists in England and theatres were closed to
prevent public disorder. In 1644 The Globe Theatre was demolished by the Puritans.
From 1642 onward for eighteen years, the theatres of England remained closed. They
probably illegally performed plays but those performances were given in secrecy. Neither
actors nor spectators were safe during those days of the Puritan rule. The dramatists were
not allowed to be inspired during this time. The Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell opposed
theatrical performances. "Puritanism declared [theatre] an ungodly and frivolous thing
and decreed that it should be no more" (Schelling 274). In 1649, the English Civil War
resulted in the execution of King CharlesI and the establishment of a commonwealth
under Oliver Cromwell. Finally in 1660 the Stuart dynasty was restored to the throne of
England and the theatres were reopened. Charles's death marked the beginning of the
eleven-year Interregnum in which Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector. After
Cromwell's death, England turned to Charles's son and acknowledged him as Charles II.
The exhumed heads of Cromwell, his son-in law, and the High Court's President were
placed on public display atop Westminster Hall. The anniversary of Charles's execution
became a date of commemoration on the liturgical calendar of the Anglican Church.
(Sirico 51)Charles II, the king, had been in France and he naturally brought with him
some French fashions.
That French influence was felt particularly in the theatre since "Charles returned from his
exile with a very definite love of the drama and of literature in general (Nicoll 8). The
drama of the Restoration, Thorndike states, ". . . was separated from the earlier periods by
sixteen years of closed theatres and a virtual cessation of all dramatic composition;" ". . .
the Restoration brought not only a revival but also a revolution - new fashions, new
models, new foreign influence, a new age, and a changed society" (Thorndike 243).
Although the Puritans had lost their authority in political power, they had not lost courage
in abusing the stage. The most violent attack was made by Jeremy Collier, a clergyman,
in 1698, in a pamphlet called A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the
English Stage, Collier's attack on drama has three points: the so-called obscenity of the
plays, the frequent references to the Bible and biblical characters, and the criticism,
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"slander and abuse flung from the stage upon the clergy". He criticized Shakespeare's
Desdemona showing her love and chastity; he was opposed to any reference to anything
connected to the Church or religion; and he was against any portrayal of the clergy.
Collier even accused playwrights of glorifying all the sins, passions which they portrayed
in their characters.
The Puritan Revolution was fought not only against the King, but also against theatre; but
the theatre was never so finally and roundly defeated as the King. The skirmishes and
battles were equally protracted and bitter, but the growth of the Elizabethan--Jacobean
drama was so hardy and so dear to so many Englishmen that it never completely died.
Ordinance after ordinance was passed against stage plays, but there was hardly a year in
London from 1842 to 1660 when plays were not being given. The records are full of
recurrent raids by the soldiers of Parliament, the seizure of players and their goods, the
ransacking of playhouses and their forcible demolition, and the jailing of theatre people.
But these very records show that the Puritans had not succeeded in destroying theatrical
activity. (Roberts 228)
With the accession of Queen Anne in 1702, drama was again a target of criticism since
Queen Anne "was completely disinterested in the arts, literature, and theatre" (Roberts
250). The beginning of the reign of Queen Anne in 1702 ". . . marked the final
withdrawal of court interest in drama" Thus English theatre was no longer for the court
but "the property of citizens (Roberts 252). The Age of Reason valued science, logic, and
rationality; denied emotionalism and wanted an ordered society. In the area of literature,
authors declared their independence of patrons, and writing became a form of earning
one's living. Prices for theatres were higher than today, and considerably higher than
under Elizabeth I. Since drama became a commercial field, there had been innovations on
the theatre buildings as well as stage props and costumes of the actors.
In the political turmoil of the nineteenth century in Europe, drama was sometimes abused.
The ruling classes tended to use theatre as a propaganda instrument during the French
Revolution (Roberts 350). In the twentieth century, on the other hand, drama consisted of
realist settings true to life. The growing popularity of the motion picture affected drama.
Soon radio and television increased in popularity, which foreshadowed the possible end
of live theatre; yet it did not end.Despite all the attacks and difficulties, theatre has always
been alive. It has survived since the fifth century B.C. In its long history, theatre has
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always had rivals. However it has never been defeated; on the contrary, it has
accomplished glorification. Theatre is not only an important part of a particular society
that is depicted in plays; it is also the most human form of art that has ever existed.
There are basically two forms of drama which are tragedy and comedy. Drama is
unlike poetry or prose. It is an art dependent on many other tools unlike a written text which
has to do with words only.
Drama Types:
- Tragedy ;generally serious in tone, focusing on a protagonist who experiences an

eventual downfall
- Comedy – light in tone, employs humor and ends happily
- Satire – exaggerated and comic in tone for the purpose of criticism or ridicule
- Experimental – can be light or serious in tone. It creates its own style through
experimentation with language, characters, plot, etc.
- Musical – can be light or serious. The majority of the dialogue is sung rather than
spoken.
Other Characteristics of One Act Plays
There are some other characteristics of one act play are as follows:
1- One act play consists of only one act, but it may contain one or more than one scenes.
2- One act plays are typically authored in a brief style.
3- One act plays deal with a particular prevailing state of affairs and their goal is to create a
single conclusion.
4- One act plays deal with a single theme which is established through a single circumstance
to one climax so that maximum impact can be created.
5- One act plays deal with routine difficulties of ordinary life for instance matrimony
and divorce, wrongdoings and penalties and work conditions.
6- Just as in the case of a routine long drama, a one act play also is constituted of a
beginning, middle and an end.
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A One Act Play May Have Four Stages:
a. The Exposition: It is generally short and does the job of the play’s prelude.
b. The Conflict: It helps in development of the action of the drama. This forms
the very strength of the play.
c. The Climax: It is the turning point of the one act play. It is the most significant
part of theplay.Thisformulates its moment ofultimateinterest.
d. The Denouement: It is very short and generally overlapping with the climax.
1. The beginning of the play marks the very first action.
2. The actions once begun are continuous, which means it carries on without any interval.
3. Due to short duration of the play, all unnecessary things must be strictly avoided.As the
action happens in a short period of time, it presents intricate stage directions to minimize the
time taken by the action itself.
4. A successful one act play must have the capability of creating the mood, or atmosphere of
the play before losing any time.
5. The unity of time, place and action must be observed in a one act play.
6. A one act play is not dependent on outstanding impacts and regular old dramatic tricks.
It purposes to have the ease of plot; deliberation of action and agreement of impression.
7. A one act play has limited number of characters. Usually, there are just two or three main
characters.
8. A character is usually not fully developed in a one act play. Rather than presenting all the
diverse facets of a character, the attention is concentrated on just one or two striking
characteristics of character. These salient features are highlighted and presented by putting the
characters in diverse conditions and situations.
9. One act plays are influenced by realism. Commonplace people are depicted as characters in
the modern one act plays.
10. A one act play throws a question, for which the viewers enthusiastically anticipate the
answer.
11. The simple language use in a one act play can be understood without pressurizing the
senses. The dialogues in the play must not be superfluous they must be focused. Words
must be carefully chosen and sentences used must be brief. The language used to form
dialogues must be simple, brief and easily understood.
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Some Important dramatists of One Act Plays
Some of the significant one act plays by famous playwrights are as follows: Anton Chekhov:
A Marriage Proposal (1890) August Strindberg: Pariah (1889) Motherly Love (1892 The
First Warning (1892) Thornton Wilder: The Long Christmas Dinner (1931) Eugene
Ionesco: The Bald Soprano (1950) Arthur Miller: A Memory of Two Mondays (1955)
Samuel Beckett: Krapp’s Last Tape (1958) Israel Horovitz: Line (1974) Edward Albee: The
Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2002)
Absurd Theatre: It refers to a literary movement in the field of drama which gained
popularity all over European countries beginning from the decade of the 1940s and it lasted
till around 1989 Absurd theatre denotes a literary movement in the field of drama which
gained popularity all over European countries beginning from the decade of the 1940s and it
lasted till around 1989. Playwrights indulging in absurdist theatre followed the philosophies
propounded by the French-Algerian thinker,Albert Camus
Features of Absurd Drama
Some of the basic features of absurd drama are as follows:
 Exploration of the relativeness of facts
 Uselessness
 Futile fight of people in order to counter destiny
 Insufficiency of conversation or connection
 Use of small talk and sarcasm
 Non-agreement
 Lack of stability of characters
 Lack of certain plot configuration
 World moving towards devastation
 Personal absurdity of trying to regulate one’s fat
- Absurd Theatre: It refers to a literary movement in the field of drama which gained
popularity all over European countries beginning from the decade of the 1940s and it
lasted till around 1989.
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- Melodrama: It refers to the ethical stories which demonstrate a battle between good
and bad with the good ultimately coming out victorious.
One act play: It refers to a play which consists of only one act. It is different from other
plays as most of the plays have several acts.
Stock Characters: It refers to the characters founded on set personalities or typecasts.
Main Characteristics of Melodrama
The characteristics of melodrama are as follows:
1. Overstated and formalized actions and prolonged spoken method communicating

strong emotions.
2. Typecast, generally single dimensional characters who rarely show any psychological or
mental changes.
3. Depiction of a social scuffle between good (normally depicting the poor) and bad
(normally depicting the rich). The drama usually ends with the victory of good over evil.
4. The interaction between audience and performers of the drama is an important part of
melodrama. This sort of an involvement adds weight to the message carried by the
melodrama.
5. Melodramas are usually filled with outstanding happenings such as pursuits, eruptions,
combats, encounters. These kind of enthralling events exhibited in a melodrama involve and
captivate the audience and makes them forget the nagging worries of their own world.
6. The plot of the melodrama being fast moving offers enthusiasm, anticipation and time accord
to the audience.
7. The circumstances of a melodrama stimulate pity amongst audience. Their hearts are
overwhelmed with sorrow for the feeble or victimised poor and good people and
detestation for the bad or rich authoritarians.
Drama is a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform; it is a Greek word
which means action. The origin of Western theatre is supposed to be found in Ancient
Greece. Drama probably developed in Ancient Greece from the festivals, honouring
Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility and wine. In the Middle Ages, drama in Europe dealt
with religious characterizations. The plays were mainly Biblical, thus had substantial
relevance to Christian elements. Although the Christian church did much to suppress the
168
performance of plays, it is actually in the church that medieval drama began. Mystery
plays, the most famous of which is The Second Shepherd's Play, depicted Biblical
episodes from the Creation to Judgment Day. Another important type that developed
from church liturgy was the miracle play, based on the lives of saints rather than on
Bible. The miracle play reached its peak in France and the mystery play in England.
However, both types gradually became secularized. The Second Shepherds' Play, despite
its religious seriousness, is most notable for its elements of realism and farce, while the
miracle plays in France often emphasize comedy and adventure. A third type of religious
drama is the morality play. The morality plays, which were mainly religious allegories,
appeared early in the 15th century, the most famous being Everyman
Miracle Play: is basically a religious play. They deal with the lives of saints and the
miracles performed by them. The life and martyrdom of a saint formed the central theme
of a Miracle play.
Characteristics of Miracle Plays: The main characteristics of these plays were.
1. The story revolved around the main character and the other characters were shortly
valued.
2. Comic scenes were also a part of miracles plays.
3. Devil’s character was also presented in the miracle plays.
4. Lives of saints or the scenes from Bible were the subject matter of miracle plays.
5. The structure of miracle plays was generally loose.
Mystery Play : basically deal with the themes taken from the Bible. They present in
chronological order major events from the creation and fall of man through nativity,
Crucifixion, Resurrection of Christ to the last Judgment.
Morality Plays are allegorical plays. They present on the stage personified Virtues and
vices. Everyman is presented as the Hero, Satan personified as Vice, God or Christ as
Virtue, and death as the Reward of Sin.
Characteristics: Some of the elements of morality plays were.
- In these plays character were personified abstractions of vice & virtues such as
good & evil and faith & anger.
- Theme was dividing in terms of general and main.
a. General: this theme was theological. Main: the struggle between good
and bad powers for capturing man’s soul.
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b. Seven sins were also the part of these plays.
c. Comic scenes were also included in morality plays.
d. Concept of Damnation/Salvation was also there
1. Poetic Play is also called a Lyrical Play or a Closet Play. It is not meant to be
acted on the stage. In fact, it is a long poem cast into the dramatic form and can be
read as a poem.
2. Problem Play The is a newly developed dramatic genre. It is so called because its
central theme is a social, economic, legal, political or humanitarian problem. This
problem is dramatically presented.
3. One-Act Play is a short dramatic composition in one Act only. It can have several
scenes in the same Act. It is now a complete dramatic genre in itself. It generally
deals with a contemporary problem
4. Tragedy is the tragic story of a good and great man who, on account of a slight
flaw in his character, passes through a harrowing emotional and spiritual crisis,
and finally meets his doom and death.
The Beginning of Drama
The English drama was brought to England by the Romans.the drama was chosen to
educate the masses about various religious happenings. The drama originated to depict
biblical scenes as most people could not understand the bible which was written in Latin
.So,plays ( without dialogues or costumes) were performed in churches on special
occasions. Drama or a play is an adaptation to entertain the crowd in Greek, Roman and
Indian civilizations. Gradually, it spread to other parts of the world and has become a
major genre in literature. Romans influence over the English is predominant, when it
comes to the development and rise of English drama. The introduction of Christianity and
Latin language made it necessary for people to understand the Bible in Latin. However,
education of noble languages like Latin was confined only to the nobles and members of
the Church. This has led to the development of preliminary drama, which was in control
of the Church than production units [as found today]. The first play ever recorded
performed at Dunstable, England is St. Katherine [1110 A.D.]. It was performed in Latin
but was aimed to enlighten the English audience about the life and martyrdom of
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Katherine. From the Church interpretations of the Bible and various religious stories, the
rise of English drama was slow.
Gradually, this form of entertainment has divided based on the performances. The play
became secular with the development of “Folk Celebrations”, where the English were
entertained with various stories like Robin Hood during the festival season. However,
these plays were considered as degenerate by the members of the Church and drama
again came to its origins [Bible]. The Church at that time also banned Strolling Minstrels
representing the Barbarians, who invaded England. Therefore, the primary progress of
drama came back to the Church.
Elizabethan Drama
Drama was the chief literary glory of the Elizabethan age. In the beginning, these dramas
were not so well- written, though the comedies were better than the tragedies. Ralph
Roister Doister is taken as the first regular English comedy. It was a kind of farce in
rough verse written by Nicholas Udall. Another comedy was Gammer Gurton’s Needle
acted at Cambridge University in 1566. Lyly improved the comedy in his prose comedy
Compaspe and Edimion. Gorboduc, written by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville,
was the first regular tragedy. It was very dull and written in poor blank verse. Thomas
Kyd improved the tragedy by writing The Spanish Tragedy. It is a tragedy of blood and
revenge.
William Shakespeare : is taken as the finest dramatist of all times. He began his career
as a play actor and then moved to play writing. He had great dramatic as well as poetic
gift. His plays look like a living world of people. His characters have both individual and
universal qualities.At the beginning Shakespeare wrote historical plays by improving the
works of other writings. He then gradually discovered his powers and mastered his art.
Some of his historical plays are Richard the Third and Richard the Second, King Henry
the Fourth, Henry the Fifth and Henry the Sixth. InRichard the Third smooth blank verse
has been used where the sense usually ends with the line. In Richard the Second, there is
rather more freedom because the sense pushes through from one line to the next. King
Henry the Fourth introduces a funny fat knight, Sir John Falstaff. Henry the Fifth is filled
with the love of country and the spirit of war.
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Shakespeare also wrote a good number of comedies. They are generally better than his
historical plays. The intrigues of gentlemen and the love affair of young people are
mainly the subject matter of his comedies. We often do not find a great disaster and very
sad events in them. Shakespeare wrote comedies, which were mainly suitable for the
Globe theatre. Among his famous comedies are: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The
Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, and As you Like it.
With his growing power and matured skill, Shakespeare wrote his tragedies. Romeo and
Julietis his first tragedy which presents a tragic love affair. He wrote three Roman
tragedies, namely, Julies Caesar, Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. His other four
great tragedies are Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello. The central characters in
these tragedies are always great men like King, Queen, Prince and so on. The course of
events is designed in such a way that it leads the main characters to ruin because of their
own error in judgment (tragic flaw). This tragic flaw or the fatal weakness of character is
clearly noticeable in all his tragedies. For example, Antony is ruined because of his love
of comfort and love. Coriolanus is ruined by his terrible pride. The hamlet’s tragic flaw is
hesitation, inability to act when action is needed. King Lear’s weakness is his openness to
flattery. Shakespeare’s tragedies are great and world famous because they have universal
qualities that pass into the heart of the human soul.
Shakespeare immense power and full maturity are reflected in his last group of plays,
which are called the romances. They are Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The
Tempest. These romances are neither fully tragedies nor comedies. Some tragic situations
are also found in them, but they end happily. The wrong doers are forgiven. All these
works are colored with the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation. We also find beautiful
islands and girls in them.
Benjamin Jonson : One of the great dramatists of Elizabethan age is Ben Jonson. His
plays are based on the theory of the four humors or elements (fire, water, air and soil) and
they are less beautiful and less attractive than Shakespeare’s. The ancient writers
influenced much of the Jonson’s idea. He believed in three unities that are the unities of
place, time and action. Every Man in his Humour is his famous play. Jonson’s main
failure as a dramatist lies in the fact that a humour for him was a special foolishness or
the chief strong feeling in a man like anxiety and jealousy. Therefore his characters are
walking humorous and not really human. Jonson wrote about twenty plays alone and
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others with other playwrights. Of his comedies Volpone the Fox, Every man out of his
Humour, The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair and The Silent Woman are famous. His
tragedy Sejanus was played at the Globe Theatre. He was also one of the best producers
of masques at this or any other time. These masques are dramatic entertainments with
dancing and music, which are more important than the story and characters.
Types of Comedy : There are five types of comedy in literature:
Romantic Comedy : This type of drama involves the theme of love leading to happy
conclusion. We find romantic comedy in Shakespearean plays and some Elizabethan
contemporaries. These plays are concerned with idealized love affairs. It is a fact that the
true love never runs smooth; however, love overcomes the difficulties and ends in a
happy union. Example:William Shakespeare’s play,A Midsummer Night’s Dream,is a
good example of a romantic comedy, presenting young lovers falling comically in and
out of love for a brief period. Their real world problems get resolved magically, enemies
reconcile and true lovers unite in the end
Comedy of Humors : Ben Johnson is the first dramatist, who conceived and popularized
this dramatic genre during late sixteenth century. The term humor derives from Latin
word ‘humor’ that means liquid. It comes from a theory that human body has four liquids
or humors, which include phelgm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. It explains that when
human beings have balance of these humors in their bodies, they remain healthy
Example:In his play, Every Man in His Humor, Ben Johnson brings comedy of humors.
An overpowering suspicion and obsessed with his wife that she might be unfaithful to
him, controls Kitely. Then, a country gull determines every decision of George
Downright in order to understand the manners of gallant city. Kno’well worried for moral
development of his son, tries to spy on him.
Comedy of Manners : This form of dramatic genre deals with intrigues and relations of
ladies and gentlemen, living in a sophisticated society. This form relies upon high
comedy, derived from sparkle and wit of dialogues, violations of social traditions, and
good manners by nonsense characters like jealous husbands, wives and foppish dandies.
We find its use in Restoration dramatists, particularly in the works of Wycherley and
Congreve. Example: The most important playwrights in the Restoration period are
William Congreve and William Wycherley; but some of Shakespeare’s plays (e.g.Love’s
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Labour’s Lost, or much Ado About Nothing) can also be considered examples of this
genre, as are the plays of Molière, Sheridan, and Oscar Wilde.
Sentimental Comedy : Sentimental drama contains both comedy and sentimental

tragedy. It appears in literary circle due to reaction of middle class against obscenity and
indecency of Restoration Comedy of Manners. This form gained popularity among the
middle class audiences in eighteenth century. This drama incorporates scenes with
extreme emotions evoking excessive pity. Example:Sir Richard Steele’s play,The
Conscious Lovers,is a best-known and popular sentimental comedy, which is like a
melodrama. It characterizes extreme exaggeration, dealing with trials of its penniless
leading role Indiana. The play ends happily with the discovery of Indiana as heiress.
Tragi comedy : This dramatic genre contains both tragic and comedic elements. It blends
both elements to lighten an overall mood of the play. Often,tragicomedy is a serious play
ends happily. Example:Shakespeare’s play,All’s Well that Ends Well, perfectly sums up
tragic and comic elements. This tragicomedy play shows antics of low born but devoted
Helena, who attempts to win the love of her lover, Bertram. She finally succeeds into
marrying him though she decides not to accept him until wears family ring of her
husband and bears him a child. She employs a great deal of trickery by disguising herself
as Bertram’s another he is after and fakes her death. Bertram discovers her treachery at
the end but realizes Helena did all that for him and expresses his love for her.
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Novel
The novel is the most common works of fiction. A novel often involves multiple major
characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists. Due to its considerable length,
a novel is meant to be read over a period of time. The plot moves forward through many
characters, actions, thoughts, time periods, and situations. The reader often feels that the
story deviates and is affected by the involvement of different sub-stories and sub-plots,
by the passage of time, or by the involvement of new important characters. This is
considered the real beauty of the novel. The word count of a novel is really debatable.
This is because different genres have different requirements. However, a novel is usually
no shorter than 40,000 words. Editors today consider a length of 80,000 to 120,000 words
as ideal for a novel. Romance novels, however, can be shorter than that. On the other
hand, a fantasy, horror, and science fiction usually see works of greater lengths. The word
count for fantasy novels often touches the 240,000 mark. Some famous books, like the
Lord of the Rings series, are famous for their word-count. The Harry Potter series has
1,084,170 words; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix itself has 257,045 words.
The word fiction has been derived from Latin word ―fictus‖ that means, ―to form‖.
Merriam Webster defines it as, “literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that
describes imaginary events and people
Fiction‖ is defined as any imaginative re-creation of life in prose narrative form. All
fiction is a falsehood of sorts because it relates events that never actually happened to
people (characters) who never existed, and not in the manner portrayed in the stories.
The words "novel," "novelette," and "novella" come from the Italian word "novella,"
feminine of "novello," which means "new." They are all works of fiction. But each type
has its own purpose and form. They are indeed categorized based on the word count. The
generally accepted word-count of each is as shown below:
1. Flash Fiction: 53 - 1,000 words

2. Short Stories: 3,500 - 7,500
3. Novellettes: 7,500 - 17,000
4. Novellas: 17,000 - 40,000
5. Novels: 40,000 + words
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Novelette : A novelette is also a narrative fictional prose. "Novelette”, years ago, referred
to a romantic or sentimental story. In modern times, the term is rarely used, and
novelettes are rarely published singly. A novelette is longer than a short story, but shorter
than a novella.
Novella : Novellas can have multiple sub-plots, twists, conflicts and several characters.
But we find fewer conflicts in a novella than we find in a novel. But they will contain
more nuance and complication than we will find in a short story.
The Chief Elements of a Novel are:
1- It deals with events and actions which constitute its plot.

2- It has character i.e. men and women which carry on its action and to whom things
happen.
3- The conversation of these characters constitutes the element of dialogue.
(4) It has a scene and time of action i.e. the place and time where different things
happen to different characters. It may be some limited region or its action may
range over large number of places, cities, even countries
4- Its treatment of life and its problems are realistic. Thus, it is realism which
distinguishes it from the earlier prose romances. The novel does not provide escape
from life and its problems, but rather a better understanding of them. It also reflects
the very spirit of the age in which it is written
5- It exhibits the author’s view of life and of some of the problems of life. It thus gives
the author’s criticism of life or his philosophy of life.
Henry Fielding (1707–1752) is one of the most known figures of English letters. He was a great
explorer of human nature and had wide experience of life. His works were lively and strong.
Though in his lifetime, he was seen as ‘dirty and low’ as a writer, he appears to have
influenced the following centuries. He had been the pioneer of English novels. His masterpiece
Tom Jones (1749) is ranked by Maugham among the ten greatest novels of the world. His novels
are categorised as novels of reason. He had lively realism, great play of humour, irony and satire;
stuck to sanity, to tolerance for human weaknesses, had keen eye for humour, engaging
narrative, gift of strong plot and theme, vivid characterisation, comic dialogues and much
more. Through Fielding’s narrative – a reader is never bored. He had been frank in describing
human folly.
176
Tobias Smollett (1721–71) is considered a great novelist of the eighteenth century after
Richardson and Fielding, though his work is ranked not as great as theirs. His novels are
steeped deep in the picaresquian style. Roderick Random (1748), Peregrine Pickle (1751) and
Humphrey Clinker (1771) are some of his famous novels.As an artist, he was a realist gifted with
a fine flow of narration and colourful events. He was a sharp observer of life and its rough sides,
especially of the sea– life. He put brutal and coarse facts of life into fiction devoid of moral and
had a course humour. He is not as lively as others of his age but realistic in nature. His novels
are full of new situations and events.
Lawrence Sterne (1713–68): Lawrence Sterne was also one of the four notable writers of the
eighteenth-century English novel. Tristram Shandy, The Gent (1759– 1767) is his masterpiece
which is in nine volumes: a mixture of unconnected incidents, it comprises of fancies,
knowledge of human life, humour, pathos and many other important aspects of human life. His
plot is considered rather scattered and his story develops late. Sterne is sentimental in his
approach. He is still characterised by his streak of sentimentality. His art of characterisation is
wide and vivid. His influence on his following generation is on Henry Mackenzi and his uncle
Toby is an immortal character.
Richardson’s gifts: Samuel Richardson has dealt very keenly into the female psychology.
He was a great reader of human behaviour. He was also adept in describing the emotional
problems of human life. He made a great effort in liberating novel as a form from a conservative
outlook which those who regarded it as a reading for pleasure. He is known for his
psychological analysis and introspection and social realism. His stress on morality and
sentimentality made him popular across Europe. But he is often considered a writer of lengthy
novels; his morality is called smug or prudish. His description of the emotional details of the
protagonist’s psychology is a quality which makes him an immortal writer.
Lawrence Sterne (1713–68): Sentimental novels depend on emotional response of both the
characters and the readers. The plot in a sentimental novel advances in an emotional manner
rather than in action. Lawrence Sterne is also a notable writer of this genre. His novel
Sentimental Journey (1768) is a famous sentimental novel. Sterne’s journey through France and
Italy is the subject here. It is travel writing: a discussion of personal taste and sentiments of men’s
manners and morals over classical learning. The narrator is Reverend Yorick whose
adventures are recorded in this book. This is an amorous type of tale representing a series of self-
177
Henry Mackenzie: Henry Mackenzie’s The Man of Feeling (1771) depicts a series of moral
pictures which Harley, the simple-hearted hero observes either by him or someone else speaks
about the things related to him. It also has elements of romance. There is a priest also who
narrates some episodes to Harley. Harley is an orphan who has clamouring guardians and they
advise him to seek a relative with a view to have fruitful chances of inheritance. He moves
out to acquire a patron and has several encounters with different men. There are complex
episodes of goodness and his love with Miss Walton. At last, he dies having confessed his love
to her which revives her. The novel deals chiefly with the rising middle class and their problem of
money and inheritance.
Other important novelists: Tobias Smollett’s The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker

(1771), Frances (Fanny), Burney’s Evelina (1778) are good examples of this type. In Evelina,
the heroine, intrinsically good and raised in a village, is educated and trained for proper living.
Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews are stories of emotional and sentimental
people. But they are a subtle comment on excessive emotionalism and sentimentality. These
novels focused on the weaker societysuch as orphans and convicted men. It aimed at softer
punishment and not a harsh one. Goethe’s Werther (1774) and Richardson’s Pamela are the
greatest examples of the Sentimental Novel. The Sentimental Novel gave birth to the following
generation of Gothic novel.
Mary Shelley (1797–1851): Shelley’s wife, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein (1817) which
isa tale of terror having the elements of science in it. It is about the devastations caused by a
machine man which itself is destroyed at the end. The theme has time and again exhausted
bymovie-makers and proved to be a successful and entertaining story. She was an only novelist of
this period who seems to have inspired the entire generation of science fiction writers of the
modern age.
William Beckford (1760-1844): Beckford is considered a novelist of very fertile imagination.

His work, Vathek (1786) has been set in Arabia and he seems to be inspired by the oriental
stories. The story belongs to Vathek, a Caliph and sort of Muslim Faustus who sells his soul to
Eblis or the devil. It is his story of life till death and hell which is very much terror-evoking. The
description of his a death is a terrific and horrifying picture. The description of blood-shed
and crime and is woven with the very texture of the novel. The novel is in the tradition of
Gothic fictions.
178
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) was a notable Scottish writer of historical novel. He had
explored the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, Spenser, Dryden, Swift, and historical stories
greatly. He was the first English writer who had an international career and had his followers in
Europe,Australia and NorthAmerica. He was also a poet and playwright at the same time. Scott
had worked throughout his life to revive the history of Scotland. Not only did he revive his
country’s historical past, but also made it live and presentable to the readers. He had studied
his culture deeply and had lively imagination to support the true facts. In other words, he
made history live and walk in his times: he took rather real men from history and the dates and
transformed them into an imaginary literature. The stories which were dry and uninteresting as
merely had happened once, he made them live and colourful. But he did not transcend his time like
Walpole but remained there making the ghosts live in his days. As Prospero controlled spirits,
Walter Scott called the dead historical figures to live and breathe. He had explored a lot in
history. He was a voracious reader. Since he picked up history as his setting and filled in his
ideas to live those men and women, his fictions are called historical romance.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a very famous novelist who exploited the narrative technique
Stream-of-Consciousness in each of her fiction. Her novels represent mind’s experience. Her
characters speak about their inner experience. Mrs. Dalloway, the protagonist, recapitulates the
time-scheme of one day in the life of an MP’s wife. She is describing about a party that is to
take place at night when and old friend whom she loved once has just arrived from India. The
novel describes only what her conscious follows whether it is past or the present. The narrative
looks incoherent and not so comprehensive though it is stylised particularly to display the stream-of-
consciousness technique. In her latter novels, there is a message interwoven as in To the
Lighthouse, a place on an island where the family of Mrs. Ramsay and a few close acquaintances
arrive to celebrate holiday. This method of capturing the unconscious and conscious is quite
improved here because it seems to relate itself to the plot in a harmonious manner. She has the gift
of moral which Joyce lacked. He other prominent works is Between the acts, The Waves and
Orlando. The Waves is called her most articulate exercise of all the artistic potentialities. Her
novels show an experimentalist’s way of expression with a new style and for this she is regarded
amongst most prominent and influencing writers of the modern age.
179
Types of Novels
1. Realistic Novel: A fictional attempt to give the effect of realism. It is sometimes

called a ‗novel of manner‘. A realistic novel can be characterized by its complex
characters with mixed motives that are rooted in social class and operate
according to highly developed social structure. The characters in realistic novel
interact with other characters and undergo plausible and everyday experiences.
Examples: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Looking for Alaska by John
Green.
2. Picaresque Novel: A picaresque novel relates the adventures of an eccentric or

disreputable hero in episodic form. The genre gets its name from the Spanish
word picaro, or "rogue." Examples: Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901), Henry
Fielding‘s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749),
3. Historical Novel: A Historical novel is a novel set in a period earlier than that of
the writing. Examples: Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two
Cities,
4. Epistolary Novel: Epistolary fiction is a popular genre where the narrative is

told via a series of documents. The word epistolary comes from Latin where
‗epistola‘ means a letter. Letters are the most common basis for epistolary novels
but diary entries are also popular Examples: Samuel Richardson‘s Pamela and
Clarissa, Bram Stoker‘s Dracula, Alice Walker‘s The Color Purple and Bridget
Jones’ Diary.
5. Bildungsroman: German terms that indicates a growth. This fictional

autobiography concerned with the development of the protagonist‘s mind, spirit,
and characters from childhood to adulthood. Examples: Jane Eyre by Charlotte
Bronte, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, The Magic Mountain by Thomas
Mann etc.
6. Gothic Novel: Gothic novel includes terror, mystery, horror, thriller,

supernatural, doom, death, decay, old haunted buildings with ghosts and so on.
Examples: Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein, John William Polidori‘s The Vampyre,
Bram Stoker‘s Dracula, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole,
7. Autobiographical Novel: An autobiographical novel is a novel based on the life

of the author. Examples: Charles Dickens‘ David Coppefield, Great
180
Expectations, D. H. Lawrence‘s Sons and Lovers,Sylvia Plath‘s The Bell Jar,
Ralph Ellison ‗s Invisible Man, Maya Angelou‘ s I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings , Virginia Wolfe‘s The Light House etc.
8. Satirical Novel: Satire is loosely defined as art that ridicules a specific topic in
order to provoke readers into changing their opinion of it. By attacking what they
see as human folly, satirists usually imply their own opinions on how the thing
being attacked can be improved. Examples: George Orwell‘s Animal Farm,
Jonathan Swift‘s Gulliver’s Travel, Joseph Heller‘s Catch 22, Mark Twin‘s The
Adventure of Huckleberry Finn,
9. Allegorical Novel: An allegory is a story with two levels of meaning- surface

meaning and symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning of an allegory can be
political or religious, historical or philosophical.Examples: John Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress , William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, Edmund Spenser's
The Faerie Queene etc.
10. Regional Novel: A religious novel is a novel that is set against the background
of a particular area. Examples: Novels of Charles Dickens George Eliot etc.
11. Novella: A novella is a short, narrative, prose fiction. As a literary genre, the
novella‘s origin lay in the early Renaissance literary work of the Italians and the
French. As the etymology suggests, novellas originally were news of town and
country life worth repeating for amusement and edification. Examples: Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,
12. Detective Fiction: Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery
fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional or amateur—
investigates a crime, often murder. Examples: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘ A
Study in Scarlet ( Sherlock Holmes), Satyajit Roy‘s Sonar Kella(Feluda), G.
K. Chesterton‘s The Blue Cross (Father Brown), Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta‘s Kalo
Bhramar (Kiriti)
13. The Intellectual Novel: These sort of novelists attempted to explore the
intellectual responses of the intelligentia to the world. Characteristically, their
novel displays the clash of ideas and intellectual verification of knowledge., value
and response, a diminishing faith on the cosmic significance of existence,
argument and counter argument in discussion, separation of concept of love and
181
sex, conversation without communication, and a dehumanizing effect of
disillusionment in the 20th century. Examples: Graham Greene‘s The Power and
the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, Elizabeth Bowen‘s The Hotel, The House in
Paris.
14. Stream of Consciousness Novel or Psychological Novel: Psychological novels

are works of fiction that treat the internal life of the protagonist (or several or all
characters) as much as (if not more than) the external forces that make up the plot.
The phrase ―Stream of Consciousness‖ was coined by William James in his
Principles of Psychology (1890), to describe the flow of thought of the waking
mind Examples: Virginia Wolfe‘s To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dolloway, James
Joyce‘s Ulysses, D. H. Lawrence‘s Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow.
15. Roman á these/ Social Fiction/ Political Novel: The genre focussed on possible
development of societies, very often dominated by totalitarian governments. This
type of novels must have social and political message. The term generally refers
to fiction in Europe and the Soviet Union reacting to Communist rule Examples:
George Orwell‘s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Huxley‘s Brave New World etc.
16. Prose Romance: This is a novel that is often set in the historical past with a plot
that emphasizes adventure and an atmosphere removed from reality. The
characters in a prose romance are either sharply drawn as villains or heroes,
masters or victims; while the protagonist is isolated from the society. Examples:
The Story of the Pillow by Shen Jiji, and The Governor of the Southern Tributary
State by LiGongzuo.
17. Novel of Incident: In a novel of incident the narrative focuses on what the
protagonist will do next and how the story will turn out. Examples: The Wizard of
Oz, Star Wars etc.
18. Novel of Character: A novel of character focuses on the protagonist’s motives

for what he/she does and how he/she turns out. Examples: Jane Austen’s Emma.
19. Dime Novel: Dime novels were short works of fiction, usually focused on the
dramatic exploits of a single heroic character. As evidenced by their name, dime
novels were sold for a dime (sometimes a nickel), and featured colourful cover
illustrations. They were bound in paper, making them light, portable, and
somewhat ephemeral. Example: Dime novels are, at least in spirit, the antecedent
182
of today's mass market paperbacks, comic books, and even television shows and
movies based on the dime novel genres. Buffalo Ball.
20. Hypertext Novel: Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature,

characterized by the use of hypertextlinks which provide a new context for non-
linearity in literature and reader interaction. The reader typically chooses links
to move from one node of text to the next, and in this fashion arranges a story
from a deeper pool of potential stories. Its spirit can also be seen in interactive
fiction Examples: James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), Mark Z. Danielewski's House of
Leaves (2000), Enrique Jardiel Poncela's La Tournée de Dios (1932), Jorge Luis
Borges' The Garden of Forking Paths (1941), Vladimir Nabokov's PaleFire (1962)
and Julio Cortázar's Rayuela (1963; translated as Hopscotch) etc.
21. Sentimental Novel: The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th-
century literary genre which celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of
sentiment, sentimentalism, and sensibility. Examples: Samuel Richardson's
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740), Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield
(1766), Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1759–67), Sentimental Journey
(1768), Henry Brooke's The Fool of Quality (1765–70), Henry Mackenzie's The
Man of Feeling (1771). Continental example is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel
Julie.
22. Utopian Novel: A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable

or perfect qualities. It is a common literary theme, especially in speculative fiction
and science fiction. Examples: Utopia by Thomas Moore, Laws (360 BC) by
Plato, New Atlantis (1627) by Sir Francis Bacon,Robinson Crusoe (1719) by
Daniel Defoe, Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift.
23. Graphic Novel: Graphic novels are, simply defined, book-length comics.
Sometimes they tell a single, continuous narrative from first page to last;
sometimes they are collections of shorter stories or individual comic strips.
Comics are sequential visual art, usually with text, that are often told in a series of
rectangular panels.1 Despite the name, not all comics are funny. Many comics and
graphic novels emphasize drama, adventure, character development, striking
visuals, politics, or romance over laugh-out-loud comedy. Examples: Frank
Miller‘s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, The Fantastic Four and X- Men etc
183
24. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi): Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing
with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and
technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and
extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of
scientific and other innovations. Examples: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells,
The Time Machine.
25. Erotic Novel: Erotic romance novels have romance as the main focus of the plot
line, and they are characterized by strong, often explicit, sexual content. The
books can contain elements of any of the other romance subgenres, such as
paranormal elements, chick lit, hen lit, historical fiction, etc. Erotic romance is
classed as pornography Examples: His To Possess by Opal Carew, On Dublin
Street by Samantha Young. The English novel took birth in the 16th and 17th
centuries and reached a great height in the Age of Pope and Dr. Johnson. The
group of the first four novelists of the Augustan Age or Neo-classical
age: Richardson, Smollett, Fielding, and Sterne, in whose hands Novel
blossomed, are called the four wheels of the novel.
History of the Novel
The novel originated in the early 18th century after the Italian word "novella," which was
used for stories in the medieval period. Its identity has evolved and it is now considered
to mean a work of prose fiction over 50,000 words. Novels focus on character
development more than plot. In any genre, it is the study of the human psyche.
The Beginning
The ancestors of the novel were Elizabethan prose fiction and French heroic romances,
which were long narratives about contemporary characters who behaved nobly. The
novel came into popular awareness towards the end of the 1700s, due to a growing
middle class with more leisure time to read and money to buy books. Public interest in
the human character led to the popularity of autobiographies, biographies, journals,
diaries and memoirs.
184
English Novels
The early English novels concerned themselves with complex, middle-class characters
struggling with their morality and circumstances. "Pamela," a series of fictional letters
written in 1741 by Samuel Richardson, is considered the first real English novel. Other
early novelists include Daniel Defoe, who wrote "Robinson Crusoe" (1719) and "Moll
Flanders" (1722), although his characters were not fully realized enough to be considered
full-fledged novels. Jane Austen is the author of "Pride and Prejudice" (1812), and
"Emma" (1816), considered the best early English novels of manners.
Novels in the 19th Century
The first half of the 19th century was influenced by the romanticism of the previous era.
The focus was now on nature and imagination rather than intellect and emotion. Gothic is
a strain of the romantic novel with its emphasis on the supernatural. Famous romantic
novels include "Jane Eyre" (1847) by Charlotte Bronte, the prototype of many succeeding
novels about governesses and mystery men; "Wuthering Heights" (1847) a Gothic
romance by Emily Bronte; "The Scarlet Letter" (1850), and "The House of Seven Gables"
(1851), gothic, romantic tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne about puritanism and guilt; and
"Moby Dick," (1851) Herman Melville's work on the nature of good and evil.
Victorian Novels
The novel became established as the dominant literary form during the reign of Queen
Victoria of England (1837-1901). Victorian novelists portrayed middle-class, virtuous
heroes responding to society and learning wrong from right through a series of human
errors. Sir Walter Scott published three-volume novels and ingeniously made them
affordable to the general public by making them available for purchase in monthly
installments. This marketing tactic lead to the writing innovation of sub-climaxes as a
way to leave readers wanting more each month. Notable Victorian authors include
Charles Dickens, considered the best English Victorian novelist, who wrote "A Christmas
Carol" (1843) and Lewis Carroll, (Charles Ludwidge Dodgson), who wrote "Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland" (1864) and "Through the Looking-Glass" (1871).
185
Realism and Naturalism novels
The rise of industrialization in the 19th century precipitated a trend toward writing that
depicted realism. Novels began to depict characters who were not entirely good or bad,
rejecting the idealism and romanticism of the previous genre. Realism evolved quickly
into naturalism which portrayed harsher circumstances and pessimistic characters
rendered powerless by the forces of their environment. Naturalist novels include "Uncle
Tom's Cabin" (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was a major catalyst for the
American Civil War; "Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
(1885), the latter of which is considered the great American novel written by Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens).
Modern Novels
The 20th century is divided into two phases of literature--modern literature (1900-1945)
and contemporary literature (1945 to the present), also referred to as postmodern. The
characters in modern and contemporary novels questioned the existence of God, the
supremacy of the human reason, and the nature of reality. Novels from this era reflected
great events such as The Great Depression, World War II, Hiroshima, the cold war and
communism. Famous modern novels include "To The Lighthouse" (1927) by English
novelist and essayist Virginia Woolf; "Ulysses" (1921), by Irish novelist and short story
writer James Joyce; "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1929), the most famous World
War I anti-war novel by German novelist and journalist Erich Maria Remarque and "The
Sound and the Fury" (1929) by American novelist and short story writer William
Faulkner, which depicts the decline of the South after the Civil War.
Postmodern Novels
Realism and naturalism paved the way into postmodern surrealistic novels with
characters that were more reflective. The postmodern novel includes magical realism,
metafiction, and the graphic novel. It asserts that man is ruled by a higher power and that
the universe cannot be explained by reason alone. Modern novels exhibit a playfulness of
language, less reliance on traditional values, and experimentation with how time is
conveyed in the story. Postmodern novels include: "The Color Purple" (1982) by Alice
Walker; "Fear of Flying" (1973) by Erica Jong.
186
Novellas are more often focused on one character's personal and emotional development.
Rarely do they concern with large-scale issues. In the past, the novella was often written
with a satirical, moral, or educational purpose in mind. Therefore, it usually depicted the
story of a single character, but it can involve multiple characters. Unlike novels, novellas
are usually not divided into chapters, and like short stories, they are often meant to be
read in one sitting.
Novellas were first introduced in the early Renaissance (1300s). But the genre got firmly
established only by the late 18th and early 19th century. A novella is longer than a
novelette and is sometimes called a long short story or a short novel. These days it is
considered to be of an awkward length and it is difficult to get a novella published.
Novellas of great acclaim include A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and The
Metamorphosis by Kafka.
Flash Fiction
Flash fiction (also known as short, short stories, micro fiction, or postcard fiction) are
stories of extreme brevity. Some of them are only around fifty words in length, while
others have 1,000. These works used to be referred to as "short short stories" until around
the turn of the century (the year 2000), when the term "flash fiction" became the norm.
187
Founder in English Literature
Father of Comedy: Aristophanes
Father of English Comedy: Nicholas Udall
Father of Structuralism: Ferdinand Saussure
Father of Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus
Father of English Prose: Wycliffe
Father of English Drama: Christopher Marlowe
Father of Free Verse: Walt Whitman
Father of Bengali Fiction: Banking Chandra Chatterjee
Father of Regional novel: Thomas Hardy
Father of Regional novel (India) R K Narayan
Father of English Criticisms: Dryden
Father of Oxford Movement: John Keble
Father of Novel: Giovanni Boccacio
Father of Novel (Sentimental): Samuel Richardson
Father of Novel (Character): Fielding
Father of Modern Drama: Henrik Ibsen
Father of Kailyard School: James M Barrie
Father of American Literature: Mark Twain
Father of Science Fiction: HG Wells
Father of Roman Literature: Livius Andronicus
Father of Scottish Poetry: John Barbour
Father of English Poetry : Chaucer
Father of English Prose : King Alfred

Father of English Novel : Henry
Fielding Father of English Modern Prose : Bacon
Father of Modern Linguistics : Bloomsfield
Father of English Essays: Bacon
Father of Essays :Montaigne
Father of American Transcendentali Sm : Emerson
Father of Historical Novel: Sir Walter Scott
Father of Revenge Tragedy: Thomas Kyd
Father of Second English Poets:Edmund Spenser
188
Prince of English Essayist – Charles Lamb
Poets Poet:Spenser
Critics Critic: Hazlitt

The Founder of Knight School of Poetry: Marlowe
The Founder of Metaphysical School of Poetry:John Donne
The Founder of Lake School of Poetry:Wordsworth
The Founder of Saitanik School of Poetry: Lord Byron
The Founder of Chaucer Society: Furnivall
The Founder of Shakespearean Soceity: Steele
The Founder of Sonnet: Petrarch
The Founder of the Club: Johnson
The Founder of Society For Pure English: Robert Bridges
Founder of New Shakespearean Society: Furnivall
Founder of Theosophical Society: Balevatsky
Founder of T.G. Grammar: Noam Chomsky
Founder of Shelly Society: Steele
Founder of Touchstone Method – Mathew Arnold
Founder of Psycho-Analysis : Sigmund Freud
Father of Plagirist:Chaucer
Father of Pre-Raphelite Movement:D.G. Rossetti
Prince of Plagirist:Shakespeare
Father of Gothic Novels: Horace Walpole

Father of English Drama: Christopher Marlowe
Morning Star of English Drama: Christopher Marlowe

Morning Star of Reformation: Wycliff
Child of Renaissance & Reformation Spenser

Founder of British School Of Linguistics – J.R. Firth
Founder of Pramasamaj: Devendranath Tagore
Authorised Verison Of The Bible: King James I
Exponents of Tragic Comedy: Shakespeare
Exponent of Epistolary Novel : Samuel Richardson
Exponent of Sprung Rhythm :G.M. Hopkins
189
Exponent of Social Essays: Francis Bacon
Exponent of Regional Novels: Thomas Hardy
Exponent of Domestic Novels: Jane Austen
Exponent of Dramatic Monologue: Robert Browning
Exponent of Practical Criticism: I.A. Richards
Father of English Criticism: Dryden
Father of American Poetry:William Culler Bryant
Movement of Poets Coined: J.D. Scott

Introducer of Blank Verse: Earl Of Surrey
Introducer of Free Verse: Walt Whitman
Introducer of Limaric: Edward Lear
Founder of ‘Journal: Shelley
Introducer of Sonnet: Wyatt
Structuralism Associated With: Ferdinand De Saussure

Ambiguity Associated With: William Empson
Archetype Associated With: Northrop Frye
Libido & Psycho-Analysis Associated With – C.G. Jung
The Bard of Avan Known As: Shakespeare
Sage of Concord :Emerson
The First Lexicographer: Samuel Johnson
Introducer of The Terza Rhyma(Rima): Shelley
Introducer of Printing Press In England: William Caxton
Invented of Printing Press: John Guttensburg
The Well of English Poetry: Chaucer

The Pre-Cursors Of English Novel: Addison & Steele
Twentieth Century Dryden Known As: T.S. Eliot
Founder of Cockney School of Poetry : Hazlitt
Founder of Graveyard School of Poetry: Thomas Gray

The ‘Gentle’ writer Known As: Charles Lamb
Prominent Member of Royal Society John Dryden

Metaphysical Word Coined By Johnson
Metaphysics Word Coined By Dryden
190
Father of Modern Drama :Eugene O Neil
Father of Short Story:Edgar Allan Poe

Founder of Irish Theatre Movement: W.B. Yeats
The Transition Period Famous For – Thomas Gray

‫مواقع الكترونية مهمة للباحثين‬
Please search in the following websites,
1) http://gen.lib.rus.ec
2) http://sci-hub.org
3) http://sci-hub.cc
4) http://sci-hub.bz
5) http://search.crossref.org
6) http://booksc.org/
7) http://libgen.io/
8) http://gen.lib.rus.ec/scimag/
9) http://airccj.org/csecfp/library/index.php
for text books , these are the links.
1) http://libgen.org
2) http://gen.lib.rus.ec/
3) http://en.bookfi.org/
4) http://lib.freescienceengineering.org
5) http://bookza.org
6) http://bookzz.org
Some Important websites for researchers / Students
1) booksc.org (to download research papers at home, it's free)
2) bookzz.org (to download books, solution manuals etc, it's free)
3) bytesloader.com (to download torrent as a Zip, free with no size limit)
191

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Al-IRAQIA UNIVERSITY

English Literature in Context

English Literature in Context:

Periods, Movements, Literary Theory,

Criticism, Literary Devices and Terms

‫د‪ .‬نبراس احمد عبدهللا الخزرجي‬

‫في الختام ‪ ,‬اسأل هللا لي ولكم دوم التوفيق والسداد‬

 Post Modern Period (1970- present time.

 Post Modern Period (1970- present time.

 The Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1860)

 The Edwardian Period (1901-1910)

The Functions of Literature:

1. Literature stimulates us to understand and comprehend the life which is

2. Literature suggests various possibilities in term of moral, social, and

The General Classifications of Literature

Classical Greek Period (800-200 Bce)

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450 – 1066)

1- It is marked by parallelism and repetition.

Aelfric (955-1010) was a clergyman. He wrote a large number of religious works in

Middle English or Anglo Norman period (1066-1470A.C)

Essential Features of the Romance

2) It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealises the virtues.

3) It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.

4) It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.

English Literature in the Age of Chaucer

English Literature in the 15th Century

Undoubtedly Milton is regarded as one of the greatest poets in English literature. He is

4- it was written in the closed couplet;and it was fundamentally didactic;

6- it encouraged emotion, passion and imagination in place of dry intellectuality; (ii) it

Thomas Gray (1716-1771) is famous as the author of Elegy Written in a Country

The Industrial Revolution

Renaissance, The Elizabethan Age (c. 1500 – c. 1688)

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) wrote amorous as well as religious verse, but it is on

The general characteristics of the Shakespearean Sonnets are:

The Metaphysical Poets

Characteristics of the poetry of the Cavaliers :

Characteristics of Elizabethan Poetry

1. Poetry is a subgenre of literature, so it witnessed the upsurge in literary production

2. Poetry in particular had a great progression in terms of form and theme.

5. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, and it is originated in

Jacobean Literature (c.1558- 1625)

The Caroline era ( c.1625-c.1649 )

Commonwealth literature 1660-1800

It is a term in literary regional studies written by John Rothfork, Commonwealth

The Neoclassical Period (1600–1785)

Neoclassicism was a literary movement, inspired by the rediscovery of classical works of

1. Poetry should be guided by reason

The Augustan Age (c. 1700-1750)

The Age of Johnson (c. 1750-1790)

The Puritan Age (c.1600-1660)

Characteristics of the Puritan poetry:

What's the subject matter of the poetry of the 17th Century?

Restoration ( 1660 - 1700 )

The Age of Pope (1700-1744)

Metaphysical Poetry: (c. 1633–1680 )

Transcendentalism: This is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement

Characteristic of Metaphysical Poetry

Enlightenment (c. 1660–1790)

The Enlightenment was a sprawling intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social

The Augustan Age

The Seventeenth Century

Neoclassical (c. 1700-1750)

Thus Neo-classical literature can be called as ‘Traditional’.The Neo-classical writers like

Major characteristics of the Neo-Classical movement: