HistoryofEnglishLiterature.doc

History of English Literature
I. Anglo-Saxon Period
(449---1066)
II. Medieval Period
(1066---1485)
III. English Renaissance
(1485---1625)
Elizabethan Age (1558---1602)
IV. 17th Century (Period of English Bourgeois Revolution; Puritan Age) (1625---1660)
V. Neoclassical Period (Restoration and 18th century) (1660---1798)
VI. Romantic Period (1798---1832)
VII. Victorian Age (1833---1901)
VIII. 20th century
What and How to Learn in This Course?
1. Historical background and literary trends in every period
2. Representative writers and their important works in each literary trend
3. How to appreciate and analyze literary works
4. Necessary literary terms
5. Extensive reading outside class
Part I. Anglo-Saxon Period
(449---1066)
Historical Background:
Making of England
2. Old English literature: Beowulf
Making of England
The Britons: the early inhabitants
The Roman Conquest
(55 .- 410 A. D.)
The English Conquest
2. Beowulf 贝奥武夫,
National Epic of England
Protagonist
Subject matter (main incidents)
Theme
Poetic Form
Alliteration(押头韵)
Repetition of consonants, esp. at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. Like any other forms of repetition, alliteration serves 2 purposes: (1), it is pleasing to the ear and can produce a distinct musical quality; (2), it can emphasize the words in which it occurs. It is a great help to memory. Alliteration is an important poetic device in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
For example:
sweet smell of ess;
poor but proud;
green as grass;
Money makes the mare go;
And sings a solitary song /That whistles in the wind(Wordsworth);
And heathen’s only hope, hell(Beowulf
Epic
A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. It has historical root. Meanwhile, it incorporates myth, legend and folk epics were transmitted orally by song and recitation before they were written down. Among t