V6 P1 W1 recap literatuur

• Engels
• WO
• Studiejaar 6

Literature & Culture

Write down everything you remember about literature from last year.

Write down everything you remember about literature from last year.

                                     compare with your neighbour's list

Metaphor

a word or phrase that refers to something else

• The pillow was a cloud
• Wings chased us through the night

Simile

a metaphor that uses the words like or as to describe someone or something by comparing it with someone or something else

• I wandered lonely as a cloud
• You look like hell

personification

ascribing human traits to objects

• the waves danced
• Trees stretched their arms

Oxymoron

combining words with opposite meanings (creates dramatic effect and makes readers wonder how the two could be combined)

• Pretty ugly
• Loving hate

Imagery

author provokes sensory details through the use of descriptive language

• The sunset was the most gorgeous they’d ever seen; the clouds were edged with pink and gold.
• The familiar tang of his grandmother’s cranberry sauce reminded him of his youth.

consonance

a series of words (or close together) that have the same consonant sound

• He gives his harness bells a shake

      (why not the “s” of his?)

assonance

a series of words (or close together) that have the same vowel sound

• I made my way to the lake

Note that these are sound techniques and therefore may not be reflected in spelling, i.e. “do you like blue” is also considered assonance

alliteration

:(specific form of consonance) a series of words (or close together) that have the same first consonant sound

• While I nodded, nearly napping
• With beaded bubbles winking at the brim

onomatopoeia

words that sound like their meaning

• Jingling bells
• Bees are buzzing

Literature & Culture

the Middle Ages

The six and a half centuries between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest are among the most important in English history. This long period is also one of the most challenging to understand – which is why it has traditionally been labelled the ‘Dark Ages’. Yet a kingdom of England emerged in these centuries, and with it a new ‘English’ identity and language.

Timeline

55 BC - 450 AD: Great Britain under Roman rule

after 450 AD: Celts attack, Romans withdraw 

--> migration of the peoples --> Anglo-Saxon settlers --> 7th century turn to Christianity --> increase Latin & Old English literature --> 793 Vikings attack --> Viking settlers --> 8th - 11th century wars for the crown --> 1066 end of Anglo-Saxon era; beginning of Norman period

BEOWULF

EPIC POETRY

• Long narrative poem (but quite short)
• Written in an elevated style, boombastic
• Celebrates deed of a legendary hero or God
  
• External Conflict, when a character struggles against some outside force person nature society or fate.
  
• Superficial characters
• Straight forward (monster-slay-treasure)

BEOWULF

REMARKABLE & SUCCESFULL - WHY?

• Being worthy of your father’s legacy
  
• Heroic deads (reprimand/debt/honour)
• Appealed to Anglo-Saxon warriors
  
• Tangibility of a hero compared to God

The Canterbury Tales

- One of the few well preserved works in Middle English
- Group of pilgrims from London to Canterbury
- Innkeeper: each pilgrim tells 2 stories to pass the time
- Best story: free supper 
- Chaucer as a narrator introduces each pilgrim
- Various types: rude, moral, humorous, etc. 

Importance

1. Written in English instead of French
            - French was the language of those in power
            - English meant a larger audience
2. The work says a lot about the English medieval society
            - Description of the pilgrims
            - Customs and practices at the time 

Creation of The Canterbury Tales

- Started in 1387 until his death in 1400
- Original work doesn't exist anymore
- More than 80 copies survive
      --> Must have been very popular
- For many other texts only a couple of texts survive
- Story wasn't complete: only one group of pilgrims
- 30 pilgrims and tales

Literature & Culture

Henry VIII (1509–1547)

Henry VIII (1509–1547)

- famous for all the wrong reasons

- started the Church of England

Henry's wives

Henry's wives

Katharine Of Aragon (divorced)

Anne Boleyn (beheaded)

Jane Seymour (died (in childbirth))

Anne Of Cleves (divorced)

Catherine Howard (beheaded)

Katharine Parr (survived)

Edward VI (1547–1553)

Edward VI (1547–1553)

Never actually ruled individually because of his age.

Didn't want Mary to succeed him.

Mary I (1553 – 1558)

Mary I (1553 – 1558)

Nicknamed "Bloody Mary" because of her execution of protestants

Died without an heir, so names half-sister as successor

Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603)

Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603)

No civil war during her reign.

Overturned the fortunes of England 

--> Elizabethan age 

 among other things, an incredibly creative time.

James VI/I (1603-1625)

James VI/I (1603-1625)

Was already king James VI of Scotland.

Marks the end of the Tudor Dynasty.

Henry VII (1485 – 1509)

Henry VII (1485 – 1509)

Put an end to the civil war in England (war of the roses).

Last king to win the throne on the battle field.

Literature & Culture

Utopia

Thomas More’s “Utopia”

• Lawyer, sheriff, statesman
  
• Friend of Erasmus
  
• 1516 publishes Utopia
  
• A story about travel to an ideal society
  
• Not the first but the definition of the genre
  
• A commentary on society
  

Recognizable

A utopia cannot be completely different from our society, it must resemble it, and appear to be a progression from or alternative version of our current society.

iambic pentameter

But soft! What light through yon-der win-dow breaks?

It is the East and Ju-liet is the sun!

A-rise fair sun and kill the en-vious moon,

Who is al-rea-dy sick and pale with grief

That though her maid art far more fair than she

Next week: start Romantic Period