Literary History: Henry VIII, Shakespeare & Stylistic Devices

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Revision: Context

Research Task 

You are going to research 2 topics: King Henry VIII and humanism. Follow the instructions on the next two slides and upload your answers to Classroom.

This is homework for Monday the 18th of January.

Video  - Edpuzzle

https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/5fff3ea023643f426ae5a5ec/watch

Research - Religion

Watch the clip on the next slide and answer the questions:

1. What happened during the Reformation (16th century)?
2. When did King Henry VIII rule?
3. How many wives did he have? What happened to them?
4. Why is he so famous? How did he change the country?

Source: Britannica.com

Reformation

•  religious revolution 16th century
  
•  began in Germany but spread quickly throughout Europe
  
•  attacked corruption in the church
  
•  reformers: Martin Luther and John Calvin
  
•  led to Protestantism
  
•  individuals responsible for seeking their own salvation
  

Britannica.com

King Henry VIII

England: King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was well-known for having six wives. His desire to annul his first marriage (without approval of the Pope) led to the separate creation of the Church of England.

1. Catherine of Aragon 2. Anne Boleyn 3. Jane Seymour 4. Anne of Cleves 5. Catherine Howard 6. Catherine Parr

Most British school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife: “Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”.

Research - Humanism

Humanism

1. What is humanism?
   
2. Who were some of the key figures?
   

Look up information about this topic. Use at least 2 different sources and acknowledge these.

biography.com

Humanism

 Focus on the role of the human in relation to the divine

 Ideas based on thought and evidence -> intellectual movement

 Wanted to study original sources: Latin and Greek texts to be read in the original language -> belief in education

 One of the most famous humanists: Desiderius Erasmus

 Aim: to rediscover the learning of the Ancient world by reviving competencies in the languages and reading of the literature.

 Belief: Instead of regarding humanity as corrupt, fallen and sinful, their idea of human excellency was based on human values and experience. This directly contrasted the teachings of the church

Stylistic Devices

Revision

Stylistic Devices

Match the definitions to the terms.

Alliteration = 

Metaphor =

Simile = 

Personification =

 A one thing is said to be like another, always contains ‘like’ or ‘as’

 B  a thing or idea is given human attributes

 C the use of words that begin with the same sound near one another

D comparison: one thing is described as being another thing

Stylistic Devices

Match the examples to the terms.

Alliteration = 

Metaphor =

Simile = 

Personification =

 

A The fire swallowed the entire forest.

B Life is like a box of chocolates.

 C From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.

  

D Love is a battlefield.

Stylistic Devices

Repetition =

Hyperbole = 

Assonance =

 Allusion =

 A -  exaggeration

"There were millions of people at the café."

B -  the use of words that have the same or very similar vowel sounds near one another 

"rise high in the bright sky "

 C - a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.

Don’t be a scrooge (reference to Dicken’s A Christmas Carol)

 D- a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. 

"It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea"

Let's play a Kahoot!

Shakespeare

The Elizabethan Era

1558 - 1603

Queen Elizabeth 1

Queen of England (1558-1603)

Daughter of Henry VIII (six marriages!)

The “Virgin Queen”

England: major European power in politics, commerce and the arts.

Britannica.com

Shakespeare

What comes to mind when you think about Shakespeare?

www.menti.com: 40 46 34 1

https://theaterencyclopedie.nl

Shakespeare

Watch the clip about Shakespeare and write down 2 interesting facts about his life.

Sonnets

Sonnet (‘little song’)

Originated in Italy around 1235. Entered English poetry in 16th century.

Lyric poem of fixed form:

14 lines of iambic pentameter (five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables)

Three types marked by rhyme:

• The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet

• The Spenserian sonnet

• The Shakespearean or English sonnet
  

Sonnets

Three types marked by rhyme:

The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet: abba,abba, cde,cde

The Spenserian sonnet: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee

The Shakespearean or English sonnet: abab, cdcd, efef, gg

"Sonnet 292" by Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) (translation)

 
The eyes I spoke of once in words that burn,

the arms and hands and feet and lovely face

that took me from myself for such a space

of time, and marked me out from other men;

the waving hair of unmixed gold that shone,


the smile that flashed with the angelic rays


that used to make this earth a paradise,

are now a little dust, all feeling gone;

And yet I live, hence grief and rage for me,


left where the light I cherished never shows,


in fragile bark on the tempestuous sea.

Here let my loving song come to a close;


the vein of my accustomed art is dry,


and this, my lyre, turned at last to tears.

Shakespearean Sonnet

Shakespeare: 154 sonnets

A large number of the poems seem to be addressed to a mysterious woman (the “dark lady”)

Structure: Three quatrains and a concluding couplet.

General rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg

Themes: passage of time, love, beauty, mortality

Task

Work in pairs. Each student chooses one sonnet (not the same one). Listen to the recording and annotate while listening. When you annotate, make sure to also point out stylistic devices.

Read the sonnet again, answer the questions and analyse the sonnet. Share your analysis and answers with the other student. Write down the answers. Compare the two sonnets and discuss the differences.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; 

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; 

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 

Sonnet 18 - Questions

1. What does the speaker name as being the downsides to summer?
   
2. Who does the speaker mean/address by saying “thee”?
   
3. What could “thy eternal summer” stand for?
   
4. How do we know that this is a Shakespearean sonnet?
   
5. What does the speaker mean by saying: “When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st?”
   
6. What do we call the two closing sentences again?
   

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; 

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; 

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white, 

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.

     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 

     As any she belied with false compare.

Sonnet 130 - Questions

1. What is the rhyme scheme?
   
2. How does Shakespeare describe his “mistress”?
   
3. How are the last two lines different from the beginning of the poem?
   
4. What is the poem about?
   
5. What does Shakespeare criticize in this sonnet?