Homework on “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights” – Open Questions
Writing activity to develop insightful reasoning and learning.
Category: ENGLISH LITERATURE AND HISTORY FOR STUDENTS
Video Lesson on First Generation Romantic Poets – W. Wordsworth and S. T. Coleridge
This video lesson is dedicated to the First Generation Romantic Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge, providing an outline of their literary inspirations and themes, examining their similarities and … Continue reading Video Lesson on First Generation Romantic Poets – W. Wordsworth and S. T. Coleridge
Video Lesson on THE ROMANTIC AGE
This Video Lesson illustrates the themes and characteristics of the Romantic Age, a time of transition introducing new ideas and perspectives, in contrast with the main ideas that characterised instead the Augustan Age, therefore more concerned with feelings and sensations, rather than the blind faith in scientific progress and reason brought to its extremes.
Video Lesson on LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
In this video lesson I discuss the different poetic genres and the theatre that developed during Medieval Times thanks to their relative economic and political stability.
It illustrates the characteristics of the Medieval Ballad, the Narrative Poem and, as far as the theatre is concerned, the Miracle Plays, the Pageant, the Morality Plays and, finally, the Interlude.
Excerpts from “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus”, M. Shelley (1818)
Excerpts from “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus”, M. Shelley (1818)
Ch. 13 and 24.
“The Little Black Boy”, by William Blake
Textual Analysis From Songs of Innocence (1789) My mother bore me in the southern wild, And I am black, but oh my soul is white! White as … Continue reading “The Little Black Boy”, by William Blake
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Video Lesson
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is the second of the three writers of the Augustan Age discussed in the English Course addressed to 4th year Secondary School Italian Students. The video lesson discusses Swift’s writing techniques and the strong criticism towards political, social and religious controversies of his time through a mastery of satire largely used in his works. The two main works discussed are his masterpiece, “Gulliver’s Travels”, published in 1726 and “A Modest Proposal” a pamphlet of political satire, published in 1729.
Excerpt from “A Modest Proposal” by J. Swift
A satirical pamphlet in which Jonathan Swift denounces the incompetence and inadequacy of the English government regarding the Irish issue and its people’s despairing situation during his time.
Daniel Defoe (The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders) Video Lesson n. 2
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is the author of “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders” (1722) one of his two most renowned novels, the other one is “Robinson Crusoe” which is also generally considered the first modern novel of English literature. In this novel the protagonist, Moll Flanders, can be said to be the female counterpart of the other novel’s protagonist, Robinson. In “Moll Flanders”, Defoe, unlike in his previous novel, highlights the negative aspects of the emerging industrial English society and points out at women’s poor life-conditions during this time emphasising how their struggle is much more incessant, bitter than that that the rising middle class man faces, thus causing at times mental and emotional distress. Therefore, in this case, Defoe even if he still celebrates the individual’s will power and inner strength as qualities needed to succeed, he also points out the downsides of the Augustan Age (1714-1760).
Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) Video Lesson n. 1
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is the author of “Robinson Crusoe” (1719) which is generally considered the first modern novel of English literature. This novel celebrates the rising middle class individual and it belongs to the Augustan Age which is an historical and literary current (1714-1760).
The Puritan Age and John Milton
Essay Questions Choose one of the following What were the causes that led to the Civil War, explain them. What were the religious and practical differences between Anglicans and Dissenters? … Continue reading The Puritan Age and John Milton
Video Lesson n. 2 – Excerpts Taken from “Othello”, W. Shakespeare
Reading and anlysis of three important moments of the tragedy that will climax in Desdemona’s murder, one of the most famous literary femicides underlining women’s subordinate role in society then as today.
