This page includes all the posts I have written in these years to support my work in class during my lectures to my students and to support them in their studying.
It is structured like a book and divided in chapters starting with the Origins and ending with Present Times. Each post is meant to give basic knowledge of the historic background first of all, and then the literary setting as I firmly believe that providing a general idea of the historic development of events also gives a better understanding of the literature that developed in specific times. Following a chronological order is as important to link events together and thus provide a deeper knowledge of the overall picture alongside specific topics.
The choice of authors reflects the general idea of the courses I teach, they all provide, I believe, a sequence of cause and effects, as much as possible. My aim is to give students a virtual progression of human achievement to help them anchor the most crucial elements of specific ages in a sort of mental map that might aid them in easily connecting progress, on one side, and its back drops on the other so as to allow them to understand the different perspectives that every single event, topic may entail.
Chapter 1 – FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS
HISTORY
From the Beginning to the Roman Empire
From the Great Invasions to the Battle of Hastings
LITERATURE
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
Open Questions on “From the Beginning to the Roman Empire” – HOMEWORK
Open Questions on “From the Great Invasions to the Battle of Hastings” – HOMEWORK
Beowulf Fights the Monster and Perishes – Excerpt
Open Questions on Beowulf – HOMEWORK
Chapter 2 – THE MIDDLE AGES
HISTORY
OUTLINE OF THE MIDDLE AGES – part 1
LITERATURE
Geoffrey Chaucer (approx. 1340- 1400)
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
Open Questions on “Feudalism” – HOMEOWORK
The Wife of Bath, G. Chaucer – HOMEWORK (It contains an excerpt taken from the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales and open questions)
VIDEO LESSONS
Video Lesson on LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Chapter 3 – THE RENAISSANCE
HISTORY
VIDEO LESSONS
Video Lesson n. 1 on The Tudor Dinasty – Henry VII
Video Lesson n. 2 on The Tudor Dinasty – Henry VIII
Video Lesson n. 3 on The Tudor Dinasty – Edward VI and Mary I
Video Lesson n. 4 on The Tudor Dinasty – Elizabeth I
LITERATURE
English Literature in the Renaissance
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
Excerpts taken from “Othello”, W. Shakespeare
VIDEO LESSONS
Video Lesson n. 1 – English Literature in the Renaissance
Video Lesson n. 2 – English Literature in the Renaissance
Video Lesson n. 1 – on William Shakespeare
Video Lesson n. 2 – on William Shakespeare
Video Lesson n. 1 – Excerpts Taken from “Othello”, W. Shakespeare
Video Lesson n. 2 – Excerpts Taken From “Othello”, W. Shakespeare
Chapter 4 – THE PURITAN AGE AND THE RESTORATION
HISTORY
The Restoration (1660-1685) and the Glorious Revolution (1688-1714)
LITERATURE
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
“The Just-Created Adam” – “PARADISE LOST” (1667), J. Milton
“The Just-Created Adam”, J. Milton – HOMEWORK
“Satan’s Speech” – “PARADISE LOST” (1667), J. Milton
The Puritan Age and John Milton – Essay Questions
Chapter 5 – THE AUGUSTAN AGE
HISTORY
LITERATURE
The Rise of the Middle Class and the Novel
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
Excerpt from Defoe’s “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders” (1722)
“Molly Becomes a Thief”, D. Defoe – HOMEWORK
Excerpt from “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
VIDEO LESSONS
Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) Video Lesson n. 1 – L. R. CAPUANA
Daniel Defoe (The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders) Video Lesson n. 2 – L. R. CAPUANA
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Video Lesson
Chapter 6 – THE ROMANTIC AGE
HISTORY
LITERATURE
The Early Romantic Age – Outline
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851)
First Generation Romantic Poets – William Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge
The Second Generation Romantic Poets
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
“The Little Black Boy”, by William Blake – L. R. CAPUANA
Excerpts from “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus”, M. Shelley (1818)
Second Generation Romantic Poets – Anthology
VIDEO LESSONS
Video Lesson on The Romantic Age
Video Lesson on the First Generation Romantic Poets – W. Wordsworth and S. T. Coleridge
CHAPTER 7 – THE VICTORIAN AGE
HISTORY
THE VICTORIAN AGE (1830-1901) – L. R. CAPUANA
VICTORIANS’ IMPORTANT REFORMS – L. R. CAPUANA
LITERATURE
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
Excerpt from “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
Excerpt from “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte
Excerpt from “The Importance of Being Earnest” by O. Wilde
Chapter 8 – FROM THE MODERN AGE TO PRESENT TIMES
HISTORY
LITERATURE
Literature in the Twentieth Century
Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970)
Orlando and A Room of One’s Own by V. Woolf – A More In-Depth Analysis
Exercises, Readings and Textual Analysis
“The Chain-gang” – Heart of Darkness (1902), J. Conrad
“The horror!” – Heart of Darkness (1902), J. Conrad
Excerpt from “A Passage to India” (1924), E. M. Forster
Excerpt from “Animal Farm”, G. Orwell
Excerpt from “1984”, G. Orwell
Excerpt from “Orlando” by V. Woolf
Comparing Joyce’s and Woolf’s Stream of Consciousness Writing Technique
VIDEO LESSONS
Video-lesson n. 2 on George Orwell (1903-1950) – Biography
Video-lesson n. 3 on George Orwell (1903-1950) – “Animal Farm” (1945)
Video-lesson n. 4 on George Orwell (1903-1950) – “1984”
Video Lesson n. 0 INTRODUCTION TO ORWELLS’ EXCERPTS’ READINGS AND COMMENTARIES
Video-lesson n. 1 Excerpt and Commentary – “Animal Farm” (1945), G. Orwell
Video-lesson n. 2 Excerpt and Commentary – “Animal Farm” (1945), G. Orwell
Video Lesson n. 1 Reading and Commentary of Excerpt from “1984” (1949), G. Orwell
Video Lesson n. 2 Reading and Commentary of Excerpt from “1984” (1949), G. Orwell.
Video Lesson n. 1 – V. Woolf, J. Joyce and The Stream of Consciousness
Video Lesson n. 2 – Virginia Woolf and The Stream of Consciousness
Video Lesson n. 3 – James Joyce and The Stream of Consciousness (part 1)
Video Lesson n. 4. – James Joyce and the themes of Paralysis and Epiphany
Video Lesson n. 1 – Comparing Virginia Woolf’s and James Joyce’s Stream of Consciousness
Video Lesson n. 2 – Comparing Virginia Woolf’s and James Joyce’s Stream of Consciousness
Video Lesson n. 3 – Comparing Virginia Woolf’s and James Joyce’s Stream of Consciousness
Video Lesson n. 4 – Comparing Virginia Woolf’s and James Joyce’s Stream of Consciousness
Conference on Women’s Twentieth Century in English Literature
Video-lesson n.1 Women’s Twentieth Century – English Literature
Video-lesson n. 2 Women’s Twentieth Century – English Literature
Video-lesson n. 3 Women’s Twentieth Century – English Literature
USEFUL TIPS AND STUDY METHODS
HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY – part 1
HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY – part 2
Evaluation Grids – L. R. CAPUANA
© L. R. Capuana