Periods in Literature Flashcards

Flashcards covering the nine periods of literature discussed in the lecture, including key characteristics and major writers from each era.

What is the Renaissance?

A period from the 14th to the 17th century, considered the bridge between the Middle Ages and Modern history. The word ‘renaissance’ is a French word which means ‘rebirth’.

Who are some major writers during The Renaissance?

John Donne, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton, Sir Thomas More, and Mary Wroth.

What is The Enlightenment?

Also known as the ‘Age of Reason,’ it questioned traditional authority and sought new ways to improve humanity, with science playing a major role.

Who are some major writers during The Enlightenment?

William Congreve, Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Mary Wollstonecraft.

What are the key characteristics of Romanticism?

Celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy.

Who are some major writers during Romanticism?

John Keats, William Wordsworth, William Blake, Mary Shelley, and Henry Longfellow.

What is Transcendentalism?

A 19th-century school of American theological and philosophical thought that combined respect for nature and self-sufficiency, with elements of Unitarianism and German Romanticism.

Who are some major writers during Transcendentalism?

Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller, and Henry Thoreau.

What is the Victorian Era?

Another name for this era is the ‘Industrial Revolution.’ Cities rapidly grew and expanded with long and organized factory hours.

Who are some major writers during the Victorian Era?

Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charlotte Brontë, and Emily Brontë.

What is Realism?

Paid attention to detail and an effort to replicate the true nature of reality in a way that novelists had never attempted.

Who are some major writers during Realism?

Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, and George Eliot.

What is Naturalism?

Identified the causes for a person’s actions or beliefs. Certain factors such as heredity and social conditions, were determinants in one’s life.

Who are some major writers during Naturalism?

Stephen Crane, Emile Zola, and Frank Norris.

What is Modernism?

Marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing the world. Experimentation and individualism became virtues.

Who are some major writers during Modernism?

F. Scott Fitzgerald, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and William Yeats.

What are the three sub-periods of Postmodernism?

Bloomsbury Group, Existentialism, and Beat Generation.

How many children did john donne have

He had 12 children but 5 of them died before a mature age

Who was he secretly married to

His wife (anne more)

What does apostrophe mean

When the speaker addresses someone who is not alive