ENGL 292 ESSAYS

What are the key shifts in British literature from 1789 to the present?

Romanticism, Victorian realism, Modernism, and Postmodernism.

How did audiences for literature change from the Romantic period to the present?

From aristocratic patronage to mass literacy.

What are some examples of continuity in British literature?

Yeats’ myth-making in Easter 1916 vs. Heaney’s Digging reflecting rural roots.

What are examples of change in literary style from the 18th century to modern times?

Woolf’s stream of consciousness vs. 18th-century epistolary novels.

What is a major debate surrounding the British literary canon?

Inclusion of postcolonial voices like Achebe and Rushdie vs. traditional works from the 'Great Tradition'.

What shift has occurred regarding Kipling's status in the literary canon?

Once canonical for 'White Man’s Burden', now contested for its imperialism.

How are modernist authors categorized in the discussion of periodization vs. transnationalism?

Eliot as an American expat and Conrad as Polish highlight the tension in defining 'British' modernism.

What is a key theme in literature related to WWI?

Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est exemplifies trench realism.

What literary response emerged post-WWII regarding societal disillusionment?

Larkin’s Homage to a Government reflects austerity disillusionment.

What critique does Achebe offer in response to colonial literature?

His critique in Things Fall Apart responds to the themes in Heart of Darkness.

What is one central theme found in modern literature regarding colonial legacies?

The concept of hybridity as discussed by Rushdie.

What defines the form of Modernist literature?

Traits include fragmentation and interior monologue.

What psychological themes are explored in case studies of 20th-century literature?

PTSD in Septimus from Mrs. Dalloway, madness in Plath’s Ariel.

What are two texts that illustrate the themes of secularism and morality?

Larkin’s Church Going and Hopkins’ Thou art indeed just deal with doubt and loss of faith.

How does postmodernism contrast with tradition in literary techniques?

Experimentation in Ulysses contrasts with the clear parable of Animal Farm.

What theme is reflected in the recurring ideas of Unit 3?

Isolation and imperial decline.

What comparative analysis strategy is suggested for essay writing?

Pairing Yeats’ terrible beauty with Heaney’s Punishment illustrates revolutionary violence.