British Literature final

simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

stage directions

an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting.

sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.

drama

a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage

fiction

a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact

non fiction

writing that tells about real people, places, and events

theme

the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic.

metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

tragic flaw

A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero.

antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

protagonist

Main character in a story

aside

a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

comic relief

A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood

macbeth background information

-written around 1606

-Shakespeares shortest and bloodest tragedy

-written after the reign of King James I

-Jacobean tragedy

Macbeth plot

Macbeth is a General in Scotland

He is a brave and valiant soldier, who is trusted and respected by many

After being given a strange prediction by some clever and mischievous witches: he decides to make his destiny of being king come true

He and his venomous wife devise a plan to kill king Duncan and rule Scotland

Ravaged by guilt, he and his wife slowly descend into madness and guilt that slowly leads to their own demise (either by their own hand or someone else's).

Macbeth conflicts

Macbeth vs ambition

Lady Macbeth vs guilt

Macbeth and Duncan

Macbeth and Banquo

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Macbeth and Macduff

Macbeth major turning points

1. The witches' prophecy and murder of king Duncan

2. The murder of Banquo and the banquet scene

3. The second prophecy and slaughter of Macduff's family

Macbeth character analysis

Macbeth: thane of glamis, brave, ambitious

Lady Macbeth: macbeth's wife, and queen of scotland, ruthless, cunning, ambitious

The three witches: supernatural instigators, manipulative

Banquo: macbeth's close friend and fellow scottish general, noble, loyal, morally grounded

Macduff: thane of fife, brave, loyal, driven by vengeance

King Duncan: king of scotland, benevolent, trusting, peaceful

malcolm: king duncan's oldest son and heir to the throne, cautious, strategic, rightful leader

Beowulf, when was it written?

700 - 750 CE / around 1000 CE

Valorous deeds

actions that demonstrate the hero's courage, strength, or virtue and make up most of the action in the narrative.

divine intervention

When gods intervene in human affairs. Usually positive but sometimes negative.

quest

a search, hunt; to search, seek, ask

norman conquest

the invasion and settlement of England by the Normans following the Battle of Hastings (1066)

The canterbury tales background info

-written by Geoffrey Chaucer (1387-1400)

-collection of 24 stories set in 14th-century england

-framed as a storytelling contest among pilgrims traveling to london

The canterbury tales plot

A collection of 24 stories told by a diverse group of pilgrims traveling form london to the shrine of saint thomas becket in canterbury cathedral

the canterbury tales conflicts

Social class, corruption of the church, battle of the sexes, struggle between personal desires and societal rules

The canterbury tales major turning points

1. The general prologue

2. the unfinished end

3. the parson's sermon and retraction

4. the knight's tale

5. the wife of bath's tale

6. inter-pilgrim feuds

the canterbury tales character analyis

Chaucer (the narrator)

The knight: a brave, seasoned warrior

the squire: the knight's 20 year old son, curly-haired youth who is an expert horseman, musician, and lover

the franklin: a wealthy landowner, lives for pleasure and hospitality

the prioress: a polite and refined nun

the monk: a manly, robust hunter who loves to ride and eat

the friar: a greedy, corrupt mendicant who takes confessions for a price

the parson: the only devout and sincere churchman in the group

the summoner: a lecherous man with a frightening skin disease

the pardoner: a fraudulent church official, sells fake religious relics

the wife of bath: gap-toothed experienced weaver who has been married five times

the merchant: a wealthy trader who boasts about his success

oxford clerk: impoverished, chronically studying university student

the physician: a doctor who bases his medical practices on astrology

the miller: a stout, brawny man with a red beard and wart on his nose

the reeve: a slender estate manager who steals from his lord

the cook: a talented but unhygienic cook traveling with the guilds men

covert def

(adj.) hidden, disguised, purposefully kept secret; sheltered, secluded; (n.) a sheltered place, a hiding place

synonyms: (adj.) undercover, clandestine, sub-rosa

antonyms: (adj.) open, overt, undisguised

debonair def

(adj.) pleasant, courteous, lighthearted; smooth and polished in manner and appearance

synonyms: carefree, jaunty, gracious, suave, urbane

antonyms: distraught, agitated, boorish, churlish

invective def

(n.) a strong denunciation or condemnation; abusive language; (adj.) abusive, vituperative

synonyms: (n.) vituperation, abuse, diatribe, philippic

antonyms: (n.) tribute, panegyric, encomium

sedentary def

(adj.) characterized by or calling for continued sitting; remaining in one place

synonyms: seated, stationary, static

antonyms: active, peripatetic, migratory

recondite def

(adj.) exceeding ordinary knowledge and understanding

synonyms: esoteric, arcane, profound, abstruse

antonyms: simple, uncomplicated

provocative def

(adj.) tending to produce a strong feeling or response; arousing desire or appetite; irritating, annoying

synonyms: stimulating, arousing, vexing, galling

antonyms: dull, insipid, bland, unstimulating

accrued def

(v.) to grow or accumulate over time; to happen as a natural result

synonyms: collect, accumulate, proceed from

antonyms: dwindle, decrease, diminish, lessen

gist def

(n.) the essential part, main part, or essence

synonyms: substance, core, nucleus

equanimity def

(n.) calmness, composure, refusal to panic

synonyms: tranquility, imperturbability

antonyms: excitability, flappability, agitation

dun def

(v.) to demand insistently, especially in payment of a debt; (n.) a creditor; (adj.) dark, dull, drab, dingy

synonyms: (v.) hound, pester, harass, nag

procrastinate def

(v.) to delay, put off until later

synonyms: stall, temporize, dillydally

gratuitous def

(adj.) freely given; not called for by circumstances, unwarranted

synonyms: voluntary, unjustified, uncalled-for

antonyms: justified, warranted

imperious def

(adj.) overbearing, arrogant; seeking to dominate; pressing, compelling

synonyms: domineering, magisterial, urgent, imperative antonyms: fawning, obsequious, humble, unassuming

munificent def

(adj.) extremely generous, lavish

synonyms: bounteous, liberal

antonyms: stingy, miserly, tightfisted, parsimonious

efficacious def

(adj.) effective, producing results

synonyms: effectual, efficient, potent, powerful

antonyms: ineffective, worthless, useless

bedlam def

(n.) a state or scene of uproar and confusion

synonyms: commotion, pandemonium, chaos, anarchy

antonyms: peace and quiet, order, tranquility

fortuitous def

(adj.) accidental, occurring by a happy chance

synonyms: unintentional, unplanned, random, lucky

antonyms: intentional, deliberate, premeditated

renaissance time period

14th century to the 17th century

Tudor/early renaissance (Sir Thomas More)

Elizabethan era (William shakespeare)

Jacobean era (William shakespeare, John Donne)

Caroline and commonwealth era (John Milton)

Romantic period

roughly 1780-1900

emotion over reason

power of nature

individualism

historical and supernatural

British authors/poets: William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley,Lord Byron

American authors/poets: Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Ralph waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson

Metaphysical Poetry

The work of poets, particularly those of the seventeenth century, that uses elaborate conceits, is highly intellectual, and expresses the complexities of love and life

Victorian Period

1837-1901

science and faith

morality and duty

famous poets: alfred, lord tennyson, robert browning, elizabeth barret browning

John Donne

(1572-1631)

founder of the metaphysical poets

known for intense intellect, complex conceits, and exploration of physical and spiritual love

famous poem: the flea

elizabeth barret browning

one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era

lived in italy

wrote: how do I love thee?

william wordsworth

Leader of English Romanticism who published works in the countryside

appointed poet laureate of england

humanity and nature

famous works: I wandered lonely as a cloud

alfred lord tennyson

most celebrated poet of the Victorian era, serving as the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for over 40 years

famous works: the lady of shallot

the brownings (robert browning and elizabeth barret browning)

elizabeth:

Known for her 1844 collection Poems and her famous Sonnets from the Portuguese (which includes the famous line, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.").

robert:

Celebrated for his dramatic monologues and major works like The Ring and the Book and My Last Duchess.

their romance:

robert famously wrote to Elizabeth after reading her poetry, initiating a secret courtship

eloped and moved to florence italy

this religious poet wrote many of his poems to imaginary lovers

John Donne

this poet lost his mother, then brother to tuberculosis, and then died of the same by the age of 30

John Keats

this poet was a cavalier poet which was a school of poets who supported charles I during the english civil war

Robert Herrick

this poet wrote "to the virgins, to make much of time"

Robert Herrick

this poet is credited for inventing the term Byronic hero

Lord Byron

who wrote "I wandered lonely as a cloud"

William Wordsworth

"How do I love thee, let me count the ways" begins this poet's famous sonnet

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Who wrote "to coy his mistress"

Andrew Marvell

This poet is a metaphysical conceit poet. His poem "The flea" is an example of an extended metaphor

John Donne

who wrote frankenstein?

Mary shelley

who wrote pride and prejudice?

Jane Austen

Who wrote animal farm

george orwell

The Old English Period corresponds to what years?

450-1066

During the Old English Period, prose was religious in nature and poetry was...

heroic and religious in nature

What are the conventions of OLD English Poetry?

Alliterative verse, kennings, variation, epic and heroic themes

What type of epic is Beowulf?

folk epic

The Medieval Period Corresponds to

middle ages, 5th to late 15th centuries

William the Conqueror is known for establishing what system?

feudal system

What do the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales represent?

A collective group of english society, journey of life, class tensions

"The Pardoner's Tale" is what kind of allegory?

Moral allegory or exemplum

What are the archetypal narrative elements?

universal, recurring patterns of characters, plots, and symbols found across human storytelling

newspeak def

The official, government-engineered language of Oceania. Its primary goal is to shrink vocabulary and eliminate synonyms, making it impossible to even conceptualize anti-Party rebellion

doublethink

The mental capacity to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and accept both of them as truth

thoughtcrime

The act of harboring unspoken thoughts, beliefs, or doubts that go against the Party's ideology

ingsoc

The ideology of the Party, translating in Oldspeak (English) to "English Socialism

the brotherhood

An underground, clandestine network of rebels allegedly led by Emmanuel Goldstein, which may or may not actually exist.

proles

The working-class masses who live in poverty but possess more physical freedom than Party members because they are largely ignored.

big brother

the omnipresent, infallible leader and face of the Party. Even if he does not physically exist, his image represents the ultimate power of the state

what are the ministries in 1984

ministry of truth (minitrue)

ministry of love (miniluv)

ministry of plenty (miniplenty)

ministry of peace (minipax)

main slogans in 1984

war is peace

freedom is slavery

ignorance is strength

wife of bath summary

A Knight forced himself on a women so he went to court but queen condemned him to death until she changed her mind and told him that if he could answer the question "what is the thing women desire most?", she gave him exactly 1 year and a day to find the correct answer. He immediately started to look for the right answer and asked everyone if they knew the answer to the question and they all replied with the same answer either shoes, money, or clothes. One day on his quest he came upon a group of women dancing and as he got closer those women became one ugly old fairy, luckily for him the fairy is able to answer his question on one condition, he has to do what she ask, he agreed. She was able to answer his question correctly. The knight went back exactly one year and a day later and said "A women wants the self same sovereignty over her husband and over her lover, and master him, he must not be above her" meaning that women want control. After he says this which the queen said was the correct answer the fairy stood up and said that she gave him the correct answer and asked him to marry her in front of everyone so he couldn't say no. He promised he would marry her. They got married in a private ceremony, he felt awful. She had finally asked him why he hated her so much that she never did anything to him. Hes just sad because shes go ugly and she finally gave him two options. 1. To either be beautiful, young but unfaithful or 2. To be old,ugly, but faithful. He said he didn't care the option was up to her. She choose to be young, beautiful, but faithful because he was faithful. moral:women should rule marriage

Pardoner's Tale summary

"money is the route of all evil"

The Pardoner tells the story of three young rioters who spend their days carousing and drinking. They hear a coffin passing outside the tavern and learn that one of their friends has been stabbed by a thief named Death. The revelers pledge a bond of brotherhood among them and declare that they will slay Death.

They meet an old man wandering the earth begging Death to let him die. He points them to an old oak, where he says Death is sitting. However, when the knights arrive, there are eight enormous bushels of gold in the spot. One of the rioters says that they should wait until nightfall to transport the gold, but that one of them should go to town to get provisions so that they can wait all day. They draw straws, and the youngest goes into town. While he is gone, the two others plot to kill him upon his return so that they will each have a bigger share of the money. But the youngest reveler also plots to kill the other two so that he can have the treasure to himself. He gets a strong poison from the apothecary and spikes two bottles of wine. The youngest reveler returns and the others kill him, but then they drink the poisoned wine and die on the same spot.

Greed, the Pardoner reminds the pilgrims, is the root of all evils. The Pardoner tries to sell a fake relic to the Host, but the Host gets mad, and the Knight must step in to break up the fight.

where was william shakespeare born

Stratford-upon-Avon, England

he wrote his first play at what age?

25

where did shakespeare preform his plays

the globe theater

Who did Shakespeare marry?

Anne Hathaway (he was 18, she was 26)

MLA meaning

modern language association