Brit Lit 1st Semester Exam

Ben Jonson

"Song: To Celia", marks serious beginning of neoclassicism

Cavaliers

"The Tribe of Ben", a group of wealthy aristocrats who followed Ben Jonson

Robert Herrick

"To the Virgins" and "To Daffodils"

Sir John Suckling

"The Constant Lover" and "Why So Pale and Wan"

Richard Lovelace

"To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars" and "To Althea, from Prison"

Metaphysical Poetry

The poetry of John Donne and other 17th century poets who wrote in a similar style

John Donne

"A Valediction", "Holy Sonnets", and "Meditation", metaphysical

George Herbert

"Easter Wings", metaphysical

Carpe Diem

The speaker tries to persuade an attractive person to give in to love now

John Milton

"Paradise Lost", Renaissance and Reformation

Restoration

Beginning in 1660, when King Charles II came back from his exile in France

John Dryden

"An Essay of Dramatic Poesy", Restoration

John Bunyan

"The Pilgrim's Progress", Restoration

Jonathan Swift

"Gulliver's Travels", "A Modest Proposal"

Addison and Steele

"The Tatler" and "The Spectator"

Alexander Pope

"The Rape of the Lock", 1st half of the 18th c

Samuel Johnson

"Letter to Lord Chesterfield", Dictionary, Age of Johnson

Heroic couplet

An iambic pentameter couplet

"A Modest Proposal"

by Jonathan Swift, satire about eating the children of Ireland

Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift, a satire mocking the English society

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe, first realistic English novel

Pilgrim's Progress

by John Bunyan, an allegory

Robert Burns

"O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast" and "To a Mouse"

William Blake

"Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience", Romantic

Thomas Gray's "Elegy"

Maybe the most-quoted single poem

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds in a group of words

Allusion

A reference to a person, place, event, or literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to

Enjambed

Thought keeps going to next line

End-stopped

Full thought in line, ends with a period or comma

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using exaggeration, or overstatement, for special effect

Irony

A contrast or incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

Meter

A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar

Paradox

A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and un-true

Personification

A figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human qualities

Quatrain

Usually a stanza or poem of four lines

Simile

A comparison made between two things through the use of a specific word of comparison

Stanza

A verse of poetry

Tone

The attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, or audience

Understatement

Opposite of hyperbole

Satire

A kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weaknesses and wrong-doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general

2 most common ways to create satire

A trivial subject presented in a significant tone, or a significant subject presented in a trivial tone

How "Rape of the Lock" creates satire

A trivial subject presented in a significant tone, by using exaggerated quantifiers and inflated diction

How "A Modest Proposal" creates satire

A significant subject presented in a trivial tone, by using a rational, humble tone and appeal to authority

Mock-epic

a comic literary form that treats a trivial subject in the grand, heroic style of the epic

How "The Rape of the Lock" is a mock-epic

Uses fancy, bold language to describe something insignificant like a card game. USE EXAMPLE

3 Major characteristics of metaphysical poetry and reason/purpose for each

Deliberate combination of different types of emotions (expressing a belief that "pure" feelings do not actually exist)
The use of elaborate and far from obvious comparison - "conceits" (more accurate comparison)
Harsh versification - a result of putting idea above sound (reflects combination of incongruities and shifts of viewpoint found in poetry + colloquial style)

When did Metaphysical poetry lose popularity and why?

After the 18th century, people wanted intellectual, static writing, thought the writers were showing off their cleverness

When did Metaphysical poetry regain popularity and why?

Revived in 20th c. by T.S. Eliot and others, metaphysical poets expressed themselves in elaborate intellectualized images to confront the complications of life

Paradise Lost's Central Teme

To justify the ways of God to men

Paradise Lost's hero

God

Paradise Lost's protagonists

Fallen man, Satan

Character of Satan

Not the hero, determined to leave the brimstone lake and pervert God's plan

Neo-classicism's major characteristics

Emphasis on rationalism, conformity, fixed standards, decorum
Characterized by polish, speed, concentration
Inspired by classicism

Forms of Literature popular in Neo-classicism, how they express the characteristics

Tragedy and heroic play - Emphasis on rationalism, inspired by classicism
Satire in prose and verse - skillful, neat, elegant