Anglo- American Literature

Anglo- American Literature

• used during the late colonial and early national periods (1790-1830)

• used by French and English speakers

• shows different styles in different historical periods

• had a significant impact on culture, life, politics and history

• in the process of change and development

Canterbury Tales

• Medieval English Period

• Fall of Rome

• Renaissance

• Black Death

• “Rise of Classic Rebirth”

• most prominent literary works in English

• collection of 24 tales

• written in Middle English

• about a group of pilgrims who went on a spiritual journey from London to Canterbury, they were challenged to a storytelling contest. Most notable pilgrims are Knight, Merchant, Wife of Bath, Monk and Pardoner

• reflects a realistic picture of English society during 1300s

• portrays social illness

• by Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

• father of English Literature

• born in London, England

• first writer to use English in writing

• turned English to a legitimate literary language

• wrote the Canterbury Tales, the most famous is The Pardoners Tale

The Pardoners Tale Vocabulary Words

1. Disreputable: not respected

2. Apothecary: pharmacist

3. Mirth: joy, amusement

4. Dagger: weapon used for killing or self-defense

5. Papal Indulgences: sins

The Pardoners Tale Characters

• 3 revelers/ rioters

  • have no deeper purpose

  • looks for Death

• Old Man

  • represents Jesus Christ

  • impart wisdom

• Pardoner

  • narrator

  • hypocrite

  • taking advantage of people’s goodness

  • swindler, deceitful

  • A pardoner’s job is to give forgiveness to people’s sins in exchange for money

Death

• not an actual character, but a representation of the Black Death period

Sins in The Pardoners Tale

1. Gambling

   • activity where money is involved

   • instability

2. Gluttony

   • lack of self-control

   • rebellion/ destruction of life

   • over-eating or drinking

3. Drinking

   • lack of self-control and consciousness

4. Swearing

   • breaking promisses

   • offensive language

   • frightens people

   • “calling the evil”

Exemplum

• a rhetorical device used in writing to warn people using a story

• in The Pardoners Tale, the device was used by warning the pilgrims about greed and selfishness

Literary Criticism

• analysis of a literary text through various lenses that highlight the author’s stance, purpose and perspective

• For example, we can use different theories to analyze the message behind the literary text

Historical- Biographical Approach

• reflects the time of the author or time of the characters in the story

• provides a broader perspective on historical, cultural, political and social content of a literary text

The Inevitable Day

• extract from Christopher Marlowe’s play, “The Tragic History of Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”

Christopher Marlowe

• son of a prosperous shoemaker in Canterbury, England

• first English dramatist to reveal the full potential of blank verse poetry

• made significant advances in the genre of English tragedy through keen examinations of the Renaissance Period

The Inevitable Day Vocabulary Words

1. Metempsychosis: transmigration of the soul

2. Firmament: the arc of the sky

3. Incessant: action that continues or repeats without interruption

4. Inevitable: the incapability to avoid or prevent something

Dr. Faustus

• main character of The Inevitable Day

• German scholar

• bored without his knowledge

• asked his friends (Valdes and Cornelius) to help him learn the art of magic

• summoned a devil, Mephistophes and signed a contract for 24 years of knowledge in exchange for him to stay by his side

Pythagoras

• one of the most famous and controversial ancient Greek philosophers

• master mathematician and scientist

• expert on the fate of soul after death and religious ritual

• wonder-worker who had a thigh of gold

• found a stricter way of life

• made a theory about reincarnation

Irony

• mismatch between the expected and the unexpected

• delivers a surprising twist

• strong contradiction, mismatch or incongruity

Types of Irony

1. Situational Irony

   • when the actual result of a situation is totally different from what is generally expected

2. Dramatic Irony

   • when the audience knows a key piece of information that a character does not know

3. Verbal Irony

   • when a speakers’ intention is the opposite of what they are saying (sarcasm)

Moral- Philosophical Approach

• to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues

• focuses on the lesson of the story, to prove what is right or wrong

• concerns itself with how literature affects its readers

• judges the value of literature based on its lessons, values and ethical teachings and based on how it exhibits the nature of humankind and universal truths of life

The Cask of Amontillado

• rich in Gothic themes such as madness, cruelty, perversion and obsession

• man vs. man

Edgar Allan Poe

• wrote The Cask of Amontillado

• born on January 19, 1809 to actors Eliza and David Poe

• joined the army when he was 18 under the name “Edgar Perry” and did exceptionally well

• wrote in many genres but his contribution to horror is what makes him famous

• first to involve deep, intuitive, psychological horror

• wrote stories where the true monster was the capacity for evil

• strongly influenced by Gothic literature

• an American short story writer, poet, critic and editor

The Cask of Amontillado Vocabulary Words

1. Flambeux: flaming torch

2. Gait: walking pattern in humans

3. Catacomb: series of underground passages where bodies were buried in the past

4. Virtuoso: a person who has a cultivated appreciation of artistic excellence

5. Cask: strong wooden barrel to hold alcoholic drinks

6. Fetter: shackle or chain attached to the ankles

7. Impunity: freedom or exemption from a punishment

2 Qualities of Revenge in The Cask of Amontillado

1. Revenge should not be punished

2. As a victim, you must be aware of who is responsible for your pain

Mood

• emotions of the readers

• depicts the tone

Tone

• perspective of the author

Marxist Approach

• A capitalist community would have the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer

• struggle between classes, the oppressed and oppressors

• contemporary class struggle

Class

• classification or group of people based on power, income and educations

Bourgeoisie

• middle or upper class

• own the means of production during modern industrialization

• usually the highest class or the ruling class

Proletariat

• working class employed by the Bourgeoisie

Oppression

• state of being the subject to unjust treatment

Karl Max

• created the Marxism approach

• greatest thinkers of the 19th century

• after his death, his ideas were recognized

• supports a communist society

Marxism and Social Justice

• Humans are free from all forms of human alienation

• equality and solidarity

Marxist Approach in the Cask of Amontillado

• The Cask of Amontillado is about power relations and social status

• reveals the harsh retaliation that the upper class uses to keep rising and keeping the middle class away from gaining power

Social Awareness

• value of showing kindness to others and avoiding being overly greedy

Self Management

• can result in revenge, which can ultimately lead to one’s downfall

Desiree’s Baby

• prevelance of racism and sexism in the mid 19th century Louisiana by examining relationships between husband and wife, parent and child

• clean critique of the unfairness and hypocrisy of the rigid race and class-based society the characters live in

• by Kate Chopin

Antebellum Period

• period before the Civil War and after the War of 1812

• rise of abolition and the gradual polarization

• Black women were an integral force in the opposition to slavery that gained steam in the Antebellum Period despite being doubtly discounted by people in power because of their race and sex

Kate Chopin

• wrote Desiree’s Baby

• american writer best known for her stories about the inner lives of sensitive and downing women

• Her concerns about the freedom of women were foreshadowed later in feminist literary themes

Desiree’s Baby Vocabulary Words

1. Obscure: hiding something using an impression even with knowing full knowledge

2. Shudder: shaking with small movements because of an unpleasant feeling or thought

3. Menace: expressing an intention to harm someone

4. Peignoir: long outer garment or dress for women

5. Quadroon: demeaning term for a person of ¼ black descent used in the 18th and 19th centuries

Desiree’s Baby Characters

• Desiree

  • was adopted by Madame Valmonde

  • found by Monsieur Valmonde by a stone pillar at the gateway of Valmonde

  • was abandoned by a party of Texans

  • was considered a gift from God because Madame Valmonde couldn’t have a baby of her own

• Madame Valmonde

• Zandrine

  • care taker

• Baby

• Armand

  • Armand first saw Desiree at the stone pillar where she was also born.

• La Blanche

  • a female slave

Setting of Desiree’s Baby

• Plantation

• L’Abri

  • not in the best condition

  • dark history of time where slavery was relevant

Feminist Approach

• actively supports including women’s knowledge in literature and values women’s experiences

• examines how works of literature embody patriarchal attitudes or undercut them

• pushes for inclusivity and equality especially for the marginalized

Basic Methods of Female Literary Criticism

1. Identifying with Female Characters

   • examining the way female characters are defined

2. Reevaluating Literature and the World in which Literature is Read

   • critics can question wether society has predominantly valued male authors

Male and Female Roles in Desiree’s Baby

• Kate Chopin uses Desiree as an example who embodies all conventional feminine ideals, is unselfish in her love for family and yet ultimately feels completely hopeless because she puts her worth in the hands of a cruel man

• Armand is an example of how men were viewed in that era’s culture, how men think that it is the woman’s duty to care for the family and children

• stereotypes from the 19th century