In this assignment you will compare three periods from literary history, using examples from literary works belonging to each period. This is done in order to fulfill criteria on reading and speaking.
You are also asked to write an outline of this presentation so that you show some formal writing skills and work with sources and source evaluation/criticism.
This assignment contains of the following steps:
* Study three literary periods (choose from the timeline below)
* Read at least one short story from each period that is originally written in English (there are examples in the xlsx-file below the timeline)
* Write a presentation (it should be about 5-10 minutes) in which you describe the main elements of each period and give examples from the short stories you have read of how you know that they belong to their respective period
* Upload an outline of your presentation, complete with list of sources and source criticism
Step 1: Research
Introduction:
When talking about literary history, we split it into different parts, called periods. In this assignment you have to collect information about three such periods and read short stories by English-speaking authors from each of the three chosen periods. To make this task a bit easier, here is a timeline of the periods we will be working with, and some authors who wrote during them. You may of course pick other stories or other authors if you would prefer to do so.
Pick three of these periods, then go ahead and find information about them. Read up on what is typical of each period; what topics authors wrote about, and why; if the period encompassed other media such as music or theatre, etc.
When you have picked three periods, pick at least one short story written in each period and originally in English, read it thoroughly and find these typical aspects in the stories. Remember to keep track of where you find the information, and remember to try to use reliable sources (guides about source evaluation can be found here and here – take note that using wikipedia is not acceptable). The table below shows some authors from each literary period and a selection of their works but you can of course choose on your own if you want to.
Examples
AuthorsUnknownGeoffrey Chaucer WorksBeowulfThe Canterbury Tales (pick any) Renaissance (1500-1670) AuthorsWilliam ShakespeareQueen Elizabeth I WorksSonnetsOn Monsieur’s Departure The Passionate Pilgrim The Phoenix and the Turtle Enlightenment (1700-1800) AuthorsJonathan SwiftAlexander Pope WorksA Modest ProposalThe Rape of the Lock Poems A Battle of the Books and other short pieces Romantic Period (1791-1870) AuthorsMary Wollstonecraft ShelleyNathaniel HawthorneEdgar Allan Poe WorksMathildaThe BirthmarkThe Raven The Last ManMrs. BullfrogThe Tell-Tale Heart Frankenstein; or, the Modern PrometheusSnow flakesDiddling The Ambitious GuestNever Bet the Devil Your Head Mr. Higginbotham’s CatastropheLenore Silence – A Fable Realism (1820-1920) AuthorsEdith WhartonMark TwainHenry James WorksThe Bolted DoorA Dog’s TaleDaisy Miller The Descent of ManWas it Heaven? Or Hell?The Figure in the Carpet The Lady’s Maid’s BellA MemoryJulia Bride The LetterCaptain Stormfield’s Visit to HeavenMadame de Mauves The Legend Brooksmith The Blond Beast The Tree of Knowledge Victorian Literature (1837-1901) AuthorsCharlotte BrontëEmily BrontëLewis CarrollCharles DickensArthur Conan DoyleRudyard KiplingOscar WildeWorksJayne EyreWuthering HeightsAlice’s Adventures in WonderlandA Christmas CarolA Study in ScarletThe Jungle BookThe Picture of Dorian Gray GilbertA Death-SceneFame’s Penny-TrumpetOliver TwistThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe Cat that Walked by HimselfThe Devoted Friend The Teacher’s MonologueA DaydreamPhantasmagoriaA Tale of Two CitiesHis Last BowHow the Alphabet Was MadeThe Nightingale and the Rose PassionThe PrisonerThe Walrus and the CarpenterThe Schoolboy’s StoryThe Adventure of the Cardboard BoxHow the Leopard Got His SpotsThe Selfish Giant The WoodThe Philosopher A Christmas TreeThe Adventure of the Devil’s FootThe God from the MachineThe Star Child Preference Doctor MarigoldThe Adventure of the Dying Detective The Sphinx Without a Secret Frances The Haunted HouseThe Parasite Modernism (1910-1965) WritersJoseph ConradT.S. EliotF. Scott FitzgeraldVirginia Woolf WorksThe LagoonEeldrop and AppleplexThe Great GatsbyJacob’s Room The Warrior’s Soul the Offshore PirateA Haunted House The Brute the Ice PalaceA Society Freya of the Seven Isles The Cut-Glass BowlAn Unwritten Novel Bernice Bobs Her HairKew Gardens The Four FistsThe Mark on the Wall The String Quartet
AuthorsUnknownGeoffrey Chaucer WorksBeowulfThe Canterbury Tales (pick any) Renaissance (1500-1670) AuthorsWilliam ShakespeareQueen Elizabeth I WorksSonnetsOn Monsieur’s Departure The Passionate Pilgrim The Phoenix and the Turtle Enlightenment (1700-1800) AuthorsJonathan SwiftAlexander Pope WorksA Modest ProposalThe Rape of the Lock Poems A Battle of the Books and other short pieces Romantic Period (1791-1870) AuthorsMary Wollstonecraft ShelleyNathaniel HawthorneEdgar Allan Poe WorksMathildaThe BirthmarkThe Raven The Last ManMrs. BullfrogThe Tell-Tale Heart Frankenstein; or, the Modern PrometheusSnow flakesDiddling The Ambitious GuestNever Bet the Devil Your Head Mr. Higginbotham’s CatastropheLenore Silence – A Fable Realism (1820-1920) AuthorsEdith WhartonMark TwainHenry James WorksThe Bolted DoorA Dog’s TaleDaisy Miller The Descent of ManWas it Heaven? Or Hell?The Figure in the Carpet The Lady’s Maid’s BellA MemoryJulia Bride The LetterCaptain Stormfield’s Visit to HeavenMadame de Mauves The Legend Brooksmith The Blond Beast The Tree of Knowledge Victorian Literature (1837-1901) AuthorsCharlotte BrontëEmily BrontëLewis CarrollCharles DickensArthur Conan DoyleRudyard KiplingOscar WildeWorksJayne EyreWuthering HeightsAlice’s Adventures in WonderlandA Christmas CarolA Study in ScarletThe Jungle BookThe Picture of Dorian Gray GilbertA Death-SceneFame’s Penny-TrumpetOliver TwistThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe Cat that Walked by HimselfThe Devoted Friend The Teacher’s MonologueA DaydreamPhantasmagoriaA Tale of Two CitiesHis Last BowHow the Alphabet Was MadeThe Nightingale and the Rose PassionThe PrisonerThe Walrus and the CarpenterThe Schoolboy’s StoryThe Adventure of the Cardboard BoxHow the Leopard Got His SpotsThe Selfish Giant The WoodThe Philosopher A Christmas TreeThe Adventure of the Devil’s FootThe God from the MachineThe Star Child Preference Doctor MarigoldThe Adventure of the Dying Detective The Sphinx Without a Secret Frances The Haunted HouseThe Parasite Modernism (1910-1965) WritersJoseph ConradT.S. EliotF. Scott FitzgeraldVirginia Woolf WorksThe LagoonEeldrop and AppleplexThe Great GatsbyJacob’s Room The Warrior’s Soul the Offshore PirateA Haunted House The Brute the Ice PalaceA Society Freya of the Seven Isles The Cut-Glass BowlAn Unwritten Novel Bernice Bobs Her HairKew Gardens The Four FistsThe Mark on the Wall The String Quartet
You should try to write a presentation that captures your listener’s interest and that uses examples from the short stories you have read to explain why this author belongs in this period.
Your presentation should have a clear introduction and also try to wrap it up in a nice manner, you also need to make references to where you got your information about the literary periods from. Keep in mind that this whole course works with formal language, so you should try to be formal here as well.
Before you make your presentation, you need to make a document wherein you display the disposition of your presentation (what will be presented and in which order). Try to follow example 2 or 3 on this website This outline must also include a complete list of sources (use Harvard or Oxford system) and source criticism.
Title: Common Sense and Its Impact on American Political Thought
Thesis: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense articulated the anti-British sentiments of the Colonies in a way so unprecedented that it permanently changed the face of political thought in America.
I. Intro:
A. Thesis: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense articulated the anti-British sentiments of the Colonies in a way so unprecedented that it permanently changed the face of political thought in America.
II. What did Common Sense say that was so different?
A. It denounced both the monarchy and the English Constitution, which had previously been looked upon as a brilliant political document. Americans realized the inherent fallacies of hereditary government (specifically monarchy) as well as the English Constitution which protected the monarchy.
B. It called for Americans to disconnect themselves from the flawed British system and create a new one for themselves. Common Sensequestioned the long-standing belief that residents of the colonies were inseparably connected to England. It gave them a new identity – Americans rather then Britons.
C. It also outlined the benefits of a republican government, which would go on to influence the ideas of the Founding Fathers as they created a new government for their new country.
III. What was Common Sense’s immediate effect on the Colonies?
A. The debate in the American Colonies shifted from that of reconciliation with England to that of independence.
B. It was read by an unprecedented number of colonists and united a great majority of them behind independence.
C. It inspired American intellectuals with its call for independence, leading to the composition of the Declaration of Independence a mere six months later.
IV. What were Common Sense’s long term effects?
A. It changed the connotation of the word “revolution” to something that looked to the future. “Revolution” became a word of innovation rather than renovation.
B. It permanently cemented the idea of a republican, non-hereditary government into the heads of Americans. Common Sense’s design for a republican government, and its basic principles were carried on to the Constitution.
V. Conclusion
A. Common Sense’s eloquent, articulate, and unprecedented arguments led to a permanent change in American political thought.
have read about three different literary periods
I have read at least two text from each of my chosen periods
I have prepared a presentation about the literary periods using examples from the texts
I have written and submitted a disposition of my presentationhave read about three different literary periods
I have read at least one text from each of my chosen periods
I have prepared a presentation about the literary periods using examples from the texts
I have written and submitted a disposition of my presentation
