Periods of Literature

The Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066) y

Eduardo Posada

The Ideas o Anglo-Saxon men could be poets as well as warriors. o Warriors created their own retelling of heroic deeds o Both roles, solder and poets, were important to the AngloSaxons The Invaders: The relatively small island of Great Britain has been invaded/settled many times o First by the ancient people we call Iberians o The Celts o The Romans o The Angles and Saxons (449) o The Vikings and the Normans The Spirit of the Celts o Among the Celts were a group called the Brythons o Their religion was a form of animism, which means they believed spirits existed everywhere o These spirits or gods controlled all the aspects of life o The mythology of the Celts continues to influence British and Irish writers o Celtic stories (unlike Anglo-Saxon) always have a happy ending, no matter how much blood is spilled, and magic and imagination rule The Romans o From a series invasion beginning in 55 B.C., the Celts were finally conquered by Rome o Rome provided armies and organization o They built roads and a great defensive wall o During Roman rule Christianity gradually took hold under the leadership of European missionaries o The old Celtic religion began to vanish

o The Romans left in A.D. 409 leaving Britain without any central government The Anglo-Saxons o In the middle of the 5th century Angles and Saxons from Germany crossed the North Sea o They drove the old Britons out and settled the grater part of Britain o The language of the Anglo-Saxons became the dominant language o The Celts put up a strong resistance before retreating in to Wales

POETRY y Terms o Lyric poem: Expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker. A lyric poem contains highly emotional language  Elegy: A type of lyric poem that mourns the loss of someone/something  Caesura: A sound break in the middle of a single line of poetry indicating a pause for a breath in the reading (Indicated by punctuation)  Kenning: A two-word metaphor used as a name for something else. Whales home Cuckoos perch  Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another.  Personification: A kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman or nonliving thing is talked about as if it were human.  Theme: The central idea of insight about human experience revealed in a work of literature. y The Wifes Lament o Where is the lord/who is he? o Who is exiled & why? o What is the relationship? o Why is she sad? o Who are the Kinsmen?

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Who is he secret? 1-5 Establish her exile/set mood sorrow 6-14 Lord left/she goes to find him Kinsmen try to separate them 15-26 She is separated from her most fitting men 27-41 Increase in passion 42-54 Curse What rights (role or position) would you guess women held in Anglo-Saxon society?

o o Women often suffer in this society (2) o Women have no choice in the society, they are not totally free My lord commanded me to live with him here (15)(27) The Seafarer i. Describe the speaker of the poem. What details from the poem tell you about what he does? o o It is a sailor. He talks about being in a hundred ships and a thousand ports, it is not normal for a person who is not a sailor, to be in that many ports and ships. o ii. What are some of the hardships or difficulties the speaker has known? o o The speakers passes through hunger, solitude, cold weather, hunger, the things that end in the boat. o iii. What keeps bringing him back to the sea? o o The speaker says that there is something emotional and unexplainable that keeps bringing him to the see. Attach to his inner soul. o iv. How does he characterize his own era? o

o He talks about his era as a more rich era, and the time from now as a more poor time o v. What are the two forms of reward after death? o o There is a reward in heaven and like a name to honor. o vi. Which controls his life more, fate or God? o o MEDIEVAL ENGLAND y y History Normandy y Extensive Viking resettlement in Northern France y Treaty of Saint-Calir-Sur-Epte y Northmen y Christianity y AEthelred II of England y Edward the Confessor William I y First Norman King of England y Duke on Normandy (1033-Death) Norman Invasion y September 28, 1066 Normans land in Hastings y October 14, 1066 Battle of Hastings y Submission of Archbishop y Unable to storm London Bridge y London Falls under the hands of the Normans y Gave a lot of loyalty after the Norman Invasion to the people Domesday Book  Great survey of all English property, population, livestock, and monetary values

Purpose was to determine who had material wealth and who paid taxes to the government  Was the first rate of poverty in the world Magna Carta  First document forced upon an English King  Limits Power  First constitution in the World  First mention of civil rights Impact on society after the Black Death  Englands agrarian economy remained resilient  Population loss led to increased productivity  Greater demand for labor  Pessimism  Black Death as Gods punishment  Dance of the Death Battle of Bosworth  End of medieval England  End of Feudal System in England  King Richard III killed  Henry Tudor become first monarch of the Tudor Dynasty  House of Lancaster beats House of York Life in the Medieval Period in England  Most people lived in a subsistence level. Agriculture was the only way to survive for most people Feudalism  Feudalism was built upon a relationship of an obligation and mutual service between vassals and lords  A vassal held his land as a grant from a lord  When a vassal died, his heir was required to publicly renew his oath of faithfulness to his lord. This public oath was called homage Science and Technology  Before the 11th century all the technology was Greek and Roman y

Europe paid professors and wise people to immigrate and teach  The invention of algebra surged during this time  12th and 13th century: Many new invention: Catapult, etc Crusades  Religiously sanctioned military campaigns through Europe  It all started in 1095 and ended in 1291  Main purpose to recover the Holy Land Jerusalem  This kept all Europe in tumult for 200 yeas  Roman Catholics vs. Muslims Effects of the Crusades  2 000.000-6000.000 deaths  Increased the wealth and power of the pope  The church gained more trust and power  Helped undermine feudalism Feudalism and the Crusades  Trade increased  Towns were created through out England  This weakened feudalism because vassals moved to cities  New social classes surged: Working Class The Church  People were taught that God, Heaven and Hell were true  Gained lots of power and money (tithes)  Its trust increased and people paid for prayers  Corruption became a bigger factor Authors and Works  Medieval Literature Rebirth of the literature The folk ballads Sung or recited, normal people Passed down from generation to generation Printing press 

Established at the end of the medieval period Writers, work on prose: (Novel-Big change) Genres Lyric Poetry Mystery plays Liturgical plays Morality plays Fabaliaux (metric tale) Sermons Humor Sermons Debate Rules Religious life Beast legends Romance Medieval Philosophy Texts written disputed questions, dialogue or commentary Problems writing about their thoughts Persecution More difficult to understand and interpret Questions-Nature of philosophical writing in general Literary Movements The chilvary and magical elements wirzars made the Romance Literature Romance Literature Full of fantasy, adventure and courtly love Biggest and most popular literary forms of the era Religion: The literature was influenced by the religion 2 forms of drama Mystery plays and morality plays Geoffrey Chaucer English poet

Father of English poetry Unfinished masterwork The Canterbury Tales The Worlds most impressive work in literature Born about 1345-London St. Paul Cathedral Influenced by Richard Bury Canterbury Tales Collection stories Tells stories of the Pilgrims Frame: Pilgrimade (group of pilgrims) People went to Religious journeys to sacred their monument 30 people went to St. Thomas Becket monument Killed -> Accepted law -> Didnt accept>betrayed Purpose of Chaucer Purpose: Show different levels of the society Intention: Each pilgrim had to tell two story we he was going to the monument and two stories when coming back from the monument. So he had to make 60 stories, but he died and never finished The Pearl-Poet Also called Gawain Lived in the second half of the 14th century Not much information Novels: y Sir Gawain and the Green Knight y Patience y Clearness y Pearl

Questions: o What effects did the Norman invasion had on the way the English were governed? o What were the main features of feudalism? o What changed or undermined feudalism? The Canterbury Tales

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Characterization Making inferences Critical thinking is the Prologue? A frame story: A story within a story What does the prologue accomplish?  Shows the different classes or professions of society and how the characters live up to or fall short in their duties. o Characterization: The process by which an author reveals the personality of a character  How the character looks or dresses  Speaks and acts  Thinks and feels  What others say about the character  Irony: A contrast between expectation and reality: What is said vs. what is meant (sarcasm) What is expected vs. what happens What appears to be true and what really is  Satire: A kind of writing that ridicules human weakness, vice or folly in order to bring about social reform

Sample test question o If Chaucer were writing the Canterbury tales today, what three kinds of pilgrims do you think he would include? Explain. o Chaucer would include in his critic the Politician, the Business man and the Catholic Church. This three because they are very influential people in society, and there are many aspects to critic. In the politician the lies that they tell and the bad habits of campaign they have. The Business man because of the way they take over and use the working class. And the church because of all the controversies and the kids violated by priests, etc.

A zest for actual life shows itself not only in the plenty and variety of Chaucers pilgrims, but specially in their normality. He did not exaggerate or look for freaks; he delighted in the world as he found it. o I disagree with this quote because we can see how Chaucer criticize all the pilgrims and I think they are not actually that way and he exaggerates. The features of the Nuns Priest Tale: i. Mock epics/ mock-heroic stile  A comic narrative poem that parodies the epic by treating a trivial subject in a lofty, grand manner ii. Courtly love 1. Devotion to a lady 2. Good manners 3. Bravery 4. Honor iii. Morals/lessons taught 1. Dont ever trust a flatterer. iv. Philosophical questions 1. Fate vs Free will 2. Woman as the source of mens downfall Sir Gawain/ Medieval Romance o Influence of Celtic Mythology o Alliterative verse Takes notes on: The beheading game The exchange of winnings Heros temptation: Honesty, loyalty, chastity

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8/17/2011 8:24:00 AM Archetype: A pattern that appears in literature across culture and is repeated through ages.

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