UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

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1 UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING ENG 112: English Literary Genres (2 Units) Course Facilitator:

2 STUDY GUIDE Course Code/ Title: Credit Units: Timing: Total hours of Study per each course material should be twenty Six hours (26hrs) at two hours per week within a given semester. You should plan your time table for study on the basis of two hours per course throughout the week. This will apply to all course materials you have. This implies that each course material will be studied for two hours in a week. Similarly, each study session should be timed at one hour including all the activities under it. Do not rush on your time, utilize them adequately. All activities should be timed from five minutes (5minut es) to ten minutes (10minutes). Observe the time you spent for each activity, whether you may need to add or subtract more minutes for the activity. You should also take note of your speed of completing an activity for the purpose of adjustment. Meanwhile, you should observe the one hour allocated to a study session. Find out whether this time is adequate or not. You may need to add or subtract some minutes depending on your speed. You may also need to allocate separate time for your self-assessment questions out of the remaining minutes from the one hour or the one hour 2

3 which was not used out of the two hours that can be utilized for your SAQ. You must be careful in utilizing your time. Your success depends on good utilization of the time given; because time is money, do not waste it. Reading: When you start reading the study session, you must not read it like a novel. You should start by having a pen and paper for writing the main points in the study session. You must also have dictionary for checking terms and concepts that are not properly explained in the glossary. Before writing the main points you must use pencil to underline those main points in the text. Make the underlining neat and clear so that the book is not spoiled for further usage. Similarly, you should underline any term that you do not understand its meaning and check for their meaning in the glossary. If those meanings in the glossary are not enough for you, you can use your dictionary for further explanations. When you reach the box for activity, read the question(s) twice so that you are sure of what the question ask you to do then you go back to the in-text to locate the answers to the question. You must be brief in answering those activities except when the question requires you to be detailed. 3

4 In the same way you read the in-text question and in-text answer carefully, making sure you understand them and locate them in the main text. Furthermore before you attempt answering the (SAQ) be sure of what the question wants you to do, then locate the answers in your in-text carefully before you provide the answer. Generally, the reading required you to be very careful, paying attention to what you are reading, noting the major points and terms and concepts. But when you are tired, worried and weak do not go into reading, wait until you are relaxed and strong enough before you engage in reading activities. Bold Terms: These are terms that are very important towards comprehending/understanding the in-text read by you. The terms are bolded or made darker in the sentence for you to identify them. When you come across such terms check for the meaning at the back of your book; under the heading glossary. If the meaning is not clear to you, you can use your dictionary to get more clarifications about the term/concept. Do not neglect any of the bold term in your reading because they are essential tools for your understanding of the in-text. Practice Exercises 4

5 a. Activity: Activity is provided in all the study sessions. Each activity is to remind you of the immediate facts, points and major informations you read in the in-text. In every study session there is one or more activities provided for you to answer them. You must be very careful in answering these activities because they provide you with major facts of the text. You can have a separate note book for the activities which can serve as summary of the texts. Do not forget to timed yourself for each activity you answered. b. In-text Questions and Answers: In-text questions and answers are provided for you to remind you of major points or facts. To every question, there is answer. So please note all the questions and their answers, they will help you towards remembering the major points in your reading. c. Self Assessment Question: This part is one of the most essential components of your study. It is meant to test your understanding of what you studied so you must give adequate attention in answering them. The remaining time from the two hours allocated for this study session can be used in answering the self- assessment question. Before you start writing answers to any questions under SAQ, you are expected to write down the major points related to the particular 5

6 question to be answered. Check those points you have written in the in-text to ascertain that they are correct, after that you can start explaining each point as your answer to the question. When you have completed the explanation of each question, you can now check at the back of your book, compare your answer to the solutions provided by your course writer. Then try to grade your effort sincerely and honestly to see your level of performance. This procedure should be applied to all SAQ activities. Make sure you are not in a hurry to finish but careful to do the right thing. e-tutors: The etutors are dedicated online teachers that provide services to students in all their programme of studies. They are expected to be twentyfour hours online to receive and attend to students Academic and Administrative questions which are vital to student s processes of their studies. For each programme, there will be two or more e-tutors for effective attention to student s enquiries. Therefore, you are expected as a student to always contact your e-tutors through their addresses or phone numbers which are there in your student hand book. Do not hesitate or waste time in contacting your e-tutors when in doubt about your learning. 6

7 You must learn how to operate , because ing will give you opportunity for getting better explanation at no cost. In addition to your e-tutors, you can also contact your course facilitators through their phone numbers and s which are also in your handbook for use. Your course facilitators can also resolve your academic problems. Please utilize them effectively for your studies. Continuous assessment The continuous assessment exercise is limited to 30% of the total marks. The medium of conducting continuous assessment may be through online testing, Tutor Marked test or assignment. You may be required to submit your test or assignment through your . The continuous assessment may be conducted more than once. You must make sure you participate in all C.A processes for without doing your C.A you may not pass your examination, so take note and be up to date. Examination All examinations shall be conducted at the University of Maiduguri Centre for Distance Learning. Therefore all students must come to the Centre for a period of one week for their examinations. Your preparation for examination may require you to look for course mates so that you form a group studies. 7

8 The grouping or Networking studies will facilitate your better understanding of what you studied. Group studies can be formed in villages and township as long as you have partners offering the same programme. Grouping and Social Networking are better approaches to effective studies. Please find your group. You must prepare very well before the examination week. You must engage in comprehensive studies. Revising your previous studies, making brief summaries of all materials you read or from your first summary on activities, in-text questions and answers, as well as on self assessment questions that you provided solutions at first stage of studies. When the examination week commences you can also go through your brief summarizes each day for various the courses to remind you of main points. When coming to examination hall, there are certain materials that are prohibited for you to carry ( i.e Bags, Cell phone, and any paper etc). You will be checked before you are allowed to enter the hall. You must also be well behaved throughout your examination period. STUDY SESSION 1: DEFINITION OF LITERATURE 1.1 INTRODUCTION 8

9 Literature, a body of oral and written works is as old as man s existence on earth. This lecture will discuss the growth and development of literature. 1.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this topic you should be able to: i. Define literature. ii. Discuss the growth of literature LITERATURE DEFINED The word literature is derived from the Latin littera, a letter of the alphabet. Literature is first and foremost mankind s entire body of writing, after that it is the body of writing belonging to a given language or people, and then it is individual pieces of writing. Literature therefore can be considered as a body of written works. The name is often applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. The Concise Oxford Dictionary says it is writings whose value lies in the beauty of form or emotional effect. The 19 th century critic Walter Pater referred to the matter of imaginative or artistic literature as a transcript not of mere fact, but of fact in its infinitely varied forms. To use the word writing when describing literature is misleading, for one may speak of oral literature or the literature of preliterate peoples. The art of literature therefore cannot be reduced to the words on the pages; they are there because of the craft of writing. As an art, literature is the organization of words to give pleasure; through 9

10 them it elevates and transforms experience; through them it functions in society as a continuing symbolic criticism of values SCOPE OF LITERATURE Literature, we know now is a form of human expression. But not everything all the world s classic surveys of history can stand as noble examples of the art of literature. But most historical works and studies today are not written primarily with literary excellence in mind, though they may possess it, by coincidence. The essay was once written deliberately as a piece of literature, its subject matter was of comparatively minor importance. Today most essays are written as expository, informative journalism. Some personal documents (autobiographies, diaries, memoirs, and letters) r ank among the world s greatest literature. Some of these documents are in a highly polished literary style, others, couched in privately evolved language, acquire their stand as literature because of their cogency, insight and depth. Many works of philosophy are classed as literature. The Dialogues of Plato (4 th century BC) are written with great narrative skill and in the finest prose; the Meditations of the 2 nd century Roman emperor Marcus Auricles are a collection of apparently random thoughts, and the Greek in which they are written is eccentric. Yet both are classed as literature, while the speculations of other philosophers, ancient and modern, are not. Certain scientific works endured as literature, long after their scientific content has been outdated. This is particularly true of book of natural history, where the element of personal observation is of special importance. Oratory, the art of persuasion, was long considered a great literary art. The oratory of the African, the American Indian, and the Indian are famous, while in classical Greek, Polyamnia was the muse sacred to poetry and oratory. Rome s great orator 10

11 Cicero was to have a decisive influence on the development of English prose style. Today, however, oratory is more usually thought as a craft than as an art. Most critics would not admit advertising copywriting, purely commercial fiction, or cinema and television scripts as accepted forms of literary expression, although others would hotly dispute their exclusion. The test in individual cases would seem to be one of enduring satisfaction and, of course truth. Indeed, it becomes more and more difficult to categorize literature. Man now is subjected to a continuous flood of communication. But in modern times, very little writing, almost by accident achieve an aesthetic satisfaction, a depth and relevance that entitle it to stand with other examples of the art of literature GENRES Genre (French kind or sort ) is a distinctive type or category of literary composition, such as the epic, tragedy, comedy, novel and short story. Despite critics attempts to systemize the art of literature, such categories retain a degree of flexibility. Hybrid forms such as tragicomedy and prose poem are in existence. Critics however, have invented a variety of systems for treating literature as a collection of genres. Often these genres are artificial, invented after a fact with the aim of making literature less sprawling FOLK LITERATURE In preliterate societies oral literature was widely shared; it saturated the society and was as much a part of living as food, clothing, shelter, or religion. In older societies, the minstrel might be a courtier of the king or chieftain, and the poet who composed liturgies might be a priest. But the oral performance itself was accessible to the whole community. As society evolved its various social layers or classes, an elite literature 11

12 began to be distinguishable from the folk literature of the people. With the invention of writing this separation was accelerated until finally literature was being experienced individually by the elite (reading a book), while folklore and folk song were experienced orally and more or less collectively by the illiterate common people. 1.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION Literature is an all-encompassing art, which includes Poetry, Prose, Drama, History, Philosophy, Oratory and Folk literature. It may be described as an imaginative representation of events, through which people project life in a society. Literature may be described as the imaginative representation of events through which people project life in a society. Literature is as old as man s existence on earth. Oral literature of ancient times paved the way for written forms of literature. ITQ Having completed this study session, you might have learnt the definition of literature. So, how will you define literary genres? ITA Genre is a distinctive type or category of literary composition, such as the epic, tragedy, comedy, novel and short story. 1.5 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTION Having completed this study session, you might be able to attempt these questions for yourself assessment. 1. Define Literature. 2. Discuss the growth of literature. REFERENCES 12

13 Charles Roland & Long N. Michael (1991) Teaching Literature. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers. Longman Group UK Limited. Kennedy J.K. (1973) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. Kermode, Frank & Hollander John (1973) The Oxford Anthology of English Literature Volumes 1 & 2. New York, Oxford University Press. ` STUDY SESSION 2: ENGLISH LITERATURE 2.1 INTRODUCTION 13

14 English literature is the body of all oral and written works produced in the British Isles. This lecture will deal with the growth and development of English literature. 2.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this topic you should be able to: i. Define English Literature. ii. Name and describe the various ages or movements in English literature THE ORIGIN OF ENGLISH LITERATURE English Literature is the body of works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles from the 7 th century to the present day ENGLISH LITERATURE DEFINED English literature is traditionally divided into Old English, Middle English, Renaissance and Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration, 18 th century, Romantic, Victorian and Modern periods. Literary traditions often overflow such categories. However, diverse approaches have always coexisted. Old English and to a lesser extent, Middle English appear to the modern reader to be foreign languages. 2.4 SUMMARY OF STUDY SESSION 2 English Literature is the body of works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles from the 7 th century to the present day. English literature is traditionally divided into Old English, Middle English, Renaissance and Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration, 18 th century, Romantic, Victorian and Modern periods. ITQ 14

15 After you have completed this study session, you might have various divisions of literature. How then can you define and distinguish the various divisions of English Literature? ITA English Literature is the body of works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles from the 7 th century to the present day. English literature can be divided into Old English, Middle English, Renaissance and Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration, 18 th century, Romantic, Victorian and Modern periods. 2.5 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTION After you have completed this study session, you might be able to attempt the below questions to test your ability. 1. Define English Literature. 2. Name the various ages or movements in English literature. REFERENCE Kennedy J.K. (1973) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 15

16 STUDY SESSION 3: MOVEMENTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (1) 3.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture will take the students through the main movements or the various ages of English literature. 3.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this topic you should be able to i. Define the main movements of English Literature. ii. Describe the characteristic traits of the main movements of English Literature. 3.3 IN-TEXT THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD The Angles, Saxons and Jutes who invaded Britain in the 5 th and 6 th centuries brought with them the common Germanic metric, but the earliest oral poetry probably used for magic, and short narratives, also survived. In the 7 th century Caedmon, an illiterate Northumbrian cowherd, composed a hymn in praise of the creation. Caedmon legitimized the native verse form by adopting it to Christian themes. Others following his example gave England a body of vernacular poetry unparalleled in Europe before the end of the millennium. Old English is the first recorded English literature. Manuscripts from about AD 1000 contained the best-known Old English work. Beowulf, a heroic poem written about 600 to 750. Such poems were originally written to be sung, and the subject-matter was generally religious or heroic. In prose there were plain-narrative historical chronicles such as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 16

17 3.3.2 MIDDLE ENGLISH OR THE MEDIEVAL AGE Middle English began with the Norman conquest of This brought both the French language, which in time combined with the Germanic Anglo-Saxon to form the basis of modern English, and a French literary influence. The Arthurian style became the central myth for English literature, as seen in works such as Sir Gawayne and the Greene Knight, an example of the alliterative revival of the 14 th century, and Sir Thomas Mallory s MorteDarthur. Geoffrey Chaucer, master of the complex narrative and sometimes considered as the first modern English writer, occupies the central position in Middle English literature. He combined the classical epic and European philosophical influence in his Troilus and Criseyde, but also gave the vernacular a solid basis in his comic Canterbury Tales. 3.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION 3 Old English is the first recorded English literature. Manuscripts from about AD 1000 contain the best-known Old English work, Beowulf, a heroic poem written about 6 00 to 750.The Angles, Saxons and Jutes who invaded Britain in the 5 th and 6 th centuries brought with them the common Germanic metric, probably used for magic and short narratives. Middle English began with the Norman conquest of This brought both the French language, which in time combined with the Germanic Anglo-Saxon to form the basis of modern English. Geoffrey Chaucer, master of the complex narrative and sometimes considered as the first modern English writer, occupies the central position in Middle English literature. His Troilus and Criseyde is a combination of the classical epic and European philosophy. He also gave the vernacular a solid basis in his Canterbury Tales. 17

18 ITQ You might have understood in this study session that English literature has passed through many periods of development and so there are so many factors responsible for its development in those eras or times. How then could you distinguish between Old English and Middle English? ITA Old English is the first recorded English literature. Manuscripts from about AD 1000 contain the best-known Old English work. Beowulf, a heroic poem was written about 6 00 to The Angles, Saxons and Jutes who invaded Britain in the 5 th and 6 th centuries brought with them the common Germanic metric. Middle English began with the Norman conquest of This brought both the French language, which in time combined with the Germanic Anglo-Saxon to form the basis of modern English. 3.4 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS After you have studied this study session, you might be able to attempt these questions for your ability test. 1. Define the main movements of English Literature 2. Describe the characteristic traits of the main movements of English Literature. REFERENCE Kennedy J.K. (1973) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 18

19 STUDY SESSION 4: MOVEMENTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (2) 4.1 INTRODUCTION Three very important ages, the ages of the Renaissance, Metaphysical and Restoration will be discussed in this lecture. 4.2 LEARNING OUTCOME By the end of the topic you should be able i. Describe a few important features of the three movements studied. 4.3 IN-TEXT THE RENAISSANCE The European Renaissance filtered into England by the 16 th century and led to the questioning of the religious beliefs and assumptions of the Middle Ages. Literature began to look back beyond the medieval period to the classics for inspiration, and Neo- Platonism, through Edmund Spenser s The Faerie Queen and The Shepard s Calendar. Lyrical courtly poetry, became the dominant in Sir Philip Sidney s Defense of Poesies (the beginning of English literature criticism), in Frances Bacon s prose essays, and particularly in the plays of William Shakespeare. As the central figure of the English Renaissance, Shakespeare expresses both its conflicts and its glorious energy and provides the basis for its reputation as the golden age of English Literature and of English drama in particular. Shakespeare s immediate forbearer, Christopher Marlowe, established the use of blank verse in plays centering on the tragic ambitions of strong personalities. 19

20 4.3.2 METAPHYSICAL MOVEMENT The accession of James I in 1603 was accompanied with great strife, and this produced a strain of cynicism manifested in the revenge tragedies of John Webster and the comedies of Ben Jonson and Francis Beaumont. There also emerged at this time the intellectual passion of Metaphysical poetry, with John Donne at its centre, containing the conflict between love, religion and the individual. Robert Herrick and other Cavalier poets, in contrast wrote elegant and playful love lyrics. The English Civil Wars and Oliver Cromwell s Puritan regime led to the closure of all English theaters in The dominant literary figure was John Milton, and his influential religious epic Paradise Lost (1667) provided a link between the Puritan era and the restoration of the monarchy THE RESTORATION AGE The return of Charles II in 1660 to the country ushered in the Restoration period. It was characterized by the witty mannered comedies of William Congreve, the satirical poetry of Andrew Marvell, and the heroic drama and poetry of John Dryden. The diary and biography forms emerged. as useful genres in the works of Samuel Pepys and Izaak Walton, and John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrims Progress (1678), a popular Christian allegory. 4.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION 4 The European Renaissance filtered into England by the 16 th century and led to the questioning of the religious beliefs and assumptions of the Middle Ages. Literature began to look back beyond the medieval period to the classics for inspiration. Lyrical courtly poetry became dominant in Sir Philip Sidney s Defense of Poesies criticism, in Frances Bacon s prose essays, and particularly in the plays of William Shakespeare. 20

21 Shakespeare, as the central figure of the English Renaissance, expresses both its conflicts and its glorious energy that provide the basis for its reputation as the golden age of English Literature. Shakespeare s immediate forbearer, Christopher Marlowe, established the use of blank verse in plays. The accession of James I in 1603 was accompanied with great strife, and this manifested in the revenge tragedies of John Webster and the comedies of Ben Jonson and Francis Beaumont. There also emerged at this time the intellectual passion of Metaphysical poetry, with John Donne at its centre, containing the conflict between love, religion and the individual. The return of Charles II in 1660 to the country ushered in the Restoration period. It was characterized by the witty mannered comedies of William Congreve, the satirical poetry of Andrew Marvell, the heroic drama and poetry of John Dryden, and John Bunyan s The Pilgrims Progress (1678), a popular Christian allegory. ITQ After completing this study session, you might have followed the note on literature movement eras such as Renaissance, metaphysical etc. how then can you describe briefly the characteristic features and some exponents of the Restoration? ITA The Renaissance filtered into England from Europe by the 16 th century and led to the questioning of the religious beliefs and assumptions of the Middle Ages. Literature began to look back beyond the medieval period to the classics for inspiration, and Neo- Platonism. Edmund Spenser s The Faerie Queen and The Shepard s Calendar, lyrical courtly poetry of Sir Philip Sidney, Defense of Poesies, Frances Bacon s prose essays, and particularly the plays of William Shakespeare greatly influenced the literature of this 21

22 age. As the central figure of the English Renaissance, Shakespeare expresses both its conflicts and its glorious energy and provides the basis for its reputation as the golden age of English Literature and of English drama in particular. Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare s immediate forbearer, established the use of blank verse in plays. 4.4 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS Having completed this study session, you might be able to attempt this question to test your ability. - Describe a few important features of the three movements studied. REFERENCE Kennedy J.K. (1973) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 22

23 STUDY SESSION 5: MOVEMENTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (3) 5.1 INTRODUCTION The 18 th century witnessed the rise of two major literary movements. We will closely study these movements in this topic. 5.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this topic you should be able to: i. Explain the two major literary movements ii. iii. Describe the Augustan Age Describe the Romantic Age 5.3 IN-TEXT THE AUGUSTAN OR NEOCLASSICAL AGE The 18 th century witnessed the rise of two major literary movements. The first movement was the Augustan Age, or Neoclassical period, exemplified by the satires of Alexander Pope, the prophesizing and allegory of Jonathan Swift (perhaps the greatest satirist in the English language), and the criticism of Samuel Johnson. Journalism and the prose essay flourished, both influencing and being natural by this movement as seen in Joseph Addison s periodical The Spectator. Respect for rules, high standard of intellectual quality, emphasis on a set poetical style, emergence of the heroic cuplete and treatment of turn life, formed some of the themes. Of great importance was the rise of the novel as an independent literary form in the works of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Tobias Smollett. The novelist playwright Oliver Goldsmith, the 23

24 playwright Richard B. Sheridan, and Johnson s biographer, James Boswell, brought a close to the Augustan-Age late in the century THE ROMANTIC AGE OR ROMANTICISM Romanticism was the second literary movement to appear in the 18 th century. It was in part a reaction against the elitism and self imposed classical limitation of the Augustans. Romanticism was a revolt against authority, tradition and conventions, whether political, social, religious or literary. Thus, return to nature, simple life, individuality, variety and the return of the typical mode of expression, characterized this movement. Romanticism began with William Blake s poetry of rebellion against convention and a new concept of imagination as a creative force. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were central to the movement, producing a manifesto of Romantic beliefs in the preface to their joint Lyrical Ballads (1798). The poets concentrated on the redeeming power of nature and the destructive influence of increasing industrialization. The second generation of English Romanticism includes John Keats, whose vivid, serious lyrics trace beauty and its passing, Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose works combine lyricism with political radicalism; and Lord Bryon, who invented the romantic anti-hero in his ironic verse satires THE VICTORIAN AGE The 19 th century also known as the Victorian age was the great age of the English novel. Early in the century this form gathered strength in the fantasies of the Gothic novel and in the critical insight into polite society that was shown by Jane Austen s novels. The historical novel was established by Sir Walter Scott in the 1820s. Charles 24

25 Dickens, the greatest of English novelist, put his comic genius at the service of exploring the ills of society and the vagaries of human nature. Following Dickens were George Eliot s portrayals of 19 th century society and its moral dilemmas, William Thackery s ironic studies of society, and Anthony Trollops depiction of contemporary manners and more. Thomas Hardy marked the end of the Victorian era, and the beginning of Modernism, in his agnosticism and determinism. The two most significant figures in Victorian Poetry were Robert Browning, who created psychological portraits in poems called dramatic monologues, and Lord Alfred Tennyson, who explored the intellectual and religious problems of the time in his verse. Other notable Victorian figures were the essayist Mathew Arnold and such poets as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Charles Swinburne. The turn of the century saw the revival of English drama of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, together with a new group of novelists, among whom were H.G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, E.M. Forster, and W. Somerset Maugham. 5.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION 5 The 18 th century witnessed the rise of two major literary movements. The first movement was the Augustan Age, or Neoclassical period, exemplified by the satires of Alexander Pope, the allegory of Jonathan Swift, and the criticism of Samuel Johnson. Respect for rules, high standard of intellectual quality, emphasis on a set poetical style, emergence of the heroic couplet and treatment of turn life, formed some of the themes. Of great importance was the rise of the novel in the works of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett Oliver Goldsmith, Richard B. Sheridan, and James Boswell, brought a close to the Augustan-Age. Romanticism was the second literary movement to appear in the 18 th century. It was in part a reaction against the elitism and 25

26 self imposed classical limitation of the Augustans. Romanticism was a revolt against authority, tradition and conventions, whether political, social, religious or literary. Thus, return to nature, simple. Life, individuality, variety and the return of the typical mode of expression, characterized this movement. William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were central to the movement. Others include John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Bryon. The 19 th century also known as the Victorian age was the great age of the English novel. Early in the century this form gathered strength in the fantasies of the Gothic novel and in the critical insight into polite society that was shown by Jane Austen s novels. Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, George Eliot and William Thackery explored the ills of society and the vagaries of human nature. Thomas Hardy marked the end of the Victorian era, and the beginning of Modernism. ITQ In this study session, you have discussed further the movement of English literature such as the Augustan, the Romantism, and the Victorian etc. could you briefly describe the Victorian? ITA In the Victorian movement, Poetry showed strong regional roots as well as deep receptivity to the way of the contemporary world. The postmodern novel made conscious use of myth, fairy tale and fantasy. 5.5 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS i. Explain the two major literary movements ii. iii. Describe the Augustan Age Describe the Romantic Age 26

27 REFERENCE Kennedy J.K. (1973) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 27

28 STUDY SESSION 6: MOVEMENTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (4) 6.1 INTRODUCTION The distinctive depressive mood of the Modern age grew from the disillusionment and cynicism that followed World War I. 6.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this topic you should be able to: a) Explain the features of the modern age b) Describe the features in relation to the three genres of poetry, prose and drama. 6.3 IN-TEXT THE MODERN AGE The distinctive depressive mood of the Modern age grew from the disillusionment and cynicism that followed World War I. It appeared notably as a sense of life s bleakness in the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Writers also became increasingly self-conscious about literary form and language, as is evident in the novels of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Other figures, in particular the poet W.H. Auden, turned to expressing left-wing political idealism in their work. Peripheral to the Modernist movement were D.H. Lawrence, whose novels examine the complexities of sexuality and the relationships between men and women, and the Irish poet W.B. Yeats, whose works moved from Symbolism to Modernism are characterized by a wide variety of styles and movements. Drama 28

29 branched out from carefully crafted and conventional plays to an emotionally raw kitchen-sink drama with Samuel Beckett s The Theater of the Absurd. Poetry showed strong regional roots as well as deep receptivity to the way of the contemporary world. These preoccupations are imaginatively present in the work of Ted Hughes, and Seamus Heaney. Fictions included the allegorical novel of William Golding, the satirical novels of Kingsley Amis. A major development toward the end of the century was the postmodern novel, which made conscious use of such devices as myth, fairy tale and fantasy. 6.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION 6 A distinctive depressive mood of the Modern age grew from the disillusionment and cynicism that followed World War I. A sense of life s bleakness is found in the poetry of T.S.Eliot. Writers also became increasingly self-conscious about literary form and language, as is evident in the novels of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Other figures, in particular the poet W.H. Auden, turned to expressing left-wing political idealism in their work peripheral to the Modernist movement were D.H. Lawrence, whose novels examine the complexities of sexuality and the relationships between men and women, and the Irish poet W.B. Yeats, whose works moved from Symbolism to Modernism are characterized by a wide variety of styles and movements. Poetry showed strong regional roots as well as deep receptivity to the way the contemporary world. The postmodern novel made conscious use of myth, fairy tale and fantasy. ITQ In this study session, we have discussed fully the modern English literature. How then could you put more light on the term Modern English literature? 29

30 ITA Modern English Literature is the type of Literature that grew from the disillusionment and cynicism that followed World War SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS a) Explain the features of the modern age b) Describe the features in relation to the three genres of poetry, prose and drama. REFERENCE Kermode, Frank & Hollander John (1973) The Oxford Anthology of English Literature Volumes 1 & 2. Oxford University Press. New York. Ray, J. R.(1972) English Literature: An Introduction to Foreign Readers. Macmillan London. Kirk, K. L.(1979) Interpreting Literature. New York. Holt, Richart,Winston. Lewis A. (1963) Introduction To Literature- Poems. New York. Holt, R. Winston. Mayhead, Robert (1965) Understanding Literature. Cambridge University Press London. Nazeer, Azeez (1974) The Study of Literature. Baba Press. Madras. 30

31 STUDY SESSION 7: THE STUDY OF POETRY 7.1 INTRODUCTION The oldest and the most intense genre of literature is poetry. This lecture will discuss the origin and the varied definitions of poetry. 7.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES And the end of this lecture you should be able to: i. State a few definitions of poetry ii. Describe the characteristics of poetry 7.3 IN-TEXT CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH POETRY Poetry is an ancient form of expression of man s numerous feelings. Even before the development of writing, primitive societies seem to have achieved poetic rendering of their religious, historical and cultural awareness, and have transmitted them to the next generation in hymns, in contentious and narrative forms. The characteristics emotional content of English poetry, like all poetry finds expression through a variety of techniques, from direct description to highly personalized symbolism. One of the most ancient and universal of these techniques is the use of metaphor and simile to alter and expand the reading imaginative apprehension through explicit or implicit comparison. Thus many involve an appeal to sense experience, especially visual sensation, or to emotional experience or cultural and historical awareness. Thus by conjuring up pictures or images and by conjuring different kinds of imaginative associations, the poet elicits in others something of his own feeling and consciousness. 31

32 Poetry encompasses many modes narrative, dramatic, aphoristic, celebratory, satiric, disruptive, didactic, personal, and in some African forms abusive. Within a single work the poet may move from one mode to another, preserving the overall unity of the formal pattern. The formal patterns available to the poet are varied in English poetry. The formal unit may be the single unrhymed line (as in blank verse), the rhymed couplet, the rhymed stanza of four lines or more, or more complex rhyming patterns such as the fourteen line sonnet. In the 19 th and 20 th centuries Western poetry has responded more to the expressive possibilities of poetic idiom and convention in different traditions. Some poets have experimented with reviving or adopting the subject matter and the verse form of other times and places. For other poets it has been important to break with tradition and emotion and attempt a studied informality of manner, an approximation of relaxed rhymes and colloquial vocabulary of ordinary speech, and prosaic imagery ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE POETRY Trying to define poetry has been an age-old elusive exercise. Many critics and poets themselves have tried to pen in poetry with a universally acceptable definition with little success. To Ben Jonson poetry speaketh somewhat above a mortal mouth Coleridge posited poetry simply to be. The best words in the best order. Wordsworth s undying definition of poetry is found in the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. According to Wordsworth poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes origin from emotions recollected in tranquility. 32

33 Shelley writes of poetry in A Defence of Poetry, that poetry awakens and enlarges the mind by a thousand un-apprehended combinations of thoughts enlarges the circumference of the imagination. And to Robert Frost all poetry should start with delight and end with wisdom. 7.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY SESSION 7 From the foregoing varied definitions, it is clear to deuce that describing poetry, is a less complicated a task than defining poetry. Simply put poetry can be said to be a rhythmical composition of words expressing an attitude designed to surprise and delight, and thereby arouse an emotional response from readers. ITQ After completing this study session, you might have understood the meaning of poetry and its characteristics. Briefly, write short note on poetry and the characteristics of English poetry. ITA Trying to define poetry has been an age-old elusive exercise. Many critics and poets themselves have tried to pen in poetry with a universally acceptable definition with little success. Poetry is an ancient form of expression of man s numerous feelings. Even before the development of writing, primitive societies seem to have achieved poetic rendering of their religious, historical and cultural awareness, and have transmitted them to the next generation in hymns, in contentious and narrative forms. Simply put poetry can be said to be a rhythmical composition of words expressing an attitude designed to surprise and delight, and thereby arouse an emotional response from readers. 33

34 The characteristic content of English poetry, like all poetry finds expression through a variety of techniques, from direct description to highly personalized symbolism. The formal patterns available to the poet are varied in English poetry. It may encompass the narrative, dramatic, aphoristic, celebratory, satiric, disruptive, didactic, personal, and in some African forms abusive. Within a single work the poet may move from one mode to another, preserving the overall unity of the formal pattern. 7.5 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 1. State a few definitions of poetry 2. Describe the characteristics of poetry REFERENCE Kermode, Frank & Hollander John (1973) The Oxford Anthology of English Literature Volumes 1 & 2. Oxford University Press. New York. Ray, J. R.(1972) English Literature: An Introduction to Foreign Readers. Macmillan London. Kirk, K. L.(1979) Interpreting Literature. New York. Holt, Richart,Winston. Lewis A. (1963) Introduction To Literature- Poems. New York. Holt, R. Winston. Mayhead, Robert (1965) Understanding Literature. Cambridge University Press London. Nazeer, Azeez (1974) The Study of Literature. Baba Press. Madras. STUDY SESSION 8: ANALYSIS OF POEMS 8.1 INTRODUCTION: 34

35 Analysis of poems to discern the thematic inferences and the use of poetic devices are essential aspects to the study of poetry. 8.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of the lecture you should be able to: i. Write the themes of the various poems ii. iii. iv Identify the poetic devices used in the poems Identify the ages each poem/poet belongs to Write a poem or two of your own 8.3 IN-TEXT: POEM GEOFFREY CHAUCER ( ) Read the following poem and answer briefly, the questions that follow: The cock doth craw, the day doth daw a The channerin worm doth chide b Gin we be missed out of our place c Sair pain we maun abide a The above extract is from Chaucer s poem Wife of Ushers Well. The above lines are written in what can be termed Old English. The summary of the above lines could be rewritten roughly in modern English as follows: The cock crows, the day has dawned. 35

36 The channerin, worm does scold, so we will not be missed from our place before dawn breaks. The meaning of the above lines if read as a whole, gives us a picture, of dawn, and the need to return before dawn breaks completely IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 1. What is Chaucer s English called? 2. Could you name another poet of the same age? 3. Attempt a paraphrase in your own words IN-TEXT ANSWERS Poem 1 1. Old English. 2. Edmund Spenser. 3. The cock crows, the day has dawned. The channerin worm scolds, so we will not be missed from our place before dawn breaks POEM SIR THOMAS WYATT ( ) With Serving Still With serving still a This have I won b For my good will a To be undone; b And for redress c Of all my pain, d 36

37 Disdainfulness, c I have again d And for reward e Of all my smart f To, thus unheard e I must depart! f Wherefore all ye g That after shall h By fortune be g As I a m, thrall, h Example take What I have won, Thus for her sake To be undone! ITQ POEM 2 Read the poem carefully and summarize in your words the subject matter of the poem 1. Complete the rhyme scheme in the poem. ITA POEM 2 1 The protagonist is speaking of unrequited love and warns his fellow beings against blind love. 37

38 2. i b I b POEM JOHN DONNE ( ) Batter My Heart, Three Personed God, for You Batter my heart three- personed God, for you. As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to man. That I may rise and stand, O erthrow me, and bend I like or unsurped town to another day, Labor to admit You, but oh! To no end. Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captivated, and proves weak or untrue Yet dearly I love You, and would loved fair, But an betrothed unto Your enemy; Divorce me, untie me or break that knot again; Take me to you, imprison, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Not ever chaste, except You ravish me. IN-TEXT QUESTIONS (ITQ) POEM 3 1.To what movement do you think Donne belongs to? 2. Explain the seeming contradiction in the last line. 3. Sum up your own words the message of Donne s, poem. IN-TEXT ANSWERS (ITA) POEM 3 1. The Metaphysical poets 38

39 2. Not ever chaste, except You ravish me. One cannot remain chaste when ravished. The words chaste and ravish are used to indicate a paradoxical situation. 3. The poet persona in the poem seems to be pleading with god to protect him from falling into evil ways POEM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ( ) Shall I Compare thee to a Summers Day? Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate Rough winds do shake the darlings buds of play And summer s least hath all too short a date Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often in his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declare, By chance, or nature s changing course, untrimmed But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possessions of that fair thou ow st So long as men can breathe or eyes can see So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. IN-TEXT QUESTIONS (ITQ) POEM 4 1. Who is the poem addressed to? 2. What kind of a poem is it? 39

40 3. What are the last two lines of the poem called? IN-TEXT ANSWERS (ITA) POEM 4 1.To the poet s lady love. 1. A Shakespearean sonnet. 2. A heroic couplet wherein the last two lines that conclude a sonnet have the same rhyme scheme. Eg. g g POEM WILLIAM BLAKE ( ) The Chimney Sweeper When my mother died I was very young And my father sold me white yet my tongue Could scarcely cry weep! weep! weep! weep! So your chiming I sweep, and in soot I sleep There is little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lambs back, was shaved so I said Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your heads bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair And so he was quiet, and that very night As Tom was asleep, he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack Were all of them locked up in coffins of black, And by come an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins and set them all free; Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run 40

41 And wash in a river, and shine in the sun, Then naked and white, all their bags left behind They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind And the Angel told Tom, if he d be a good boy, He d have God for his Father, and never want joy, And so Tom woke, and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags and our brushes to work, Though the morning was cold, Tom happy and warm So if all do their duty they need not fear harm. IN-TEXT QUESTIONS (ITQ) POEM 5 1. What does Blake s poem reveal about the conditions of London? 2. What moral does the above poem teach? 3. What is the mood of the poem? IN-TEXT ANSWERS (ITA) POEM 5 1. The poem reveals the squalor and poverty in which a large majority of the poor in London lived. 2. Only hard work and patience will lead to success. 3. Encouraging and hopeful POEM PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ( ) Ozimandias* 41

42 I meet a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, shattered visage his, whose frown, And wrinkled up, and sneer of cold command; Tell that its sculptor who well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped as these life less things, The hand that mocked them and heart that fed, And as the pedestal these words appear, My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, Look on ye works, ye Mighty, and despair!, Nothing beside remains Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The love and level sands stretch far away. IN-TEXT QUESTIONS (ITQ) POEM 6 1. What is theme of the poem? 2. What moral does the poet wish to convey through this poem? 3. Give a title of your own to the poem. *Ozymandias was a tyrant king in ancient Egypt. IN-TEXT ANSWERS (ITA) POEM 6 1. The transient nature of man s life on earth. 2. Pride goes before a fall. 42