British Literature - Part I

Early British literature Match the periods with the authors Old English An old English epic, Beowulf, was written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. 14th century The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. 16th century The English Renaissance produced William Shakespeare, the world´s greatest playwright. 17th century John Milton wrote Paradise Lost and many pamphlets on civil rights. 18th century Jonathan Swift wrote his Gulliver´s Travels and Daniel Defoe was the pioneer of English novel with his Robinson Crusoe. Romanticism Well-known for poetry focused on emotions, personal feeling - Lord Byron, P.B.Shelley. Anglo-Saxon literature Watch the video and do the tasks below. There can be more true answers, mark them all. Beowulf is _. a novel a romance an epic adventure story a horror short story a drama a poem about 3 000 lines long about 6 000 lines long regarded by some as a Christian allegory The protagonist of Beowulf _ . is a prince is a magician saves a kingdom from a monster and his mother becomes a king fights a dragon fights other warriors dies in the end fights a monster with his bare hands kills a dragon alone The work was written in Old English in the 8th century. True False Beowulf is the first English-language story to be written down. True False The author's name was Beowulf the poet. True False Beowulf can be divided into _ . 2 main parts 3 main parts Fill in the gaps: One of the most popular translations of Beowulf, completed in 1926, was done by J.R.R. Tolkien, who compared the work to a sad song for a king. It _ into a big-budget film released in 2007. has been made was made Match the names to the characters: Hrothgar the king of the Danes Grendel a monstrous creature Medieval literature Watchthe video and dothe tasks below. Again, more answers can be correct. Choose the correct expression for each gap from the WORD BANK below the text: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer are one of the most esteemed works of English literature ever created.It consists of 24 stories, which are told by different characters who have a journey in common, a pilgrimage to Canterbury. This pilgrimage enabled the author to bring together people from many walks of life: knight, monk, nun, merchant, man of law, scholarly clerk; miller, wife of Bath and many others. Everyone is telling stories as a competition to see who has the best story and who will get a free dinner from the Host of the inn. The collections has about 17000 lines; however, it is unfinished and there is no winner of the contest. Middle English is very similar to Modern English. True False Middle English was used between the 12th and 15th centuries. True False Medieval society followed a feudal system that divided the clergy and nobility from the working classes. True False Chaucer _ . spent most of his life as a government official lived during the Hundred Years' War (1337 - 1453) travelled through England, Italy and France was born in Oxford in 1340 The Canterbury Tales _ . include varied genres and dialects show different forms of entertainment of the Medieval people satirize almost every character use only noble language and serious topics explore the theme of love, sexual desire and the idea of church corruption 18th century and Romanticism in English literature Fill in the blanks. Jane AustenJane Austen was an English novelist whose books, set among the English middle and upper classes, are notable for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women.She was born on 16 December 1775 in the village of Steventon in Hampshire. She was one of eight children of a clergyman and grew up in a close-knit family. She began to write as a teenager. In 1801 the family moved to Bath. After the death of Jane's father in 1805 Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother moved several times eventually settling in Chawton, near Steventon.Jane's brother Henry helped her negotiate with a publisher and her first novel, 'Sense and Sensibility', appeared in 1811. Her next novel 'Pride and Prejudice', which she described as her "own darling child" received highly favourable reviews. 'Mansfield Park' was published in 1814, then 'Emma' in 1816. 'Emma' was dedicated to the prince regent, an admirer of her work. All of Jane Austen's novels were published anonymously.In 1816, Jane began to suffer from ill-health, probably due to Addison's disease. She travelled to Winchester to receive treatment, and died there on 18 July 1817. Two more novels, 'Persuasion' and 'Northanger Abbey' were published posthumously and a final novel was left incomplete.