15 Literary epoques, authors and genres for English lessons: typologies ●
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Most adequate literary époques, authors and genres to be used in English lessons Tipology of texts: poetry, drama, essay, prose fiction and literary texts in general
DUNN, O. (1982): Developing English with Young Learners, MacMillan. ELLIS, G.; SINCLAIR, B (1998): Learning to learn English, CUP, Cambridge
LITERATURE ●
Oxford English Dictionary: “acquaintance with letters”
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Common meaning: a whole body of literary work, considering any form of writing, often related to a specific culture.
15.1. Most adequate literary époques, authors and genres to be used in English lessons ●
Difficult to read original works in Primary ---> better abridged editions or extracts
15.1.1. GENRES ●
Novels: extensive reading, individually, also at home. Should be accopanied by comprehension exercises
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Poetry: intensive reading, in classroom, presenting the author, the topic and other interesting point as pre-reading. Vocabulary exercises or historic context accompaining. Drama: in groups, bearing the difficulty of each character and the characteristics of each student. In the classroom.
15.1.2. ÉPOQUES AND AUTHORS Origins of English ●
Beowulf: the fight against monster Grendel
14th - 15th century ●
Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, “The Squire's Tale” - arabian king that receives four magic presents.
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“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” poem. When Gawain cuts off the head of the Knight and the Knight runs away in his horse with his head in his hands.
Renaissance ●
Edmund Spencer: The Faerie Queen (1580 – 1599). Glorification of Queen Elizabeth
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Michael Draydon: Poly-Olbion (1613 – 1622). Description of England and its history
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Robert Greene: Friar Bacon and Friar Brandy (1594) a comedy about a brass head that can speak with the devil
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William Shakespeare: A midsummer night's dream (1596). Two couples want to marry their loves, but not the ones chosen by their parents. –
Much ado about nothing (1598): similar to Midsummer's plot
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Macbeth (1623): short tragedy
17th century ●
John Milton: Ode on a Grecian Urn
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Samuel Pepys: Diaries
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Philip Massinger: The city madam. A Caroline perioed comedy about London life.
18th century ●
Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (1719). He was an excellent student but because of his religion could not attend Oxford or Cambridge, so he became an international salesman and started to write fiction in this sixties. Great innovator in novels. –
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Moll Flanders (1722)
Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels (1726). Humorous and
critical satire about the British and European society written by an Irish religious and political man.
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Samuel Richardson: Clarissa or the History of a young lady.
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Lawrence Sterne: Tristan Shandy (1759 – 1767). Highly
unconventional novel technique, enthusiastically received but also criticized because of its sexual treatment. – ●
A Sentimental Journey
Henry Fielding: Joseph Andrews (1742): first realistic novel in England
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Richard Brinsley Sheridan: playwriter of Covent Garden Theatre. –
The Rivals
- The Duenna
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St Patrick's Day
- The School for Scandal
Ann Radcliffe: The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789). A novel about innocent, heroic women who find themselves in mysterious castles. –
The Sicilian Romance (1790), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Italian (1796)
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The Romance of the forest (1791): gothic romance leading exponent.
19th century ●
William Wordsworth: romantic poet. Lyrical Ballads (1798) –
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The Prelude: autobiographical poem, posthumously published.
Mary Shelley: Frankestein or the Modern Prometheus Charles Dickens: The pickwick papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1839), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849), Great Expectations (1861). Charlotte Brönte: Jane Eyre (1847). Focused on the emotional
development of a woman. Related to German Gothic Bildungsroman.
20th century ●
Eric Malpass: The long, long distances (1970). Family issues in the uncle's farm.
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Fynn: Hello Mister God, this is Anna. Story about love, god and happiness through a little girl that has contact with God.
21st century ●
Andrea Levy: Every light in the House Burnin' (1994) and Never far from nowhere (1996): London life through a Jamaican perspective
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Nick Hornby: magazine editor and novel criticist. Fever Pitch (1992), his memoir about Arsenal football club. Dan Brown: Da Vinci Code (2004) Glenn Patterson: Burning your own (1988), Black night at Big Thunder mountain (1995), The International (1999). Sara Bell: Written in the Stars, Marry me. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1996), Casanova (1998), Oxygen (2001), The Optimists (2005) David Mitchell: Ghostwritten (1999), Cloud Atlas (2004)
15.2. Typology of texts POETRY
Composition in verse. Relies heavlity on senses, word choice and metaphors. Has patterns of stress or length syllables May or not may have rhyme
In English poetry: most common: sonnet and the blank verse (Shakespeare, Milton) Ode, Lyric, Epic...
DRAMA
Dialogue between characters within a dramatic performance Tragedy is related to religious and civic festivals: history and mithology
ESSAY
Discussion of a topic from the author's Francis Bacon point of view: Charles Lamb ● Memoir ● Epistle (more formal, didactic)
PROSE FICTION
Not adhering any particular formal structure: novels, short stories...
Other
Autobiography / Biography Children's literature Diaries and journals Non—fiction Travel literature
Fiction, adventures, crime fiction, fable, fairy table, family saga, satire,
15.3. Working on communicative skills through literature â—?
Exercises proposed by the International Reading Association (IRA): read, write, think. Fluency
Integrated curriculum
Literature study
Interactive Reading
Critical literacy Content reading
READ, WRITE THINK
Process writing
Research Vocabulary Genre study Comprehension
Language conventions Word recognition
Writing to learn