JRR Tolkien

- Lord of the Rings

George Orwell (Eric Blair)

- Animal Farm

- 1984

- "Why I Write"

William Golding

- Lord of the Flies

Wordle Journal Entry (Please grade)

Image from http://www.wordle.net/

William, Golding. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954.

Virginia Woolf  Modern

Info

- one of the most highly cultured, creative minds of the early twentieth century (Horton 705)

- formed Bloomsbury Group (705)

- promoted feminist interests and literary innovation (705)

- best of the modern English novelists

- stream of consciousness

Works

- Mrs. Dalloway

- To the Lighthouse - most highly regarded works

- The Death of the Moth

- "Three Pictures" - anecdotal essay

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Robert Graves  Modern

Info

- versatile disciplined art is typical of the cynical conservatism of recent British writers (Horton 712)

- primitive mythic experience (713)

- occasional verse

- poet, historical novelist (712)

- emphasizes matriarchal role in primitive culture and its inspirational value in civilization today (713)

Works

- "Coronation Address"

- I, Claudius

- Claudius and God

- Count Belisarius

Terms

- blank verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Louis MacNeice Modern

Info
- subdued melancholy pessimism (Horton 715)

- tolerance for diverse viewpoints along with distrust of all beliefs fervently held (715)

- worldly-wise observer of life, wary of idealism, and resigned to what seems the tragic insignificance of life (715)

Works

- "The Truisms"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Katherine Mansfield

Info

- one of the founders of the modern short story (Horton 708)

- atmosphere takes precedence over plot (708)

- "Feuille D'Album"

- "Miss Brill"

Analysis - "Feuille D'Album"

The structure of "Feuille D'Album" symbolizes the development of Ian French's character.  The first half of the story consists of mostly description, reflecting Ian's complacent, uninteresting manner.  The story begins to come alive when he sees the girl while eating prunes; to see him performing a normal human action is a change from his usual quiet behavior.  The story's flow increasingly picks up speed as he thinks about and follows the girl, climaxing when he addresses her with an egg.  For now, the chase stops as he waits for her reaction.  This ending is abrupt, yet effective, as it leaves the audience wondering what happens next.  Ian either is slightly mad with infatuation or is truly dim in the head.  Either way, he has finally succeeded in being interesting.

Application

Perhaps Ian wouldn't have had such a difficult time if he had been more sociable from the beginning.  He would've had the confidence to introduce himself to the girl earlier instead of timidly hanging back and wasting time.  His experience reminds me to never hesitate, to take hold of every opportunity.  If he ends up being embarrassed by his hurried "introduction," he would probably regret not developing his social skills before talking to her.  But he can learn from his mistakes, as can I.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Katherine Mansfield  Modern

Info

- one of the founders/masters of modern short story (Horton 708)

- atmosphere takes precedence over plot (708)

Works

- "Miss Brill"

- "Feuille D'Album"

- "His heart fell out of the side window of his studio..." (711)

Terms

- atmosphere - emotion pervading a work (723)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

James Joyce  Modern

Info

- Irish

- one of the giants of modern literature (Horton 696)

- portrayed modern man's alienation from society and from his fellow-beings (697)

- flouted conventional morality and religion (697)

- social alienation inseparable from artistic freedom (697)

Works

- "Araby"

- Evelyn

Terms

- stream of consciousness - narrative method designed to reproduce mental process of a character

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

William Butler Yeats

Info

- widely regarded as greatest modern poet in English language (Horton 694)

- "Adam's Curse" - work, labor

- Where Nothing Is, There is God

Analysis - "Adam's Curse"

In "Adam's Curse," Yeats and Maud Gonne engage in a conversation about the difficulty of writing poetry.  Yeats claims that although many people scorn it as an idle waste of time, crafting beautiful poetry is harder than enduring physical labor.  He compares it with stitching, scrubbing kitchens, and breaking stones to show the extent of its difficulty.  Maud Gonne then comments that women must work at being beautiful, implying that they, in a sense, know how difficult it is to create beauty.  Yeats replies that since sin came into the world, all worthy, beautiful endeavors require labor and commitment.  Both Yeats and Gonne seem preoccupied with their own opinions since each replies to the other about a slightly different subject, resulting in a somewhat disconnected flow of ideas.  Each topic is loosely connected by the "beautiful" theme, yet the transition between each is natural.

Application

"There have been lovers who thought love should be

So much compounded of high courtesy

That they would sigh and quote with learned looks

Precedents out of beautiful old books;"   (qtd. in Horton 696)

So many people today have twisted ideas about love.  To the world, "love" is another word for lust or sex, whereas, to God, it involves doing good to others.  The four lines of "Adam's Curse" above remind me not to become caught up in the world's expectations of me.  Today's society pushes me towards actions that God wouldn't approve of; the phrase "Everyone is doing it" is one of today's "precedents out of beautiful old books."  Instead of giving in, I need to remember to be myself and to care only about God's opinion, since it is the only opinion that really matters in this universe.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

D. H. Lawrence  Modern

Info

- romantic radicalism at its fiercest since Blake and Shelley (Horton 703)

- sexual revolution; commitment to sexual freedom (703)

- against all artificial restraints on creative spirit (703)

Works

- "How Beastly the Bourgeois Is"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

William Butler Yeats  Modern

Info

- widely regarded as greatest modern poet in English language (Horton 694)

Works

- "Adam's Curse" - work, labor

- Where Nothing Is, There is God

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Modern Introduction  1914 - Present

Info

- "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" - Winston Churchill

- Sigmund Freud - founder of modern psychology

- T.S. Eliot - leading influence on modern literature but also one of severest critics

Terms

- pluralism - favors a multiplicity of viewpoints and assumes that no one of them may be considered universally valid

- existentialism - intellectual position most characteristic of modern period; romantic pessimism as expressed in philosophy, religion, and ethics; man can be certain only of his own existence and can be sure of that only by asserting his will in making choices

- nihilism - morose denial of all meaning and values, including those generated by the self

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Rudyard Kipling

Info

- British writer most highly regarded during the last decade of Victoria's reign (Horton 682)

- last British writer of fiction and poetry to appeal to all levels of society (682)

Analysis - "The Conversion of Aurelian McGoggin"

This short story illustrates the danger, not just of reckless "witnessing", but even more so of pride.  McGoggin is pedantic and obnoxious, consistently showing off his knowledge by shoving his religious convictions down the throats of anyone around him.  By doing so, he seems to care more about his intellectual image than his religion itself.  For example, he launches into an atheistic explanation of the weather simply because his colleague said, "Thank God!"  The man perhaps uttered it as an expression, yet McGoggin--ever nitpicking-- jumped at the chance to attack it (Horton 684).  Kipling ties the work together with frequent references to McGoggin and his behavior, such as "beany" and "Blastoderm" (the latter having special irony as it is reminiscent of the term "blasphemy").  He effectively conveys the suspense and final shock of McGoggin's breakdown by comparing it to the lightning storm.

Application

Witnessing requires a delicate balance.  As a Christian, I need to be firm and bold, yet still respectful and humble, when sharing my beliefs with others or when defending my faith.  McGoggin is a poor example to follow, yet a good example to learn from.  His failure is largely a result of his attitude, which is perhaps a product of his beliefs.  His experiences are a reminder to me to be conscious of who I am reflecting with my actions.

"Don't blame me if he throws a glass at your head." - Rudyard Kipling, The Conversion of Aurelian McGoggin"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Charles Dickens  Victorian

Rudyard Kipling  Victorian

Info

- British writer most highly regarded during last decade of Victoria's reign (Horton 682)

- overvalued in his time (682)

- last British writer of fiction and poetry to appeal to all levels of society (682)

Works

- The Jungle Book

- "If"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

A. E. Housman  Victorian

Info

- one of the most gifted of late-Victorian and early modern poets; a leading classical scholar (Horton 677)

- caustic perfectionism (677)

- theme - carpe diem ("seize the day"), edged with late-Victorian cynicism (677)

Works

- "To an Athlete Dying Young"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Lewis Carroll

Info

- aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Horton 647)

- reserved academic professional whose personality came to life when telling stories to children (647)

- poems in books are almost all parodies of Victorian parlor songs and didactic verses (647)

Analysis - "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

This poem, whose humorous tone is meant for children, leaves a cynical aftertaste.  The Walrus and the Carpenter lure a crowd of young, fat oysters away from the safety of the sea in order to eat them.  Carroll uses foreshadowing several times to hint at this outcome.  In lines 37 through 42, the eldest Oyster refuses to follow the Walrus and the Carpenter (Horton 653).  Age is often associated with wisdom, making the young oysters' eagerness seem foolish.  In line 79, the Walrus wants to begin eating, to which the oysters reply, "But not on us!" (Horton 654).  This puts into the audience's mind the notion that the Walrus and the Carpenter wish to eat the oysters.  The two tricksters then conveniently ignore the oysters' cries, talking between themselves, until "they'd eaten every one" (Horton 655).

Application

Since Carroll wrote much of his work for children and humor, this poem probably doesn't have an intended philosophical purpose or a deeper meaning.  But the suddenness of the young oysters' fate still shocks me.  It reminds me of how certain sins can seem harmless at first.  We, as young, unwise human beings, often blindly follow after them, away from the ocean of God's love and protection into a pit of suffering.  The Walrus and the Carpenter ignore the oysters' cries; like Satan, they don't care about the ones they trick.  The eldest Oyster's reasons for staying behind are unknown, but I can follow his example and remember to think my decisions through carefully.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson  Victorian

Info

- sought anchorage for himself and his age in directions marked out by Carlyle (Horton 613)

- strove to be poet-mystic, modeling himself on Carlyle's "hero as Poet" (613)

- exquisite ear for sounds of language; gift for which his poetry is especially noted today (614)

- synthesis of Christian and Carlylean doctrine satisfied only those who understood it least (615)

- yields insights into the Victorian mind (615)

Works

- In Memoriam - most ambitious work

- "The Lady of Shalott"

- Idylls of the King

- "The Poet"

- Morte d'Arthur

- "Ulysses"

- "Crossing the Bar" - images death as return to sea; keeping with evolutionary theory (614-635)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Thomas Hardy  Victorian

Info

- mission to disillusion the world (Horton 656)

- Anglican => agnostic (656)

- pessimistic novels and poems show eroding effect of Victorian rationalism on religious faith (656)

Works

- Far from the Madding Crowd - first successful novel

- The Return of the Native

- The Mayor of Casterbridge

- Tess of the D'Urbervilles

- Jude the Obscure

- "The Darkling Thrush" - lingering pain of rejecting Christianity

- "The Respectable Burgher" - identifies major cause of his religious unbelief and indifference: skepticism within the church

- The Three Strangers - belief in blind circumstance and conviction of higher morality of the natural conscience than of institutional law (656-659)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Lewis Carroll  Victorian

Info

- aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Horton 647)

- reserved academic professional whose personality came to life when he was telling stories to children (647)

- poems in Alice books are almost all parodies of Victorian parlor songs and didactic verses (647)

Works

- Alice in Wonderland

- "The Mad Hatter's Song"

- "The Mock Turtle's Song"

- "Alice's Recitation to Herself"

- Through the Looking Glass

- "The White Knight's Song"

- "The White Queen's Riddle"

- "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

- "Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow" (648-655)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade for March 30-April 5)

Christina Rossetti

Info

- England's greatest woman poet (644)

- debating Christian orthodoxy was "as useless as arguing about the air we breathe" (Horton 644)

- naive charm and careful workmanship stressed by pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (644)

- theme - painful submission to God's will; undercurrent of positive faith (644)

Analysis - "Uphill"

The poem "Uphill" is an allegorical conversation that represents the Christian life.  The traveler (the audience) asks questions, which the guide (the author, or God or Christ) answers.  The simple dialogue reflects the simplicity of the message of salvation.  The winding road symbolizes the Christian's life; it's an uphill battle against the flesh, yet the destination--heaven--lies at the end.  God will provide refuge from the darkness, which cannot detract from the illumination of God's Word.  Other believers ("those who have gone before") will offer additional support.  In the last exchanges of the last two stanzas, Rossetti emphasizes that salvation is free to anyone who asks and believes: "'May the darkness hide it from my face?'/They will not keep you standing at that door...'Will there be beds for me and all who seek?'/Yea, beds for all who come" (Horton 646).

The conversational structure of the poem effectively conveys a comforting tone.  The guide delivers clear, direct replies that are impossible to misunderstand.  Overall, Rossetti passes on the message of hope to those who are experiencing hardship.

Application

Though several biblical concepts permeate this poem, the underlying theme is Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  Even when life throws hectic schedules, miscommunication, and other problems at me, I know that heaven is waiting at the end of the road.  Since Christ provided a place for me, I have a reason to keep moving.  God's Word is my sole source of comfort, but "Uphill" reinforces its message of encouragement.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Francis Thompson  Victorian

Info

- struggled to nurture religious faith in an era of gloom (Horton 680)

- devotional and literary-critical prose (680)

- suffered from addiction and depression

Works

- "The Hound of Heaven" - best-known poem

- masterfully recounts the pursuit of the sinner by God

- testifies to God's attending presence on the stone pavements and embankments its author knew so well (680)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press 1992.

Gerard Manley Hopkins  Victorian

Info

- finding at universities a cold climate for religious faith, took refuge in religious traditionalism (Horton 674)

- Anglican => Roman Catholic => Jesuit (674)

- poems marked by confident affirmation and anxious misgiving (674)

- often regarded as modern rather than Victorian poet (674)

- extreme condensation; startling comparisons; multiple meanings; strong stress meter; partial, internal, and run-on rhyme (674)

- oddity and poetic power appealed to rebellious postwar generation of writers who valued difficulty for its own sake (674)

Works

- "Pied Beauty" - praises God as Creator (674)

- "God's Grandeur" - justifies irregularity of author's style (674)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Christina Rossetti  Victorian

Info

- England's greatest woman poet

- debating Christian orthodoxy was "as useless as arguing about the air we breathe" (Horton 644)

- naive charm and careful workmanship stressed by pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (644)

- theme - painful submission to God's will

- undercurrent of positive faith

Works

- Goblin Market and Other Poems

- "In the Bleak Mid-Winter"

- "Long Barren"

- "Uphill"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Matthew Arnold  Victorian

Info

- Carlyle's chief successor in prescribing remedies for the ills of the age (Horton 642)

- society's main problem - replacing old faith with a religion more intellectually respectable and equally able to restrain and console; humanism based on "the best that has been said and thought in the world" (642)

- remedy - religion of culture (642)

Works

- Culture and Anarchy - states alternatives facing a religionless society at time of political upheaval: culture or anarchy

- "Dover Beach" - most successful poem; faithfulness is the only happiness (642)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Robert Browning  Victorian

Info

- major writer who seemed least personally affected by religious skepticism of Victorian era (Horton 637)

- husband of Elizabeth Barrett - leading poetess of England; inferior only to Wordsworth and Tennyson (637)

- developed dramatic monologue - only one speaker's voice is heard (638)

- to reinforce rather than replace Christian faith (638)

- based belief in providence not on intuition but on evidences of divine love in the world, particularly love between human beings (638)

- theological vagueness and indirectness of expression (639)

Works

- Sordello

- Bells and Pomegranates

- "Home Thoughts from Abroad"

- Dramatis Personae

- "Prospice"

- The Ring and the Book

- "My Last Duchess" - one of his most famous dramatic monologues (638)

Terms

- soliloquy - speech addressed to audience by actor alone on stage

- dramatic monologue - poem consisting of speech by character (not author) addressing audience at critical moment in his life; focuses on character of speaker

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

4th Quarter

Thomas Carlyle  Victorian

Info

- leading social writer of Victorian England (Horton 604)

- metaphors and allusions; picturesque eloquence obviously that of Scottish Presbyterian pulpit (604)

- couldn't escape impression that religion, though discredited by rationalism, offered the deeper truth (604)

- in transcendentalists found basis for denying rationalism and affirming purposiveness and the higher reality of the spirit (605)

- all history is "the biography of great men" (605)

Works

- Sartor Resartus - "the tailor retailored" (605)

- On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History - disbelief in heroes a symptom of spiritual disease (605)

- The Hero as Divinity

- The Hero as Poet

- Past and Present - Abbot Sampson; how great man can restore sick society (606)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Charlotte Bronte

Info

- Jane Eyre

Analysis - Jane Eyre Ch. 6

While conversing with Helen Burns, Jane advocates the merits of being kind only to friends and of being harsh to disagreeable people.

If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse.  When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should--so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.  (Bronte 57)

Instead of treating others the way she would like to be treated, she treats others the way they treat her.  In this way, she is passive: her only actions are reactions.  By taking the matter into her own hands, and not allowing God to intervene on her behalf, she displays a humanistic, self-reliant approach to injustice.  Jane is the protagonist, yet the audience--if it assumes a Christian worldview--will recognize that her doctrine contradicts God's command to love one's enemies (Luke 6:31-35).  This blatant clash reinforces the doctrine of man's sinful nature.  She is young and seems as if she has not been exposed to Christianity (Bronte 82).  Thus, Bronte seemingly equates ignorance with youth or childhood.

Application

I meet with little confrontation on this little island.  Asian (Japanese) humility and respect permeates the aloha spirit throughout the State of Hawaii.  People are generally nice (or at least appear to be).  However, I am often completely oblivious to the strife and drama that do exist, and I try to obey authority and stay out of trouble.  Jane and I thus have opposite situations; the people in Jane's life constantly trample upon her, whereas I, again, try to stay out of trouble.  However, we both need to remember to treat others with love even when they try to hurt us.  I especially need to remember God's command since I have less, milder experience than Jane has.

Citation

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Signet Classics, 2008.

Charlotte Bronte

Works
- Jane Eyre

John Keats Romantic

Info
- second only to Shakespeare in command of English language
- sees art as excape from earthly misery

Works
- The Eve of St. Agnes -
- "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" - excitement of literary discovery
- Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems - "the most brilliant collection of verse published in nineteenth century" (Horton 574)

Terms
- agnosticism - "questioning of certainty" (Horton 574)
- aestheticism - "religious regard for art" (Horton 574)

Citation
Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Charles Lamb

Info

- "prince of English essayists" (Horton 554)

- romantic reverence for ordinary

- nostalgia

Analysis - Old China

Lamb begins by stating his "almost feminine partiality for old china" (Horton 556).  After capturing the audience's attention through this unexpected--almost odd--announcement, he smoothly transitions to the main bulk of the essay: his cousin's nostalgia for the simple life.

Lamb's mastery of the nature of the personal essay makes the audience feel as if it is sliding into a comfortable pool of memories, both his and its own, as it reminisces along with Bridget.  His style is clearly romantic, as evident in Bridget's description of their past life as rough, tumultuous, and uncomfortable at times, yet still exciting.  The length and thoroughness of her speech reflect the extent of her nostalgia.  However, at the end of the essay, Lamb appreciates her concerns, but still encourages her to live in the present; the past will never come again, so she should apply her experience to her future life.

Application

Sometimes you don't fully appreciate something until it's gone.  Lamb's nostalgia reminds me of not only fond memories but also of regrets.  I remember the frustration from being "behind" my classmates in math for two years; I had chosen not to take algebra in eighth grade at a public middle school because I limited myself (i.e. I was lazy).  However, I should not become stuck in the past.  The situation eventually worked out, and I now understand the value of taking every opportunity that God offers to me.  If I am constantly looking behind me, I won't see the opportunities coming toward me.  I know I need to face forward, plan ahead, and stop hesitating.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

George Gordon, Lord Byron Romantic

Info

- most notable example of self-projected hero

Works

- Don Juan

- On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year

- She Walks in Beauty

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Charles Lamb Romantic

Info

- "prince of English essayists" (Horton 554)

- romantic reverence for ordinary

- nostalgic

Works

- "Old China" - superiority of old days of youth and poverty

- circular form

- "I wish the old days would come again...when we were not quite so rich." (Horton 557).

Terms

- familiar essay - personal essay perfected by Lamb; distinct from more formal and public neoclassical periodical essay (Horton 719)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Percy Bysshe Shelley Romantic

Info

- "most fervent rebel of the major English romantics" (Horton 565)

- descendent of conservative Sussex gentry

- bigotry - parent oppressing a female of unusual intellect and beauty

- vegetarian

- disciple - Robert Browning

Works

- "Ode to the West Wind" - refers to all four seasons; wind brings change

- "Ozymandias" - Ramses II statue; pride; sonnet

- "England in 1819" - evil will perish of its own corruption, but with it will come freedom

- Prometheus Unbound - closet drama

- Adonais - elegy

Terms

- closet drama - "a play intended only for reading" (Horton 718)

- elegy

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Romantic

Info
- exalts imagination over reason (organic over mechanic)
- truth greatest
- immediate end is pleasure, but ultimate end is truth

Works
- The Rime of the Mariner - greatest poem; uncommon appears believable; geographically believable

Citation
Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

William Wordsworth Romantic

Info

- poetry should treat common subjects and use the language of ordinary people

- democratic in subject matter and style

- spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings

Works

- The Prelude - central literary document and most important poetic achievement of British romanticism

- "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" - common things in an uncommon light

- Lyrical Ballads and Other Poems

- "Expostulation and Reply"

- The Lucy Poems - probably fictional; Nature's step-child

- sonnets - contrasts the child's and the adult's experiences with Nature

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

William Blake Romantic

Info

- man, born free, is everywhere in chains, and he applied himself to the remedy

- eccentric mystic

- madman

- most thorough-going romantic

- Satanic counterfeit of Christian redemption

- human togetherness, as a goal, is central to the modern religious viewpoint

Works

- Songs of Innocence - "The Lamb"

- Songs of Experience - "The Tyger"; "The Clod and the Pebble"; "London"

- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Terms

- rationalism

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Samuel Johnson

Info

- moral essayist second only to Addison

- monumental pronouncer of conservative common sense

- Dictionary of the English Language

- The Rambler

- Lives of the English Poets

- "Vice must always disgust."

Analysis - Rambler 4

Johnson begins by praising realism as the highest standard of achievement in art.  The main media he refers to is literature.  He values a genuine representation of life,  yet still discourages carelessness or irresponsibility in the portrayal of sin.  He observes that people most often imitate sin instead of learning from it.  This is in part due to the decisions of the audience, but the producers of the media encourage it.  This is especially true in today's entertainment industry, where violence and immorality are glorified.  No matter how noble or courageous its intentions, "vice...should always disgust."  Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, but his good intentions do not detract from his status as a thief.  Johnson does not give any specific examples, yet his general statements are sufficient and concise.

Application

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phil 4:8, KJV).  This verse seems to be the underlying force behind Rambler 4.  The world--especially the media--will always try to force me and other people to look upon unnecessary, ungodly things, not for didactic purposes, but largely for profit-making.  Johnson warns against these practices.  I am not an author or a media producer, so I don't have many opportunities to heed his advice.  However, as an audience, I can analyze the movies I watch to stay alert and exercise discernment.  Which sin does the movie portray?  How does it view said sin?  As harmful?  Noble?  Dishonorable?  Necessary?  If its only purpose is to gain my attention, yet not teach me something, then it's a waste of my--and ultimately God's--time.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

John Wesley Neoclassical

Charles Wesley

Info

- John - field preacher

- Charles - hymns

- tragic fact of how soon a great truth can be lost

- Whitefield broke w/them over Calvinism

- set out to evangelize English-speaking world

- hymns - major weapon of Wesleyan evangelism; instruments of persuasion within evangelical circles

- stress inclusiveness of gospel opportunity

Works

- John's journal - series of bulletins from the front by one of God's greatest warriors in the Church Militant

- Christian Library

- Hymns - "Jesus, Lover of my Soul"; "And Can It Be That I Should Gain"; "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing"

Terms

- (none)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Isaac Watts Neoclassical

Info

- Father of the Modern Hymn

- secret of hymns' strength was fusion of discreet artistry with vital spirituality

- most important part of congregational worship was least inspiring

- replace stiff psalmody not only with more vigorous and lyrical paraphrases but also with independent poems on Biblical themes

Works

- "Heavenly Joy on Earth"

- Hymns and Spiritual Songs - beginning of modern hymn

- Logic; Knowledge of the Heavens and Earth; Philosophical Essays; Improvement of the Mind

- Horae Lyricae

- Psalms of David

- Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children

- "Heavenly Joy on Earth"; "The Christian Race"; Breathing After the Holy Spirit"; "Against Idleness and Mischief"; "The Day of Judgement"

Terms

- genre

- didacticism

- meter

- rhyme

- empiricism - the philosophical view that all knowledge originates in sensory experience

- common, short, and long meters

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

James Boswell Neoclassical

Info

- one of world's greatest biographers

- Scotsman

- feelings of relief

Works

- The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. - stands alone because of sheer mass of materials but also because of its artistry

- monument of scholarship as well as of literary artistry

- Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

- journals - detective story of of modern scholarship; reveal complex, unstable personality of high principles but dissolute life

Terms

- (none)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Samuel Johnson Neoclassical

Info

- dignified eloquence gave reputation as moral essayist second only to Addison

- friend of Wesley

- monumental pronouncer of conservative common sense

Works

- Dictionary of the English Language - authority on word meaning for more than a century

- The Rambler - representations of evil have place in literature, but only when they serve to reinforce virtue in the manner of negative examples

- "Vice must always disgust."

- Lives of the English Poets - greatest literary achievement

- London - heroic couplet in imitation of Juvenal

- Life of Mr. Richard Savage - first attempt at biography

- The Vanity of Human Wishes - finest poem; one of best of period; 2nd of his Juvenalian satires in heroic couplet

- Rasselas - oriental novel on theme of Ecclesiastes; illustrates terror of expecting happiness from worldly accomplishments and depicts man as creature of perpetual discontent

- Journey to the Western Islands - confirmed unromantic view of primitive life

Terms

- heroic couplet

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Joseph Addison  Neoclassical

Richard Steele 

Info
- transformed journalism into serious literature <==both men

Works

- The Tatler
- exagerration
- deplores decline of drama from intellectual satire to mere physical spectacle and the degeneration of coffeehouse conversation from literary discussion to gamblers' arguments
-predicts death of popular astrologer

- The Spectator
- pleasantly announced author's intent to satirize evil wherever it is found

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

bonus points

have a parent subscribe to your blog and respond to one post, then see mrs. baniaga

:)

James Thomson  Neoclassical

Info

- Scottish poet and playwright (dramatic writer/dramatist)

- set apart from Robert Burns

Works

Winter

- brought notice he sought

- speaks especially to the Christian, who sees his Creator's work in the tempest as well as in the calm orderliness of the physical world

Summer; Spring; Autumn

The Seasons

- pointed new directions for English poetry

- signaled demand for poems of natural description and sentimental reflection

- readers ready for alternative to heroic couplet

- forerunners of 19th-century romantic practice

- neoclassical didacticism - tends to move from description to moralization

Terms

- heroic couplet

- blank verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter

- epic - long, stylized narrative poem celebrating deeds of a national or ethnic hero

- poetic diction

- personification - giving human characteristics to nonhuman objects

- apostrophe - addressing an inanimate/absent object as if it were able to reply

- periphrases - roundabout, more elegant designation of something common

- didacticism - instruction in literature

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

John Dryden Neoclassical

Info

- first of the moderns

- field preacher

- both poetry and prose

- versatility

- envisaged new age of reasonableness and scientific progress

- poet laureate and historiographer

- satirical poetry made him politically respected and feared

- claim to greatness rests upon his versatility

- civilized literary language; established heroic couplet as dominant verse form

- art of rational control

Works

- "Of Satire" - be careful of what you say

- Absalom and Achitophel - allegorical satire attacking the Whigs

- The Medal

- Mac Flecknoe

- Religio Laici - defended Anglicanism against deism and Roman Catholicism

- The Hind and the Panther

- Fables Ancient and Modern

- "To My Honored Friend, Dr. Charleton"

Terms

- poet laureate - the official poet of a nation or region

- occasional verse - poetry written to enhance or make memorable a particular occasion, normally public and contemporary

- heroic couplets - couplets of iambic pentameter

- satirical poetry - corrective ridicule

- allegorical - literal and implied level of meaning

- poetic diction - artificially selected and refined language once considered essential to poetic expression; heavy use of personification, apostrophe, and periphrasis

- epigram - short, highly compressed poem making a wise or humorous point

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Reasons for My Presentation Tips

1. Keep it simple and concise.  Do not waste your audience's time.

As the saying goes, "Time is money."  But, unlike money, time is irreplaceable.  Plus, conciseness is more powerful than wordiness.

2. Project your voice.  Speak to the person farthest away from you.

I know that I'm soft-spoken, but I often fail to realize how quiet my voice is, so this tip is especially important for me.  My audience is less likely to gain anything useful from my presentation if they can't hear me.

3. Do not read from your notes.  Occasionally glance at them if you need to.

This is important in establishing credibility with your audience.  The more you know without referring back to your notes, the more professional you'll come across as.  Thus, adequate preparation is vital.  However, as evidenced by my two presentations, I am a hypocrite regarding this tip.

4. Use appropriate body language.  Keep hand gestures and facial expressions natural.

Movement is more stimulating to the eye than stillness is.  Good posture is important too, for both your presence and your health.

5. Maintain eye contact with your audience.  Keep them involved and engaged.

The presentation is for the audience, so give it to them, not to your notes or to the Powerpoint slides.  Otherwise, you will appear uninterested in your audience.

6. Mind your manners.  Be professional, polite, courteous, cool, and collected.

This tip is important for the presenter's reputation.  An audience will be both more responsive and more open to a well-mannered presenter than to one who insults them.

7. Be enthusiastic.  Have fun with your presentation!  Your passion will be both contagious and an automatic confidence booster.

Don't you get excited just thinking about your favorite hobby?  You know its good points and can articulate them to other people.  If you can demonstrate the same degree of enthusiasm for your presentation by finding the silver lining on the presentation cloud, both you and your audience will be more relaxed (as long as you aren't overbearing).

8. Focus on your audience's needs.  Don't just talk about yourself; talk about what you can do for your audience.

Your audience will be more likely to listen to you if you can show them how your information will benefit them.  Stay away from narcissism.

9. Think like a boy scout: Be prepared for anything!  Come early to set up in case problems come up.

The projector stops functioning; your laptop battery dies; or a computer virus erases your Powerpoint file.  Many things can go wrong, so be prepared enough to give your presentation without any props.  This will not only thoroughly prepare you, but your forethought will also impress your audience in the event that something does fall through.

10. Confidence!  Know your material and be prepared.  Your confidence will give an automatic impression of credibility.

The more I know about a given subject, the less nervous I am.  The resulting confidence evokes a sense of credibility since I know what I am talking about.

Robert Burns Neoclassical

Info

- Scottish heaven-taught plowman

- untaught poetic genius needed to vindicate romantic faith

- superb lyricist-perhaps the greatest in English-in all his rustic trappings

- Scottish dialect - Ayrshire

- Spenserian stanza - partly in dialectical Scots and partly in literary English, unites separate traditions-English and Scottish, literary and popular, etc-from which he drew

- 18th-century Scottish literary nationalism

- great master of 18th-century satire in English and of such conventional forms such as the ode and the verse epistle

- stands in front rank of poets who have expressed with simplicity the common feelings of mankind

- poems inlaid with epigrammatic moralism

Works

- "A Red, Red Rose" - hyperbole

- Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - one of most remarkable first volumes of verse ever published

- "The Holy Fair"; "Holy Willie's Prayer" - satirized community orthodoxy

- "To a Mouse"; "To a Louse" - sympathy for downtrodden and scorn for mighty

- "A Cotter's Saturday Night"

- The Scots Musical Museum and a Select Collection of Scottish Airs

Terms

- Spenserian stanza - 9-line stanza rhyming ababbcbcc with eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a line of iambic hexameter

- ode - long, highly stylized lyric poem written in complex stanza on serious theme and often for specific occasion

- verse epistle - poem, usually of high seriousness, takes form of address to friend

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greeville, SC: Bob Jones University, 1992.

William Cowper  Neoclassical

Info

- mentally unstable

- poetry marks passing of neoclassicism among major English poets

- produced some of most richly sensitive verse to appear between eras of Pope and Wordsworth, including three of our most beautiful hymns

- insanity turned him into serious poet whose poems have stirred generations to Christian praise and reflection

- poems combine neoclassical moralism with romantic delight in a rural landscape

- although tormented by fears and sorrows, was wonderfully supplied by God with spiritual advisors, caring friends, and wise spiritual counsel

- didn't draw fully from spiritual resources

- spiritual life was not one of constant defeat

Works

- The Task and Other Poems - greatest poem; major link between James Thomson and romantics

- Olney Hymns

- Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq.

- "The Diverting History of John Gilpin" - comical ballad

Terms

- neoclassicism

- ballad - a short, simple narrative song

- common meter - a variation of ballad stanza (the first and third lines usually rhyme) prevalent among hymns

- ballad stanza - four iambic lines, of which the first and third have four stresses and the second and fourth have three stresses and rhyme

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Thomas Gray  Neoclassical

Info

- first mood poetry - feeling is more important

- best of the mid-century poets of solitary meditation, who revived tradition of John Milton in era still dominated by Dryden and Pope

- a life whose input exceeded output

- fear of fire

Works

- Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

- finest poem of somber reflection

- best loved poem in English language

- praised on neoclassical grounds - human breadth of its thought and appeal

- the need to be remembered

- Collected Poems

Terms

- elegy - lyric poem honoring the dead or meditating on death

- poetic diction - artificially selected and refined language once considered essential to poetic expression; neoclassical - excluded much ordinary vocabulary

- romanticism - reaction against neoclassicism; emphasized individual, imagination,natural, and originality

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Oliver Goldsmith  Neoclassical

Info

- most versatile writer of Johnson circle

- achieved excellence in four important genres: periodical essay, novel, drama (satirical comedy), and formal poem of serious reflection

Works

- The Deserted Village - best known work; melancholic nostalgia

- example of simple English rural life

- Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe - traced decay of literature to dull academics in schools and to decline of literacy patronage by aristocracy

- The Citizen of the World - external, rational perspective from which to satirize English social behavior

- The Vicar of Wakefield

- She Stoops to Conquer - attempts to revive Restoration comedy of manners

Terms

- satirical comedy

- comedy of manners - witty, often licentious satirical comedy popular during reign of Charles II

- sentimental comedy - highly emotionalized and moralized comedy designed to arouse benevolent feelings

-sentimentalism - 18th century reaction against neoclassicism; aim to arouse humane feelings through pathos

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Daniel Defoe  Neoclassical

Info

- England's first great journalist

- Father of the English novel

- Whig; survived political tumults of his time

- pamphlets, periodicals, and novels

- wrote for Tory periodicals to weaken them

Works

-Robinson Crusoe - most famous work

- allegory of his life, or rather life he wished to have had

- The Shortest Way with Dissenters => imprisonment

- A Weekly Review of the Affairs of France

- Captain Singleton; Moll Flanders; Colonel Jacque; Roxana

Terms

- allegory - a story with a literal and implied level of meaning

- verisimilitude - the inclusion of minute detail to create an illusion of actuality

- narration - the telling of a story by a character or by the author himself

Citations

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Digital Footprint and Creed

When I think of the term "digital footprint," I immediately think of "carbon footprint."  The two are remarkably similar.  According to carbonfootprint.com, a carbon footprint is "a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change," or "a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent."  Similarly, according to Pew Research Center Publications, a digital footprint is an "online data trail."  To put it into my own words, it is the various ways by which one's name is left in the Internet, whether it be by photos, videos, or online credit card purchases.  Just as we physically change the natural world that we live in, so do we leave our marks on the electronic world that we have created.

Erosion, natural disasters, or simply time could erase our carbon footprints.  However, with today's advancements in technology, our digital footprints are not easily lost.  A computer scientist or a hacker can retrieve lost or deleted data and display it for the world to see.  Therefore, my creed is to avoid any actions online that could dishonor God or myself.  I would not want anyone to doubt His goodness based on dirty marks on my digital footprint.  Also, He has given me the freedom to use the Internet, so I must be a proper steward of that freedom and not abuse it.  I need to be careful to not post personal information such as my address, phone number, social security number, or anything else that could jeopardize my safety.

Citations

Madden, Mary, Susannah Fox, Aaron Smith, and Jessica Vitak. "Digital Footprints: Online Identity Management and Search iin the Age of Transparency." Pew Research Center Publications. 16 Dec. 2007. Pew Research Center. 15 Jan. 2009 .

"What is a Carbon Footprint?" Carbon Footprint. 15 Jan. 2009 .

Alexander Pope Neoclassical

Info

- chief poet of his age

- satirical poetry

- aim as a poet - to render truth beautiful and memorable

- poetic counterpart of Jonathan Swift

- leading spokesman for values of Augustan period of British literature

- focus on 1) his strengths and 2) achieving perfection in standard neoclassical verse form, heroic couplets, and in the familiar neoclassical genres

- the most "correct" poet of his age

- most often quoted British author besides Shakespeare

Works - 3 Periods

- 1709-1714

- Pastorals

- An Essay on Criticism - brilliant distillation of neoclassical literary theory into verse

- The Rape of the Lock - mock-heroic burlesque

- 1715-1726

- Iliad and Odyssey

- 1726 - satirist and moralist age

- Dunciad - mock epic ridiculing pedantry and Lewis Theobald

- An Essay on Man - attempts to found universal system of morality on natural theology

- through natural observation and reason, "to vindicate the ways of God to man"; to summon man to his moral duty

Terms

- sentimentalists - 18th century reaction against neoclassicism; aim to arouse humane feelings through scenes of contentment

- burlesque - mocks subject by incongruous imitation of either its style (parody) or content (travesty)

- didacticism - instruction in literature

Citations

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.