Feminism: Annotated Bibliography Of Beowulf

Literature of the English Restoration offers the example of a number of writers who wrote for a courtly audience: literary production, particularly in learned imitation of classical models, was part of the court culture of King Charles II. The fact of a shared model explains the remarkable similarities between “The Imperfect Enjoyment” by the Earl of Rochester and “The Disappointment” by Aphra Behn—remarkable only because readers are surprised to read one poem about male sexual impotence from the late seventeenth century, let alone two examples of this genre by well-known courtly writers. In fact, Richard Quaintance presents ten more examples by lesser-known poets as he defines the literary sub-genre of the neo-Classical “imperfect

At the time A Modest Proposal was written, Ireland was in a state of extreme poverty. The country was significantly overpopulated: people were struggling to make ends meet and provide for the growing population. The author of the text, Dr. Jonathan Swift, was repulsed by the Irish government’s reluctance to institute any major changes to help resolve the levels of poverty and overpopulation present at the time. In response, he wrote this text to criticize the upper class for this level of inaction, as well as their failed attempts at resolving the issue. Through Swift’s use of satirical devices -- such as irony, hyperbole, and understatement -- he was able to convey his message to the public which was criticism about the inadequate actions being taken by the government to solve Ireland’s troubles. He believed they weren’t doing enough to help the situation at the time and wanted them to see their defeat in hopes that they would decide to finally act.

In the movie Beowulf, the women are depicted differently than in the poem. The women in Anglo Saxon culture had more power than demonstrated in the movie. For example, the servant in the Mead Hall is clearly objectified. She is wearing a tight dress with her breasts showing, wanting to gain attention from the men. While she is washing the table, she is bending over so her breasts are exposed. All the men are surrounding her and staring. The main reason for the servant being at the Mead Hall is so the workingmen can look at her. The men are only interested in the servant in a sexual way. An example of this is when a working man states, “…No wonder my loins are burning.” He wants his sexual desires to be completed by the servant. He

We must keep in mind that Swift is serious throughout the entire proposal but his tone varies and gives the reader a sense of how absurd his proposal is. He considered the fact that the proposal was illogical to most people and wanted to make it stand out profoundly by changing the tone. For instance, Swift conveys that, “Infants' flesh will be in season throughout the year” (Swift 3). He suggests that children will be a product that Ireland will not have an insufficient amount of. His proposal will provide the rich an infinite amount of children to be bought throughout the year and years to come. Swift’s use of foreshadowing gives the reader a sense of how serious the author takes this proposal. He not only gives a sense of how confident he is in his plan, but also gives off the fact that irony is being played a part of this quote. He claims his proposal is the only opportunity Ireland has to evade its problem and also gives an inhuman method in order to reach a solution. Not only does Swift use irony as one of the tones throughout the essay, but also uses a cynical way of introducing his scheme to his audience which are composed of the English and the rich Ireland population. For example, Swift states, “I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it” (Swift 7). Swift expresses that he could name a country,

A Modest Proposal was written in an attempt to open the people of Ireland’s eyes about the overpopulation, poverty, and young thieves on the street. Jonathan Swift, in his writing, A Modest Proposal, uses a unique way to get people’s attention on the problems at hand. Swift’s purpose is to give the people of Ireland something they cannot possibly ignore. He adopts a disappointed tone in order to make his audience feel like they did something wrong for letting this occur for such in his audience of the people of Dublin, Ireland.

Beowulf is an epic tale written over twelve hundred years ago. In the poem, several different female characters are introduced, and each woman possesses detailed and unique characteristics. The women in Beowulf are portrayed as strong individuals, each of whom has a specific role within the poem. Some women are cast as the cup-bearers and gracious hostesses of the mead halls, such as Wealhtheow and Hygd, while others, Grendel's mother, fulfill the role of a monstrous uninvited guest. The woman's role of the time period, author's attitude, and societal expectations for women are evidenced throughout the poem.

While reading many early Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and Realism works have you ever noticed authors views are predominantly parallel with the society and time in which they lived? American authors (men/woman) where thought of as revolutionary with their popular, well noted works, but their gender ideals stem from society’s views rather than their own perceptions. Without societies stipulations, these early authors could have been even more significant and influential than they already are thought to be.

During the undergraduate career many english major’s will encounter a course in which they focus on a specific time period of literature. English 317: British Literature 1500-1700 is one such course. English 317 is designed to allow students the freedom and flexibility to identify and formulate questions for productive inquiry, to evaluate sources for credibility, bias, quality of evidence, and quality of reasoning, and to use citation methods and structures appropriate to their field of study (UWP English Department). These course goals identical to the UW English Department’s Research goal. It is because this course focuses on a time period in which no living being is yet alive to have personally experienced it, that a heavy amount of research is required. The paper “The Witch of Edmonton: Revisited” from English 317, demonstrates how I have learned

M. H. Abrams defines romantic themes in prominent writers of this school in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being five in number: (1) innovations in the materials, forms and style; (2) that the work involve a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”; (3) that external nature be a persistent subject with a “sensuous nuance” and accuracy in its description; (4) that the reader be invited to identify the protagonist with the author himself; and (5) that this be an age of “new beginnings and high possibilities” for the person (177-79).

Our cohort is nearing the end of its secondary education and therefore it is important that we reflect on the ways in which it has shaped our attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, over the past five years, we have read, analysed and evaluated various literary works such as novels, plays, poems and films in our English studies. These texts have expressed various ideologies, explored interesting themes and introduced us to fascinating characters. These elements have left a lasting impression on our attitudes, values and beliefs. In addition to this, English literary texts have provided us with historical knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the role that aesthetic devices

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) read his Massey Lectures over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC radio) in 1962. First published by Indiana University Press in 1964, the six lectures present key concepts from Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (Princeton University Press, 1957).

Swift's message to the English government in "A Modest Proposal" deals with the disgusting state of the English-Irish common people. Swift, as the narrator expresses pity for the poor and oppressed, while maintaining his social status far above them. The poor and oppressed that he refers to are Catholics, peasants, and the poor homeless men, women, and children of the kingdom. This is what Swift is trying to make the English government, in particular the Parliament aware of; the great socioeconomic distance between the increasing number of peasants and the aristocracy, and the effects thereof. Swift conveys his message in a brilliant essay, in which he uses

New Historicism is a really good way to analyze texts and show correlation between ideas and timelines that are in the book. New Historicism is influenced by the author’s circumstances but it is also influenced by beliefs and prejudices. The view that concepts, beliefs, truths, and even standards of truth can be understood only in the relation to the whole moral, intellectual, religious, and aesthetic cultures of the historic periods in which they would begin to arise. A New historicist looks at literature in a more wider and more historical context and they examine how the write affected the work and the work will reflect on the writers time. It recognizes the current cultural contexts that critics have conclusions about. New Historicism was developed around the time of the 1980s by a man that was named Stephen Greenblatt. According to the man that is named Stephen Greenblatt, the role of the New Historicist was to create a more cultural or a more anthropological criticism. Since he has developed new historicism, he began to gain a lot of widespread influence during the decade. Stephen Greenblatt first began to use the term New Historicism in a 1982 production that was called The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance. He uses new historicism when he uses Queen Elizabeth’s “bitter reaction to the revival of Shakespeare’s Richard II on the eve of the Essex rebellion” that was to

Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of characters in such texts as Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the character’s reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event-driven reflections in texts of the pre-modernist era.

The eighteenth century novel was one that changed the way novels were written in many different ways. In reading Ian Watt's book, "The Rise of The Novel," quite a few things were brought to my attention concerning the eighteenth century novel; not only in how it was written and what went into it, but how readers perceived it. This essay will look into Ian Watt's perceptions on the eighteenth century novel and how it changed from previous literature.