Materiality In English Literature

The topic of spirituality, divinity and otherworldly phenomena is quite common in medieval literature and there is a multitude of contexts, in which these topics are addressed. The protagonists of those texts find themselves in a balancing act between the secular world and a supernatural world, where they need to overcome struggles to master the difficulties of their worlds’ dualisms. Be it an otherworld of fairies or the christian hereafter, those worlds and the mundane conducts often influence each other reciprocally in the stories of medieval literature.

In the short stories “Stones” and “To Every Thing There is a Season” the authors Sandra Birdsell and Alistair MacLeod both use literary devices in a similar manner in order to achieve their thematic objectives. This essay will compare the way the authors use three literary devices such as imagery, metaphor and similes in their short stories to portray the thematic objective of loss of innocence.

Marcus Bull is a distinguished professor for medieval and early modern studies. He earned is Bachelor of Arts at London University in 1987 followed by and his PhD in 1991. His area of educational concentration is medieval history. He currently is a professor at the University of North Carolina in the History Department. Dr. Marcus Bull has other notable publications including “Tudorism: Historical Imagination and the Appropriation of the Sixthteenth Century”, “Thinking Medieval: An Introduction to the Study” and “France in the Central Middle Ages 900-1200.” The majority of his intended audiences appear to be college students, and peers in the field of medieval history. In the approach to his works, the literature is filled with easy transitions and factual based research. Dr. Marcus Bull is able to bring the information to life in an easily comprehensible way. He provides detailed information that is backed by specific examples in history and detailed oriented analysis that correlates with his

Throughout the middle ages, the human being was always considered as being part of a collective population, community, or other forms of parties. The post-medieval era deviated from this ideal and instead promoted the individual status of the man by dissociating him from any collective and religious belongings. There was a greater focus placed on each individual’s creative abilities and their ability to cause a change in society. Many authors of this time reflected these ideals in their works and contributed to the growing value of individuality. Texts such as Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales demonstrate the growing value for the individual which allows their distinct characteristics

In the first marking period of English Language Arts III, our class was given a syllabus in order to instruct us on how to label the five tabs inside our binders. The first section, General Information, contains the syllabus and any rubrics and checklists we may obtain in the class. After that comes the Literature section, this section contains notes, powerpoints, and all assignments associated with the Anglo-Saxons, Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Geoffrey Chaucer.Then comes The Classwork Assessment Task section which includes one quick write regarding the contrast between Anglo-Saxon culture and modern day culture. Placed after the Classwork Assessment Task section is the Vocabulary tab. The Vocabulary tab holds all notes and assignments containing vocabulary from both Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. The final section of my binder is the writing section which includes writing tips, grammar exercises, and essays.

(An analysis of how the authors Hughes, Clifton and McElroy and how they use history in their works.)

JAMES HURST Adapted from: Elements of Literature: Third Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2003.

  In the book there are many topic or sections of historical context

Realism, Naturalism, and Regionalism are just a few examples of the many styles of writing that exist. Each style of writing deals with a specific time period. Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”, Henry James’s “Daisy Miller”, and Mary E Wilkins Freeman’s “The Revolt of Mother” are just a few examples of the literary works that represent these time periods. These literary works are perfect examples of the specific time periods each writing style was popular among certain authors. These stories allow readers to compare the modern times that we live in currently to the period these authors were in. They also allow the reader to branch out and be different.

The course Survey of Literature I not only explored, but analyzed a wide range of texts from different eras. Each text allowed students to critically analyze different factors, including what time period it was written during, why it was written by the author, who the audience was and other literary components. The texts entitled Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage (with the aid of Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage), Clotel, and Fourth of July were critical texts in the course because they helped readers challenge their point of view with regard to common historical perspectives.

Reading the past four pieces of literature have brought new credence to what the wisest king; King Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter one verse nine; “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. With that understanding, it becomes apparent that human nature, in spite of its so-called enlightenment over the past three hundred years has changed very little. If human nature has not changed in that amount of time, can it ever? This line of thinking made me begin to question why some people in the face of ineffable situations do more than survive and why others choose to change philosophies like they do clothes.

Geoffrey Chaucer lived from thirteen-forty-three to fourteen-hundred. “Chaucer is one of the most interesting writers in English literature because he straddles two worlds: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” (Collin 1). He wrote his poems in middle-English, which is called Vernacular. “Geoffrey Chaucer chose to write his poetry in the Vernacular – the everyday language – of his time and place” (Chaucer et al. 18). Perhaps one of Chaucer’s most important literary works, “The Canterbury Tales,” sets the stage for a more in depth understanding of the feudal systems and classes of the Middle Ages.

The following close reading concerns itself with the Middle English Breton Lay Sir Degaré, though speculative, the poem’s composition has been dated to the 14th Century and the poem survives in six manuscripts and three early printed editions, it is a romance of high antiquity, preserved in the Auchinleck MS. Some suggest that the poem takes clear inspiration from the Middle English translation of Marie de France’s Le Fresne: Lay le Freine. Moreover, some propose that Sir Degaré is more accurately described as an emulation, believing it to be more an imitation made up from a variety of stories, as it borrows not only motifs but direct phrasing from Lay Le Freine. Not only do both texts share a similar rhyming scheme, rhyming couplets, and semi-alliterative lines, they are also similar in relation to common genre conventions. In this respect, the Breton Lay has been understood by many to be the predecessor to the modern fairy-tale, and indeed, Sir Degaré is enveloped in themes such as love, the supernatural, and critically, the correlation between the two constructs of gender, which themselves are manifested in the modern day fairy-tale.

In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives a detailed description of what life was like in Medieval times . In the “Prologue”, the reader comes to better understand the people of the time period through the characters words and actions. Chaucer uses a variety of groups of society to give the reader a deeper insight into the fourteenth century Pilgrims customs and values. Through the Court, Common people and the Church, Gregory Chaucer gives a detailed description of ordinary life in the medieval times.

When one thinks of the word medieval, there appear to be almost an instantaneous reaction. Some may see the period associated with the gothic architecture, Crusades, brutalism, death, the Black Plague, illiteracy, or the Dark Ages. Others may interpret the period as one full of valiant knights, princesses waiting to be saved, jousting, castles, and noble kings and queens. From video games such as The Legend of Zelda and the popular HBO television series A Game of Thrones, to accounts of medieval torture or treatment in the newspapers, the Middle Ages seems to be more relevant than ever. However, it can be argued that much about what we know about the real Middle Ages was constructed in the nineteenth century due to a comparative lack of records and the imaginative portrayal of the period by the Victorians. Due to the tumultuous period that was the Industrial Revolution, many social critics and artists turned back to the Middle Ages in order to reflect their anxieties of the present and the hopes and expectations of the future. I began to note that the medievalist movement was built upon medieval studies through a desire to create, rather than retrieve the past, which in turn lead to academic debates about authenticity and furthered the tension between the two fields leading to an almost insurmountable break. Those in medieval studies look towards medievalism as a misguided attempt to contemplate history which in turn changed the public’s understanding towards the era away