TET - SA English- Literature Notes

Background of English Literature

English literature spans over a millennium, reflecting the historical, cultural, and intellectual shifts of the English-speaking world.

• Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450–1066): Defined by heroic poetry, oral traditions, and religious themes. Famous work: Beowulf.
  
  
• Middle English Period (1066–1500): Marked by the Norman Conquest, French literary influences, and the rise of vernacular English. Famous work: Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
  
  
• The Renaissance / Early Modern Period (1500–1660): A golden age for poetry and drama, heavily influenced by humanism and classical antiquity. Key figures: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton.
  
  
• The Neoclassical Period (1660–1798): Emphasized reason, structure, satire, and formal balance. Key figures: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.
  
  
• The Romantic Period (1798–1837): Focused on emotion, nature, individualism, and imagination. Key figures: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats.
  
  
• The Victorian Era (1837–1901): Marked by industrialization, moral earnestness, social critique, and the dominance of the novel. Key figures: Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy.
  
  
• Modern and Postmodern Periods (1901–Present): Defined by experimentation with form, psychological realism, structural breakdown, and post-colonial perspectives. Key figures: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce.
  
  

Major Literary Forms & Genres

Poetical Types

• Lyric: Short, expressive poetry conveying strong personal emotions or thoughts.
  Example: William Wordsworth’s "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
  
  
• Narrative Poetry: Poetry that tells a story with a plot, characters, and setting.
  Example: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
  
  
• Dramatic Monologue: A poem written as a speech by a distinct speaker to a silent audience, revealing character psychology.
  Example: Robert Browning’s "My Last Duchess".
  
  
• Elegy: A reflective poem written to mourn a death or serious loss.
  Example: Thomas Gray’s "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".
  
  
• Sonnet: A 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter, following a specific rhyme scheme (Petrarchan or Shakespearean).
  Example: William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18" ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?").
  
  
• Ode: A formal, elevated lyric poem written in praise of a person, event, or abstract idea.
  Example: John Keats’s "Ode to a Nightingale".
  
  
• Ballad: A narrative poem originally intended to be sung, structured in short stanzas with simple rhyme schemes.
  Example: Anonymous, "Edward".
  
  

Dramatic Types

• Tragedy: A serious drama depicting the downfall of a noble protagonist due to a tragic flaw (hamartia) or fate.
  Example: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
  
  
• Comedy: A drama designed to amuse, ending happily, usually with a marriage or reconciliation.
  Example: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.
  
  
• Tragicomedy: A play that blends elements of both tragedy and comedy, often maintaining a serious tone with a happy resolution.
  Example: William Shakespeare’s The Winter's Tale.
  
  
• Farce: A high-energy comedy featuring improbable situations, physical slapstick, and exaggerated characters.
  Example: Brandon Thomas’s Charley's Aunt.
  
  
• Melodrama: A dramatic work featuring simplified moral dynamics (good vs. evil), exaggerated emotions, and sensational plotlines.
  Example: Thomas Holcroft’s A Tale of Mystery.
  
  

The Essay

A short prose composition devoted to a specific topic or theme, presenting an author's argument, perspective, or personal reflections.

• Formal Essay: Objective, structured, and informative. Example: Francis Bacon’s "Of Studies".
  
  
• Informal Essay: Personal, conversational, and exploratory. Example: Charles Lamb’s "Essays of Elia".
  
  

The Novel

An extended prose narrative offering detailed character development, complex plots, and thematic depth.

• Epistolary Novel: Written through letters or documents. Example: Samuel Richardson’s Pamela.
  
  
• Picaresque Novel: Recounts the adventures of a roguish protagonist. Example: Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.
  
  
• Gothic Novel: Focuses on terror, mystery, and supernatural elements. Example: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
  
  
• Historical Novel: Set in a specific past era with attention to historical details. Example: Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.
  
  

The Short Story

A concise, single-focused prose narrative designed to be read in a single sitting, typically concentrating on one central conflict or epiphany.

• Example 1: Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Tell-Tale Heart".
  
  
• Example 2: James Joyce’s "Araby".
  
  

Literary Terms

• Parallelism: Repetition of similar grammatical structures in phrases or sentences.
  Example: "To err is human; to forgive, divine." (Alexander Pope)
  
  
• Prologue: An introductory section of a literary work.
  Example: The Opening Chorus in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
  
  
• Epilogue: A concluding section that comments on or rounds out the narrative.
  Example: Rosalind's speech at the end of As You Like It.
  
  
• Setting: The time, location, and environment of a story.
  Example: The moors in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
  
  
• Character: A person, animal, or entity represented in a narrative.
  Example: Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein.
  
  
• Metre: The structured rhythmic pattern of stresses in a verse.
  Example: Iambic Pentameter (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM).
  
  
• Diction: The choice and use of words in speech or writing.
  Example: Formal diction in John Milton vs. colloquial diction in Mark Twain.
  
  
• Imagery: Descriptive language appealing to the five sensory experiences.
  Example: "The crisp, frosty autumn air and crackling red leaves."
  
  
• Prosody: The study of poetic metre, rhythm, and intonation.
  Example: Analyzing rhyme schemes and foot patterns in poetry.
  
  
• Point of View: The perspective from which a story is told.
  Example: First-person ("I"), Third-person limited, Third-person omniscient.
  
  
• Epic: A long narrative poem detailing legendary deeds of a hero.
  Example: John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
  
  
• Mock Epic: A satire using grand epic style to treat a trivial subject.
  Example: Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock.
  
  
• Choreography: Design of movements in dramatic performance or dance.
  Example: Staging of movement in musical theatre.
  
  
• Narration: The act of telling a story or accounting for events.
  Example: Nick Carraway narrating The Great Gatsby.
  
  
• Classic: A work recognized for enduring cultural or artistic value.
  Example: Homer's The Iliad.
  
  
• Chorus: A group of performers who comment on the action of a play.
  Example: The Greek chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.
  
  
• Comedy: A dramatic work intended to provoke laughter and end happily.
  Example: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  
  
• Tragedy: Drama treating serious themes and depicting a hero's ruin.
  Example: Shakespeare’s King Lear.
  
  
• Conflict: The central struggle driving a narrative's plot.
  Example: Internal (Man vs. Self) or External (Man vs. Nature/Society).
  
  
• Plot: The structured sequence of events forming a narrative.
  Example: Exposition -> Rising Action -> Climax -> Falling Action -> Resolution.
  
  
• Criticism: The analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of literature.
  Example: Feminist, Marxist, or Psychoanalytic literary criticism.
  
  
• Discourse: Written or spoken communication or debate on a topic.
  Example: Academic discourse, narrative discourse.
  
  
• Empathy: Experiencing and feeling another's state directly.
  Example: Feeling physical terror alongside a character in a crisis.
  
  
• Sympathy: Feeling compassion or pity for another's situation.
  Example: Expressing sorrow for a tragic character's loss.
  
  
• Style: The distinctive way an author uses words, tone, and syntax.
  Example: Ernest Hemingway's minimalist prose style.
  
  
• Theatre: The physical or artistic practice of dramatic performance.
  Example: Elizabethan theatre, Globe Theatre.
  
  
• Feminism: Literary analysis centered on gender power dynamics.
  Example: Analyzing Jane Eyre through a feminist lens.
  
  
• Soliloquy: A speech delivered by a character alone on stage revealing inner thoughts.
  Example: Hamlet's "To be, or not to be..." speech.
  
  
• Folklore: Traditional beliefs, customs, and stories passed orally.
  Example: The tales collected by the Brothers Grimm.
  
  
• Structure: The organizational framework of a literary work.
  Example: Three-act structure in drama; linear vs. non-linear plots.
  
  

Figures of Speech & Poetic Devices

Simile

A direct comparison between two distinct things using the words "like" or "as".

Example:

"O my Luve is like a red, red rose / That’s newly sprung in June."

— Robert Burns, "A Red, Red Rose"

Metaphor

An implicit, direct comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as".

Example:

"All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players."

— William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Apostrophe

An address to an absent person, an abstract concept, or an inanimate object as if present and capable of understanding.

Example:

"Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee."

— William Wordsworth, "London, 1802"

Personification

Assigning human characteristics, traits, or emotions to non-human entities or abstract concepts.

Example:

"Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –"

— Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for Death"

Metonymy

A figure of speech where a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it.

Example:

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

— Edward Bulwer-Lytton ("The pen" represents the written word; "the sword" represents military force).

Synecdoche

A specific type of metonymy where a part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa.

Example:

"All hands on deck."

("Hands" represents the individual crew members).

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

• Verbal Irony: Stating the opposite of what is meant.
  
  
• Situational Irony: An outcome directly contradicts reasonable expectation.
  
  
• Dramatic Irony: The audience knows critical information that the characters do not.
  Example (Verbal): Looking at a severe rainstorm and saying, "What lovely weather we're having."
  
  

Alliteration

The repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in a sequence of nearby words.

Example:

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air."

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Rhyme Scheme

The systematic pattern of rhymes at the end of poetic lines, mapped using letters (A, B, C, etc.).

Example (Alternate Rhyme Scheme - ABAB):

"The skies they were ashen and sober; (A)

The leaves they were crisped and sere— (B)

The leaves they were withered and sere; (B)

It was night in the lonesome October" (A)

— Edgar Allan Poe, "Ulalume"