SHUMEN

 

 

“Nikola Vaptsarov” Foreign Language High School, Shumen, Bulgaria

Didactical path “Freedom of thought, expression and information”

English Literature

 

Topic(s)	Content
Romanticism – a new sense of individuality and freedom	I.    A short introduction of the English Romantic Period (1790s – 1830s) 1. The basic idea in Romanticism in comparison with the Enlightenment. - a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature; - the freeing of the artist and writer from restrains and rules. 2. Representatives of the period in English Literature. The Lake Poets: William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth - they laid the main principles; - they say that poetry should be written in the simple language of ordinary people Byron, Shelly, Keats - they were more revolutionary minded; - in their poems they expressed their love of freedom and hateret of оppression 3. The Romantics - their idea of the “inner genius” and the power to change the world - the romantic writers idealized the Middle Ages as a time of spiritual depth and adventure; - the romantic writers saw humanity as naturally good, but corrupted by society and its institutions of religion, education and government; - aliеnation of the individual from society; - freedom of style and form; - new lyrical characters appear - the child, the peasent, the noble savage; - the place of Nature is furthermore than scenery
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott	II.  Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832) 1.   Biographical information and literary career 2.   Ivanhoe Ivanhoe is an excellent example of the historical novel, as developed by Scott and defined in his numerous prefaces and introductions to his Waverley novels. Scott reconstructs the fascinating struggle between the Normans and the Saxons. Into this cultural conflict, Scott presents fictional characters who participate in actual historical events, among actual historical figures. These characters reflect the effect that the historical events had upon individuals in medieval England. a)   Setting - The story takes place in 1194, the year of King Richard I's (also known as Richard the Lion-Hearted) return to England from the Third Crusade, which was undertaken to rescue the Holy Land from the Turkish sultan, Saladin. b)  Themes and characters - Mark Twain once claimed that Sir Walter Scott caused the American Civil War because his romances, such as Ivanhoe, helped to shape the Southern character, encouraging its devotion to outmoded notions of chivalry and to hopeless battles for impossible causes. c)   Social concerns - Two areas of concern may be found in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe: the matter of chivalry and its effect on social and cultural behavior, and the subject of racial attitudes. d)  Techniques – there are three standard methods of characterization: what the author says about the person, what others say about him or her (and other modes of reaction), and what the person says and does. The first of the modes of bringing a character to life is the one upon which Scott is criticized most often and most severely—he is accused of not getting into the "heart" of the character, not analyzing the inner workings of the person's mind and emotions. e)   Topics for reports and papers - The theme of Ivanhoe seems to have two elements: the evils of prejudice and the compromise between heroic ideals and reality. Discuss each aspect fully. - The classic formula for the historical novel calls for an age when two cultures are in conflict, one dying and the other being born. Into this cultural conflict, fictional characters participate in actual historical events among actual historical persons; the interaction of these elements results in an immediate picture of a bygone age. Discuss Ivanhoe as an example of this form.

 

 ←