IN THIS PRESENTATION,WE WILL GO THROUGH

THE JOURNEY OF THE ENGLISH

LITERATURE FROM THE OLD TO NEW

But firstly we must answer this question:- WHY ENGLISH??WHY SHOULD ENGLISH MATTER TO YOU??

English is the official language of a large number of countries

Its the second language of the worldIts the dominant business language of the world

Its almost a necessity to speak English in cross border communications

Most of the worlds top movies ,books and music are produced in English

Most of the content produced on the internet(50./.)is English

IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH

Periods of transition

OLD ENGLISHMIDDLE ENGLISH

ENGLISH RENAISSANCEPERIOD OF RESTORATION&

PROTECTORATECLASSICISM AND ENLIGHTMENT

ROMANTICISM

VICTORIAN ERAFIRST HALF OF 20TH CENTURY

MODERN ERA

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE CAN BE TRACED BACK TO 5000 YEARSWHEN A SERIES OF INVASIONS TOOK PLACE IN BRITAIN..................... The invaders lived along the northern coast of Europe.

The first invasions were by the Angles Saxons and Jutes.

These groups found people called the Celts, who had lived in Britain for many thousands of years. The Celts and the invaders fought.

WHERE DID ENGLISH LITERATURE ORIGINATE?????

• After a while, most of the Celts were killed, or made slaves. Some escaped to live in the area that became Wales. Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different languages. The result is what is called Anglo-Saxon or Old English.

Old English is extremely difficult to understand. Only a few experts can read this earliest form of English.

Several written works have survived from the Old English period. Perhaps the most famous is called Beowulf. It is the oldest known English poem. Experts say it was written in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The name of the person who wrote it is not known

•

Middle english [1100-1500]

• The next great invasions took place about 1000-900 years ago

• Fierce people called vikings came from demark,norway and other northern countries and raided britain,and many settled here

• Words like “sky,” “leg,” “skull,” “egg,” “crawl,” “ lift” and “take” come from these ancient Vikings

THEIR ALPHABET

• More than 900 years ago,people from normandy of france, invaded britain.

• These new rulers spoke french,the most important language at that time,while common people spoke old english

• Old English took many words from the Norman French such as jury ,parliament,justice,that describe law.and prison,damage,marriage,etc

THE NORMANS

• Many works of middle English literature have survived today• The most famous poet was Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote

“Canterbury tales”• It is a collection of poems about different people traveling

to the town of Canterbury• Some of the people described in “The Canterbury Tales” are

wise and brave; some are stupid and foolish. Some believe they are extremely important. Some are very nice, others are mean. But they all still seem real.

Geoffrey Chaucer[1343-1400]

• The guilty think all talk is of themselves• Time and tide wait for no man.• People can die of mere imagination..

THE FATHER OF ENGLISH

LITERATURE

• Most of the english literature was imitative-of the french

• It was mainly religious and there was overall importance of Church and moral values .

• It also dealt with the chivalry of historical heroes of England, France and Rome.

• Prose ,ballads and poetry were the types of literature at that time.

features

ELIZABETHAN PERIOD(1485-1625)

• t

Years of war

• Several wars and conflicts took place in England during 13-14th century

• Various dynasties of Europe fought for the throne of England

• The beginning of the English Renaissance was 1485, when the Battle of Bosworth inaugurated the Tudor Dynasty, which eradicated all foreign influences from England.

• It was during reign of last ruler of Tudors ,Elizabeth from 1558 ,known as golden era of english literature

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

• English literature hugely expanded• Printing press was invented• Drama , prose, poetry was significant• Shakespeare was the chief figure of this

era. Other important ones includeChristopher marlowe(1564 - 1593), Edmund

Spencer[1552-1559] , John Fletcher (1579 - 1625)

• It characterized by a tendency toward humanist, or nonreligious, topics.

• The period as a whole marked a dramatic shift away from strict adherence to Church doctrines.

William Shakespeare[1564-1616]• William Shakespeare was an English poet,

playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language .He is often called England's national poet.

• addiction,  cold-blooded dishearten manager arch-villain,assassination are some words we owe to him

• Wrote 38 plays,154sonnets and many other poems

• Hamlet, julius Caesar,macbeth, romeo Juliet are some

His signature

• There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

• Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.

• Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

SOME QUOTES BY HIM

THE PURITAN ERA[1625-1700]

• A group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who sought to reform the church of england from all roman practices.

• It became a mass movement in england,after king Charles 1 started ruling England

• puritans strongly opposed his policies.• Finally this led to english civil war the king was

executed in 1649• They believed that God expected them to live

according to the Scriptures,and all humans were born sinful

Who were they???

• It was a sudden uprising for morality in human behaviour-aimed to make people honest and free.

• A Puritan writer's main focus was to glorify God and show reverence for the Bible.

• While the elizabethan literature was inspiring,puritan was mostly saddening

characteristics

• The main writer of this era-john Milton was puritan. A poet most known for the epic work "Paradise Lost."

• Anne Bradstreet, Cotton Mather and William Bradford were some others who were also puritan

The puritan army going to war against the king

Famous puritan quotes

Period of restorations 1660-1700

Political conditions after king charles 1 was

executed,in1649,the puritan laws ruled england.These were too severe ,and suppressed the people.

Finally,in 1660,exiled king charles 2 was restored to the throne of england.. England, Scotland, and Wales were united as Great Britain

england began to revive from the losses of war and so did literature.. This period was termed restoration period

characteristics• writers wrote in a clear style defined by a set of

rules i.e precision• an emphasis on reason and logic• Re establishment of theater,which was closed by

puritans who thought it was sinful• new genre called Restoration comedy innovated. • Famous writers were john dryden and john bunyan• French literature styles were imitated• Realism was significant

Romanticism[1800-1837]

Romanticism was a movement which highlighted the importance of:

• The individual emotions, feelings and expressions of artists.

• It rejected rigid forms and structures. Instead it placed great stress on the individual, unique experience of an artist / writer.

• Romanticism gave great value to nature

characteristics

FAMOUS WRITERS• William Blake,-songs of innocence

and experience• William Wordsworth and Samuel

Coleridge-lyrical ballads• Oscar Wilde-lady Windermere's fan,• Pride and prejudice- jane austen

characteristics• Novels became popular• The stress was on realism and an attempt

to describe the daily struggles of ordinary men that the middle class reader could associate with.

• It was the first time that literature was targeted for children 

• There was a gap between the rich and the poor as shown by the novels of Charles Dickens,

Famous writers• Lewis Carroll..-alice’s adventures in

wonderland• Daniel defoe-robinson crusoe• Charles dickens- a tale of 2 cities• Vanity fair-william thackerey

Modern era literature• From late 19th century till today• Influenced by world wars 1 and 2• Several debates on topics like

women,indstrial revolution,democracy,slavery were popular

• It was a break from the tradition

Some of my favourite writers of today

Dan brown---- writer of inferno

• Jk rowling –harry potter

To summarize• Literature is the face of the people-it reflects

their thinking• It is the best way to fill yourself with newer

ideas- let it be history,fiction,poems ,drama • it also increases our vocabulary and develops

our writing skills,understanding,imagination

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/where-did-english-come-from/1571948.html