This new Literature Forum thread will feature a specific author each week. This thread has also been linked with both the Favorite Quotations Forum and the Biography Forum. The Favorite Quotations Forum will allow members to post the featured author's quotations, poems, book excerpts, letters, and speeches. The Biographies Forum will host the author's biography, and members are encouraged to add to that topic as well. Here in the Literature Forum, members may discuss the featured author's style, how it relates to the particular period in which it was written, individual works done by that author, interpretations of that work, etc.
The thread will start chronologically from the Medieval period and will work it's way to contemporary and modern writers. The guideline to literary periods is as follows:
* Medieval (from the fall of Rome through the fourteenth or fifteenth century);
* Renaissance (from its earliest beginnings in Italy in the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century elsewhere in Europe, with a shift in some countries to "Baroque" in its last phase);
* Neoclassical (starting in the mid-seventeenth century, with its subsequent eighteenth-century development as the "Age of Enlightenment")
* Romantic and Victorian (beginning in the last decades of the eighteenth century and continuing at least through the middle of the nineteenth)
* Realist movement and its late nineteenth century extension into "naturalism"
* Modern , which has been given many names, all of them, so far, provisional. 1900 to 1945
* Contemporary Literature: 1945 to present
Please note that this thread will strictly adhere to the all Literature Forum rules and to Quoteland’s Constitution
~I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.~ I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance - e e cummings
[This message was edited on 01-12-04 at 01:30 AM.]
Posts: 1953 | Location: On a tree branch.....way up high. | Registered: 11-12-02
Even thought I have read Modern English translations of Canterbury Tales, I have always enjoyed reading them as he wrote them, however, understanding Middle English is not easy, the language is recognizable as English, but some of the words are totally understanding. I have been at best frustrated in my attempts to read this strange language, and at worst totally discouraged, I would have loved to take a course in reading and understanding Middle English, unfortunately, I have never found the time, so I am a self taught Middle English reader, thanks to the www, it is now a lot easier to find help in learning and understanding this precursor to our language, but the only tool I have ever employed is a simple glossary. I would, of course, never dare read out loud as my pronunciation is quite atrocious, but I do thoroughly enjoy reading it.
Lucky for me I have a whole class to work with, although in the silence of working translation you can hear the flicking of pages to the appendix notes and middle-English dictionary at the back of the book. We have to study it as part of our A Level English Literature course and have an exam on The Miller's Tale in the Summer.
Admittedly it's quite hard to appreciate because of its written language, but if you want to amuse yourself, try reading it aloud. I suggested to my teacher today that we all try it and we ended up grasping for different accents, from Welsh to Italian to try and grasp the English. Our teacher claims that about 95% of the words should be recognizable, either phonetically or through a process of etymology. Easy for you to say when you've been teaching it, however many years...
Stella Splendens December 22, 1985 - March 27, 2003 RIP ...Always.
Posts: 1773 | Location: Devon, England | Registered: 02-04-02
Mmmm, is a month too long? Only I'm sure we have hundreds of authors to get through and I think as we ease into a more popular period there will be more prolific posts.
Once a week/fortnight?
I'm sure Famous Quotations and Biographies can handle it, if you're willing to, it just seems a little slow, if you pardon my bluntness.
P.s. Arn't the threads going to stay open anyway, so even if someone missed out, they could always make another post when they find the thread.
Stella Splendens December 22, 1985 - March 27, 2003 RIP ...Always.
Posts: 1773 | Location: Devon, England | Registered: 02-04-02
You have a very good point! Song_bird, Gem and I talk about a weekly feature, and then settled on the "month", but it does seem a bit long, Weekly does sound good, that would be 52 authors per year, instead of only 12, yes, I like that. We'll talk about it a bit more and see what we can come up with. The threads will of course remain open and linked, but only one would be a featured sticky post. By the way my Middle English accent is a cross between a mad Irishman and a drunken Italian!
Already changed to a "weekly feature"
"Do all things with love." Og Mandino
[This message was edited on 01-12-04 at 07:29 PM.]
Posts: 4747 | Location: The Official "Surf City, USA" | Registered: 10-12-01
Now this is perfect timing... I'm about to take my English Major on a different course... I've decided that instead of 'Shakespeare' I'm moving into 'Old English' (which, combined with my French knowledge, will make current English even more fascinating), but I plan to take a step further back and go on after that to study 'Old Norse.' I believe that this year I'm going to be studying 'Beowulf' (Surprise, surprise!). My fellow English major Jenni delights in reading Chaucer out loud in a rather provocative manner...
~Forever Fuzziesareourfriends~ http://www.freewebs.com/fuzziesareourfriends/index.htm JOIN THE PACT: If you break grammar rules then explain what you've done and why, or be prepared to answer those questions. If you cannot do these, then do not post your writing.
Posts: 5633 | Location: Aotearoa (New Zealand) | Registered: 09-22-02
This has been made 'sticky' again so that the three fora can work together, Bio., Lit. and Fav. Quo.!
Feel free to discuss the week's featured author here, I'll provide links to the threads. Furthermore, why not immerse yourself in a short study of the featured author, try to recreate the author's style in a poem or prose - maybe even parody the author!
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance - e e cummings
"Do all things with love."
Easy for you to say when you've been teaching it, however many years...
