Baroque Art
Baroque art, an introduction by DR. ESPERANÇA CAMARA [An example of Baroque art:] Gian Lorenzo Bernini, View to Cathedra Petri (or Chair of St. Peter), 1647–53, gilded bronze, gold, wood, stained glass (Apse of Saint...
Category: E1-Resources
Resources for Introduction to Literature: English 1.
Allegorical Elements in Pilgrim’s Progress
John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory, meaning that each character, place, and event in the story represents something else. The allegorical elements in The Pilgrim’s Progress can be divided into two categories:...
Jonathan Swift Poetry
Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and Anglican cleric best remembered in the literary world for his satirical novel, Gulliver’s Travels. As a writer, he developed close,...
Robert Louis Stevenson Poetry
Robert Louis Stevenson, in addition to his famous prose works, also wrote poetry ranging from children’s nursery rhymes to poems of travel and adventure. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment. From A...
Sarah Orne Jewett Biography
Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was an American regional author best known for short stories and color sketches that reflected her roots in Maine. EIL 1.1.
Shakespeare Resources
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
William Butler Yeats Poetry
William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) was an Irish Symbolist poet, as well as a two-term Irish Senator. He was a master of traditional poetry forms, and is widely considered one of the most...
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe There are some qualities — some incorporate things, That have a double life, which thus is made A type of that twin entity which springs From matter and light,...
George Orwell Resources
Would you like to learn more about George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four? George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist whose work is known for...
A Worn Path by Eudora Welty
A Worn Path by Eudora Welty It was December—a bright frozen day in the early morning. Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied red rag, coming...
George Orwell Timeline by Steven Kreis
George Orwell, 1903-1950 From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis | Resources | Chronology | Select Bibliography | Resources George Orwell (The Chestnut Tree Cafe) George Orwell George Orwell (O. Dag) George Orwell (Petri Liukkonen)...
Robert Louis Stevenson Biography
Robert Louis Stevenson Biography By Richard Dury, from the RLS Website Life and Publications Summary Robert Lewis (later: “Louis”) Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850. His father Thomas belonged to...
Mark Twain Resources Index
Resources for Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His best-known novels include The Adventures...
Edgar Allan Poe Resources
Many writers in the American canon have written both poetry and prose; few, however, are equally known for both. Edgar Allan Poe was one such writer. Indeed, it is almost as difficult to find...
Music the Brontë Sisters May Have Known
Music in the Brontë Sisters’ World Music and musical appreciation were, in the time of the Brontë sisters, considered to be part of the general set of “feminine accomplishments”. As the daughters of an Anglican...
“A White Heron” Audio
Listen to “A White Heron” “A White Heron,” an 1886 short story by American author Sarah Orne Jewett, features Sylvia, a young girl who comes from a big city to live in the country...
“The Ransom of Red Chief” Dramatized
“The Ransom of Red Chief” Dramatized O. Henry is the pseudonym of American author William Sydney Porter, who is best known for his funny, warm, short stories with surprise endings. In the video below, Shep O’Neal...
The Purloined Letter Dramatized
Although suspenseful music accompanies this 1952 dramatization, “The Purloined Letter” by American author Edgar Allan Poe lacks the element of horror found in most of Poe’s other short stories. Instead, this is one of...
“The Diamond Necklace” Audio
“The Diamond Necklace” (La Parure) is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, considered a master of the form. A 19th-century Naturalist author, de Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and...
Solitude An Ode by Alexander Pope
Solitude: An Ode by Alexander Pope I How happy he, who free from care The rage of courts, and noise of towns; Contented breaths his native air, In his own grounds. II...
Jonathan Swift Resources
Jonathan Swift Resources Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote some of the most brilliant prose in the English language and is often regarded as its foremost satirist. While best known for his masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels and,...
Jonathan Swift Biography
This Swift biography paints a vivid portrait of the life and works of Jonathan Swift, an early British novelist. Introduction to Literature, Module 1.9.
George Bernard Shaw Resources
George Bernard Shaw Resources George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a prolific writer who worked as an art, music, and theater critic. Irish-born and largely self-educated, he found his calling writing popular plays, including Pygmalion...
Mark Twain Biography (1911)
American author Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is best known for his humorous stories, many taking place on or near the great Mississippi River.
Situational Irony: An Example
Situational irony is a form of humor that focuses on a contrast between expectation and reality. In these excerpts from Around the World in Eighty Days, you will see how Jules Verne has used...
Charlotte Brontë Biography
The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell “Hand in hand they used to make their way to the glorious moors, which in after days they loved so passionately.” The Children Who Never Played...
Treasure Island Adaptations
Treasure Island, the beloved adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, was originally serialized in the children’s magazine Young Folks in 1881 – 1882 under the title Treasure Island, or the mutiny of...
Jane Eyre Trailers
Jane Eyre Adaptations Jane Eyre, the classic 1847 novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë, has been a beloved favorite of generations of readers. It is no surprise, then, that it has been adapted a...
Mark Twain House Video
Where did Mark Twain live? The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. Designed by Edward Tuckerman...
Tchaikovsky’s Tempest Overture
Tchaikovsky and Shakespeare One of the most influential composers of the 19th century and the first Russian composer to achieve lasting international fame, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is best known today for his ballets Swan...
