1. “A long, written story, about imaginary people and events” Long: “War and peace” by Leo Tolstoy = 1000 pages A short story or story is about eighty pages long Written: “not a poetry” like the one we did of William Blake, but in prose Imaginary people and event: it does not strictly apply to historical novels (War and Peace for instance deals with the war between France and Russia and Napoleon)

2. 18 th Century English Novel The modern novel was born in England between the end of 17 th century and the beginning of the 18 th century due to big social and economic transformations or as we say in English make-over. The first important novels were: Robinson Crusoe (1719)(where he relates his shipwreck in minute detail in a journal) and Moll Flanders (1722) by DANIEL DEFOE Tom Jones (1749) by HENRY FIELDING Gulliver’s Travels (1726) by JONATHAN SWIFT

3. The modern novel: becomes very popular with the middle class for different reasons: Actual time (novels are stories of now) Man in his true physical setting: poor or rich, Man who feel sensations; Centered in the individual Emergence of the woman from under the veil Conflict between bourgeois values (money, advancement justice retribution) and traditional values of the gentleman (manner, fashion, noblesse oblige)

4. The increase of literacy (alfabetizzazione) was also helped by many factors: (p. 92) The expansion of commercial printing (the most important from the time of Gutemberg (1450) The spread of circulating libraries The popularity of bookselling (also second-hand books) The Copyright Act (1709) which safeguard the authors from having their work reproduced without their permission and which enabled them to have some profits from sales, thus becoming professional writers in the modern sense

5. First and third-person narrator First- person narrator: the story is told by an “I” who may be the main character in the novel………………. Vocabulary: Plot: what happens in it. A summary of a plot is called synopsis Setting is the time and place, the “where and when” of the plot. Third-person narrator: the story is told by a narrator outside the story, who refers to the characters by their names, or by “he” or “she”. An advantage over the first- person narrator is that there is greater liberty to move around in time and place and to include more characters.

6. Narrator the omniscient point of view: means that the narrator knows everything about the events and the characters and knows their thoughts and motives the intrusive narrator: tells the reader things, commenting on the characters and explaining events. The objective (or unintrusive narrator) simply shows things, without commenting or explaining: he is more like a camera. Multiple narrators and multiple points of view A writer may choose to let several narrators tell the story from different points of view

7. Characters The “people” in a novel are referred as characters, and the way the novelist presents them to us is called characterization. Flat characters: are two-dimensional and do not change during the course of a novel. They are often described briefly, with one or two vivid details Round Characters: have complex personalities and normally develop during the course of a novel. Like people in real life they reveal themselves gradually, they can surprise us. They tend to be a mixture of main characters, to be “round”. Charles Dickens was able to create great flat characters

8. Style Is a world that we use every day. We talk about different styles of clothes, cooking, furniture, playing football……and different styles of writing. Instinctively, we probably all agree on identifying styles of writing such as romantic, simple, journalistic, bureaucratic, scientific, and so on. But to talk about the style, or styles, used in a novel, we need to be more explicit. It is a useful first step to look at the syntax and the vocabulary.

9. Style and symbols Plain style: simple syntax and vocabulary Complex style: complex syntax and vocabulary which reflects the philosophical, psychological……point of view of the character. Similes (explicit comparisons) and metaphors (implicit comparisons): can be seen as ways of using denotations (refers to the literal meaning of a word) and connotations (refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word)of words to produce a special, powerful effect. Generally speaking, symbols are signs _ words or pictures – which represent something else. The use of symbols is called symbolism.

10. What is a theme of a novel? The theme of a novel is its main ideas. For instance, a main theme of the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain is whether racism is correct or not. A simile is a literary device where the writer employs the words "like" or "as" to compare two different ideas. It can be a strong word to use as a describing word in a simile or metaphor. He flew like a dove He is acting like a clown.

11. Similes and metaphors A simile is a literary device where the writer employs the words "like" or "as" to compare two different ideas. It can be a strong word to use as a describing word in a simile or metaphor. He flew like a dove He is acting like a clown A metaphor is similar to a simile, however this literary device makes a comparison without the use of "like" or "as". He has a hyena's laugh. Her face is a garden.

12. Lamb to the Slaughter – Roald Dahl Mary slowly heads to the garage where she takes a frozen leg of lamb out of the freezer. She brings it into the kitchen and unwraps it. When she returns, Patrick is getting ready to leave. She hits him on the back of the head with the frozen leg of mutton she has brought from the cellar. the lamb, symbol of innocence is used as a murder weapon the lamb is also an explicit religious symbol, and, here, instead of being sacrificed on the altar of the Jewish Passover (Pasqua Ebraica) or metaphorically in the person of Jesus Christ. As soon as Mrs. Maloney puts the meat in the oven, the reader knows that the police will never find the murder weapon.

13. The Open Window - Saki "The Open Window'' is Saki's most popular short story Saki's wit is at the height of its power in this story of a spontaneous practical joke played upon a visiting stranger. The practical joke recurs in many of Saki's stories, but "The Open Window'' is perhaps his most successful and best known example of the type. Saki dramatizes here the conflict between reality and imagination, demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the reader. The reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible (credulone).

14. William Blake- pre-romantic and romantic poetry O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.

15. William Blake In William Blake’s poem, “The Sick Rose,” the narrator describes the devastating effects of addiction and obsession. The term “rose” as used by Blake in this context is a metaphor for a young, pure, innocent woman. The innocent rose, is unaware of the dangers that the worm, her addiction, poses to her life. The insidious worm, whether it be an older married man, alcohol or heroin, manifests itself in the night while the world sleeps. Once the worm enters the young woman’s bedroom, after flying through the “howling storm,” she succumbs to its dark secret appeal.

16. William Wordsworth “Composed upon Westminster Bridge" The story behind the poem is the surprising tale of William Wordsworth’s love life, the complex tale of his love for three different women. At some point, possibly around the end of 1801, William decided to ask Mary to marry him. His marriage to Mary and her setting in at Dove Cottage - Grasmere. In early 1802, William and Mary were more than ready to get married. But there was problem. Several hundred miles from Grasmere there was another woman who had been calling herself Mrs Wordsworth for the last ten years. Annette Vallon, the third woman in this story, had met the poet when he was a hot-blooded young graduate he travelled to France to take a look at the French Revolution in action.

17. “Composed upon Westminster Bridge" LONDON : This was the city in which William and Dorothy found themselves, when early on the morning of July 31st, 1802, they arrived at Charing Cross to catch a stagecoach for Dover. The poem takes place in the "beauty of the morning," which lies like a blanket over the silent city. He then lists what he sees in the city and mentions that the city seems to have no pollution and lies "Open unto the fields, and to the sky."

18. ROMATICISM (1798-1832) Historical events: American Revolution (1775-1783) French Revolution (1789) Industrial Revolution (1799-1830) (George III – 1760- 1820) The Romantic Age saw English poets expressing themselves freely as a way of promoting libertarian ideals; The Revolution in France and increasing industrialization in Britain had a great impact on literature, as writers placed the individual at the centre of their vision.

19. Romanticism CHARACTERISTICS: · Revival of instinctual life (reason was not so important). · Revival of the quest after love and beauty. Importance of Revolutions (American, French, the figure of Napoleon). · New role of imagination. · The realisation of the sublime, the half way between real and supernatural world, time and space. · Life cycle, nature like a source of inspiration. · In this period myths are revalued. * In literature poets rediscovered the sonnet form, the ode, the song, the ballad and the mythological poem

20. Romanticism Philosophers: J.J Rousseau is the first to use the word “romantique” Schlegel uses “romantisch” in a critic work meaning creativity and sentimental themes, used by the “Sturm und Drang” (in English: “Storm and Stress”, in which there is the exaltation of nature, uniqueness and freedom of the individual, ideal of genius.(W.Blake) German idealism (Fichte, Hegel, Schelling). Romantic poets and writers reacted by placing the individual, rather than society, at the centre of their vision, by rejecting science and reason.

21. Queen Victoria and the Victorian Age Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, (This is the longest reign in British history, and is foreseeably likely to be exceeded only if the present monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) remains on the throne to 2017) and her reign is the longest of any female monarch in history. The time of her reign is known as the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific and military progress within the United Kingdom.

22. Queen Victoria The most important historical events 1832-Passage of the first Reform Act(introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system) 1837-Accession of Queen Victoria to the throne. 1840-New Zealand becomes a British colony. 1845-The Irish famine. 1851-The Great Exhibition organized by Prince Albert 1854-Crimean War: The United Kingdom declared war on Russia. 1857-The Indian Mutiny: a widespread revolt in India (Native Indian Soldiers: Sepoys) against the rule of the British East India Company 1861-Death of Prince Albert; Queen Victoria refused to go out in public for many years. 1875-Britain purchased Egypt's shares in the Suez Canal Under the Elementary Education Act 1870, basic State Education became free for every child under the age of 10.

23. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) After a time of prosperity his father was imprisoned for debt. Just before his father's arrest, the 12-year-old Dickens had begun working ten-hour days at a shoe polish Warehouse. Dickens became a political journalist, reporting on parliamentary debate. He contributed to edit journals. He wrote Sketches by Boz which was published in episodes. In 1837 he wrote Oliver Twist. In 1836 he married Catherine Thompson Hogarth In 1842 He travelled to U.S.A to support the abolition of slavery. He separated, he was in Paris. He died of a stroke in 1870 and he was buried in Westminster Abbey

24. Oliver Twist The novel’s protagonist. Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel.

25. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1895) He was born in Edinburgh, he always suffered from poor health and he spent much of his time abroad where the climate was milder than in Britain; He rejected Christianity; In 1878 He published Inland Voyage and in 1879 Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes about his walking tours in France. He married a divorced woman Frances Osbourne, full of charm and wit. In 1886 he wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde In 1894 he settled in Samoa where he was called Tusitala (story teller) and there he died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 44

26. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – the story of a doctor who discovers a drug that changes him into Mr. Hyde, the embodiment (incarnazione, personificazione) of his worst drives (energie, impulsi) and impulses. The story is the record of Jekyll’s split personality, deriving from “his self repressed by the dictates of social conventions”.

27. Thomas Hardy (1840 –1928) He was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural. Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891);deals with the themes of misfortune, hardship seduction and prejudices.

28. Thomas Hardy (1840 –1928) Omniscient narrator (the omniscient point of view: means that the narrator knows everything about the events and the characters and knows their thoughts and motives); Nature is very important in his novels: it’s a proper character, it’s a significant part of the story; Hardy uses similes in his works Bitterness and hopeless loneliness Pessimism

29. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Life and works: he married and had two children In 1891 he wrote the play “Salomé”(simbolism, magic beauty, lights and musical and illusory quality of the language. Salomé stepdaughter of Herod, who, to her stepfather's dismay (costernazione) but to the delight of her mother Herodias, requests the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the Dance of the Seven Veils His following work was the novel: “The picture of Dorian Gray” (1891)

30. Oscar Wilde - He was the founder of the Aesthetism and Dandyism because of his way of life and love for “doing nothing”; of his choice of clothes He wrote the plays: A Woman of No Importance (1893); the Importance of Being Earnest (1895); An Ideal Husband (1895); Later he was condemned to a two-year prison sentenced with hard labour on charge of homosexuality (illegal until 1967); After his release he lived abroad (France and Italy) and wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) and De Profundis (1905 posthunous) about his prison experience: He died in Paris in 1900.

31. First World War Poetry Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915) was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War (especially The Soldier); The poem was so successful because it caught the patriotic and idealistic mood of the moment before the British people realized the full horrors of war. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) DULCE ET DECORUM EST (1917) (da Orazio: Dulce et Decorum est, pro patria mori - tradotta letteralmente, significa è bello e dolce morire per la patria. (Orazio, Odi, III, 2, 13). It is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country but it is also a big lie!

32. First World War Poetry Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) Glory of Women The sonnet begins with the statement that woman love war heroes. It is bitterly ironic, often meant to surprise or shock the reader. His attack on government, church and high command - all held responsible for the suffering and death of so many men. Herbert Read (1893-1968) The Happy Warrior it deals with the ironic horror of war. Better known as an art critic He also served as a trustee of the Tate Gallery and as a curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum (1922–1939), as well as co- founding the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

33. MODERNISM MODERNISM. At the beginning of the 20 th century, there were new impulses and new needs to create new worlds, new approaches to art and its avant- gardes (cubism, futurism, expressionism, vorticism*, dadaism, surrealism) literature, architecture, music and visual arts as well as to philosophy (Superman German Friedrich Nietchze); psychoanalysis (Austrian Sigmund Freud) and human sciences. Modernism covers the period from the beginning of the century to the end of World war II.

34. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish writer and poet He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922). Other major works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). In 1905 they moved to Trieste (which was part of Austria- Hungary until World War I) where he met Italo Svevo; the years spent in the Italian town were very difficult because of money problems. He taught English at the Berlitz school. In 1907 his daughter Lucia, was born and the madness of this beloved daughter will cause Joyce a lot of problems like depression and insomnia.

35. James Joyce - Dubliners Dubliners, is a penetrating analysis of the stagnation and paralysis of Dublin society. Joyce conceived the stories as a progression of ages: Childhood; Adolescence (Eveline); Mature life; Public life; the short Story “The dead” can be inserted in a fifth section by itself. the reader free to engage with the senses experienced by and through the perceptions of both Eveline’ stream of consciousness and the narrator. We“meet” Eveline for the first time. We step into her world through a sort of inner-dialogue and we undestand and live her sense of paralysis. (religion, sense of duty).

36. George Orwell - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) Animal Farm is a dystopian novella in the form of an allegory by George Orwell. Published in England on 17 August 1945, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. Orwell, a democratic socialist and a member of the Independent Labour Party for many years, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and Russian Revolution. A fairy tales for adults Orwell draws the reader from the current event to a fantasy space

37. George Orwell - 1984 The title is the change of the two last numbers of his year of composition (1948). In this book Orwell wants to attack the totalitarian regimes, and he wants to show a society, where the state exerts complete control on human being. Several words and phrases from Nineteen Eighty-Four have entered popular language. Newspeak is a simplified language designed to make independent thought impossible. Doublethink means holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. The Thought Police are those who suppress all dissenting opinion. Big Brother is a supreme dictator who watches everyone. Orwell is a committed journalist, he joined the Imperial Police in Burma and later participated in the Spanish Civil War.

38. Ernest Hemingway (1899 –1961) FIRST PERSON OBJECTIVE NARRATION CODE HERO: The phrase, Hemingway code hero originated with scholar Philip Young. He uses it to describe a Hemingway character who offers up and exemplifies certain principles of honor, courage, and endurance which in a life of tension and pain make a man a man. The Hemingway code hero is often times a living breathing character as well, but he doesn't always have to take a human form. Sometimes the Hemingway code hero simply represents an ideal that the Hemingway hero tries to live up to, a code he tries to follow.

39. Ernest Hemingway After graduating from high school, he began his writing career as a sports reporter: During World War I he served as an ambulance driver in the Red Cross and was seriously wounded in Italy. This experience forms the background to his novel A Farewell to Arms (1929). He returned to America where he married and worked for the” Toronto Star” newspaper. He came back to Europe and from 1921 to 1927 he lived in Paris where he made the acquaintance of Ezra Pound, of the American Writer Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and of the American Writers who were referred to as “the Lost Generation”

40. Ernest Hemingway He wrote a collection of brief sketches, In Our Time (1924); and the novel The Sun Also Rises (1926, also known as Fiesta). In 1940 the novel For Whom the Bells Tolls appeared, a tragic story of love and war which draws on the author’s experiences in the Spanish Civil War. In 1952 he wrote The Old Man and the Sea, a parable- novella about an old fisherman’s struggle with a giant marlin. For this work he received the Pulitzer Prize. In 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for “his powerful, style-forming mastery of the art of modern narration, as most recently revealed in The Old Man and the Sea.”

41. Bibliography: G. Perrucchini A. Pajalich Moments in Literature, Principato 2002 R.Marinoni Mingazzini L. Salmoiraghi Witness to the Times Principato 2009 www.wikipedia.com http://jostamon.blogspot.com/2009/06/composed- upon-westminster-bridge.html