1. The Twentieth Century Edward VII 1901-1910 Edward VIII -1936 George VI 1936-1952 Elizabeth II 1952-present George V 1911-1936

2. Mass Media Time reading now spent on other mass media: –British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1922 –BBC Television, 1937 –Radio –Motion pictures Powerful tools now shaping public opinion

3. Characteristics of 20 th Century Literature Georgian -- idealized beauties of nature in tradition of Wordsworth. –Rubert Brooke “The Soldier” Imagism – use of precise, concrete images, free verse, using common language and no excess words (reaction against Georgian). “In a Station of the Metro”Ezra Pound The apparition of these faces in the crowd; petals on a wet, black bough.

4. Characteristics of 20 th Century Literature Existentialism -- centering on the need of the individual to accept responsibility for one’s actions with out a certain knowledge of what is right or wrong. Surrealism – an attempt to portray or interpret the workings of the unconscious mind as manifested in dreams.

5. Modern Poetry Experimentation in form and subject matter 3 leading poets: –Thomas Hardy (pessimistic, ironic) –A.E. Housman (pessimistic, ironic) romantic feel of nature seen through realistic lens –William Butler Yeats (positive feelings of nationalism - Ireland)

6. British-American Literary Relationships America to Britain –Henry James –Robert Frost –Ezra Pound – Imagism –T.S. Eliot* - Modern Britain to America –W. H. Auden* –I.A. Richards

7. Additional Poets Dylan Thomas - rich poems about life in Wales (optimistic contrast) Christian influences –Amy Carmichael, missionary to India –Oswald Chambers, Bible teacher and missionary to troops in Egypt

8. 20 th Century Drama Drama revived Oscar Wilde – witty comedies –“The Importance of Being Earnest” Bernard Shaw – comedies to criticize virtues of all societies (advocate of socialism) –Pygmalion (basis of musical comedy My Fair Lady)

9. Modern Fiction Characterized by secularism Exceptions: –J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings trilogy of good over evil – fantasy –C.S. Lewis: defended Christianity – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series and a number of apologetics books for the laymen –G.K. Chesterton: Father Brown mystery books (wrote devastating attacks on Darwinism and defended Christianity)

10. Modern Fiction H.G. Wells: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds [science fiction classics] George Orwell: Animal Farm, 1984 [satirized socialism] Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited, 1945 William Golding: Lord of the Flies, 1954

11. Short Story An imaginative, relatively short prose narrative written to give the reader entertainment and insight. Made a late Victorian period appearance answering the growing demand for brevity in writing. Established through writers: –Robert Lewis Stevenson –Rudyard Kipling Freudian psychology in short story with emphasis placed on inner nature of characters rather than external details: –D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield