19C - Nineteenth Century Literature Module Overview

Nineteenth Century Literature Module Overview

Introduction 

As Queen Victoria took the throne in Great Britain in 1837, the social, political, and literary changes occurring during the 18th century became more pronounced. Great Britain increased her trade and industrialization by becoming imperialistic and extending her power in other countries with methods that were not always humane. The negative aspects of economic growth both home and abroad were exposed by the literature of the day and the social injustices were clear to anyone in society who could read. Women's rights became an important issue during the Victorian time period, and activists worked hard to create equal rights for all humans. In response to the Industrial Revolution, a school of poets emerged: the Romantics. The goal of the Romantics was to escape the modernization of society by focusing on the beauty of the natural world. The Romantics found faith in emotions and nature, whereas much of society continued to question faith and God. Subsequently, the concept of Realism and Naturalism evolved in literature during the Victorian age as writers moved away from the ideal and focused on everyday reality in depicting the poverty, racism, corruption, and filth that accompanied the time period. In the Victorian Literature module, we will learn about the rise of the novel as the beginning of one of the most-loved genres in literature. We will also examine the Industrial Revolution to understand the effects of industrialization on literature and society in order to recognize how literature can incite social and political change.

Essential Questions

  1. Can I determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text including figurative and connotative meanings?
  2. How does specific word choice impact meaning and tone?
  3. Can I determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text?
  4. Can I write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content?

Key Terms

  1. Romanticism - A style of art, literature, etc., during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasized the imagination, emotions, and nature.
  2. Naturalism - A literary movement or tendency from the 1880s to 1930s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character.
  3. Realism - The attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements.
  4. Novel - A  fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.
  5. Imperialism - A policy of extending a country\'s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
  6. Industrial Revolution - The rapid development of industry that occurred in Britain in the late 18th and 19th centuries, brought about by the introduction of machinery. It was characterized by the use of steam power, the growth of factories, and the mass production of manufactured goods.
  7. Pre-Raphaelitism - Focus of testing and defying all conventions of art by producing symbolic realism.
  8. Prose - Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
  9. Poetry - A form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language.

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