Prácticas Unidades de Teoría

Prácticas Unidades de Teoría
UNIT 41. ROMANIZATION OF BRITAIN. INFLUENCE OF LATIN ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

CALQUES AND LOANWORDS
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE PROCESS OF BRITAIN’S ROMANIZATION
2. 1.- Introduction
2.1.1.- Administration and territory
2.1.2.- Economy
2.1.3.- Urbanisation
2.1.4.- Religion
2.1.5.- Culture and arts
3.- INFLUENCE OF LATIN IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE. LOANWORDS AND CALQUES

3.1.- The Latin language in Britain: evidence of the use of Latin in Britain.
3.2.- The influence of Latin an Old English

3.2.1.- The Continental Period
3.2.2.- The Settlement Period
3.2.3.- The Christianity Period
3.2.4.- The Benedictine reform
3.3.- The influence of Latin on Middle English: a trilingual society

3.4.- The Renaissance
3.5.- The Modern and Contemporary English
4.- CONCLUSION
5.- BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
In this unit we are going to (see) look at the influence of Latin on the English language. (For that) In
order to do so, we have to see the history of Britain (since the) from the time of the Roman conquest in
(the) 40 AD, and the relationship between both languages.
The Roman Empire settled (on) in Britain around 40 AD and (was there) remained there, ruling
most of the island for around 400 years. During those years, Roman culture and way of life penetrated (along
the whole) throughout Britain. But this period came to an end when the Anglo-Saxon conquested the
isle and introduced the new language for the Britons: the English language (or English).
(But later on, the Anglo-saxon conquest finished this period and introduced the new language for the Britons:
the English language.)
2.- The process of Britain’s romanization

2.1.- Introduction
(The) A military conquest of the isle was (tried) attempted by Julius Cesar around 50 BC, after the
Britons (were helping) teamed up with the Gallic people to fight against the Roman’s army. (But) Cesar
failed to defeat them and it wasn't until 40 AD, (when the) that Emperor Claudius succeeded (with the) in
conquesting of Britain. It took several years more for him to control most of the isle. (Around) It wasn’t until
100 years later that the Romans (after him) had full control (under) over the island.
This new province of the Roman Empire was (really) far away from Rome, (in one of its borders) and
for that reason, scholars have thought that the romanization of the isle wasn’t too profound but recent
studies show that it was more (important) influential than traditionally thought.
1
2.2.1.- Administration and territory
From (since) the beginning, the governor was the most important authority on the isle as he
represented the Emperor. From the (that) first moment, the administrative capital was located in
Camulodunum (the actual Colchester). Later on, Britain was divided first in two provinces and afterwards
into four. The reason for that was (double) twofold. First, the territory that was under Rome’s control was
getting bigger and it was more efficiently managed if it was (parted) divided. Secondly, the Emperor didn’t
want a Governor (with) who had a lot of power.
The first cities created by the Romans were chartered towns with a special juridical status. They
were also known as colonial towns. Later on, small towns were also created. They were called municipium.
(At the) Most of the new towns were military forts which became normal towns.
During the first period of the Romans in Britain, the locals were known as Peregrini. They didn’t have
the same rights (that) as the Romans. For that reason it was (valuable) important to obtain secure (the)
Roman citizenship, which could be (achieved) attained if (you) one served as a Roman soldier for 25 years.
2.1.2.- Economy
What we know about Britain’s economy before the Romans arrived is that it was based on
agriculture (grain) and also gold and slaves. WIth the arrival of the Romans, Villas were introduced (it was
introduced the Villas), a (typical) quintessential roman construction method which (used to) focused on
farming. With it, the Romans also introduced (with it) their knowledge and their improved equipment. During
the first period of the Romans in Britain luxury goods were imported (olive, wine and pottery), and many of
the profits from importing these goods went to foreign merchants and traders.
(In) During the development of a new economy with the Romans, the army was a basic element.
(At) In the beginning, the army was a market which needed supplies. Later on, many retired soldiers were
given land and went on to develop cereal production.
2.1.3.- Urbanisation
Romans developed their own urbanisation style in Britain, with the creation (in the most important
cities,) of (their regular street grids) gridiron pattern streets, forums, public halls, public baths and theatres
in the most important cities. They also created big roads which helped their armies travel easily (to get
anywhere) around the island.
2.1.4.- Religion
Romans introduced their official state Gods of Rome and were quite permissive with Britons’ Gods
and cults. Soldiers and merchants also introduced oriental cults. Among them it was (the) Christianity, but it
wasn’t considered (going to be) important until the 4th century.
2.1.5.- Culture and arts.

It (seems) appears that Romans didn’t impose their culture and allowed (the) Britons to continue
with their way of life as long as they paid taxes, although inevitably Roman habits were gradually adopted
by the indigenous people. (But it seems that the population of Britain was adopting little by little the Roman
habits of life). It seems that Romanization in Britain was similar to (like in) other provinces of the Empire,
(but) the difference being (here is) that the process was cut short in Britain in the 5th century.
3.- Influence of Latin in English language. Loanwords and calques

The relationship between Latin and English has always been intense and relevant. From the (same)
moment that the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain (up to now) to the present day, it has taken place directly
and indirectly at different times and places. This is what we are going to look at now (see now).
3.1.- The Latin language in Britain: evidence of the use of Latin in the Island.
It is impossible to know the extent of the Latin language (between the) amongst Britons when the
Anglo-Saxons (came) arrived but it was probably spoken in urbanised areas (more and between) by the
2
upper-classes. (Probably its use wasn’t sufficiently widespread to cause it to) It’s unlikely that its use was
as it didn’t survive as the Celtic language did when the German invaded.
3.2.- The influence of Latin on Old English

It is possible to find some words in Old English which come from Latin but it is difficult to know when
they were acquired by the English language. There are four moments when Latin words could have entered
the English word-stock.
A.- Continental period.

B.- Settlement Period.
C.- Christianity Period.
D.- Benedictine Period.
3.2.1.- The Continental Period.

This is the moment before the Anglo-Saxons (and Jutes) tribes went to Britain. They were situated
along the Rhine (borders) and came into contact with the Romans through merchants and traders.
3.2.2.- The settlement period.

Again, it is difficult to know which words came from Latin in the first moments of the conquest by the
Anglo-Saxons. It seems that (the) scholars have recognised loanwords from Latin and some place-names.
3.2.3. The Christianity period.

With the reintroduction of Christianity in Britain Latin gained a high influence upon the English
language. (Since) From 597 AC, when Saint Augustine settled in Britain, new churches, monasteries and
schools were built. (That)This brought knowledge and access to the (wealth) riches of the Roman
Civilization and (with them to) also Latin. New loadwords of that period are monk, school, teacher or church.
(It also adopted) The Roman alphabet was also adopted.
3.2.4.- The Benedictine reform.

With the Viking invasions came a decline (of) in Christianity in Britain which finished with King Alfred
and the Benedictive reform. They brought the promotion of culture and education. Some of the loanwords of
the period: prophet, history, ginger or tiger.
3.3.- The influence of Latin on Middle English: a trilingual society.

With the Norman conquest, French gained significant importance (became really important) in
Britain (XI century). The upper classes spoke French and for a long time it was the most important language.
Some Latin words probably came (into English through) from French. But until around the XVI century Latin
was used as the administrative language. It was (by) during that period (when) that English began to
replace Latin in legal documents. Some loanwords from that moment are script or conspiracy.
3.4.- The Renaissance

During this period English became the main language for everything but because Latin had
previously been used in many areas, the English lexicon wasn’t (big) extensive//broad enough. During the
XVI and XVII century English acquired more than 10.000 new words, (and) not just from Latin. Loanwords
from this period are capsule, disability and drama.
3.5.- Modern and Contemporary English

After the Renaissance English was a mature language, but when it was needed a new word, Latin
was usually used. During the XVIII century, some scholars wanted to standardise English vocabulary and
grammar and they looked upon Latin as a model.
Before we finish this part of the unit we need to say that a loanword is a word taken from another
language with some or no adaptation and taken the original meaning, while a calque is a meaning or an
idiom taken from another language and adopted to the new one.
3
4.- Conclusion
As we have seen in that unit Britain has been closer to the continent than it seems, and the influence
of Latin deeper than it was thought before. Despite the difficulties of the conquest, Roman Britons adopted
the Roman way of life and enjoyed what they provided: a network of roads, cities and markets. And at the
end, the influence of Latin was not restricted to the period of Roman rule. As a prestigious language Latin
has influenced English up to nowadays.
5.- Bibliography and Webliography

.- Shay: The history of English, 2008.
.- Baugh and Cable: A history of the English language, 2001.
.- Barber: The English language: A historical introduction, 2000.
.- Salway: History of Roman Britain, 2001.
.- www. Britannia.com
.- www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans
**********************************************
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give an overview of the romanization of Britain during the nearly 4 centuries
that the Romans were there and the influence of Latin on English. Before we finish we will mention the
linguistic elements loanwords and calques.
This is an important unit due to the fact that the latin influence seems big in English. Developing this
unit we will analyse the grade of influence made by Latin.
Due to lack of time we will try to summarise all the information needed to understand this unit.
2.- The process of Britain’s romanization

It seems that Julius Caesar arrived to Britain (I BC) but he didn’t stay. It was with Claudius, that the
Romans began to conquer and settle the isle (43 AD). They began to control most of the territory but leaving
the most northern areas controlled by indigenous tribes. During the II century (122 AD), a wall was built to
better control that area in the north of the isle. It was the Hadrian’s wall.
So, around the II century the area controlled by the Romans was huge but not all (Antonine’s wall
142 AD). In the rest of the territory, the introduction of Latin or a process of romanization was small. ROme
gave citizenship to everyone who had served as a soldier for 25 years. The retired soldiers were also given
land to farm.
Rome developed their urbanisation style and created most of the actual cities. Their impact in the
isle was great but with the crisis of the ROman Empire, Britain began to be quite isolated. It was far away
from ROme. This meant that after the disappearance of the Roman Empire, Britain suffered several
invasions until the moment that some groups of conquerors decided to stay. This was around the V century
and the conquerors were the anglo-saxon and Jutes tribes.
These tribes brought their language with them and this language is the old English.
The influence of Latin before the invasion of anglo-saxons and Jutes can be seen in the name of
cities. We are going to see this in more detail in the next point.
3.- Influence of Latin in English language

3.1.- Latin in Britain: there is evidence of the use of Latin in Britain but it seems that the areas less
romanizated didn’t stay long this use. Anyway, with the information we have it is impossible to know the
extend of Latin when anglo-saxons and Jutes arrived. It was probably spoken in urban areas by middle and
4
upper classes but the Celtic, pre-roman languages, were still spoken in areas without contact with the
romans.
3.2.- Influence of Latin in old English:

-- Continental period: the anglo-saxons and jutes tribes had contact with Rome before they went to
Britain. It was usually through traders and merchants near the Rhine that these tribes could incorporate
some Latin words into their own languages: mese (table), win (wine).
-- Settlement period: as we mentioned before it is possible to find names of places that come from
Latin: Manchester, Leicester, Lancaster, Newport (port: Harbour).
-- Christianity: at the end of the VI century. Saint Augustine began to introduce Christianity among
the tribes of Britain. This helped the introduction of many words in Latin: school, church…
-- The Benedicte reform (X century): this reform in Christianity meant more schools and churches
and they meant more written books and the introduction of new Latin words: papers, history….
3.3.- The influence of Latin in Middle English (a trilingual society): in this point we should
mention the Wycliffe bible, which brought more new words. By the time modern English appeared, English
had adopted so many Latin words that it seemed like a romance language.
3.4.- The influence of Latin in Modern English: Since the XV century, the Latin influence has
decreased little by little. It has still been important in scientific ambitions but English hasn’t had the necessity
of taking so many words as in mediaeval times.
3.5.- Calques and loanwords

Before I finish this unit I need to mention what is a calque and a loanword:
-- A calque: it is the meaning or the idiom taken from another language and adopted to the new one:
for example, flea market is a calque taken from French.
-- A loanword: it is a word taken from another language with some or no adaptation and taken the
original meaning. For example, monarch is a Latin loanword.
4.- Elements of the unit related to the English subject

The main elements we have seen in this unit are:
-- the romanization of Britain.
-- the influence of Latin in English
These two elements are related to three of the key competences: the social and civic, the cultural
awareness and the linguistic.
-- social and civic promotes better understanding of a foreign culture and in this case we can
see how rich a culture is when it is based in other cultures that were there before (in this case the Romans).
-- cultural awareness helps students to understand cultural and linguistic diversity. In this
case, we don’t know much for sure about the ROmans in Britain, but we can imagine the diversity that Britain
had with several cultures and languages sharing territory.
-- Finally, linguistic competence is related to the fact that languages are formed by adding
words from other languages, enriching student’s abilities to understand society.
These elements are also related to the curriculum of our subject which appears in the order
ECD/65/2015. They help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon culture.
5
5.- Conclusion
In this unit we have tried to depict the romanization of Britain and which has been the degree of
influence that Latin has had in English. As we can see there is a strong influence from Latin and in fact
English seems a romance language. Finally, we have seen what is a loanword and a calque, a mechanism
used by languages to enrich their vocabularies.
This information in the learning process of the English language allow us to know better two
elements:
-- A better understanding of the anglo saxon society and their cultural and linguistic diversity.
-- And the impact of another language in English. A rich and productive impact. Languages
are alive cultural demonstrations that enrich our societies.
UNIT 42: THE NORMAND CONQUEST. FRENCH INFLUENCE IN ENGLISH. BORROWINGS AND
CALQUES
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE NORMAN CONQUEST
- Historical Background.
- Normand Conquest.
- Influence of the Normand conquest on the English language.
3.- CALQUES AND BORROWINGS
4.- ELEMENTS OF THE UNIT RELATED TO THE ENGLISH SUBJECT
5.- CONCLUSION
6.- BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This unit is really important because it shows the great impact of French (a romance language) in
English.It is not just the influence of French, also the Normand conquest helped English to mature as a
language (this period that we are going to analyse it is the period of the Middle English). When the French
influence finishes during the XV century it will emerge as Modern English.
2.- The Normand conquest

2.1. Historical Background
(Normands) The Normands were a Germanic tribe settled in the North of France. They have abandoned
their native language and culture and were under patronage of the French King.
(Situation of the language)
(Normand conquest) In 1066, the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor died childless. The British
aristocracy had a successor who had to fight against another invasion of the Norse people. William the
Conqueror, duke of Normandy had rights to the throne as well. He won the battle of Hastings in 1066 and
became king of England.
(Consequences) With the conquest of the Normands, the aristocracy changed and even the most important
positions in the church as well. This new Normand power in England was reflected in the language used.
English nearly disappeared as an official language and was left to the common people.
Development of French in England
- 1204: King John lost Normands

- 100 years war: 1335-1453.
- 1362: ENglish used for the first time to open the Parliament.
- 1399: Henry IV the first ENglish speaking king since 1066.
6
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview of the Norman conquest and the consequence of this
fact in the English language.
This unit is really important due to the fact the Norman conquest nearly finished with English but
after the Norman hegemony ended English was ready to become the official language of Britain and the
modern English began. Due to the lack of time we will depict it rapidly.
2.- Historical background

In 1066, Edward the Confessor died childless and the duke of Normandy William wanted to take the
kingdom. There was a short war against the member of the aristocracy who had taken the throne but William
won the battle of Hastings (1066), and the Norman period in Britain began.
The Normans took all relevant positions in the kingdom. They became the new elite. They had
bought with them their language, a dialect of the French language. So, during a long period, the only
language spoken in the English court was French, and just the normal English subject continued speaking in
English.
3.- Linguistic situation in Britain after the Norman conquest

As we have just mentioned, just after the Norman conquest, English disappeared from the court, this
is the beginning of the middle English (1100-1500). It was a period that English suffered big changes.
How did English become important again? This was a slow way that probably finished with “The
Canterbury Tales”, considered the book that means the end of middle English and the beginning of modern
English. It was written during the last years of the XIV century.
The first important fact in this period is when King John lost Normandy. The British nobility began to
lose their links with France. Years later began the 100 years war in which England tried to use their links with
French territories to regain their control in the continent. But during this war, English nationalism began to be
important and the nobility began to reject French.
During the XIV century this tendency settled. Parliament was opened in English for the first time
since the Norman conquest, and the first king whose native language was English (since the Norman
conquest) was in the throne (Henry IV, 1399). It was a long period of nearly three hundred years, in which
English wasn’t an important language but it helped it to become a stronger language after that period.
4.- Influence of French in the English language

As we have just said, English wasn’t used much by the elite. So, it is difficult to find texts from 1066
to 1200. This created some strong influences from French.
-- Grammar:
● English lost inflection in all types of words, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. It became
simpler.
● Verbs lose their endings for tenses and person.
● Due to the fact of losing declination, people had to put words in a particular order to express
meaning.
● A fact related to the previous point is that prepositions became really important and complex.
-- Spelling:
● French scribes abandoned the runic and Celtic symbols used in OE, and bought the roman
system, when adapting texts from Old English.
● The printing press was introduced in England in 1476 by William Caxton. He began to use
the spelling of the London dialect. This began to unify the spelling little by little.
7
● Pronunciation: French influenced the pronunciation by the introduction of the new sounds
and spellings.
● Vocabulary: more than 10.000 words were introduced in English from French by 1500.
5.- Calques and borrows

First of all, we need to know exactly what is a calque and a borrowing.
Calque: it is a phrase or compound word whose components are literal translations. For example,
flea market or forget-me-not.
Borrowing: they are words taken from another language, adapted or modified. There are different
types of adaptation: ancestor, furniture, chair, cuisine, tournament.
The types of borrowings we can find:

-- French words replaced OE words.
-- French new words stays with the OE words: ask/demand; wedding/marriage
-- French, Latin and English words stay: king, monarch and sovereign.
Social life:
-- words for animals: cow, pig, sheep.
-- words for the meat of those animals: beef, pork, mutton.
6.- Elements of……

The main elements we have seen of this unit are:
-- Historical background with the Norman conquest as the main fact.

-- Influence of French in the development of English.
These main elements are related to three of our key competences, the social and civic competence,
the cultural awareness and the linguistic competence.
The social and civic competence is related to the main elements of the unit because it promotes
better understanding of a foreign culture. Cultural awareness helps us to understand cultural and linguistic
diversity and the linguistic one is related because with this unit we learn many linguistic concepts/ideas
regarding English that we didn't know.
ECD/65/2915. Many of these elements help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon culture.
7.- Conclusion
In this unit we have tried to develop the reasons why the Norman conquest is so important in the
development of the English. As we have mentioned, that period is Middle English (1100-1450/1500). English
became stranger as a language after that but as we saw French helped as well.
This information in the learning process of the English language allow us to know better two
elements:
-- A better understanding of the anglo saxon society nowadays and their cultural and
linguistic diversity.
-- And to realise the importance of English in the world as a vehicular language.
-- The impact of another language in English. A rich and productive impact. Languages are
alive cultural demonstrations that enrich our societies.
1.- Introduction
8
This unit deals with the Norman conquest which produced, as a consequence, the end of the Old
English and the beginning of the Middle English. We will try to explain how all this period affected the
development of the English language and why this Norman conquest was a major event in the consolidation
of English as the language of Britain.
The Norman conquest

We are going to divide this part in three: the historical background, the Norman conquest, and the
Norman conquest in England.
Historical background
This unit deals with the Norman conquest which produced , as a consequence, the end of the Old
English (450- c. 1150) and the beginning of the Middle English (1150-1450). We will divide the unit into 3
parts. First, with a historical background. Second, with the linguistic situation in Britain after the conquest,
and thirdly, writing about the influence of French into English. We will try to explain how affected all this
period in the development of the English language and why Norman conquest was a major event in the
consolidation of English as the language of Britain.
2.- The Norman conquest

As we said previously, we are going to divide this part into three: Historical background, Norman
conquest and the influence of the Norman conquest on the English language.
Historical Background
The Normans are a Germanic tribe which settled in the area of Normandy. They had some links with
the British anglo saxon elites and this is the reason why when Edward the Confessor died childless, the
Norman duke William, with some blood link claimed his right to the English throne.
Norman conquest
William defeated Harold who was part of the anglo saxon nobility and was elected King after
Edward’s death, and became the first Norman king in England. It was 1066.
Consequences
It meant a huge change because William brought with him the Norman nobility, who replaced the
anglo saxon. They were foreigners, with different interests and language and quickly occupied the most
important places in the kingdom.
Apart from the most visible consequence of the Norman conquest, it is possible to see other
important consequences related to the English language. In the introduction we said that this conquest
marks the change between the Old English to the Middle English.
Normans introduced their language (a dialect of French) and English was moved to a low status. All
mobility had to communicate in French. During this period colived three different languages (English, French
and Latin) but the status of each of them was quite different. Latin was this language used to communicate
with other countries and the one used by the church. French was used by all the nobility. And English was
used by the rest of the English population.
All this new Norman nobility had interests in Normandy and in fact, during the XII century, this
mobility felt that Normandy was more their home than England.
But this situation changed progressively. The first step was when King John lost Normandy in 1204.
This didn’t mean all links with France were broken and the 100 years war is an example of this (1335-1453).
This war also developed for the first time the idea of the English nation (in contraposition of the French
kingdom) and helped to settle the English language as a main element of “Englishness”. In fact, two events
show this idea perfectly. In 1362, for the first time English was used to open the Parliament, and in 1399,
Henry IV was the first English speaking king since before the Norman conquest in 1066.
9
So, the English language was able to survive a difficult period and emerged from it completely
changed, ready to become a modern and functional language.
4.- Influence in the English language
During the period of Norman influence the English language suffered its most important changes. It
was a period (1066-1400) where English had a low status for that reason we find less written texts. This fact
helped the quick evolution of the language which appeared by 1450 mature enough to become the main tool
to communicate in ENgland.
The main changes are:

-- Grammar: many words lost their inflections and verbs lost their endings for tenses and
person. The declination was lost as well, and for that reason the word order began to be something basic in
English.
-- Spelling: with the Norman conquest, the OE runic and Celtic symbols were replaced by
the latin alphabet. Also, William Caxton, with the introduction of the Printing Press in England (1476) chose
the dialect of London as the standard spelling for English.
-- Vocabulary: the Norman conquest introduced thousands of French words into English. In
some cases, latin words were also introduced through French.
5.- Calques and borrowings
Borrowings: they are also known as loan words, which are often adopted with some modification
from a foreign language. These words can be adopted in 3 grades: totally assimilated, retaining part of their
foreign origin or assimilated in form but semantically tied to a foreign context.
Calques: by calques we refer to the adoption of a phrase or compound words from a foreign
language, keeping the original meaning but adapting the form: “flea market”.
Before finishing this part I would like to mention that during this period some French words replaced
the Old English words, but in some cases both remained. SOmetimes, even the Latin form remained
(monarch, king, sovereign).
It was curious to see the social class differences when we analyse the vocabulary to refer to different
types of meat. If we want to speak about the meat produced by the animal known as cow, we refer to pork.

This is a great unit to / for understanding the aspects that English shares with “romance” languages
and to see how a language can change on time. It can also help us to understand the variety of the roots of
tons of English words.
7.- Conclusion
The Norman conquest is one of the most important events for the English language and the History
of the island. It helped to modify important aspects of the language forever.
8.- Bibliography
.- BARBER: the English language. A historical introduction. CUP. 2000.
.- BAUGH AND CABLE: A History of the English language. Prentice Hall, 2001.
.- MUGGLESTONE: the Oxford History of English. OUP. 2006.
.- KINDER AND HEIGELMANN: the Penguin atlas of world history.
10
Webliography
.- Oxford UP literature: oup.com/UK/literature
.- wikipedia
.- Encyclopaedia Briannia
.- BBC History
UNIT 43: ORAL TRANSMISSION OF MEDIEVAL LITERATURE. THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR AND
GEOFFREY CHANCE’S CANTERBURY TALES
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
3.- ORALLY TRANSMITTED MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
4.- THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR
5.- CHANCE AND THE CANTERBURY TALES
6.- CONCLUSION
7.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This is a really long and important unit. Long because it analyses a period of nearly one hundred
years, which began with the conquest of the Anglo-Saxon up to the beginning of the XV century, when
Chaucer finished his Canterbury Tales. And it is important because it is a fundamental transitional period for
the English language. It will pass from the OE (450-1150) to Middle English (1150-1450). After Chaucer, the
English language will be ready to become the official language of England in all spheres.
1.- Introduction
This is an interesting unit, where we can learn curious elements of the formation period of the
English language. For example, we can discover that until the XIII century, the legends about Arthur had
been written in Latin or in Anglo-Normand, a dialect of French, brought to the isles by the Normand
conquest.
This is also a formation period for the English language. From Old English, after the Anglo-Saxon
invasions (OE: 450-1150 AD), to Middle English (ME: 1150-1500 AD). In this unit we will briefly see how the
English language developed its first literary documents.
******************
2.- Historical Background
We are going to depict the historic period of this unit briefly. It began with the invasion and conquest
of the Anglo-Saxons and Junes around the V century. During this period, until the Normand conquest in
1066. The languages brought by the invaders began to expand. This is Old English, a mix of Scandinavian
languages spoken by the conquerors.
Around 597, St. Augustine began the Christianization of Britain and it will also introduce latin.
During the IX century we will see Vikings attacks which will be stopped for a while by Alfred the
Great. It is during this period two types of literature developed:
● Christian epic: began with Saint Augustine.
● Heroic epic: tradition brought by the Conquerors.
11
In 1066 William the Conqueror won the battle of Hastings and the Normans conquered most of
Britain territory. This implied a great influence from the French language, being the main language until the
end of the XIV century.

*****************
3.- Orally transmitted mediaeval literature
As we have mentioned before the Anglo-Saxons brought with them their oral transmitted literature
and with the Christianization of the isle, we have also a Christian tradition. The Anglo-Saxon tradition of this
type of literature can be found in the epic Beowulf. And in the Christian tradition we can mention the
Caedmon’s Hymn and Deor’s Lament. All these first examples of oral literature were written in compilations
made by monks. The first ones that we have are the Exeter book (Beowolf was there) or the Vercelli Book.
They are made around the X century.
The typical topics of this first oral literature are war, religion, personal sadness or personal
happiness. They were part of their lives and for that reason they spoke about it. The typical features used in
the Old English Epic Poetry were:
● Alliteration: the most important device.
● The Caesura: a space between two sections.
● Important use of variation or synonyms.
● Important use of Kennings.
The Anglo-Saxon culture, which arrived in the Britain isles in the V century, was a culture without
written records. It was a culture orally transmitted. In 597, with the arrival of Saint Augustine to Britain, the
Christianization of the Anglo-Saxon tribes began. The monks did not only bring the Christian faith with them,
they also brought the capacity to read and write.
From the few remaining literature that we have, scholars specify two types of literary traditions during
the period of Old English (450-1150). The first is a pagan epic type. Beowulf was an example of this type.
The second is a Christian type, where the poet reflects about war, personal sadness or personal happiness.
Examples of this are Deor’s Lament and Caedmon’s Hymn. The works that I have just mentioned can be
found in the Exeter book and the Vercelli book. They are manuscripts from the X century, written by monks.
******************
4.- The legend of King Arthur
The legend of King Arthur is one of the greater national myths of England. It was developed during
the middle ages by the English normands. It is doubted that a king Arthur existed in the V century but the
legend was promoted by the Normans to create a distance between them and the Anglo-Saxons. We have to
remember that Arthur fights in the romances against the Anglo-Saxons.
The first information that we have about King Arthur is in the Historia Brittonum (written around the
year 830). From there it was taken by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who in his Historia Regum Britanniae, written
in 1138, began with the development of the legend.
In the XII century, the french poet Troyes added to the stories about King Arthur, the figure of the
Knight Lancelot and the quest for the Holy Grail. It began to be so important the myth of Arthur that it created
the Matter of Britain around his legends.
12
In this recount of how the legends about King Arthur were developed we need to add one last name,
the English writer Layamon, who at the beginning of the XIII century, not just included all sources known
about the myth, he also added a chivalry style, and introduced the Round Table and Avalon.
After Layamon the myth was finished. It had a period when it was really famous but during the XVI
and XVIII centuries it faded out. During the XIX it was used again (by Tennyson or Mark Twain), and during
the XX the cinema has been used as a source.
Arthur is firstly mentioned in a book called “Historia Brittorum” (830). This source was used by
Geoffrey of Monmouth for his book “Historia Regum Britanniae” (1138). Both books were written in latin.
During the XII century, the french poet Troyes used these stories, adding new elements, like the Knight
Lancelot or the Holy Grail. At the end of the XII century, the stories about Arthur became well known and
Jean Bodel, when explaining the three “matters”, spoke about Arthur as the main element of the Matter of
Britain.
Finally, in 1200, the English man Laymon added the final elements to the stories. He added the
Round table and Avalon. He wrote the “Brut”, where he also added the chivalry style.
With Laymon, the legend was complete and these stories about Arthur would be really famous until the XVIII
century. Another famous work about Arthur was “Le morte d’Arthur”, written by Thomas Malory, one of the
first English books printed at the end of the XV century.
******************
5.- Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer was born around 1340 and it seems that he worked as a diplomat for the King and as a
merchant. His work as a diplomat allowed him to travel around Europe. It is important to live for a while in
France and Italy. From Italy he introduced into English the rhymed iambic pentameter, being influenced by
Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.
His most important work is the Canterbury Tales. This work is a compilation of tales linked by the
main story: a group of pilgrims who are going to Canterbury from an inn are telling tales between them. In
theory the work is unfinished because as it is told in the prologue each of the pilgrims are going to tell two
stories going to Canterbury and they will do the same coming back. Finally, the best story will be rewarded.
So, in theory, it means that the whole book was going to have around 120 stories but there are just 24 stories
finished.
This is Chaucer's finest work because it allowed him to do a precise description of the society of his
time. The beginning of the work there is a description of the pilgrims where we can see that everyone is
represented there.
This book also helped to (popularizar) English language. For all this, Chaucer is considered the
father of the English language.
5.- Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer was born in England around 1340. He worked as a diplomat and as a merchant. This fact
made him travel to Italy and France, where he spent much of his time. This allowed him to introduce into the
English language the influence of Boccaccio and Dante. He introduced the Italian sonnet, with its “iambic
pentameter” rhythm which would be used later by Shakespeare.
13
Apart from his importance for English poetry, his work “The Canterbury Tales” is still considered the
major literary achievement of the English language during the mediaeval ages.
But it seems that it is an unfinished piece of work, because in the prologue, the narrator explains that
there are 20 pilgrims going to Canterbury from London, and while they are walking they tell tales. Each of
them tells two on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. In the end, they decide which one is
the best tale. So, as mentioned, the plan was to write around 80 tales. In the manuscripts we can find just 22
of them. But still, we could say that it is the greatest work in Medieval English literature, because between
the tales that we have, it is possible to see what Medieval society was like. Chaucer was able to adapt his
written style to each of the characters, creating a fascinating picture of that society. He was able to gather
different types of people, like a knight, a baker or a farmer, and make them sound credible.
Chaucer helped the English language to gain major status, and for that reason, he is considered the
father of the English language. After him, the English language was ready to become the official language of
the kingdom.
6.- Conclusion
As we have seen, this period of nearly 1000 years between the first oral transmission of literature
until the arrival of the printing press (1476), and the beginning of Modern English (1500), is really interesting
and little is known about it. I hope that with this brief explanation, the main elements have been clarified.
7.- Bibliography
● BARBER: The English Language. A historical Introduction. CUP, 2000.
● MUGGLESTORE: The Oxford English language. OUP, 2006.
● GREENBLATT (ed): The Norton Anthology of English. Norton, 2018.
● ROGERS: The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature. OUP, 1997.
● KINDER AND HEIGELMANN: The Penguin ATlas of World History. Penguin, 2002.
● OAKLAND: British Civilization: An Introduction. Routledge, 2016.
8.- Web Bibliography

● Wikipedia: www.en.wikipedia.org
● Encyclopedia Britannica: www. Britannia.com
● BBC History: www.bbc.co.uk/uk/history
******************
1.- Introduction
3.- Oral transmission of mediaeval literature
5.- Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
6.- Elements of the unit related to….
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about mediaeval literature including the legend of King
Arthur and “the Canterbury Tales”. This period covers a period of nearly one thousand years.
This unit is really important due to the fact that it shows us how the English language was
consolidated and how its first form of literature appeared.
Due to the lack of time we will summarise all the information needed to understand this unit.
14
From the V century the anglo-saxons and the jutes settled in Britain. They brought with them their
language, which would be considered the old English (450-1100). We don’t have many examples of this old
English, used mainly in an oral form.
With the conquest of the Normans in 1066, the English language began a new period, the Middle
English (1100-1500).
The Normans took the main places of the Kingdom and became the new elite. They also brought
their own language and English disappeared from the books for a while. With the loss of Normans of King
John and the beginning of the one hundred years’ war, the English language began to replace the
anglo-french as the language of the elite.

For many years the literature that we can find is a compilation of oral poetry kept by the Christian
church. The most important books of recompilation are the Vercelli (X century) and the Exeter (X century).
Thanks to these kind of compilations is impossible to divide the poetry found in two types:
-- Christian epic: which seems that it began in the time of Saint Augustine. The most important
poems are:
* Caedmon’s hymn.
* Deor’s lament.
-- Heroic epic: this is part of the tradition brought by the anglo-saxons and jutes. The most important
poem that we have is “Beowulf”.
The main topics of this first mediaeval literature are war, religion, personal sadness and personal
happiness.
The main rhetorical features used are the alliteration and the use of kennings.
King Arthur is a fictional character who is supposedly based on a Briton chief who fought against the
anglo saxon. He is mentioned for the first time in “Historia Brittonum” (830), which is a history of the
indigenous Britons. He also appears in the “Historia regum Britanniae '' (1138) written by Geoffrey of
Monmouth. During the XII it was added to the story the character of Lancelot used the quest of the holy grail,
and it was created the Matter of Britain by Jean Bodel. This matter was focused on King Arthur entirely.
In 1200, it appeared “Brut” by Layamon, who added the chivalry style and added the round table,
with him, the most famous elements of King Arthur’s legend were introduced.
In 1485 it was published “Le morte d’Arthur” by Thomas Malory. This book was one of the first to be
printed in Britain by Caxton who had introduced the printing press some years before.
5.- Chaucer (1341-1400) and the Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer worked as a diplomat for several years. This helped him to travel to France and Italy. There
he learnt their forms of poetry and introduced them in Britain: the sonnet with iambic pentameter rhythm and
the sonnet.
His most famous work is the Canterbury Tales, which it seems he couldn’t finish. His initial idea was
a group of pilgrims, who are travelling to Canterbury to tell two tales each. He finished just 22 tales. This
work is considered one of the best of the literature in English because it helps English to gain major status.
15
Chaucer is able to describe mediaeval society, showing us the different changes that were transforming the
country.
6.- Elements of the unit related to….
The main elements of this unit are:

A.- The historical background of English mediaeval literature.
B.- The oral transmission of mediaeval literature.
C.- The legend of King Arthur
D.- Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
These main elements are related to three key competences: social and civic competences…….
7.- Conclusion
UNIT 44
INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
3. ELIZABETHAN THEATRE
4. SHAKESPEARE LIFE AND WORKS: COMEDIES, TRAGEDIES, HISTORY PLAYS AND FINAL
WORKS.
5. ELEMENTS OF THE UNIT RELATED WITH THE ENGLISH SUBJECT
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- INTRODUCTION
This is a really important unit because we deal with the figure of Shakespeare, a playwright who has
influenced most of the literature created after him.
It was also important because it helped to modernise theatre during his life and helped to mature the
English language with his blank verse (iambic pentameter) or his Sonnets.
Shakespeare was born at the beginning of Elisabeth I’s reign. She was the daughter of Henry VIII,
but his mum had been killed by the King and she began to rule just after her step-brother and step-sister
died. It began with her a period of stability and development of the arts in England, which helped what was
called the English Renaissance Theatre.
The main danger for Elisabeth I was to consolidate the new Anglican Church, created by his father.
This is the period when protestantism is expanding and the Catholics, with Philip II, are trying to finish it.
Elisabeth was able to settle the Anglican Church but after his death, instability came back again. She died
childless and the next English King would be a Catholic. It would take a century to finish with this problem.
3.- Elizabethan theatre
This period is also called the English Renaissance Theatre, a period where theatre became the most
important form of literature for society. During the XVI century a new form of representation was becoming
more popular. The religious plays were less popular and a new theatre with new topics emerged. This
consolidated during the Elizabethan period.
Important playwrights of this period were Thomas Kyd or Christopher Marlowe.
16
The English Renaissance theatre finished with Crommwell, who will close the theatres, but there was
a big difference between the Elizabethan theatre and the English Renaissance. With the new King after
Elisabeth’s death, the playwrights began to write for the elites, who had their own private theatre. During the
Elizabethan period, the plays were written to entertain everyone, and usually everyone was together at the
cinema.
4.- Shakespeare’s life and work.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. We don’t know much about his life but we
know that in the 1590's he was already known in London as an actor, playwright and producer.
Some years later he became part of Lord Chamberlain's men, a popular theatre company sponsored
by Lord Chamberlain. After the death of Elisabeth, Shakespeare’s company became the company of the new
King James: The King’s men. In 1611 Shakespeare went back to Stratford-upon-avon where he died in 1616.
We are going to divide his works in types:
- Comedies:
- Tragedies:
- Historical plays:
- Final plays (tragicomedies): difficult to define:
Sonnets: 164 poems: 4 stanzas: 3 quatrains + a final couplet: iambic pentameter.
1.- Introduction
3.- Elizabethan theatre.
4.- Shakespeare’s life and works: comedies, tragedies, history plays and final plays.
5.- Elements of the unit related
6.- Conclusion
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give an overview about the well-known playwright William Shakespeare and
his time.
This unit is really important due to the fact that Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest
authors of all time. Some of his plays are known around the world after 400 years.
Due to the lack of time we will summarise all the parts of the unit, but keeping the most important
information.

Shakespeare was born during the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603). She tried to settle the Anglican
church during her reigned and promoted the arts. In fact her period as queen is considered the English
Renaissance. Her idea of promoting the Anglican church (and with that the protestant branch of the Christian
faith). She made dangerous enemies such as the Spaniards with Filiph II.
3.- Elizabethan theatre.

During the reign of Elizabeth a new form of theatre appeared. It was a mix between the old
mediaeval plays and the “classical” theatre from the old Rome and Greece. The old Rome and Greece
“classical” theatre was full of long soliloquies but with a very static performance. While the morality plays
were more dynamic but with character and plots largely symbolic.
The Elizabethan theatre meant the mix of both types. The most important authors were Thomas Kyd
and Christopher Marlowe.
17
4.- Shakespeare’s life and works: comedies, tragedies, history plays and final plays.
We don’t know much about Shakespeare’s personal life or his professional career. We are lucky that
some friends, some years after he was dead, published all his plays. This (recopilation) COMPILATION is
called the first folio. For this reason, we are going to divide Shakespeare’s plays by genre, and we will
mention just the most important facts of (in) his life.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford Upon Avon in 1564. It seems he went to London at the end of the
1580’s where he worked for a theatre company called the Chamberlain’s men (referred to the noble man
funding the group). With the death of Elisabeth, the new key began to fund Shakespeare’s company. For this
reason they began to be called “the King’s men''. It seems that he went back to Stratford to retire in 1611,
where he died in 1616.
Shakespeare’s plays
It seems he based many of his plays in the work of other playwrights and recycled stories and
historical material. His plays are possible to divide them into 4 groups:
● Comedies. They had happy endings. The main plot was usually the problems that a young couple
had to overcome. The tone and the style was lighthearted: “A midsummer night’s dream”.
● Tragedies. Shakespeare’s most famous plays belong to this type of plays. He deals with issues such
as revenge, betrayal, murder, lust or power. In many of the plays some characters try to achieve
perfection but they all fail. There is a feeling that fate has been writing already, and it doesn’t matter
what we do because the future has already been written. “Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, ROmeo and
Juliet”, ``King Lear”.
● History plays. In this type we can find two subgroups. The ones that tell English stories and the ones
that tell Roman stories. We can find in this group: Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Richard
III, Julius Caesar and Antonio and Cleopatra.
● Finally, we have the tragic comedies or late romance. This final group doesn’t appear in the first folio.
But later on scholars thought that it is possible to differentiate this type of comedies of
Shakespeare’s last years from his first comedies. These tragicomedies have a more elaborate
plotline with a happy ending and the use of magic and other fantastic elements.
5.- Elements of the unit related
The main elements of the unit are:

a).- The historical background of the period.
b).- The new Elizabethan theatre.
C).- Shakespeare’s life and works.
These main elements are related to the 3 key competences: social….. And linguistic competence…..
ECD/65/2015, many of these elements help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon culture.
6.- Conclusion
UNIT 45: GREAT BRITAIN IN THE XVIII CENTURY: SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT; TECHNICAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY.
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- Economic Aspects
3.- Social aspects
5.- Cultural Aspects
6.- Great Novelists:
● Daniel Defoe: Robison Crusoe/Moll Flanders.
18
● Johathan Swift; Gulliver’s travel/A modest proposal.
● Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Pamela (psychological and sentimental detail: inner
experience).
● Henry Fielding (1907-1754): Tom Jones/Sahela Andrews.
● Laurence Sterne (1713-1768): Tristram Shandy.
Journalists
● Dr. Samuel Johnson: Dictionary (1755); Enlightenment;
● Richard Steele (the Tattler).
● Joseph Addison (the Spectator).
7.- Elements of the UNIT related to the English subject.

8.- Conclusion.
9.- Bibliography.
1.- Introduction
This is a really important unit because it deals with the century that settled novels as the genre that
we know today. It also deals with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. During this century people saw
how their lives changed radically from a farming society to an industrial one.
2.- Economic aspects

England had become one of the great powers at the beginning of the XVIII century. They had control
over many colonies around the world which helped them to accumulate capital which they would invest to
develop the Industrial Revolution.
But two main things would trigger the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The first, the Glorious
Revolution in 1688, which created a peaceful political situation. It created the conditions for the development
of a liberal society. People such as John Locke or Adam Smith wrote about that new liberal society where
capitalism was going to be at the centre of the political economy.
The second fact that helped the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was the changes in the
countryside. It promoted the enclosure of fields, and new inventions applied to farming were created. All this
created a more productive and efficient farming. So, they were producing more food, using less people.
From the second half of the XVIII century the Industrial Revolution began. It began a technical
revolution which helped to produce more goods and a transport revolution which increased the mobility of
manufactured products, raw materials, and people.
3.- Social Concepts: 3 aspects.
● (Open-class society; more mobility): one of the most important effects of this Industrial Revolution
was the fact that society became more open. Until the end of the XVII century the place that a
person had in the society depended on the place that a person had in the society depended on the
place that person was born but from the XVIII, another element began to be more important: money.
It began to be an important factor and it meant a more open society, where it was possible to go up if
you got rich.
● (Education): during the XVIII century, it began to be more normal to go to school for children. It is
possible to find a more developed system of schools around England under the church’s power but
still, quite limited, where girls didn’t have the right to go.
● (Mechanization of the production, Creation of factories): The last social factor, important to mention,
was the effort of the mechanisation of the production.
4.- Political Aspects
19
● As I mentioned before, the Glorious Revolution in 1688 created the base for a liberal society. The
crown was limited in their power which passed to the Parliament. It is really relevant to this
parliamentary development because in the rest of Europe the Crown’s interests were priority, while in
England, the entrepreneurs, the aristocracy, or the wealthy could lead the agenda.
5.- Cultural aspects
● Enlightenment
● Newspapers: Richard Steele (the tattler); Joseph Addison (the spectator)
This is an interesting century for Culture. First, it was the rise of a new Cultural movement called the
Enlightenment. This movement promoted the use of reason to find solutions to the problems. It was taught
that education and knowledge was basic to improve the situation of everyone. This idea had great
consequences. For example, it began the creation of National language academies, to promote the proper
use of language. Also, the creation of the first dictionaries such as the one written by Smauel Johnson in
1755 (dictionary of the English language).
Related to the enlightenment movement, during the XVIII century we also had the direction and
development of the newspapers. It was also possible thanks to some technical improvement. During this
century they became little by little more popular. At the beginning they were associated with the middle
classes, which could pay and read. But this had several important consequences. They began to publish
books in serialised form and to be a common entertainment to middle-class women.
So, it helped to consolidate the novel as an important genre and more women began to be interested in
literature. Finally, writers before the XVIII century needed a wealthy friend/ patron to publish their books.
From the XVIII century, they will have more freedom, and depend more on the newspaper’s readers and
their interests.
6.- Great writers:
● Daniel Dafoe: his characters’ behaviour analysed writing in first person with detailed description.
Excessive desire to moralise but this plain and direct style (Robinson Crusoe; Moll Flanders).
● Jonathan Swift: he had a darker vision of reality than the enlightened. He used irony in his writings.
He holds the readers’ interest (The Gulliver's Travels).
● Samuel Richardson: Pamela: psychological and sentimental details: inner experience.
● Henry Fielding: Shamela Andrews/ Tom Jones playwright irritated by the success of Pamela.
● Laurence Sterne:
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview of the XVIII century in Great Britain, analysing the
socioeconomic, political and cultural aspects of that period. We will finish this overview with the most
important writers of that period.
This unit is really important due to the fact that during that century modernity was created. The
enlightenment, the development of novels as an independent form of prose, the creation of newspapers, the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution. So, if we want to understand our contemporary society we need to
understand how and when it was created, and that is the idea of this unit.
Due to the lack of time we will have to summarise all the parts of the unit.
2.- Socioeconomic and political development during the XVIII century.

As we have just mentioned, this period meant the beginning of many things that after completely
changing the life of all the population we will try to list them all.
Economic aspects:
20
-- It was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. During the beginning of the XVIII the first
changes in agriculture were done (first technological development, new forms of farming the land,
enclosures…).
-- It was the beginning of the capitalist economic system. During this period the countries
used mercantilism (Adam Smith: “The wealth of the countries”).
Social aspects:
-- The British society becomes a more open society between classes, more mobility. This
was a big change.
-- Mechanization of the production and the creation of factories. During the XIX this meant
worse life conditions and the creation of trade unions and the first strokes.
Political aspects:
-- 1618: the Glorious revolution: this meant to develop a liberal society, with a Parliamentary
monarchy state.
-- Great Britain developed a huge control over the commercial routes during this period.
3.- Technological and cultural aspects.
Technological aspects
As we have just mentioned previously, during the beginning of the VIII century began a technological
development that helped the Industrial revolution, helping first with a transport revolution and an Agricultural
revolution. New machines were created such as the mule or the steam engine, and the roads and the canals
were improved.
Cultural aspects
After a dark period in the VII century with the puritans, this XVIII century meant the development of
many aspects of British culture. It was the beginning of the newspapers, the developments of the novel, the
first dictionary was created, the first language academies…
All the cultural development of this period is associated with the enlightenment movement of the
XVIII century; the final consequences of this movement were the French Revolution and American
independence. The enlightenment movement had spreaded literal ideas where freedom and equality are
essential.
4.- Great writers of that time
As we have just said this period saw the development of the novel as an important and independent
form of prose. Some of the most important writers are:
-- Daniel Dafoe: he wrote two of the most important novels of that period “Moll Flanders” and
“Robinson Crusoe”. Both are written in first person, in a plain and direct style, which makes it easy to identify
with the characters of the novel.
-- Jonathan Swift: he wrote “Gulliver’s Travel” and the satiric essay “A modest proposal”. He used
irony to criticise some aspects of his society that he didn’t like.
-- Samuel Richardson: “Pamela” (1740). He’s considered one of the founders of the English novel for
this work. He focused on the inner and psychological aspects of the characters, and their sentimental details.
-- Henry Fielding: he didn’t like Pamela and that was the reason he wrote a parody called “Shamela
Andrews”. He became very famous with his novel “Tom Jones”. His novels followed the picaresque style,
adding dignity to his characters and criticism of manners.
21
-- Laurence Sterne: before finishing with this part we need to add the novel of Sterne, “Tristram
Shandy”, a quite advanced novel from a formal point of view, that has been an influential work for the most
experimental writers in the XX century.

● The main elements of the unit are:
○ Overview of the socioeconomic, political, technological and cultural aspects of Great Britain
during the XVIII century.
○ Overview of the most famous British writers of the XVIII century.
● These main elements are related to 3 key competences: social and civic competence, cultural
awareness and expression, and linguistic competence.
● These elements are also related to the curriculum of our subject which appears in the order
ECD/65/2015. Many of these elements help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon
culture.
6.- Conclusion
7.- Bibliography
UNIT 46: HISTORIC CONFIGURATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: FROM THE
INDEPENDENCE TO THE CIVIL WAR. IMPORTANT NOVELS: THE SCARLET LETTER AND THE RED
BADGE OF COURAGE.
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- INDEPENDENCE OF USA
● REASONS
● WAR
3.- DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY.
4.- SECESSION WAR OR CIVIL WAR
5.- AMERICAN LITERATURE
6.- REFERENCE NOVELS
7.- ELEMENTS OF THE UNIT RELATED WITH THE ENGLISH SUBJECT.
8.- CONCLUSIONS.
9.- BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1.- Introduction
This is a really important unit to understand the creation and development of the USA. It is crucial
the influence of the USA in the development and expansion of the English language around the world. It is
also important to check this literature during this vital period.
2.- The independence of USA
The country known as the USA was during the XVII and most of the XVIII century a colony of
England. In fact at the end of the XVII century it was their most important colony.
(From 1651, Navigation Acts restricted the colonies’ trade to England): But during the XVIII the
English laws restricting their trade and the taxes over some products were creating the idea that England
was unfair with their colonies.
During the XVIII century it began a movement asking for representation in the English Parliament. If
they were paying taxes they wanted representation. But England refused to do it and the problem got bigger.
22
In 1773 it happened at the Tea Boston Party, when American colonists threw boxes with tea refusing
to pay the tax over the tea. The English passed the Intolerable Acts which gave them more control over the
colonies.
This was the beginning of the revolutionary war, representation from all the colonies met in a
Continental Congress. The war against England began and they signed the Declaration of Independence.
That was in 1776. The war finished in 1783 (Treaty of Paris), after the new country was supported by France.
And in 1789, it was signed by the Constitution that declared the USA a Republic.
3.- Development of democracy
● The first president elected after the Constitution was signed was Washington, who had been the
commander in chief during the war.
● Especially, after Washington left the Presidency, it is possible to see the two political blocks that will
lead American politics until the civil war.
On the one hand the Federalists, who thought that the most important thing of the new state was the
federal state, and for that reason, it needed to be strong. On the other hand the Republicans, who thought
that the federal state needed to be weaker than the states of the Union.
Also, another problem emerged at the beginning of the XIX century, when a lot of people began to
critize the slavery institution. The States of the South depended on slaves, while the North, more
industrialised and focused on trade, didn’t need them.
Another reason for conflict was the expansion to the West. This expansion created new states
and the issue if the new states will abolish slavery or not generated a lot of tension.
4.- Secession war
● As we have seen, the causes for the secession were there since practically the independence of the
country. The tension grew little by little and finally in 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was elected
President, the tension exploited.
● Lincoln was a Republican, who was against slavery and wanted a strong federal state. The South
States threatened to leave the Union if Lincoln was elected. Finally, he was elected and the South
States left the Union. Lincoln began the war against the South.
● It lasted four years, in which in the North slavery was abolished.
● It left big sequels to the war but the States of the South didn’t try to leave the Federal State ever
more.
● The States of the South were destroyed but still they were able to avoid partially the laws about the
new free men, developing a society based on discrimination.
5.- American literature
● It is usually admitted by scholars that American literature didn’t have its own voice until
independence. From that moment, they began to create real American literature. For example, at the
beginning of the XIX it became really popular frontier literature.
For example, at the beginning of the XIX it became really popular frontier literature, which was based
in the expansion towards the West, with all their dangers and adventures.
● During the first half of the XIX century we can find writers as important as Edgar Allan Poe or
Hermman Melville, or James Fenimore Cooper: “The last of the Mohicans”.
● But during this period until the secession the most important novels were the Scarlet Letter and the
Red Badge of COurage. The first novel, the Scarlet letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in
1850. It shows the author’s puritan views and also his sin and guilt concerns.
23
● The second novel is the Red Badge of courage written by Stephen Crane(1895). Crane is really
important in literature because:
○ First American to portray war realistically from the point of view of the individual soldier.
○ Also, treated themes such as prostitution, alcoholism or slums.
○ Paid attention to style, imagery and symbolism.
○ Anticipated Hemingway.
○ One of the first American writers to transcribe common speech.
1. - Introduction
2.- Independence of the USA (1773-1789): reasons, war (1776-1783).
3.- Development of democracy (1789-1861)
4.- Succession war or civil war (1861-1865)
6.- Novels
1. - Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview of the history of the USA since the independence up to
the civil war. We will mention the most important traits in the literature of this period and we will write about
two novels: the scarlet letter of Hawthorne and the red badge of courage of Crane.
This unit is really important due to the fact that it shows us the history of the USA from its origins,
helping us to better understand the development of this important country. It also gives us a summarised
account on the American literature of that period.
Due to the lack of time we will have to summarise most of the parts of the unit.
2.- Independence of the USA (1773-1789): reasons, war (1776-1783).
The problems between Great Britain and its American colonies didn’t begin in 1773 with the Tea
Boston party. This began before when the Metropoli wanted to tax the colonies more (to use it for its wars),
and the colonies asked in exchange for political representation in the Parliament. The British refused this
demand.
After the Tea Boston party the British wanted to take action against the people implicated in it and to
harden the laws in the colonies.
In 1775, representatives from all the colonies (continental Congress) decided to declare
independence. This initiated the war against Great Britain for America's independence.
In 1783, with the treaty of Paris, the war finished and the USA became a completely independent
country. In 1789, the representatives of the 13 colonies signed the Constitution of the new country.
3.- Development of democracy (1789-1861)
During this first period of American democracy, two groups were formed: the republicans, which
wanted a weak central state and the federalists, which thought that it was better to have a strong federal
state.
During the beginning of the XIX century another problem appeared. Some states abolished slavery
but some others states were based on slavery because their main economical work was to farm cotton.
So, the republicans, which wanted a weak central state, were majority in the slave states, while the
federalists were majority in the states that were against slavery.
With the expansion to the west the problems began to rise because new states were created and it
was important if they were slave states or not.
24
All the accumulated problems blew up in 1861 when a republican such as Lincoln, was elected
president of the USA. Most+-*968 of the southern states left the union and created a confederate state.
Lincoln abolished slavery and declare the war against the confederate states.
4.- Succession war or civil war (1861-1865)
The civil war finished in 1865. Even though in the last years it seemed clear that the North was going
to win. It took a long time to finish it and the south was destroyed when the war ended.
There were plans to rebuild the area and new laws to integrate the new free american citizens but
the south states were able to avoid partially these laws and developed a society based on discrimination.
Scholars admitted that American literature is not completely original until after the civil war. Although,
we can find some interesting authors before. For example, we can find “frontier literature”, with the novel “the
last of the mohican” by Fenimore Cooper, or the own adaptation of romanticism that was transcendentalism
with Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville or Washington Irving.
6.- Important novels
In this last part of the unit we need to speak about “the scarlet letter” by Nathaniel Hawtorn and “the
red badge of courage” by Stephen Crane.
The first novel was written in 1850 by Hawtorne, and shows the author’s puritan views and his sin
and guilt concerns. He shows in the novel his style full of symbolism being related to transcendentalism.
The second novel, “the red badge of courage” by Crane, is realistic and naturalistic. In this novel we
can see how Crane portrays war realistically from the point of view of an individual soldier. He treated
themes such as alcoholism, prostitution or slums, pais attention to style, imagery and symbolism, anticipating
Hemingway.
7.- Elements of the …..
-- The historical development of the USA since its independence up to 1865, when the civil
war finished.
-- A summarised overview of the American literature of that period.
-- Important aspects of the novels “the scarlet letter” and “the red badge of courage”.
These main elements are related to three key competences: social and civic competence, cultural
These elements are also related to the curriculum of our subject, which appears in the order
ECD/65/2015. Many of the elements help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon culture.
8.- Conclusion
UNIT 47: THE ENGLISH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: ITS INFLUENCE AS A MODEL IF HISTORICAL
TRANSFORMATION. THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES THROUGH LITERATURE. DICKENS.
25
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
3.- ITS INFLUENCE AS A MODEL OF HISTORICAL CHANGE
4.- SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES THROUGH THE LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD
5.- DICKENS
7.- CONCLUSION
8.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This is a very important unit because it is focused on the Industrial Revolution and its relation with
literature in the UK. Also, it is difficult to summarise all the content in two hours. This is the reason why I will
need to summarise some of the parts.
It is important to mention that we will check the life and work of Dickens, one of the most famous writers in
the English language. He depicted through his books the development of the news industrial society.
2.- The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in England during the XVIII century but until the XIX we will not be
able to understand the brutal change that it meant.
During the XVIII century the main changes were produced in the countryside. Agriculture became more
efficient and able to feed more people. At the same time it needed less people to work there. There are
several reasons for this transformation but the main ones are:
-- The technological improvements.

-- New forms of working the land.
-- The closure of fields.
At the same time, a new form of producing goods in the city was created: the factory. These places
improved productivity because you could have all the steps of the production and you have artificial light
which meant workers could spend more time there.
All these changes in the production of goods changed the life of everyone. More and more people
began to live in cities, which weren’t ready to keep them. This created more and more slums around the
cities and a new class, the proletarian.
This first part of the Industrial Revolution that began in the XVIII century, it is mainly related with the
production of textiles. With the development of technology, for example the invention of the steam railway,
the Industrial Revolution will become more focused on heavy industries.
Finally, another important factor for this Industrial Revolution was the development of new forms of
transport and some technical improvements that helped this transport revolution. For example, thanks to
some creative solutions it was possible to use many of the canals that go around Englands, making it easy to
transport goods or raw materials.
3.- Its influence as a model of historical change
At the beginning of the XIX century no country had the conditions to develop an Industrial Revolution
like the UK was doing. They had everything: a wealthy class ready to invest and to take risk, inventors to
improve machinery, capital ready to be invested, the Bank of England ready to help, the colonies as a market
to export your manufacturer, a well-united country (without many old tolls, good communications,...). It
seems that Belgium was the first European country after the UK) that began. They had mines, small and
26
unified countries. Also, France began its industrial Revolution, and at the end of the XIX Germany or Russia.
Also, during the XIX the USA began its transformation. The difference between the UK and the rest of
European countries during the XIX century is that the UK didn’t need to promote industrialization from the
government. It was a process lent by private investors.
4.- Social and political changes through the literature of the period.
The Industrial Revolution was a massive change for everyone. The lives of thousands of people
were altered in a short time. The countryside was unable to keep many peasants with good conditions and
the cities began a massive expenditure without any plan. The new factories didn’t provide enough money for
their workers and the quality of life for many decreased.
This was the reason that there were many social and political changes during this period as well.
(Work organisation) For example, the factory workers began to form trade-unions, organisations for
defending their rights. They began to use it as a measure of pressure “strikes”, where the workers all
together refused to work. These trade-unions will pressure the government to pass laws that improve the
situation of workers.
(Role of women) Also, between the sound changes, we need to speak about the role of women. With
the changes we mentioned before they needed to leave the countryside as well. And in the cities they began
to work as maids for middle-class families, some in factories and others as prostitutes.
We can say that this industrial revolution didn’t help at all in the fight of women for emancipation.
Mary Walllstonecraft had written her famous book “A vindication of rights of women” at the end of the XVIII
as an answer to the negation of rights for women, but the situation didn’t change much for nearly 100 years.
The middle-class and upper-class women were at home, taking care of their families, and the rest of women
could be working as a domestic service3 for middle and upper-classes, in a factory or as prostitutes.
But the new working class began to act together and after the Napoleonic wars began to succeed in
their pressure towards the Parliament, which introduced some laws that improved the quality of life for many
workers.
(Political Changes) For example, regulated the minimum wage, the maximum hours that could be
worked per day, the minimum age, the minimum conditions at work….
All these situations and changes that we have written were condemned by the name writer at the
time.
For example, we have the point of view of a woman with Elizabeth Gaskel, who will write about the
situation of women in the Victorian society and in a big city: Mary Barton, set in Manchester in 1830, and
deals with the difficulties faced by the Victorian working class (“A tale of Manchester life”).
Also, other writers such as Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Kingsley or W. M. Thackeray wrote about the
problems for surviving of the working class
5.- Charles DIckens (1812-1870)
Born in Portsmouth, the difficulties that DIckens suffered during his childhood, made him to be
sympathetic with the poorest and to complain against injustice. He couldn’t finish school and had to work in a
factory. Some years later he began to work as a journalist and from there he started to write small articles
that were caricatures of the life and manners of the time. They were written with a pen name and were really
successful (sketches by Boz).
27
His next written work was the same style: the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, and was
again a big success.
In these two works Dickens used irony to criticise many things of his society that he didn’t like but
this criticism wasn’t too hard and there were other themes such as love, affairs, fellowship….
But after the success of his writings he knew that he would become a novel writer. His next work, it
would be one of his most famous novels: Oliver Twist, where he uses memories of his life and began to
criticise some Victorian institutions in a direct form. In this case the warehouses which existed at the time.
This book was a mix of melodrama and realism. It appeared in a serialised form. The next important novels
he wrote were Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield. This last novel
has again a strong biographical element.
It is important to mention also Black House, Hard Times, A tale of two cities or Great Expectations.
Dickens is really important as a writer because not only showed a realistic view of his society but
also changed the status of the novel. For the first time this genre was the one with more followers, the most
important. His novels were known by everyone.
1.- Introduction
2.- The industrial revolution
3.- The industrial revolution’s influence as a model of historical change
4.- The social and political changes though literature of the period
5.- Dickens
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
The main aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about the English Industrial revolution, its
consequences over society and how it was used by the writers of the period, especially Dickens.
This unit is very important due to the fact that we can make connections between our contemporary
society with the one that suffered the industrial revolution.
Due to the lack of time we will need to summarise the information about this period, focusing on the
most important ideas and facts, trying to give a clear idea about the main topic of the unit.
2.- The industrial revolution

This event happened because many different elements made it possible. We also need to remember
that this event was developed during most of the XVIII century and the XIX century in Great Britain.
Among the different elements which made it possible we can find:

● A political change in 1688: Glorious Revolution. It settled a Parliamentary Monarchy, and a
liberal ideology.
● Capitalism began to grow (but mercantilism was the normal).
● Agriculture revolution: during the end of XVII century and the beginning of the XVIII, Great
Britain began a change in its agriculture sector. It began the enclosure of fields, some
developments in the technology used and new forms of farming.
● It began a transport revolution: the canals around Great Britain began to be better
communicated which created a more integrated area.
All these changes were pushing the new ones: more efficiency in the agriculture sector pushed many
peasants to abandon their rural life and go to the cities, where a new place for manufacturing products
began to grow: the factories.
28
3.- The industrial revolution’s influence as a model of historical change
At the beginning of the XIX century all the conditions were perfect for the Industrial Revolution to
grow (take off) higher. The cities began to be huge and they were not ready to deal with many people. So,
the conditions of the workers got worse.
So, the elements that began during the XVIII century created the conditions for the Industrial Revolution of
the XIX century which changed the whole social and economic structure of Great Britain. This model was
copied by many countries which tried to initiate it.
4.- The social and political changes though literature of the period
As we have just mentioned the Industrial Revolution created new conditions and forms of life from
the XIX century this also created social and political changes which were depicted by many authors.
Inequality grew rapidly and the new changes that were happening didn’t fix any of the problems that
this massive transformation was creating.
In fact, during the beginning of the XIX century, the first Trade Unions were created. They tried to
improve their situation in the factories and their working conditions.
Among the authors that began to write about this we can mention:
● Elisabeth Gaskel (and her novel “Mary Barton”, where she deals with the difficulties faced by
the VIctorian working class from a woman’s point of view.
● Benjamin Disraeli: in this novel “Sybil or the two nations” portrays industrial and agricultural
misery, the cruelty to children and the brutalization of the poor.
● Thuckeray: in “Vanity Fair” he depicts the stories of two girls, one poor and the other girl
from a wealthy family.
●
5.- Dickens
With him, the novel became the most important form of literature. He worked in a warehouse of that
period and used his memories and experiences to criticise it later on in his books. He began writing short
stories in newspapers, which were called “Sketches by Boz”. Boz was his pen name. In this first work he
made a soft critique about the manners of his time. His second book was the same type: “The Posthumous
papers of the Pickwick club”. But with his third book he began to be really famous in Great Britain: “Oliver
Twist”. This is a proper novel, but it was sold in a newspaper in a serialised form, where Dickens began to
attack some Victorian institutions such as the warehouses, which he knew perfectly well.
The tone and style used in “Oliver Twist” will be used by Dickens the rest of his life. Some of his
most important books are “A Christmas Carol”, “A tale of two cities” and “Great Expectations”.
He showed a realistic view of his society and criticised the injustices. He was considered the writer of
the common people. He reached great popularity in his time.
The main elements of the subject are:

● The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
● The authors who talk about it.
● Dickens
These main elements are related with the three key competences: the social and civic competence,
the cultural awareness and expression, and the linguistic competence.
29
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
UNIT 48: ROMANTICISM IN GREAT BRITAIN: NOVEL AND POETRY

INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
3.- CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMANTICISM
4.- POETRY
5.- NOVEL
7.- CONCLUSION
8.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction.
This unit focuses on the moment known as Romanticism and how it was developed in Great Britain.
This movement was a reaction against the enlightenment because it wasn’t a real answer to the social
changes suffered at the end of the XVIII century.
This movement was mainly focused on poetry which was still the most important genre in literature.
As I mentioned in the introduction, Romanticism was a movement born as a reaction of the

enlightenment, which promoted the use of reason. During the XVIII many people thought that social
problems could be solved using knowledge and reason. But at the end of the century, with the beginning of
the Industrial Revolution, the American Independence and the French Revolution, it became clear the failure
of these ideas.
3.- CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMANTICISM

● Romanticism promoted freedom and for that reason it is difficult to find an unify group but it is still
possible to see some common ideas among romanticism writers.
● Basically they share three ideas: the first is the reaction against reason. The second is the function
of the poet, and the third is the use of common subjects.
The first idea is linked with promoting freedom and to break with social conversations. They see
Nature as the only pure place left.
The second idea is the importance of poets as speakers of the problems of the world and people.
They were the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.
The third idea is the common themes. For example, the use of Nature, as we said, which represents
beauty. Also, the use as a theme of children, who represent spontaneous feeling not contaminated but
society.
And finally, the use of the supernatural, which is linked with the irrational part of our minds.
4.- POETRY
30
The romantic poets are divided in 3 groups: the pre-romantic, the first generation and the second
generation. Between the pre-romantics we find Thomas Grey whose earlier works were influenced by
neoclassical poets. His poetry changed at the end of the XVIII century, and began to focus on nature,
common man and mediaeval culture.
Another pre-romantic poet is the Scottish Robert Burns, who made a great work of collecting old folk
songs in gaelic and English.
The last important pre-romantic poet was William Blake, famous for his illustration as well. He was
influenced by Milton’s Paradise Lost and the French Revolution. It was a really important influence for the
romantic poets.
In the first generation of poets we can see three main names: Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.
The first two were living near each other in the Lake District, where they composed the most famous
book of Romantic poetry: Lyrical Ballads (1798). Living in the Lake District, they could develop their love for
nature, rural life and common people. At first, they supported the French Revolution but little by little they
became more conservative in their political ideas.
The second generation of romantic poets was more politically involved and included Percy Shyelley
and Lord Byron. Shelley had been expelled from Oxford for the distribution of a pamphlet against religion
during his education years and became a friend of the philosopher and social reformator William Gildwin. His
most famous contributions to the Romantic period were Prometheus Unbound, Adonis and the Mask of
Anarchy.
The other important poet of the period was Lord Byron. He came from a wealthy and powerful family,
and became the symbol of romanticism after he died fighting for the independence of Greece. He was
famous for his aristocratic excesses which created an image of a flamboyant and glamorous person. He
promoted the mock-heroic style and created the Byronic Hero, characters that represented romanticism for
many years among his works; we could mention his works Childe Harom’s Pilgrimage, Don Juan and the
Orient tales.
5.- Novel
This genre wasn’t the favourite one for romantic writers but we can find two types of novels related
with romanticism: the gothic novel and the popular novel.
The gothic novel was developed mainly by Horace Walpole and Anne Radcliffe and they use some
common characteristics. Their novels used supernatural and horror elements, and they were usually set in
landscapes with castles, mediaeval cathedrals or ruins. The main gothic novel of Walpole was “the Castle of
Otranto” and the main one of Radcliffe “the Italian”. Another major gothic novel was “Frankenstein” by Mary
SHelley.
The popular novels had two major writers in that period Sir Walker Scott and Jane Austen. The first
one was also a poet but found success with his historic novels. The most famous ones are Ivanhoe and Rob
Roy.
The other major writer of the period was Jane Austen. She cannot be considered a Romantic, but
still his works were a soft critic of social conventions in his time. Also, she created the first women characters
able to be strong and fight against conventions. Her main works are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and
Sensibility, Emma or Mansfield Park.
1.- Introduction
31
3.- Characteristics of Romanticism
4.- Poetry
5.- Novel
6.- Elements of the unit related to……
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give an overview about romanticism in Great Britain. We will begin with a
brief historical introduction and the main characteristics of the Romantic movement. Afterwards, we will
depict romantic poetry and novels in Great Britain. We will finish with the elements of the unit related to the
English subject and a short conclusion.
This unit is really important due to the importance of the romantic movement in History. This literary
and creative movement is still appreciated by many people nowadays.
Due to the lack of time we will need to do every part of the unit short. However, we hope that it will
be possible to find all the basic information to understand this important and peculiar artistic movement.

Romanticism is a movement that appeared at the end of the XIX century in Germany, as a response
to the enlightenment, which was the most important movement during the XVIII century. This reaction is
produced because the “Age of reason”, promoted by the enlightenment, began to fail. This idea that using
our reason, we will achieve a better society, a more equal place to live was a mistake. They saw the
Industrial Revolution, the American Independence and the consequences of the “French Revolution” as
proof of that fact. Reason won’t solve our problems. It created more instability.
3.- Characteristics of Romanticism
Romanticism is a movement difficult to describe because they were individualists and didn’t want to
be unified in a group. Even that, they share some common characteristics:
A.- They promoted freedom and to break social conventions, and as we said before it was a reaction
against reason. In this first point we can divide romanticism into two groups: for the first generation, Nature is
the only pure thing left. They write about common people. While the second generation is more radical and
revolutionary, trying to change the world.
B.- The second characteristic shared is the function of the poets. They need to be the speakers of
the problems of the world and the people. They were the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
C.- Finally, about the themes: they used Nature, which represents beauty, or children, who
represents purity, not contaminated by society yet. Use also of the supernatural, opposed to reason. This is
an irrational part of our minds.
4.- Poetry
A.- Pre Romantics: as the precursor of the romantic movement is Great Britain we can find Thomas Grey,
who began to create poetry focusing on nature, common people and mediaeval culture. Robert Burns, who
did an amazing compilation of old folk songs and poems in English and Gaelic. And William Blake who was
inspired by Milton’s Lost Paradise.
B.- First Generation: Woodsworth, Coleridge and Southey. The first two lived in Lake District where they
wrote “Lyrical Ballads”. They developed a great love for Nature, common people and rural life. They became
more conservatives, from a political point of view, with the passage of time.
C.- Second Generation: we have also two main poets in this generation and they were friends as well: Percy
Shelley and Lord Byron. They were more political and idealistic. They thought that they could change the
world. Shelley was expelled from Oxford for writing a pamphlet against religion and had a relationship with
32
the famous thinker and social reformer William Godwin. He escaped with Goldwin’s daughter Mary, and they
travelled around Europe. Shelley’s most famous works are “Prometheus unbound” and “Adonis”.
Lord Byron was a very close friend of Shelley. Byron was a wealthy aristocrat who has passed to
history as a symbol of romanticism. He was involved in wars for independence (and died in Greece for that
reason), but also he was famous for his aristocratic excesses, and created an image of a flamboyant and
glamorous person. Inj his writings he also created the Byronic Hero: proud, moody, cynical, defiance,
implacable in revenge yet capable of deep and strong affection, and promoted the mock-heroic style, which
was the perfect setting for his byronic hero. He has represented romanticism for many years. Among his
most famous works we can find “Childe Haroon’s Pilgrimage”, “Don Juan'' and “The Oriental Tales”.
5.- Novel
During this period we can find two types of novels related to the romantic movement: popular novels
and gothic novels.
The gothic novels developed by Horace Walpole during the XVIII and share some characteristics
with the romanticism movement. This type of novel uses supernatural and horror elements, being set in
landscapes with castles, mediaeval cathedrals and ruins. An important work by Walpole is “The castle of
Otranto”. Years later, William Godwin’s daughter Mary Shelley and partner of Percy Shelly wrote the most
famous gothic novel: Frankenstein.
In the popular novels we can find two important names: Walter Scott and Jane Austen. Walter Scott
was famous for his historical novels, which in some cases are set in the mediaeval period. SOme of the most
famous novels are “Ivanhoe” and “Rob Roy”. Jane Austen’s novels are different. In this case, the important
element that share with the romanticism movement is how she criticises the social conventions of her period.
Some of her most important novels are: “Emma”, “Pride and Prejudice”, “Sense and sensibility” and
“Mansfield Park”.
6.- Elements of the unit related to……

● Characteristics shared by the romantic movement.
● The historical background of the romantic period.
● Main romantic authors.
● The novel during the romantic period.
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
UNIT 49: CONSTRUCTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE IN THE XVIII
AND XIX CENTURY. CONRAD AND KIPLING
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE TWO EMPIRES
3.- THE VICTORIAN AGE: THE IMPERIAL CENTURY
4.- CONRAD AND KIPLING
33
6.- CONCLUSION
7.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- INTRODUCTION
This is a really important unit because it is focused on two of the most important writers in the
English language: Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. It is also important if you want to understand the role
that the English language plays worldwide nowadays. This British expansion created the conditions to
consolidate ENglish language as a lingua franca around the world.
*******************
This unit deals with the period when Britain was an Empire. I will try to explain how it developed and
how it was administered. Also, the effects of this Empire within the people who lived during this period of
time. Finally, I will show the literary background of this time and the life and workers of two main authors:
Rudyard Kiplin and Joseph Conrad.
*******************
This is an important unit because it is possible to understand how the British built an Empire and
kept it for so long. We will also be able to see two different views about the British Empire. With Conrad we
will see a critical view of the colonial administration while Kipling supported it as an improvement for the
colonised.
It is important to understand how that British power over the Colonies was enforced and if in fact
they wanted to improve the lives of people who were living in the colonial territories.
2.- The Two Empires and the Imperial century
This period is usually divided by historians in three main parts. The first is called “the first Empire”
and it goes from the first colonies won by the British, at the beginning of the XVII century, until 1783, when it
was signed the Treaty of Paris, and Britain recognised the independence of the United States of America.
The second period goes from that date, 1783, to the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815. This period
is called “the Imperial Century” or “Victorian Age”. I’m going to develop each period with the most important
traits of each one.
First, I need to mention that all the colonial period began after the discovery of America (1492), the
so-called Age of discovery, a period which proved what our technology could do. During that period many
sailors began to move around the globe and to open the door to a new era.
2.1.- The First Empire (1688-1783)
It is possible to say that the first British colonies were the ones in the North of America at the
beginning of the XVII century, but at those times, the social and political situation in Britain didn’t allow them
to focus on the development of the new colonies.
This will change in 1688, with the Glorious Revolution, which will introduce a social and political
“peace” in Britain.
During the period of the First Empire it is possible to see the development of the colonies. For
example, the Caribbean colonies were producing sugar and creating big centres to bring slaves from Africa.
And the colonies in America were producing cotton to produce clothes. For Britain this was perfect because
it was not just that they could get raw materials really cheap, they were creating and expanding new markets
where they sold their manufactured products.
This type of economy settled during the XVII century with the Navigation Acts (the first is from 1651),
which didn’t allow the colonies to have commercial relationships with any other country except for Britain.
34
This perfect circle will be broken when the colonies from the north of America begin to fight for
independence. Something they will finally achieve in 1776, but it wasn’t accepted by Britain until 1783, with
the Paris treaty.
2.2.- The Second Empire (1783-1815)
If we see the dates of this period it just lasted thirty-two years. What we have here is a transitional
period. During most of the XVIII century, in Britain the proto-industrial era was developing.
It has been discussed among historians that probably the economic surplus created by the period of
the First Empire was the money invested for the industrial revolution.
During this second empire, Britain will focus on its territories in Asia. They were in India in the XVIII
century, mainly in the cities of Mandra, Bombay and Calcutta, but they will expand their control around India.
They will also expand throughout China. These changes in the type of Empire that Britain was, it is easier to
see them in the changes that occurred in its administration.
During the first empire the 3 main types of administration were the Royal colonies, administered
directly by the Crown (with the governor), the proprietary colonies (administered by a person or a family), or
a charter colony (administered by a company which had been granted with a charted (or chart) by the King).
But this kind of administration changed, and the proprietary colonies and the charter colonies
disappeared during the Second Empire, with the Imperial century, all territory owned by Britain, was under
the crown’s sovereignty.
2.3.- The “Imperial century” or “Victorian Age” (1815-1914).
This period began with the defeat of Napoleon in Waterloo, and Britain will have during this period its
bigger Empire.
The colonies of Britain around the world

America: most British loyalists went to the north of America after the independence of the USA. There, the
British created the colony of Canada, which during the XIX was granted self-government (a juridic form
called Dominium, which was under the crown control); and also they still had the Caribbean colonies. These
las colonies had lost their importance became since 1807, slavery had been prohibited.
Europe: as I said before, the British had in Asia, specially in India, their main colonies. For this reason, they
tried to keep safe the way through Egypt. They controlled Gibraltar, Malta, Cypres, and Egypt. This was the
perfect way of keeping calm on that route. Afterwards, with the Suez Canal this route will become even more
important.
Pacific: they created new colonies in Australia and New Zealand, which with the introduction of sheep, they
will become profitable colonies.
Africa: during the XIX century, other European powers wanted a colonial empire, so they focused their efforts
on Africa. They tried to catch in the name of these countries every single piece of land they could. At the
end, there was a summit with every country involved, in 1884, and they divided the final lands and created
the new borders.
Before finishing this part I should say that another change from the second empire to this “Imperial
century” is the economic change in the treatment of the colonies. As I said previously, after the Navigation
Acts, there was an exclusive monopoly from Britain with its colonies (something normal at the time). But in
the XIX, with the Industrial Revolution taking off, the new economic ideas changed this. Now Britain
promoted free trade, no monopolies, and no tariffs for the products.
35
This period lasted until the beginning of the IWW but it is mainly known by the name of the British
Queen of this period, Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 until his death in 1901. This is the reason that
this period is also called the Victorian Age.
*******************
2.- CONSTRUCTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE IN THE XVIII AND
XIX CENTURY
Historians have divided this period into 3 parts: the first Empire (1688-1783), the Second Empire
(1783-1815), and the Imperial Age (or Victorian Period, 1837-1901) (1815-1914).
The First Empire refers to the first colonies that Britain had in the XVI century. They were mainly the
American and the Caribbean colonies. Since 1651 (Navigation Acts), Britain had prohibited the colonies to
trade with other countries and this would be the reason for the American Independence in 1776. During this
period, the 3 main forms of British administration over their colonies were the Royal Colony, which was under
the monarch’s sovereignty; the Proprietary Colony, which gave the power to rule over a colony to a person or
a family; and the Charter Colony. This last way of administration was the most common over the XVII and the
XVIII centuries. In this case, a company was created to deal with the colony. In 1773, after the Boston Tea
Party, when some Americans rejected the abusive British laws, a war for the Independence of the American
colony began. Finally, American Independence was confirmed with the Paris Treaty in 1783. Great Britain
lost its most valuable colony but they had other prosperous colonies. Canada was formed with many British
royalists and they also began the expansion in India.
This period, called the Second Empire, is transitional. In Britain, the Industrial Revolution was taking
off, and the loss of America, which seemed to weaken the country at first, enabled it to focus on the Asian
colonies. Britain created a safe route to India through the Mediterranean. They had Gibraltar, Menorca,
Malta, Cyprus and Egypt under their control.
In 1815, the Napoleonic Wars finished and Britain began to develop its power over Asia (they began
in the cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras). During this period, the type of administration changed. The
whole sovereignty over the territories passed to the Crown. The corruption of the charter companies was a
major issue, and it forced the British government to create a specific colonial administration under crown
sovereignty. This change happened during the Imperial age (1815-1914). During this period, they also
created the Dominion. With this category of administration, they gave some kind of self-government to areas
such as Canada or Australia.
*******************
3.- Conrad and Kipling
Conrad was born in Ukraine to a Polish family and, it wasn’t until he was an adult, that he could read
and write in English. He worked for many years as a sailor and travelled quite a lot. He used his own
experiences in his books.
As a writer, Conrad was one of the first to begin the modernism movement. He began to use some
new techniques that were beyond the realistic style, the most common style at that time. He also used his
books and his experiences to criticise the role of the British colonial Empire. He saw the brutal impact of
colonialism over the colonised people.
We can highlight his books “the Secret Agent”, “Nostromo”, “Lord Jim” and “The Heart of Darkness”.
This last is the most famous one. It is a novel that still ignites strong debates. For some people, it
condemns colonialism, showing the madness created by the civilised westerners; but for others, it portrayed
the colonised as “barbarians” as well.
36
It is difficult to come to a right answer in this debate.
Kipling
Finally, we are going to look at the figure of Rudyard Kipling, who was born in India. He was
educated in London, and some time after, he visited the USA, but it seems he had experiences in both
places.
He was a great supporter of the British Empire and the ideological mission they were on towards the
“uncivilised barbarians”. He also wrote about those ideas in his books.
He was really famous while he was alive and even won the nobel prize in the 1920s. Among his
most famous works, we can find “Kim”, “Captain Courageous”, the short story “The man who would be king”
and “The Jungle Book”.
He is still a controversial figure in the UK because although he wrote some amazing books at the
same time, he defended ideas that could be considered racist.
*******************
3.- Conrad and Kipling
3.1.- Literary background
In this unit I have to write about Conrad and Kipling because they are the most significant authors of
the colonial/Imperial period. But there were many important authors during the XVIII and XIX centuries.
Because it is not the topic of this unit to speak about the literature of the XVIII and XIX century, I will
briefly summarise it.
During the XVIII, we will have the rise of the novel as a main genre and the development of different
sensibilities, from Jane Austen to Jonathan Swift or Dafoe. We will have the Romantic movement in Britain at
the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of the XIX.
And also, the rise of newspapers and magazines, which will help to settle the novels as a main
literary genre during the XIX. The reason for this is that novels began to be published in newspapers in a
serialised form. It made it cheaper and more affordable. For example, one of the biggest names in English
literature, DIckens wrote his books in newspapers.
At the end of the XIX century we will have authors like Hardy who will write about Britain during the
Industrial Revolution, taking off. In his books we can see how big the change has been in two centuries.
3.2.- Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
He was born in Ukraine, but it was in an area mainly of Polish people. After he was separated from
his dad he went to Poland. He worked as a sailor for several years, and from those experiences he will
create some of his works.
When he was 28 years old he became a British subject and visited the Congo in 1890.
His main works are “Heart of Darkness”, “Lord Jim”, “Nostromo”, and “The Secret Agent”. In his
works it is possible to see his concerns about the colonial administration of Britain, especially about the
effects produced to the people. The colonialism ideology tried to sell the idea that they were there because it
was the best for the colonised. They were bringing civilization and helping them by keeping peace. But
37
Conrad, who had travelled around the world, knew that it was just “propaganda”. Now I’m going to speak
about Kipling.
3.3.- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Kipling was born in India and went to study in England but he didn't like it and finally went back to
India. He defended the British Empire as the best thing that could happen to the world. He was also visiting
the USA and as in England, he went back to India disappointed. He developed many short stories and
novels which spread the colonial ideology, with the aims of entertainment. His main works are the short story
“the man who would be king”, “the jungle book”, “Captain Courageous”, and “Kim”.
In 1907 he was awarded with the Nobel Prize.
4.- Elements of the unit related to our subject
This unit is really relevant for our subject. The reason is that we can explain why English is so
important now. The students may think that it is due to the USA exporting its culture and the importance they
have as a world power. But here they can see that the British had a massive Empire first, and also how
problems between races began in this period. We were the westerners who went to other countries and
began to take everything, thinking that they were inferior because they weren’t like us.
There are also several key competences that we can link this unit with. For example, cultural
awareness and expression. There are pictures from the end of the XIX century which shows the brutality of
the “White people” towards “the other”, and it is basic to show the students how easy it is to achieve brutality,
thinking that morally you are superior.
Finally, it is really important to develop this unit for our students with the help of ICT resources. We
need to see maps, pictures and videos about the effects of the British colonial Empire.
*******************
4.- Elements of the unit related to our subject
In this unit, we can find several really important items for our work in class with the students. We can
find, for example, two great authors, with books that can help them to develop their linguistic competence. It
is also great for understanding why English is so important around the world as a lingua franca.
Finally, they can learn about “cultural awareness” and the problems that arise when a nation
pretends to improve its culture.
5.- Conclusion
As we have seen, this is an important period, not just for Britain, but for the whole world. The Empire
they built was the base of our contemporary world. We need to remember that, at the same time that this
Empire was getting bigger, capitalism was taking off everywhere. And also, technology was becoming more
accessible to everyone. This period is basic to understanding where we are now.
6.- Bibliography
.- Bauber: The English Language. A historical introduction. CUP, 2000.
.- Mugglestone: the Oxford History of English language. OUP, 2006.
.- Greenblatt (ed): the Norton Anthology of English. Norton, 2018.
.- Rogers: the Oxford Illustrated History of English literature. 1997.
.- Levine (ed): the Norton Anthology of American English. Norton. 2017.
.- Kinder and Heigelmann: the Penguin Atlas of World History. Penguin, 2004.
.- Oakland: British Civilization. An introduction. Routledge. 2016.
38
5.- Conclusion
As we have seen, this is a really complex, interesting and amazing unit, which explains things of our
time. I think that I could still say more things about it but we were limited by the time that we could use it.
Hopefully I made the points clear. The British created an Empire which during the centuries changed and
was able to adapt to the Industrial Revolution. The question which has been around during the last 60 or 70
years (since the end of the II WW and the beginning of the postcolonialism time): was it worthy?
As I said before, if we could learn from all the wrong things done in the name of civilization, maybe it
could be worthy. But how it is the world we live in at the moment suggests that we are making the same
mistakes.
1.- Introduction
2.- Construction and administration of the British colonial Empire in the XVIII and the XIX. The two
empires and the Imperial century.
3.- Literary background
4.- Conrad
5.- Kipling
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about the construction and administration of the British
colonial empire, and two very important writers from the end of the XIX century.
This unit is really important due to the fact that the British colonial Empire expanded the knowledge
of ENglish and the consequences are still visible nowadays.
Finally, due to the lack of time we will depict the three periods of the British colonial Empire rapidly.
However, we will try to summarise precisely the main data about Kipling and Conrad.
2.- Construction and administration of the British colonial Empire in the XVIII and the XIX. The two
empires and the Imperial century.
With the “discovery of America” (1492) began a period called “Age of discoveries”. England was part
of this and it began to create small colonies.
All this period, since the first colonies up to the IWW can be divided into 3 periods:
-- First Empire (1688-1783): the first date (1688) refers to the Glorious Revolution that
settled a Parliamentary Monarchy in England. The last date (1783) is the treaty of Paris that ended the war
against the American colonies. From 1651 (Navigation Acts), which forbade the colonies to trade with
anyone except from the British. This will create problems between the colonies and the metropoli. The British
had colonies in Africa. From there, they were transporting slaves to America to worse in the land. In Asia,
where they were trading with exotic stuff. In the Caribbean, where they had a huge production of sugar and
in America where they had a big production of cotton.
The British economy was mercantilism. They took raw materials from the colonies, manufactured
them in England and exported them to sell to the colonies again. So, the colonies were also markets to sell
products.
The end of this first empire came when the war began against the thirteen American colonies
(1793-1783), which finished with the independence of the colonies.
-- Second Empire (1783-1815): this is a transitional period. It begins with the treaty of Paris
and finishes with the defeat of Napoleon in Waterloo. It is transitional because Great Britain began to
39
develop capitalism. It was suffering a great internal change with the Industrial Revolution. However, it
wouldn’t be until after 1815 that it would be possible to appreciate the changes.
-- The Imperial century (1815-1914): this period is also called the Victorian age due to the
fact that during most of this period the monarch was Queen Victoria (1837-1901). During this period the
colonial territory reached its bigger extension. In AMerica they still had Canada. The Caribbean islas: they
were less important. In the Pacific they had created two new colonies: Australia and New Zealand. In Europe
they controlled small places with strategic importance: Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus or Egypt (Suez Canal, 1868).
Finally, in Africa they had some territories but there was a summit in 1884 between the western
countries to divide the whole continent among them. During this Imperial century Great Britain was the most
powerful country in the world. As we mentioned previously the fact developed the Industrial revolution that
was happening in the country.
3 Types of administration: Royal colonies, proprietary and charter.
3.- Literary background
4.- Conrad
Joseph Conrad wasn’t born in England but after sailing for many years under the British flag he
became a British citizen. He is an important English writer not just because he criticised the British colonial
Empire, but also due to the fact that was one of the first to be considered a modernist writer. Up to that
moment realism was the current style.
It is curious that even though Conrad is considered one of the greatest writers in English, he learned
the language relatively late in his life.
In some of his books he showed his concerns about colonialism and its administration, especially the
effect produced to the people. He knew that the colonialism ideology was just “propaganda”. This colonialism
ideology was based on the idea that the westerners were the best for the colonised. They were bringing
civilization to the barbarians.
5.- Kipling
Kipling is also one of the greatest writers in English but on the contrary than Conrad, Kipling was a
great supporter of the colonialist ideology. He believed in the “white man’s burden”.
In his short stories and novels Kipling spread the colonial ideology with the aim of entertainment. His
main works are “the jungle book”, “Kim”, “Captain Courageous” or “The man who would be king”. He won the
nobel prize in 1907.
6.- ELements of the unit related to the ENglish subject

-- Administration and development of the British EMpire.
-- The life and works of Kipling and Conrad.
The main elements are related with these three key elements: the social and civic competence, the
cultural awareness and expression, and the linguistic competence.
These elements are also related to………………. On the anglo saxon culture
40
UNIT 50: THE VICTORIAN NOVEL
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: THE VICTORIAN AGE: IMPERIAL CENTURY.
3.- PRE-VICTORIAN NOVEL: JAMES AUSTEN (1775-1817)
4.- MAIN WRITERS DURING THE VICTORIAN PERIOD:
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870): Humanitarian novel.
- William Thuckeray (1811-1863): Realistic novel.
- The Bronte’s sisters.
- George Eliot (1819-1889): Intellectual novel.
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).
- Conrad (1857-1924).
- Kipling (1865-1936).
- Thomas Hardy.
6.- CONCLUSION.
1.- INTRODUCTION
This is a really important unit because during the Victorian age the novel began to be the most
important genre in literature. That was one of the reasons why we have so many important novelists from
that period. It is also important to highlight that during this period, the XIX century, capitalism began to
widespread around the world.

The Victorian Age is known as the period that reigned until her death in 1901, but we could say that,
as a historical period, it could go from the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 until the beginning of the IWW,
in 1914.
This is an interesting period because it meant the development and expansion of the Industrial
Revolution in the United Kingdom. It also consolidated the colony system started one century before.
It also meant the change of the economic system from mercantilism to capitalism. The way in which
they were administered it changed as well, from private enterprises to full control from the crown of all the
territories.
Things were changing really fast in British society and it is possible to see that in the writers of that
period. These changes meant the beginning of class society. In this class society, the middle class began to
be really important, and also, the working class began to demand improvement in their working conditions.
Finally we should mention that the upper and middle classes followed strict social conventions
associated with “prudishness” and “repression”.
As we have seen this was a period of big contrasts: great prosperity and great misery, huge scientific
developments and strict puritan mentality.
3.- Main writers of the period.
- Jane Austen: pre-Victorian.

We should begin this part, mentioning the writer Jane Austen. She died just before Queen Victoria
began her reign but she was really influential in the development of novels during the XIX century.
41
Austen’s novels, written at the end of XVIII and the beginning of the XIX century, criticise the social
conventions of her time and began to show women as an independent and strong subject. Her main works
are “Sense and sensibility”, “Pride and prejudice”, “Emma” and “Mansfield Park”. She shows in her books the
hypocrisy and appearances of her society. She was a great satirist but in a gentle way.
- William Thuckeray.
Now we have to talk about William Thuckeray. He was a writer who came from a wealthy family
which provided him a good education. As a writer Thuckeray focused on depicting the new middle English
class with a realistic style. It made him really popular at the time.
His most famous work is “Vanity Fair”. Other important novels written by Thuckeray are “The history
of pendennis” or “The virginians”.
- The Bronte Sisters.
Other important writers of this period are the Bronte Sisters. They received a very religious education
at home by his dad, who was a clergyman. They lived most of their life in their family house in the
countryside. They were also avid readers. All these facts influenced their books, where it is possible to see
the affirmation of the individual, of the passions and feelings, and the fight against imprisonment. Their most
famous novels are Jane Austen, written by Charlotte Bronte, and “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte.
- George Eliot.
Another important writer from the Victorian period was George Eliot. Her case was peculiar. Even
though she had received a really rigid and puritan education, her great intelligence helped her to develop a
great career as a writer. During the XIX century many women began to publish with their real names but Eliot
didn’t want to be judged as a woman writing. Another reason to use this pen name was that she wanted to
preserve her privacy. Her partner was a married person.
Her novels have been described as realistic works with a deep psychological insight. Her most
famous works were “The mill on the floss” and “Middlemarch”, where she depict life in the countryside and
how the social strict conventions affect the people’s life.
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894): exotic novels.
Stevenson was born in Edinburgh where he grew up as a weak boy with healthy issues. Later on, he
will travel trying to find a better place for his health. He wrote two of the most famous novels of all times: The
strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Treasure Island. He was considered a minor author due to the
success of their novels, which had as a main aim to entertain.
- Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) : end of a period.
Hardy was a peculiar novelist. His works depicted the habits and routines of the country life during
the beginning XIX century. He showed progress as evil. His work was also influenced by “determinism”, that
is the reason why his characters cannot do anything to change their destinies. His main works are “Jude the
obscure”. Also, he criticised the social conventions of the Victorian period (especially the prudishness and
presion). His major works were “Jude the Obscure'' and “The mayor of Casterbridge”.
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870).
The last writer we want to talk about is probably the most famous and influential one: Dickens. He
was born in Portsmouth in 1912. He suffered many difficulties during his childhood which made him
sympathetic with the poorest and to complain against justice (unfairness).
42
He wouldn’t finish school and had to work in factories. Some years later he began to work as a
journalist and from there he started to write small articles that were caricatures of the life and manners of the
time. They were written with a pen name and were really successful (Sketches by Botz).
His next written work was the same style. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, and was
again a big success. In these two works Dickens used irony to criticise many things of his society that he
didn’t like but this criticism wasn’t too hard and there were other themes such as love, affairs, fellowship….
But after the success of his writings he knew that he would become a novelist. His next work would
be one of his most famous ones: Oliver Twist, the life of an orphanage throughout the years he spent in a
public institution, where he uses memories of his life and began to criticise some victorians institutions in a
direct way. In this case the warehouses which existed at the time. This book was a mix of melodrama and
realism. It appeared in a serialised form.
The next important novels he wrote were “Nicholas Nickleby”, “Barhaby Rudge”, “A Christmas Carol”
and “David Copperfield”. This last novel has again a strong influence on his own memories.
It is important to mention also “Black House”, “Hard Times”, “A tale of two cities” or “Great
Expectations”.
Dickens is an important figure in literature, not just because it showed and criticised the society of his
time, but also because he changed the status of novels as a genre with him. For the first time, this genre
became the most important because these novels were known by everyone.
1.- Introduction
2.- Historical Background: the Victorian age
3.- Victorian Novel
4.- Main writers during the Victorian period.
6.- Conclusion
7.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about /on/of the main writers during the Victorian
period.
This unit is really important due to the fact that some of the most important British writers are from
this period such as Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad or Rudyard Kipling.
Due to the lack of time we will depict the historical background and the writers rapidly. However, l will
try to summarise precisely the main authors of this period.
2.- Historical Background: the Victorian age
-- Victorian period: it is called the Victorian period or age because the British monarch was Queen Victoria
who reigned from 1837-1901. During this period the UK became the hegemonic country in the world. Their
colonies were around the whole world and the Industrial Revolution had begun. However, the Victorian era
was really a period of contrast. Great wealth and great misery, huge scientific developments but strict moral
codes and mentality. The upper and middle classes followed strict social conventions associated with
prudishness and repression.
43
-- It is possible to see these contrasts because their economic system had changed with the Industrial
revolution from the mercantilism of previous centuries, Capitalism began to settle. The conditions of the
working class were horrible. CHildren used to work more than 12 hours in poor conditions while some elites
were becoming extremely wealthy.
-- It happened the same with technology. During this period we saw the development of the train, the creation
of the first skyscraper or the Suez Canal (1868). However, the high clases were followed some strict social
conventions based on prudishness and repression.
3.- Victorian Novel
In this part of the historical background. We just want to briefly explain the main style of the Victorian
novel.
It is important to mention that during this period the novel became the most important type of
literature. An example of this is Charles Dickens.
At the beginning the Victoria novel was mainly realistic. With the passing of time the psychological
development of the characters became more and more important. During the last decades of the XIX century
the new style, Modernism, began to be used (Conrad for example).
4.- Main writers during the Victorian period.
As we have said previously we will depict the main writers briefly.
William Thuckaray (1811-1863): he depicts the new middle English class, although he shows the
contrast with the less fortunate. His most important novel is “Vanity Fair”, which is a panoramic portrait of
British Society.
The Bronte’s sister: they broke with many preconceived ideas. Their main female characters are
strong and brave, and fight for their freedom. Their most important novels are: “Wuthering Heights” by Emily
Bronte, and “Jane Eyre” by CHarlotte Bronte.
George ELiot (1819-1880): she was one of the first writers who used the psychological development
of the characters. Her novels depict life in the rural countryside and how the strict social conventions affect
the people’s life. Her most important novels are “The mill on the floss” and “Middlemarch”.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870): he’s considered the person that situated the novel as the most
important form of literature. He began in his first novels using a soft criticism about costumes of his society.
However, since he published “Oliver Twist”, his irony and criticism was used not just to social conventions
but also, against many Victorian institutions. His most important novels are “David Copperfield”, “A tale of a
town” and “A Christmas tale”.
Rudyard Kipling: Kipling is a controversial figure because even though he was a great writer and
storyteller, and was quite famous while alive, he supported the colonialist and Imperial ideas of the British
lite. He thought that the western civilization was helping the rest of the world. His most famous novels are
“The jungle book”, “Kim” or “the man who would be king”.
Conrad: The case of Conrad is the opposite of Kipling. Conrad denounced British colonialism in his
books. He had travelled a lot and was conscious of the tragedy that the white man was doing in many parts
of the world. Some of his most important novels are: “Heart of darkness”, “the secret agent” or “Nostromo”.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928): we will finish with this author, Thomas Hardy who criticised in his book
the consequences of capitalism. He tries to show the change that many rural areas had to do and how
44
destructive were those changes for the community. SOme of his most famous novels are “Jude the obscure”
or “The mayor of Canterbridge”.

-- The historical background in which this unit is based, in this case the Victorian period.
-- The style of the Victorian novels.
-- The main writers of novels during the Victorian period.
-- The main writers of novels during the Victorian period.
These main elements are related to the key competences: social and civic competence, cultural
6.- Conclusion
7.- Bibliography
UNIT 51: OSCAR WILDE AND GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE IRISH LITERARY RENAISSANCE
4.- OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900)
5.- GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950)
6.- CONCLUSION
7.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
In this unit we are going to focus on the life and works of two of the most important Irish playwrights
Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. They lived in the second part of XIX century and the beginning of
the XX century, during the Victorian age, also the period when aroused a strong nationalist movement in
Ireland.
2.- The Irish literary renaissance
It is interesting the situation of Wilde and Shaw, because both were born in Ireland but developed
their career as writers mainly in London. At the same time that they began their careers, in Ireland a new
literary movement started: the Irish literary renaissance. It arose……...
Wilde and Shaw were born in Ireland but developed their careers mainly in London. During the same
period a new Irish theatre was arising as part of a movement known as the Irish Literary Renaissance the
main characteristics of this new type of Irish Theatre were the use of a new realism, use of humour and
using as a main theme the life of peasants. This “Irish literary Renaissance'' was helped by the strong
political nationalism and what was called “the Gaelic revival”. The main figure of this Irish Literary revival was
William Butler Yeats, who contributed to the foundation of the first Irish national theatre “The Abbey''. All the
movement helped the development of the other great Irish playwright Sean O’Casey.
45
3.- Historical Background of the period.
Wilde and Shaw were born in the fifties of the XIX century during the Victorian age. During this
period Britain had not just built and maintained an Empire, it had also created the conditions to develop and
expand capitalism and the new economic system around the world.
During this period the relationship between Britain and Ireland got worse and by 1921 the Irish would
get their independence.
4.- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900): flamboyant dress, biting wit…..
Oscar Wilde was born in a wealthy family which could have sent him to Oxford to study. There he
began to develop his personal style and his peculiar thinking and ideals: his love of art for art’s sake or his
idealisation of beauty’s sake.
These ideas were also shown for his extravagant way of dressing. Around he went to London with
the idea of living as a writer.
His literary production can be divided in 3 types of work:
1.- The first one, his poems, tales and short stories.
About his poems we can not say much. He composed many before going to London, using a style
where the most important thing is the form and not the context. During his most prolific years in London, he
didn’t write much poetry.
In this part we can mention his only novel “The portrait of Dorian Gray”, which shows us a summary
of his ideas, opinions, interests and emotions. He also wrote many tales and short stories. We can highlight
“The Canterville Ghost” as one of his most famous short stories.
2.- The second type were his essays. The two main essays he wrote were “The Decay of Lying” and
“The Soul of man under socialism”. In the first one he will discuss which concept is superior, Art or Nature. To
him Nature follows Art. In the second one he approaches the theme of socialism (quite trendy at the time (in
that moment)).
3.- The third type, and most important, is his dramatic works. He wrote mainly “comedy of manners”,
Victorian comedies. They were an ideal way for Wilde to criticise the social customs and conventions of
Victorian society. “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “a woman of no importance”, “an ideal Husband” and “The
Importance of Being Earnest” were all of them successful plays.
But in 1897 was sentence to two years in jail for his homosexual behaviour. After that he would not
be the same. He migrated to France, quite poor and died in 1900.
His last works from the period when he was in jail De Profundis/Ballad of Reading Gaol.
5.- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Shaw was born in Ireland in 1856. He studied Social Sciences, where he discovered Marxism, and
wrote some novels which were failures. But from those experiences he developed his satiric and
conversational talents.
5.1. Characteristics
46
Shaw was a writer concerned with the problems of contemporary society and its readjustment to
modern conditions and needs. To show this he plays with absurdities and irrationality along his works.
He was influenced by Marx, Nietzsche or Ibsen. He helped to introduce in England the theatre of
ideas developed by Ibsen. This was a theatre which aimed to show social issues and try to obtain new
attitudes from the audience. The final objective of Shaw’s theatre was didactic: to lecture the audience. He
usually wrote long prefaces where he shows his wit, his conversational talent and his didactic intention. His
success lies in his ability to have related his plays directly to the social and intellectual life of his time.
5.2. Plays
His first play was going to be an “ibsenite” play called “the quintessence of Ibsenism” but after the
failure of Ibsen’s “A doll’s house”, he remade his play to “widoner’s Houses”. It presents a tragic situation but
Shaw avoided tragedy, and kept the action in an ironic comedy tone.
His next play “Mrs Warren’s profession” followed the same pattern: powerful drama which doesn’t
turn into a tragedy and it is kept in an ironic tone. Shaw called these plays “unpleasant”, and there were
followed by others called by him “pleasants”, being “Candida” the most important of the pleasant ones.
With “Caesar and Cleopatra” was Shaw’s first great play and was a big success as well. Pygmalion
(1913) was probably his most famous play but it is a little less a play of ideas than other of Shaw’s major
plays. “Saint Joan” (1923) is generally regarded as Shaw’s greatest play. He achieved what he had always
sought. The fusion of high seriousness with high comedy.
As a thinker he was inconsistent but was able to create a type of theatre open to explore and reflect
many different ideas and to share with the audience. He won the Nobel prize in 1925 and died in 1950.
1.- Introduction
3.- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
5.- Elements of the unit to the English subject
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. Both were
born in Ireland, and both are well-known for their theatrical plays.
This unit is really important due to the fact that they are famous British authors, whom any English
teacher needs to know.
Due to the lack of time we will depict the life and works of both of them rapidly. However, we will
begin with a historical background of the period that they lived.
Wilde (1854-1900) and Bernard Shaw (1850-1950) were born in Ireland in the 1850’s but they spent
most of their lives in England where they developed their careers. This second part of the XIX is the top
moment of the Victorian period.
The British Empire is the dominating country around the world, with large and huge colonies. The
industrial revolution has been changing the British landscape and there is a feeling that mankind is able to
achieve anything. In this context London is the world’s capital and in place Wilde and Shaw began to
produce their works.
47
3.- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Wilde was born in Dublin and went to Oxford to study. Later on, he went to London ready to work as
a writer. From a young age Wilde had an extroverted form of dressing and a peculiar form of thinking and
ideals. He had a love of art for art’s sake or the idealisation of beauty of beauty for beauty's sake.
1).- Poems, tales and short stories: he wrote poetry when he was in Oxford but it was poetry based
in the form he wasn’t interested in the context. In this group we should mention his only novel: “The portrait
of Dorian Gray”. There it is possible to see all his ideas about art, life or society. It is a summary of his
opinions, interests and emotions. Another famous short story is “The Canterville Ghost”.
2).- Essays: he wrote two famous essays: “The decay of lying”, in which he discusses what is on top
of everything ART or NATURE. For him, as we showed previously, art is always the most important thing.
The other important essay is “The soul of man under socialism”. He wrote about socialism because it was a
trendy theme at that time.
3).- Dramatic works: this is the most important part of his works. For a while he was the most
important playwright of the moment. He wrote many “comedy manners” where it was possible to criticise
some social conventions and customs of the VIctorian society. His most important plays were: “Lady
windomere’s fan”, “A woman of no importance” and specially “The importance of being earnest”.
He was accused and condemned of GROSS INDECENCY and went to jail for two years. After that,
Wilde wasn’t the same again. He went to France where he died poor and alone in 1900.
He was who introduced the theatre of ideas created by Ibsen. SHaw wanted to create plays which
mix drama and comedy and, at the same time, could make the spectators reflect on.
Just before the IWW, he began to write his most famous plays “Candida”, “Caesar and Cleopatra”,
“Pygmalion” (probably the most famous one), and in 1923 “Saint Joan”, considered by the scholars his best
play.
Shaw was an inconsistent and contradictory thinker because he was open to many different
influences. However, this is something positive in his plays because his main intention was to reflect and
explora different ideas and share them with the audience. He wanted to mix high seriousness with high
comedy and at the same time, make the audience reflect on what they saw.
5.- Elements of the unit to the English subject
a).- The historical background in which the authors developed their works: the second part of
the XIX century and the first of the XX century. This is the last 60 years of the Victorian era, the IWW, the
decline of the British EMpire and the IIWW.
b).- The life and works of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.
c).- Wilde: condemn for gross indecency for having a consensual homosexual act. He
criticised Victorian society in his “comedy of manners”.
d).- Bernard Shaw: introduced the theatre of ideas in the UK. He tried to mix high
seriousness with high comedy and to make the spectators reflect on.
48
awareness and expression and linguistic competence.
These elements are also related to the curriculum of our subject which appears in the order ECD/65/2015.
Many of these elements help students to improve their knowledge on the anglo saxon culture.
UNIT 52: HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF USA: FROM A. LINCOLN TO ROOSEVELT.
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY AND DEMOGRAPHY
3.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ECONOMY
4.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF POLITICS
5.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF LITERATURE
7.- CONCLUSION
8.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This unit deals with a long period of American History: around 80 years. During this period the
country suffered a massive change and became after the IIWW the most powerful country in the world.
Before finishing the unit we will briefly see the major writers in this period.
2.- Historical Evolution of society and demography.
The American civil war meant a pause in the expansion movement towards the west that had begun
forty-years before. When the war was over, this expansion movement continued.
(Migration) To fulfil this expansion more people were needed and the population of the US increased
from 50 millions in 1880 to 145 millions in 1945.
(Quota Laws) It is true that at the beginning of the XX century. The effects of this massive
immigration to the USA were quite visible and began to be a problem because many places were not ready
to take so many people. So, from the 1920s, an annual limit was introduced, trying to control the number of
immigrants who accessed the country (quota laws).
(New Laws Against discrimination) It is also worth to mention here how in the south States, after the
civil war, they were able to avoid the introduction of the new laws which prohibited discriminationagainst
black people. This problem of integrating minorities to society has been one of the big problems in the USA
since then, and nowadays it is present.
3.- Historical evolution of economy
After the civil war, which destroyed parts of the SOuth States (and some parts of the North States, as
well, the North recovered much faster than the South. During this period the USA developed its Industrial
Revolution, increasing their production year after year. It also had some recessions, typical of an economy
which was increasing rapidly without any type of control.
There were recessions in the seventies and at the end of the eighties. It is during this period that
new types of industrial organisation were developed such as the “trust” or the “monopoly”. All this period of
49
increasing economy with small periods of recession will finish in 1929 with the Stock Market crashing and the
beginning of the Great Depression. The new government of Roosevelt presented the “New Deal'' to finish
with the recession. It is not completely clear if this plan was the cause of the improvement of the American
economy because in 1941 USA entered in the IIWW and just the military effort helped the American industry
and economy.
4.- Historical Evolution of politics
(Reconstruction Plans) During this period, the most important things in politics were first the
Reconstruction Plans created for the South STates, whose aim was to help them to recover but they were
not fully developed.
(Isolationism) Second, the continuation of the isolationism in foreign policy but applied to the
American continent. At the end of the XIX century they began to act in the continent when it was needed,
following the ideas of President Monroe: “America for the Americans”.
This was the reason they fought against Spain in Cuba and later helped to open Panama's canal.
They just changed this policy during the IWW when some of their ships were attacked by the germans’
submarines.
After Pearl Harbour and the IIWW this policy was completely abandoned.
5.- Historical evolution of literature
It has been said that until the CIvil War the American literature was imitative, that it lacked a proper
subject.
After the civil war there was a new economic organisation, new social classes, new ethnic
complexities and all the moral and philosophical tension and ironies introduced by the new traditional hero,
the businessman.
The most important names between the civil war and the IWW were Stephen Crane (1971-1900),
Walt Whitman, Mark Twain or Henry James. They came from Transcendentalism to Realism and from there
to modernism and expressionism.
The IWW was an enormous event, which provoked disgust and repulsion. Many young people in the
post. The First World War period had lost their American ideals, and a new mood of anger and disillusion
entered into the work of young writers. The expression “Lost Generation” is used, in general, to describe the
post-WWI generation, but specifically, a group of US writers who came of age during the war and established
their literary reputations in the 1920’s.
The terms come from a remark made by Gertrude Stein to Ernest Heminghway, who used it as an
epigraph to “the Sun also rises”. The generation was lost in the sense that its inherited values were no longer
relevant in the post-war world, and because of its spiritual alienation from the US.
The term includes Ernest Heminghway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinback, William Faulkner, and
many other writers who lived in Paris in some moment of the twenties. They were never a literary school and
in the 1930’s, as these writers turned in different directions, their works lost the distinctive stamp of the post
war period.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview of the history of the USA from the 1860’s to 1840’s. We
will divide the unit into four parts: society, economy, politics and literature. Due to the lack of time. We will
focus on the part dedicated to literature.
50
2.- Historical evolution of the society
From the 1860’s the expansion towards the west finished. The first railway line east-west was done
and this attracted millions of new migrants. During the next few years the USA received millions of people
from everywhere. This creator said that towards the end of the century the government began to think about
restricting the number of new people entering the country. During the beginning of the XX century the quota
laws were created. They tried to stop the number of people trying to get in the USA.
After the civil war some laws were created to finish with the discrimination of black people in the
states of the south but they were overcomed and the problem of racism and discrimation lived on.
3.- Historical evolution of economy

The Industrial revolution that suffered in the USA during this period helped the arrival of migrants.
But this huge development of the American economy created a cyclical crisis. In 1870’s, 1880’s and 1890’s.
But the big one was in 1929, the stock market, which had as a consequence the Great depression, a period
of 10 years where the American economy suffered a big massive contraction.
4.- Historical evolution of politics

Just after the civil war, some plans to rebuild the South State were passed. During this period the
foreign policy was isolationism. The Monroe doctrine was: American for the Americans. So, they participated
in American affairs such as the Panama Canal or the war against Spain for Cuba, but didn’t participate in
Europe. This isolationism ended when the USA participated in the IWW and especially when the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbour and entered the IIWW.
5.- Historical evolution of literature

Scholars have said that until the Civil War, America had a lack of originality. After the civil war, the
american society developed a new economic organisation, a new ethnic adjustment and with new social
classes. The beginning of the XIX century the writers in the USA had developed transcendentalism, the
American version of romanticism, but after the civil war, we can appreciate the introduction of realism. The
development of realism will bring Modernism and Expressionism.
Whitman in poetry is the perfect example of this period: his main characteristics as a poet can be
ascribed to the transcendentalism movement (individualism and the importance of Nature) but this quest for
a free and open poetry made it more difficult to include him in this movement.
Other authors from the second half of the XIX century are Melville (“Moby Dick”), Mark Twain (“Tom
Sawyer” or “Huckleberry FInn”), Stephen Crane (“the red badge of horror”) or Henry James (“Daisy Miller” or
“the American”).
During the beginning of the XX century we can mention another important generation of American
writers: the lost generation. This “generation” is called like this because all wrote more or less during the
same period 1920’s and 1930’s. The name comes from Gertrude Stein referring to a young generation that
had lost all their dreams and expectations after the shock of the IWW, the consequence of this was the
“roaring twenties” a period of hedonism and superficiality. The main author that reflected the 1920’s was
Scott Fitzgerald, and specially his novel “The Great Gatsby”, where we can see the failure of the American
dream. The other important writer of this period is Hemingway, who with his book “The sun also rises” (1926)
gave name to this generation. He also wrote “For whom the bells toll” and “The old man and the sea”.
Adscribe to this generation we can find John Steinback as well, who depicted the hardworking class that
suffered the consequences of the great depression. His most famous novel is “The grapes of wrath” (1939).
Finally, in this list of American authors we need to mention Faulkner, who won the nobel prize in 1949. His
first famous novel is “The sound and the fury” (19???).
UNIT 53: NOVEL, TALE AND POETRY IN USA. MELVILLE, POE AND WHITMAN.
51
1.- Introduction.
This is a really important unit because we are going to see the most important names of American
literature during the XIX century. Probably, the only names that we would need to add would be Mark Twain
and Henry James.
Melville, Poe and Whitman have characteristics of the transcendentalist movement, which was the
American version of romanticism. In the USA the romantic movement can be summarised in a defence of
individualism and the importance of Nature. This movement was a reaction against the XVIII century
rationalism.
During the period that Poe, Melville and Whitman wrote their works the USA changed a lot. It began
an expansion to the West, suffered a Civil War, and began an industrial revolution which transformed the
country completely in less than a century.
Since the beginning of the XIX century began an expansion to the West which created tension
between states because new states were created and slavery had been abolished. The Slavery South
States didn’t want a majority of non-slave states. So, this fact created tension that finally blew up in 1861.
After the Civil War the expansion to the West was nearly finished and then began a fast
industrialization of the country which would create modern america.
3.- Novel: Melville (1819-1891).
Melville had many different jobs before he settled as a writer. He used his experiences in his books.
He worked as a teacher, in a bank, as a sailor in a ship, as a journalist and in a whaler.
Between his works we can highlight three specially: the first is “White Jacket”. It was based on his
naval experience, and depicted some historical moments in the Navy. The second is his last novel, Billy
Budd, which tells the story of the handsome sailor Billy Budd, who is falsely accused of mutiny. He is
executed but everyone in the ship feels it was unfair. The book is full of allegories and presents a big
dilemma: individual conscience or social responsibility. The third book of Melville we want to talk about is
Moby DIck. It was a commercial success and it would become his most famous and known book. It is based
on an article he read, “Mocha Dick or the white whale of the Pacific”, but Melville used some of his
experiences on a whaler.
The main character of the book is Ahab, who has an obsession with Moby Dick, the whale who took
his leg. It seems that we know how he will finish because his fate is clear. We also have Ishmael, who is the
main narrator of the story. I said the main because there are some chapters where Ishmael disappears as a
narrator. The main topics of this book are death, sin and expiation, predestination and free will. It is also the
story of a voyage of revenge. A crusade against evil. Everybody is destroyed except for the narrator, who is
left alive to the story.
And now we are going to comment on Poe.
4.- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).

He was orphaned at the end of two and adopted by a wealthy tobacco exporter . Poe studied in
England and went to West Point. Later on, he began to work for a newspaper. Poe wrote poetry and a novel
but what made him popular were his short stories. It is possible to divide his tales in three groups. The Comic
Tales, the Horror Tales and the Detective Tales.
52
The first group, his Comic Tales. They are a grotesque satire, with a macabre (makabra) sense of
humour, of American society and a painful and terrible portrait of human society. Some titles are: “The
Spectacles” or “The man who was used up”.
The Second group is the Horror Tales: they are his most famous tales. They deal with death in a
dark and supernatural atmosphere. Some titles are: “the blac cat”, “The fallen of the house of Usher '' or “The
Masque of the Red Death ''.
Finally, the third group is the Detective Tales. He was the true inventor of detective stories. He
creates the character of Auguste Dupin, who will be used by Conrad Doyle as base to create Sherlock
Holmes. Some of the titles are: “The gold Bag”, and “The murders in the Rue Morgue”.
5.- Poetry: Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

Whitman was a very active person. This fact made him work in many different jobs. Thanks to this he
developed this idea that poetry must be able to tell the lives of people and to depict the landscape in which
they live.
In his quest to achieve it he transformed poetry. From something based on strict rules to something
open and free based on rhythm and musicality.
He achieved his main ideas in his most famous work “Leaves of grass”. This book of poetry,
published for the first time in 1855, would become a whole-life project. The first time it was published
contained 12 poems and the last edition had 385 poems. In the book we can see his concerns, his view of
society and his feelings. He addressed all types of themes but especially social and cultural issues.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give an overview of three of the most important writers of the XIX century in
America. We will try to depict the historical background first. Afterwards we will develop the life and works of
Melville, Poe and Whitman. We will try to describe this period in a clear and plain form and quiet briefly due
to the lack of time.

The period of time that appears in this unit is the whole XIX century. Poe (1809-1849) was the first to
be born. Melville (1819-1891) and Whitman (1819-1892) lived the same period.
During this period of time, the USA expanded its territories to the West, suffered a civil war
(1861-1865) and began an industrial revolution. This period of time was when the USA changed more
rapidly.
There is an element that shares the threeauthors we are analysing. They were all part of the
transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism was the American version of romanticism. In the USA it
meant a defence of individualism and the importance of Nature. As we can see both characteristics were
understandable in this context, a country that was expanding its borders rapidly.
3.- Novel: Melville

Melville worked in many different jobs before becoming a writer. He used his own experiences in his
books. His two more important works are “Billy Bud” (1891), his last book, and book, and “Moby Dick”
(1951).
In “Billy Budd”, it is possible to see some of the characteristics of Melville’s works: full of allegories,
with a big dilemma to solve: individual conscience or social responsibility.
But his most that he read but he had work as a fisherman as well. The story of the book is a voyage
of revenge, a crusade against evil where everybody is destroyed. The main topics of this book are death, sin
and expiations, predestination and free will.
53
4.- Tales: Poe
Poe worked as a journalist for a newspaper. He wrote a novel and some poetry but he’s
remembered for his short stories. We can divide them into three groups:
-- Comic tales: in this kind of tales we can find grotesque humour and a painful and terrible portrait of
human society: an example of this is “The spectacles”.
-- Horror tales: they are the most famous short stories of Poe. In these works Poe deals with death in
a dark and supernatural form. Famous examples of this are “The black cat” or “the fallen of the house of
Usher”.
-- Detective tales: this type of short stories are less known but he was the creator of this subgenre.
He created the character Auguste Dupin, in which Sherlock Holmes is based. The most famous short stories
of this group is “The murderers of the rue morgue”.
5.- Whitman
Whitman worked in many places and in many different jobs. This gave him valuable experience for
his works.
For him the poetry had to tell the story of the people and depict the landscape in which they live.
With this clear idea about what had to be poetry he transformed it from something based on strict rules of
something open and free based on rhythm and music.
He achieved this idea with his work “Leaves of grass”, which was published firstly in 1855 with 12
poems, but he was adding more and more material during his life, transforming that book into a life project: it
finished with 385 poems.
In the book he shows his concerns and views about the transformation of society. He also addressed
all types of themes but especially social and culñtural issues.
UNIT 54: HUMORISM: MARK TWAIN. HENRY JAMES AND THE COSMOPOLITANISM. MARK TWAIN
(1835-1910). HENRY JAMES (1843-1916)
INDEX
1.- Introduction
3.- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
3.1.- Humorism in the southwestern
3.2.- Life and works of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
4.- Henry James (1843-1916)
6.- Conclusion
7.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction:
This is a really important unit because we are going to see the life and works of two of the most
important writers of American literature: Mark Twain and Henry James.
They wrote their works after the civil war when the literary movement transcendentalism, an
American adaptation of European romanticism, was being substituted by the realism movement. The new
54
reality after the civil war helped to develop this new movement in America. Even poets such as Walt
Whitman, who initially followed the transcendentalism movement, moved to the new tendency.
This new literary approach suited better the new reality of a huge country, which was being
populated massively, and was also being industrialised. Fear of forgetting the past traditions grew up among
people and new realities appeared, like the new wealthy families from the development of capitalism in the
USA. Twain and James depicted some of those new realities in their works.
The American Civil war had finished in 1865, and some years later the first railway crossing from the
Atlantic to the Pacific was working. It meant that the “frontier” to the unknown had disappeared. But now, you
have a massive territory without many people living there.
From the seventies a mass migration movement began in the USA from everywhere around the
world, and at the same time, the country began a process of industrialization that changed the country
completely in less than forty years. In the 1860 American census the total population was 31 million people.
By the end of the century, in 1900 the population was 76 million.
3.- Mark Twain: Humorism
During the first half of the XIX century in the “frontier areas” it developed a movement of humorists.
They were not usually professionals but enjoyed writing and telling their stories to entertain and make the
people living in those areas laugh.
One of the reasons for the development of this type of literature was the hard conditions in the
frontier. They needed to laugh if they didn’t want to get depressed: “Western humour is a distinct product. It
grew out of a distinct condition (the battle with the frontier). The fight was so desperate, to take it seriously
was to surrender… Western humour was the result. It is the freshest, wildest humour imaginable, but there is
a tragedy behind it”.
With their stories they kept and shaped the myth of the frontier in America. The southwest to which
they refer is present day Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri. With
the beginning of the civil war the movement nearly disappeared but it was the base for the works of Samuel
Clements, also known as Mark Twain.
3.2.- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Mark Twain was born as Samuel Clements in the state of Missouri. After working as a river-boat pilot
began to work as a journalist. During this period he began to write some humour stories signed by the pen
name Mark Twain. This was nearly at the end of the civil war (1963-64). All their short stories he began to
write were published in 1867 as “Jumping frog of calaveras county, and other sketches”. This was the
beginning of Twain’s literary career.
In 1876 he published the adventures of Tom Sawyer, probably his most famous book. It is based
largely in his personal memories. In the book Twain paints an idyllic picture of boyhood life along the
Mississippi River. It is about the life of Tom Sawyer who is on the border between childhood and adulthood.
Twain uses the narration to criticise the values and practices of the adult world toward which Tom is heading.
Twain shows that social authority does not always operate on wise or consistent principles and that old
institutions can make the same kinds of mistakes that individuals do. He is a critic of society’s hypocrisy but
55
he didn’t try to advocate for subversion. ºthe novel demonstrates the potential dangers of subverting
authority just as it demonstrates the dangers of adhering to authority two strictly. At the beginning Twain was
sured to whom the novel was aimed. Finally, he decided that it was a move for young readers.
In 1884, he published a sequel called Huckleberry Finn. He was a secondary character from the
original and now it is the “narrator” of the story. This sequel was considered a novel for adults and was
perceived as a more serious because it focus on themes more polemics at the end as the institution of
slavery.
Twain was a story-teller of the deep south, who continued the tradition of the southwestern humour
and left many colloquial speeches, keeping the memory of a reality that was disappearing.
4.- Henry James (1843-1916) and the cosmopolitanism
Henry James was born in a wealthy family, which paid him a good education in Europe. This had
become fashionable between the new class of wealthy people that emerged after the civil war, with the
development of capitalism in the USA.
James would become part of the expatriate wealthy Americans who lived in Europe. This new
wealthy class saw the old Europe as the place for culture in contraposition of the new America, savage,
barbarian and ilitrated. This was called cosmopolitanism and Henry James was the perfect example.
He became well-known for the novels where he depicts this reality, Americans living abroad. The
main themes of these novels were the innocence of the New World in conflict with corruption and wisdom of
the old.
Among these novels we find his famous Daisy Miller, the portrait of a Lady (1881) or The American.
Other two important characteristics of Henry James as a writer are his impressive portraits of women
and the use he did of psychological characterization. He might have influenced stream of consciousness
writers such as Virginia Woolf. In part, his style is in a transitional place between realism and modernism.
It is possible to see in James an European mind, more than American. And he saw his compatriots
as Booris, uneducated and provincial but at the same time he was fascinated by the poignant innocence of
the American national character.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about Mark Twain and Henry James. At the same time,
we need to explain humorism and cosmopolitanism related to Twain and James.
This is really an interesting unit because both figures/characters are some of the most important
American writers of all time.
We will try to depict this period in a clear and plain form and quite briefly due to the lack of time.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) and Henry James (1843-1916) lived during the same period. They were
born before the Civil war (1561-1865) but they developed their careers as writers after that. The 1870’s was
a period when the railway east-west finished and a massive migratory movement began. The USA was
changing huge rapidly. At the same time, the economy of the country, which was continuously growing up,
suffered some huge cyclical crisis up to the crisis of Wall Street in 1929.
56
The most important countries of that period began a race to control the whole Africa and to own their
own part of the territory. This was the colonialist period. Henry James lived most of his life in Europe.
3.- Mark Twain: Humorism
This term refers to the popular movement of people who in places near the borders made people
laugh. They created characters based on stereotypes but developing realistic features. They imitated their
accents. The most used characters were the frontiersman and the farmer. This happened about the 1820’s
and 1830’s when the border was being moved little by little to the west. But it was still an unknown place full
of threats. Even after the colonists arrived to the sea in the west, life in the rural American territory was
rough.
This movement appeared due to the hard conditions that the colonists suffered. They needed to
laugh to forget about their daily difficulties. All this disappeared after the civil war but Mark Twain used some
characteristics of this movement in his writings.
3.2.- Mark Twain
Mark Twain is the pen name of Samule Clemens. He is one of the most important writers born in
America. Before writing books he worked as a river-boat pilot and as a journalist. He began to write some
short stories which became quite famous: “Jumping frog of calaveras county and other sketches” (1967). But
the book that helped him to become a full time writer was “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” (1876), this idyllic
portrait of the Mississippi River of a boy who is nearly an adult was based on his own experiences. It was a
huge success. In 1884 he wrote “Huckleberry Finn”, which is a continuation of Tom Sawyer. He also wrote
“The prince and the pauper” and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court”.
4.- Henry James: cosmopolitanism
Henry James was one of the Americans who travelled around Europe. He depicts in his books this
reality. For him there is a conflict between the innocent of the New World with the corruption and wisdom of
the old.
His most important works are “Daisy Miller” (1878), “The portrait of a Lady” (1881) and “The
American” (1887). He wrote some impressive portraits of women and psychological characterization. It
seems that he was one of the first writers to use the stream of consciousness. This characteristic links him to
the modernism movement, but it is possible to say that he was a transitional author, sharing characteristics
of the realist genre with modernism.
At the end it seems that James was more European than American (in fact he became a British
citizen). He saw his compatriots as boorish, uneducated and provincial. However, he was fascinated by the
innocence of the American national character.
5.- Elements of unit related to the English subject
The life and works of Mark Twain and Henry James are really important elements to understand better these
figures to be able to show and teach. For example, humorism is the foundation base of the stand up comedy
that is so trendy now in our country.
6.- Conclusion
57
This unit is not only interesting for the themes that it shows but necessary. Mark Twain represents a
popular tradition, the folk of the first adventures. And at the same time he created some stereotypes about
that period that had disappeared.
With Henry James we discovered the “cosmopolitanism” of the wealthy Americans, from whom
Europe was the old place.
As I said before it is an interesting necessary unit to better understand the American identity.
UNIT 55: THE LOST GENERATION: FITZGERALD, HEMINGWAY, STEINBACK AND THE NARRATIVE
OF FAULKNER
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- Historical Background: the lost generation
3.- Scott Fiotzgerald (1896-1940)
4.- John Steinback (1902-1968)
5.- Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
6.- William Faulkner (1897-1962)
7.- The elements of the unit related to the English subject.
8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
This is a really important unit because it is focused on a generation that marked the beginning of
modernism. It meant the first generation to understand that the old pre-industrialized world had finished. A
new reality had emerged with the dangers of World Wars.
2.- Historical Background: the lost generation
The IWW was an enormous event, which provoked disgust and repulsion (shocking event). Many
young people in the post-world war period had lost their American ideals, and a new mood of anger and
disillusion entered into the work of young writers.
The expression “Lost Generation” is used in general to describe the post WWI generator, but
specifically, a group of US writers who came of age during the war and established their literary reputations
in the 1920s.
The term comes from a remark made by Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway, who used it as an
epigraph to “The sun also rises” (1926). She heard it from a French mechanic.
The generation was lost in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the post-war
world, and because of its spiritual alienation from the US.
The term includes Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinback, Faulkner and many other writers who lived in
Paris in some moment of the twenties. They never were a literary school and in the 30s, as these writers
turned in different directions, their works lost the distinctive stamp of the post-war period.
It was to lose the innocence of mankind. A world that for the first time could destroy completely big
areas.
3.- Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
58
Fitzgerald, from a quite young age, wanted to work as a writer but this was something that didn't
happen until 1920, when his novel “This side of paradise” was successfully published.
Before he had abandoned his studies in Princeton and had enrolled in the army. He didn’t finally go
to war and a little after he published “This side of paradise”. At the time he had met Zelda who would
become his wife, after that his writing career had begun.
“This side of paradise” was based on his own experiences from his period as a student in Princeton.
It engaged the young, disillusioned postwar generation, who found himself mirrored their shattered dreams
and empty, irresolute lives.
The years Fitzgerald could live thanks to his short-stories and novels and became the official
narrator of the American 1920s. He chronicled throughout his novels and short stories the glitter and excess
of that period. He christened it as the Jazz Age or the Roaring twenties. He and his wife were both observers
and participants. They led social lives that mirrored the Hedonism of his stories. In depicting this hedonistic
society, however, Fitzgerald also portrayed the hidden desperation and spìritual emptiness of its members.
In 1925 he published his most famous novel “the great Gatsby” but it was a commercial failure. This
novel is a satiric fable of the pursuit of success and the collapse of the American Dream.
4.- John Steinback (1902-1968)
Steinback, born in California in 1902, was the writer who depicted the Great Depression in the USA.
From his novel “The pastures of heaven”, he will describe the life of Hardworking people and their
struggles to survive. His most famous and acclaimed works were “Of mice and me”, where he tells the tragic
story of two poor peasants, who dreamt of a small farm of their own.
Also, the Steinback’s most widely known work “The grapes of wrath” (1939), which was awarded
with the Pulitzer award and shows the long trip of poor family from Oklahoma to California during the “Great
Depression”.
And finally, “East of Eden”, which was considered by Steinback his best work.
Steinback m mixed in his works a naturalistic perspective with a deep sympathy for people and
human condition. He saw a quiet dignity in the poor and the oppressed. He was awarded with the nobel prize
in 1962.
5.- Hemingway (1899-1961)
Hemingway was one of the most influential American writers of the XX century. After graduating he
began to work as a journalist but after the USA entries in the IWW he decided to serve as a volunteer. He
worked in Italy as an ambulance driver but was injured and spent the last months of war in the hospital. Later
on, he was able to get a job as a correspondent in Paris.
It was there where he met Gertrude Stein, who encouraged him to write stories. She also told him
what she had heard from a French mechanic: the lost generation. Hemingway would introduce it in his first
novel “The sun also rises” and it would name this group of expatriated Americans living in Paris. In fact, “The
sun also rises” depicts this exactly, the relationships of an american group of people who live in Paris.
Later on, he worked as a correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and the IIWW, but spent some
time in the USA as well. All his experiences in life helped him with his books. For example, “A farewell to
arms”, which describes the love story of an Italian ambulance paramedic and a nurse. It was his first
bestseller.
59
Other important works of Hemingway were “For whom the bell tolls” and “The old man and the sea”.
“For whom the bell tolls” deals with the Spanish Civil War. As we mentioned before he was there as
correspondent, and “The old man and the sea” is set in Cuba, where he lived for a while during the fifties.
His style as a writer was expressionism. He always showed concern about authenticity and thought
that it was difficult to write about something that you haven’t seen. He tried to immerse the reader inside of
the action avoiding the authorial view of point.
6.- William Faulkner (1897-1962)

The case of William Faulkner is really peculiar. He was one of the most innovative and experimental
American authors but it was not until 1946 when he began to gain recognition. Probably, the reason for this
was his difficult narrative style and complex plots.
In 1929, he published “the sound and the fury”, that is when he began to explore experimental ways
of narration. The novel uses 4 different voices to piece together the story. It challenges the reader by
representing a fragmented plot told from multiple points of view. The book is the account of the tragic
downfall of the Compson family.
Along his writer’s career he received favourable reviews but any of his works was a commercial
success forcing him to work as a screenwriter in Hollywood. It was a really well paid job.
About his style we can say that it was difficult to read. He could spend a page with the same
sentence, to change the narrative time randomly, to experiment with multiple narrators or with a stream of
consciousness soliloquies. With all this he was trying to achieve a certain mood.
It was in 1946 when a literary critic published the book “The Portable Faulkner'', where he tried to
make Faulkner’s works achievable by explaining with extracts the chronological order of facts. Because most
of his books were connected and had in YOKNAPATAWPHA their common place. After the publication of this
book Faulkner began to be a recognised author and in 1949 was awarded with the nobel prize. He would be
known for his epic portrayal of the tragic conflict between the old and the new south. He was interested in
multigenerational family chronicles, and many characters appear in more than one book; this gives the
YOKNAPATAWPHA county saga a sense of continuity that makes the area and its inhabitants seem real.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview about the lost generation and its main members. We
will begin by introducing the historical context of the period and later on, we will mention one by one the four
more important writers of this period.

This generation came from the shock that everyone suffered after the IWW. The name refers to lost
in the sense of a generation that has lost their innocence. Their values and their hopes and dreams. It was
the author Gertrude Stein who had heard the name and told Hemingway who included it into his novel “The
sun rises” (1926). We need to remember that this generation is an American one and that the AMericandidn’t
suffer directly the war. They were with the Roaring twenties just after the war. The american society became
superficial, hedonistic and without strong values. This ends with the crash of the stock market in 1929 and
the beginning of the Big depression.
3.- Scott Fitgerald

His first novel “This side of Paradise” (1920), a semi biographical account of his period in Princeton
engaged with the young and disillusioned postwar generation. He didn’t finish university but he could live by
writing short stories. He and his wife began to be part of this hedonist and disillusioned generation. He
became the narrator of the American twenties, chronicling the glitter and excesses of that period. They led
social lives that mirrored the hedonism of his stories. He also portrayed hidden desperation and spiritual
60
emptiness. His main novel is “The great gatsby” (1925), but it was a commercial failure, which represents the
collapse of the American dream.
4.- John Steinback

He was the writer of the hardworking people. Since the beginning of the “Great Depression” his
books were based on tragic and hard stories of the portrait people. His most important novels are “Of mice
and men” (1937), which tells the story of two poor peasants who dream with a small form of their own. “The
grapes of wrath” (1939), which shows the long trip of a poor family to California during the Great Depression.
And “East of Eden” (1952). In his style, Steinback mixed a naturalistic approach with a deep sympathy for
people and human condition: saw a quiet dignity in the poor and the oppressed.
5.- Ernest Hemingway

He travelled a lot working as a journalist and this helped with many experiences for his books. His
first book was “The sun also rises” (1920), which mentioned before because it was the one that spoke about
the lost generation. In that book we can see a group of American expatriates that travel to the Spanish San
Fermines. This book was based on Hemingway's own memories. His other famous books are “For who toll
the bells” (1940), “A farewell to arms” (1929), and “The old man and the sea” (1952). We could define his
style as expressionist. He’s concerned about the authenticity of the text. It’s not possible to write about
something that you haven’t seen. He tries to immerse the reader inside of the action, avoiding authorial point
of view.
6.- Faulkner
Faulkner is a strange case in literature. Most of his books weren’t commercially successful and his
literary style made him a difficult and complex author. But his innovative and experimental ideas finally were
recognised with a nobel prize in 1949.
One of his first important books was “The sound and the fury” (1929), in which he uses four different
narrative voices to tell the story. This presents a fragmented plot which challenges the reader. The book
accounts the tragic fall down of a family.
In 1946 it was published the book that helped to understand Faulner “The portable Faulkner”. In this
book a literary critic tried to make Faulkner's works achievable by explaining with extracts the Chronological
order of facts from many of his books because many of them are connected. In fact, he created an imaginary
place which appears in many of his books: Yoknapatawpher. In most of his plots, Faulkner tried to portray the
tragic conflict between the old and the new south.
7.- Elements of this unit related to the English language

8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
UNIT 56: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IRELAND AND GREAT BRITAIN. SEAN O’CASEY AND JAMES
JOYCE
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- RELATIONS BETWEEN IRELAND AND GREAT BRITAIN
2.1.- From 1171 to 1500.
2.2.- From 1500 to 1800.
2.3.- From 1800 to 1921.
2.4.- From 1921 to nowadays.
3.- SEAN O’CASEY
4.- JAMES JOYCE
5.- ELEMENTS OF THE UNIT RELATED WITH THE ENGLISH SUBJECT
(*Cross-curricular relation with other subjects. *Didactic application. *Competencies and ICT
relation).
61
6.- CONCLUSION
7.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This is a really interesting unit where it is possible to understand the reasons for the long conflict
suffered in Northern Ireland. Also, it introduces the figure of one of the greatest writers of all time: James
Joyce.
Along the unit it will be analysed the figure of Sean O’casey other great Irish playwright, more
unknown for the Spanish people.
At the end of the unit, I will explain the relationship of the unit with the competencies and other
subjects, but it is important to mention from the beginning the social and civic competence. I believe that the
Irish-British conflict can teach us lessons for the future about how we should behave and act in situations like
this.
2.- Relations between Ireland and Great Britain.

2.1.- From 1171 to 1500
Ireland had been inhabited by Celtic tribes during the Roman period. Left alone by Romans and
Anglo-Saxons, it suffered some raids from the Vikings during the IX century.
During centuries the Irish have had 5 independent Kingdoms but the viking raids made them create
the figure of the High King. King between kings, to repeal the attacks.
The situation remained calm until one of the Irish Kings asked normands lords for help against
another Irish King. Henry II, King of England at that time, took advantage of this situation, conquered Ireland
and became King of Ireland.
From this moment on, Ireland was formally part of the territories of the English King and was ruled by
Norman lords and some irish chiefs.
During the next centuries, these ANglo-Irish lords ruled freely until the beginning of the XVI century,
with Henry VIII.
2.2.- From 1500 to 1800.

Henry VIII wanted to retake full control of Ireland. He did it but it meant the beginning of the old
disputes. Henry didn’t introduce just the English government in Ireland, also began to force the Irish to follow
the Anglican reform. So, this created a firm opposition (Ireland had developed a strong Catholic identity) and
united two ideas: Irish nationalism with Catholicism. The Tudor’s house had to fight three more wars against
the Irish but, in the end, they could control the island and impose their government. They also began to
expropriate the best lands in the North (Ulster) to the Catholic Irish and to give them to the English and
Scottish protestants.
The Catholic Irish were marginalised in the social and political life of Ireland. They saw an
opportunity to improve their situation when a Scottish Catholic King achieved the English throne. But it was a
turbulent moment. With James II they thought that the moment had arrived. James was removed by the
Parliament and he thought that the Catholic Irish would help his cause. But the new king, William III of
Orange went to Ireland and defeated the Irish army of James. The Irish hopes disappeared.
The XVIII century began really badly for the Catholic Irish and because many laws against their
rights to participate in politics or to develop their religion were passed. As time passed (with the passage of
62
time), there was a relaxation with the accomplishment of these laws and Irish nationalism began to rise at
the end of the century.
This new development of the Irish movement made the British to promise some improvements for
the Catholics. At the end of the XVIII century Ireland became part of the United Kingdom.
2. 3.- From 1800 to 1921.
Again, the promises from English politics weren’t completely fulfilled and the Irish nationalist
movement continued to grow.
During the middle of the XIX century, several years of famine led to a massive movement of Irish
immigrants to the USA. This fact helped the nationalism movement at the end of the century because many
of the immigrants became wealthy people who supported the movement financially.
It was at this moment when many Irish supporters decided that a pacific solution to the problem was
impossible. It began the violence and fight against the British. Just before WWI, British politicians had
promised a solution to the problem but they were trying to delay it. They stopped thinking about it at the
beginning of the war. But the Irish were determined to achieve their independence and in 1916 it began the
“Easter rising”. The British stopped it and judged the political leaders. Most of them were executed. This was
criticised not just in Ireland but even in London and became the beginning of the end in London and became
the beginning of the end of Britain ruling Ireland.
In 1918, there were new elections for the British Parliament. The Irish nationalism won all the Irish
seats and they decided not to go to London and instead to create the irish independent parliament. It began
a short period of violence against British soldiers. In 1920, the British government signed a treaty with the
Irish and in 1921 the Free State of Ireland was created.
2.4.- From 1921 to nowadays.
This independence had conditions. Six counties from the north of Ireland (Ulster) would remain part
of Britain and the new state would be part of the Commonwealth, being the British crown the head of the
state. This independence divided the Irish. It began a civil war between pro treaty and against treaty. The
ones against the treaty finally won and by 1937, the Irish government proclaimed the republic. Ireland left the
Commonwealth and declared the objective of the union of the whole Irish Ireland.
At the end of the 60’s a movement pro civil rights emerged in Ulster claiming the same rights for
Catholics. This rising movement produced the creation of the Provisional IRA and royalist movements.
They clashed during the beginning of the 70’s and London suspended Ulster autonomy. The tension
continued in the area until 1998, when a historic agreement (“good friday”). Autonomy again, same rights for
Catholics and Protestants, and end of the violence from the Provisional IRA.
This agreement has worked until recently. The decision of the UK leaving the EU has begun tensions
in the area due to the future status of the border between Ulster and the South of the Irish island.
3.- Sean O’Casey
Sean O’Casey is one of the most important playwrights of Ireland. He was also one of the founders
of the Irish Labour Party and his plays have shown all the Irish problematic for their independence.
O’Casey’s most famous plays is a trilogy which he premiered in the Abbey theatre in Dublin: “The shadow of
a gunman” (1929), “June and the Paycok'' (1924), and “The plough and the stars” (1926). They were famous
at the time but the last one created a lot of controversy because it portrayed some fanatical Irish nationalists
and finally O’Casey decided to leave Ireland for ever.
4.- James Joyce
63
Finally, we are going to write about the figure of James Joyce, one of the biggest names in literature.
Joyce grew up in Dublin and it was there where most of his novels are set. Joyce worked as a journalist
before writing novels full time. He began writing short stories which later became his first book “Dubliners”,
but his best known novel is “Ulysses” (1922), which caused great controversy.
It was a really experimental novel, in which each chapter uses a different style (one of them is the
stream-of-consciousness).
He took the structure of the “Odyssey” and adapted it to Dublin. All the action happens in one day
(16th of June, 1904). This work is famous because many people celebrate this day: bloomsday. Leopold
Bloom is the main character of the book.
5.-
Before finishing I need to write about the relation between this unit and the competences. It is clear
that the competences with more relation with this unit are the social and civic competence (SCC), the
Cultural Awareness and Expression (CAE), and the Competence in Linguistic Communication (CLC). The
SCC and CAE are really important in this unit. The History of the relationship between Britain and Ireland
has always been problematic and it should help students to understand the power of cultural ideas and
imposition of government. This is a unit which the use of ICT resources could help to motivate and engage
students. We have several good films which speak about it
6.- Conclusion:
This is a really interesting unit where we better understand the problematic situation between Ulster
and the Republic of Ireland and the violence and tensions inside Ulster. Also, it helps us to know deeply the
figure of O’Casey and Joyce, two important names of English literature. We believe that the knowledge
acquired in this unit could benefit our students in many ways, not just improving their communicative
competence.
7.- Bibliography:
---- Kenny (ed.): Ireland and the British Empire. OUP, 2004.
---- Jackson: Home Rule: An Irish history, 1800-2000. OUP, 2004.
---- Greenblatt (ed): The Norton Anthology of ENglish literature. Norton, 2018.
---- Rogers: the Oxford Illustrated History of English literature. OUP, 1997.
---- Kinder and Heigelmann: The Penguin Atlas of World History. Penguin, 2004.
8.- Webliography:
-- Oxford UP Literature:
-- Encyclopaedia Britannica:
-- BBC History:
-- Wikipedia:
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to depict an overview of the relationship between Ireland and Great Britain,
and to show the work and life of two of the greatest Irish writers: Sean O’Casey and James Joyce.
2.- Relationship between Ireland and Great Britain
-- From 1171 to 1500: before the Normans conquered the Isle, Ireland was divided into kingdoms.
One of those Kings called the Normans to ask for help against the Vikings. This excuse was used by the
Normans to conquer Ireland, which became part of the territories of the Norman King Henry II.
64
-- From 1500 to 1800: Henry VIII tried to introduce two elements in Ireland, which created a reaction
against the British. He tried to introduce the English government and the Anglican religion. The Irish
developed their nationalism and made their Catholic faith. The Tudor dynasty began to expropriate the best
lands (in the North of the isle, what would become the Ulster) and gave them to English and Scottish
protestants. It began a period of marginalisation of the Catholics. Until 1800 Ireland wasn’t officially part of
the UK.
-- From 1800 to 1921: during the XIX century, Ireland suffered several famines, which had as a
consequence the massive migrant movement to the USA. From the middle of century a nationalist organised
movement began to rise. It was created the feanist movement which was the first step. During that period the
“Irish Renaissance” also began creating the base for a more organised movement which soon will ask the
independence from the UK.
-- From 1921 to nowadays: 6 counties from the North of the isle remained under British sovereignty
(Ulster), and Ireland took part of the commonwealth until 1949. During the 60’s, there was a “civil right’s
movement asking for an equal treatment to Catholics in Ulster. The reivindications of these groups created
tension with the protestants who began to create royalist groups which promoted violence to end the
problem. In the Catholic part the provisional IRA was created.
The rise of the violence made the British government suspend Ulster autonomy. The tension
continued in the area until 1998 with the “good friday agreement”. It finished the violence. With Brexit (voted
in a referendum in 2016, and finally done in 2021) it seems that tension and problems are rising again in
Ulster because the royalists want a hard border, while the Catholics want a soft border with the other part of
Ireland.
3.- Sean O’Casey

He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party. These plays are really important in the Irish
Renaissance movement. Some of the reasons for this are:
-- Used of gaelic in his plays.

-- Dealt with Dublin slams life.
-- Showed the struggles for independence.
-- Showed the tragedy of ordinary lives.
-- Had a rich sense of irony.
-- Used a realistic manner of writing.
His most famous plays are the trilogy: “The shadow of the gunman” (1922), “Juno and the Payback ''
(1924), and “The plough and the stars” (1926). With this trilogy, O’Casey portrayed some phanatical Irish
nationalists and created huge controversy: after that he decided to leave the country.
4.- James Joyce
UNIT 57: GREAT BRITAIN IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN WORLDS AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE
MOST IMPORTANT WRITERS OF THE PERIOD.
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.1.- PRE-WAR YEARS
2.2.- THE IWW
2.3.- BETWEEN THE TWO WARS
2.4.- IIWW
3.- IWW POETS
65
4.- MODERNISM: THE NOVEL
4.1.- JAMES JOYCE
4.2.- D.H. LAWRENCE
4.3.- VIRGINIA WOOLF

6.- CONCLUSION
7.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
The period analysed in this unit is really important for Great Britain. It suffered the downgrade of its
worldwide status in this period, from 1914 to 1945. It was devastated after IIWW and with the need of
changing their international role (to find its new role in the worldwide scenario).
It is also the period of the world wars which proved the power achieved by mankind to destroy, and
the raising of the nazis in Germany and the fascists in Italy.
The after war period in Great Britain was hard. The war left big consequences, especially in the
British demography. It had been the first war fought with modern weapons using old strategies. This
produced a slaughter.
Many other problems blew up just after the war. Women began to achieve their first vindications.
They had to replace men in the factories. Ireland achieved independence after a long delay by the British
politicians.
This situation, where Britain felt weaker than before the war, didn't help the peace treaty with
Germany. France was in the same situation as the English, and, at the end, both countries pressured for
some conditions that affected the future recovery of Germany. These conditions are considered the first step
for the IIWW. The humiliation of Germany with that peace treaty will be in the German mind during the whole
twenties.
3.- First World Poets
During the IWW began to appear a poetry depicting the war, reflecting the feelings of the war. It was
a civil and militar chronicle. For the first time we find poetry with the topic of the war, need of peace,
criticising the consequences of war. T. S. Eliot was the most important poet of that moment. One of the most
important works would be: “The waste land” published in 1922. Following the emergence of this anti-war
poetry emerged a new group of poets in the 30s, with W. H. Auden as the leader of this new movement: “the
Auden generation” or “The Oxford group”. They were influenced by 3 elements: Marxism, Existentialism and
Freud. For the first time poets spoke openly about homosexuality.
4.- Modernism (artistic and literary movement born around the 20s): novel.
As modernism we think about the last period of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century,
when the second Industrial Revolution helped to develop many new technologies which were seen as part of
the new Modern world. For example, the telephone, the electricity, the car, the radio….All this technological
revolution had a theory development as well. The theory of evolution, Marxism, the Freudian theories and
the subconscious, the uncertainty principle or the theory of relativity of Einstein.
The so-called “modernism” was the application of this new vision of the world in the field of arts and
literature. Artists and writers tried to break the rules and norms they had until then, and to explore new forms
66
of expression. In this experimental period the novel suffered great changes. For example, influenced by the
studies of Freud, it appeared the stream of consciousness, which tried to look like pure inner thinking. Or the
application of different views of points in the same novel. The truth is that this movement helped literature to
explore new fields of form and themes.
4.1.- James joyce (1882-1944)
The first of the modernism writers we are going to talk about is James Joyce, who is one of the
biggest names in literature. He grew up in Dublin and it was there where most of his novels are set. He
worked as a journalist before writing novels as his main job.
He began writing short stories, which later became his first book “Dubliners”, but his best known
novel is “Ulysses” (1922), which caused great controversy.
It was a really experimental novel, in which each chapter uses a different style (one of them is the
stream of consciousness).
He took the structure of the “Odyssey” and adapted it to his book. All the action happens in one day
(16th of June, 1904), and mentions real people, real places, and real shops from that period. This work is so
famous that many people celebrate this day around the world: Bloomsday. Leopold Bloom is the main
character of the book.
4.2.- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
Virginia Woolf was born in London in a distinguished family which could give her a good education.
She and her husband were great figures of the English intellectual circles. Woolf was famous for her novels
and essays. In her books she experimented with new ways and approaches to tell her stories. Among (not
between) her novels, the most important are “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To the lighthouse” and “The Waves”.
“Mrs. Dalloway” was published in 1925, and she tried there to experiment with new techniques and
tools. SHe tried to integrate past with present, through memory and sensations, by a succession of interior
monologues. As one of the characteristics of modernism. She tries to portray the inner self, hidden. The
themes of loneliness, of the impossibility of knowing other people, of futility.
She tries to communicate the vision of the universe that each of us has, and that is created with the
relations with the “I”, that enigma called individual. For her, reality, life, are created by our impressions and
they can only be expressed by sensations. She was also an essay writer. “A room of one’s own” Still is
studied like a very important one for the feminist movement. It is also a reflection about the conditions of a
writer to be able to develop your work.
She died in 1941.
4.3.- D. H. Lawrence (1895-1930)
D. H. Lawrence was born in England in 1885 in a mining family. He could be away from the mining
life of his family because he went out to study. He published his first novel in 1910, “the white peacock”,
which depicts a rural and middle-class society.
In 1926, Lawrence published his last and more known novel “Lady Chatterley's Lover”. From 1926 to
1928 he published 3 difficult versions of the same book, where the characters, being the same, had different
temperaments in each book and different ends.
This is the story of a lonely woman who is captured in marriage but finds love in her husband’s
gamekeeper. It is about the power of sex and passion, and their relation to happiness. Lawrence’s
67
understanding of love and sexual relationship, industrial revolution and feelings was being advanced for that
time.
It was written from a woman’s point of view. His great strength as a dramatist was the quality of the
dialogue and of the silences.
5.- Conclusion
Not to mention playwrights because there weren't major revolutions during this period. The main
changes during this moment were in the novel genre.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a brief overview regarding the situation of Great Britain from the
interwar’s period up to the end of the IIWW. This is an important movement because it means the end of the
British hegemony worldwide and the beginning of its decline.
We will also mention two interesting literary movements from that period: the “war poets” and the
main writers of modernism (Joyce, Wool and DH Lawrence).
2.- Great Britain in the period between wars and the second world war
The UK won the IWWW but the consequences were huge. The British Empire was declining and
they were losing control over colonies. All this affected its economy which could not recover completely
before the IIWW.
3.-
This decline of the British EMpire appears in the poetry of the “war poets”. This group was important
because for the first time poets were talking about war to criticise it, the need for peace and criticism of the
consequences of war. The most important poet of this generation is TS Eliot and his poem: “The waste land”
(1922).
After this anti-war group of poets another emerged: the Auden generation. This group developed
their works in the 1930’s or the Oxford group.
WH Auden was the most known poet of the group. They were influenced by three elements:
Marxism, Freud and Existentialism. They were the first poets to talk openly in their poems about
homosexuality.
4.- Modernism:
As a reaction to the realism in novels at the beginning of the XX appeared a new form of writing
novels. This new form was influenced by Freud, Marx, the new theory of evolution, the theory of relativity or
the technological revolution. The idea was to break the rules and old models and try to find new forms of
expression. For example, by applying different views of points in the same novel or using the stream of
consciousness (this tries to imitate pure inner thinking).
Among the most important modernist writers we can highlight James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.
James Joyce was an Irish writer known for being the creator of the most famous modernist novel
“Ulysses” (1922). In this novel it is possible to find most of the ideas of the modernist authors. For example,
each chapter of a novel is written with a different style and point of view, being one of them the stream of
consciousness.
68
It follows one day in the life of a dubliner called Leopold Bloom: that day is the 16th june 1904. It
depicts real places and real shops. Another important book from Joyces is “Dubliners”, a compilation of short
stories.
The other great modernist writer is Virginia Woolf. In her case we could highlight “The waves' ', “To
the lighthouse” or “Mrs Dalloway”. This last book is the one we would like to mention as her most important
example of a modernist novel. It is possible to find interior monologues and streams of consciousness. She
tries to mix present and past at the same time though memory and sensations. It is important to mention
before we move on that she wrote an essay really important for the feminist movement “A room of one’s
own”.
Other important modernist writer of that period was DH Lawrence. His most important novel was
“Lady Chaterley’s lover” (1926 to 1928). Her published this book three times from 1926 to 1928, keeping the
characters and their personalities but changing the development of the facts.
Before moving to the part of drama we need to mention one of the precursors of modernist novels:
Joseph Conrad, who began to explore new forms of telling stories.
5.- Drama
The most important form of theatre during the period between wars was the cabaret but we would
like to mention two great playwrights who were producing plays during this period: George Bernard Shaw
and Sean O’Casey.
George Bernard Shaw was the introduction of the theatre of ideas created by Ibsen. SHaw wanted to
create plays which mix drama and comedy and, at the same, could make the spectator to reflect on. Just
before the IWWW began to write his most famous plays “Candida”, “Cesar and Cleopatra”, “Pygmalion”
(probably the most famous one) and in 1923 “Saint Joan”, considered by the schools his best play.
Shaw was an inconsistent and contradictory thinker because he was open to many different
influences but this is seen as something positive in his plays because his main intention was to reflect and
explore different ideas and to share them with the audience. He wanted to mix/fusion high seriousness with
high comedy.
Sean O’Casey: he was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party. His plays are really important in
the Irish Renaissance movement. Some of the reasons for this are:
-- Used gallic in his plays
-- Dealt with Dublin slams life
-- Showed the struggles for the independence
-- Showed the tragedy of ordinary lives
-- Had a rich sense of irony
-- used a realistic manner of writing
His most famous plays are the trilogy: “The shadow of the gunman” (1922), “Juno and the Payback”
(1924), and “plough and the stars” (1926). With this trilogy, O’Casey portrayed some phanatical Irish
nationalists and created a huge controversy. After that he decided to leave the country.
6.- ELements of the unit related to the English subject
7.- Conclusion
TEMA 58: EVOLUCIÓN POLÍTICA, SOCIAL Y ECONÓMICA DEL REINO UNIDO E IRLANDA DESDE
1945. SU PRESENCIA EN LA COMUNIDAD EUROPEA. PANORAMA LITERARIO DE ESTE PERÍODO
EN ESTOS PAÍSES.
INDEX
69
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK SINCE 1945.
3.- SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE IRELAND SINCE 1945.
4.- BRITISH LITERATURE SINCE 1945.
5.- IRISH LITERATURE SINCE 1945.
7.- CONCLUSION.
8.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This is a really interesting unit to understand the situation in the United Kingdom and Ireland
nowadays. Also, we will write about the last literary movements and authors.
It would be interesting for our students in this unit if they want to know how it is possible for
something like Brexit and all the consequences related to that fact. The only problem is that we have a
limitation with the time available. That means that I will have to summarise certain parts but without losing
the main objective of understanding this complex period for the UK and Ireland.
*******************
1.- Introduction
This is an important unit because it deals with the history of Great Britain and Ireland over the last
seventeen years. It can help us to better understand the current situation in the UK with Brexit and the
problem with the “backstop” border between Northern Ireland (Ulster) and the Republic of Ireland.
Finally, it is important to see how the UK has changed its international role. Before WWII it was still
an important Empire with a large territory. Nowadays, it is not clear which direction the country will take after
Brexit.
*******************
2.- Political, Social and economic development of the UK since 1945.
- The UK had a pretty bad situation in all aspects after the IIWW. The country suffered the
consequences of a terrible war which devastated Europe.
- Just after the war, the conservatives lost the general elections, and Churchill was substituted by the
labour leader Attlee. It was the first time that the Labour party could rule with a majority.
- The economic situation was pretty bad, and austerity was needed. The Labour party initiated the
nationalisation of the basic services and asked the USA for economic help which would come with
the famous Plan Marshall: A financial help program for the whole of Europe. This was the start of
what we call the Welfare State.
- During the 50’s and 60’s the situation was improving little by little. By the end of the 60’s we could
say that British people were beginning a different period, where consumerism began to be a main
item. This created a change in the mentality of people, and new worries began to become important.
For example, the immigration.
It is in the 70’s when the UK became a member of the European Community and also, the moment
of the first big crisis after the war.
Another problem was the role of the UK in the international community. The country was one of the
most powerful before the IIWW but at the end of the 70’s, without the colonies, and with economical
problems, there was some uncertainty about the way the country should take.
70
During the 80’s, the government of Thatcher, cleared these doubts. If they want to improve their
economy they need to privatise the public sector and minimise the weight of the state. About their
international role, Thatcher led her country to a quick war against Argentina, created a close relationship with
the USA and maintained Britain’s leadership in Europe (with Germany and France).
With the “New Labour” of Blair, Thatcher’s ideas survived, but the crisis in 2008 showed all problems
that were under the surface until then. Suddenly the country was suffering another recession and a period of
austerity, and many extreme nationalists used it to create false enemies everywhere: the immigration and the
EU were the most used. This led into a referendum about leaving the EU. The option of leaving won but at
the moment the politicians haven’t signed a final agreement to leave the EU.
*******************
2.- Political, Social and economic development of the UK since 1945.
After World War II, the UK was devastated. Its efforts during the war had left the whole country in
quite a difficult situation. The first elections after the war gave power to the Labour party. For the first time
in Britain’s history the labour party had the majority of the Parliament but a disastrous economic situation.
The Prime Minister, Mr Attler, began a campaign to nationalise basic areas of the economy. It was the first
step for the welfare state.
The country expected some financial help from the USA but this help took several years to arrive.
This help would be called the “Marshall Plan”, and the main point of it was to give help to European countries
which fought in the war to combat the rise of communism. It was a way of preventing communism from
spreading across Europe.
The economical and social situation improved during the 50s and 60s. During the 60s, the UK began
to think about the possibility of taking part in the European market created by France and Germany in the
50s but it wasn’t until 1973 that they entered. At that time, there was an international economic crisis. The
first after WWII. The reason was the rise in the price of oil. It was followed by a period of high inflation, which
led to a rise in unemployment. Due to this situation in the UK, at the end of the 70s, Margareth Thatcher won
the elections. She became the first female Prime Minister in the UK. During the 80s she was able to put
forward her economical ideas. She began to privatise many public companies, broke down the powerful
Trade-unions and imposed the neo-liberal ideas.
John Major succeeded Thatcher but he was unable to keep Thatcher’s legacy alive and after four
years he was defeated by the new “golden boy” Tony Blair. He came to power to reform social democracy.
He led the so-called “third way” of social democracy; but this “third way” was little more neoliberalism. He
also supported the USA in an illegitimate war against Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the end, had to resign. He
was succeeded by Gordon Brown, who had to deal with a huge economic crisis in 2008. In 2010, he was
defeated by the tory David Cameron. With him, it seems that the situation had again improved; but after he
won his second elections, he agreed to a referendum about whether to remain or to leave the European
Union. The country voted to leave (it was just 51 to 49 percent), but he resigned and Theresa May became
the new Prime Minister. She tried to lead the path to Brexit with an agreement but the opinion in Parliament
was divided and nobody knows what the outcome will be.
*******************
3.- Political, social and economic evolution of Ireland since 1945.
Ireland was neutral during the IIWW. So, it didn’t suffer directly from the war. But, Ireland had a great
dependency from other countries and they had a long period of austerity. Again, many Irish people needed to
leave the country and it wasn’t until the 60’s that the situation improved.
71
At the end of the 60’s began a movement of “civil rights” in Northern Ireland, trying to achieve equal
rights for Catholics. This situation created tension and finally violence when royalist groups were formed and
began to act. It also created the provisional IRA. Finally, London took Ulster's autonomy. Ireland joined the
European community with the UK, in 1973.
From the 90’s, the country followed liberal economic policies which achieved prosperity until the
world economic crisis in 2008.
Now, with Brexit on the table, the tension in Northern Ireland is increasing. Everyone wants to know
what will happen with the border. After the agreement of the “Good Friday” in 1998 the situation improved
hugely. One of the reasons was the soft border between the two areas. Because both areas are part of the
European Union. There was not really a border but now with Brexit, what is going to happen? Are we going
to come back to the situation that we had in the 70’s?
*******************
3.- Political, social and economic evolution of Ireland since 1945.
Ireland remained neutral during the II World War, but, due to the economical links to the UK the bad
situation in the country also affected Ireland.
They suffered the consequences of the war and its economy and it would not be until the 1960s that
the economy would recover. Ireland entered the European market with the UK in 1973. From the 1990s it
began to liberalise its economy. This produced a huge improvement in the economy during the late 90s and
the early XXI century; but the economical crisis of 2008 struck//hit the Irish economy hard. Since then, the
situation has improved but there is some uncertainty in this complex period we are dealing with.
Before proceeding to the next part, we need to analyse the problem in Ulster since 1945. At the end
of the 60s a movement began in Northern Ireland (Ulster)demanding equal rights for catholics and
protestants. At the beginning of the 70s, as a consequence of these movements, some extremist royalists
began to gather. During the 80s the violence began in this part of Ireland. The government in London
recognised the Dublin government as an interlocutor for the Catholics living in Ulster. Finally, in 1998, the
“good friday agreement” sealed a permanent peace deal.
Now, one of the big problems with Brexit is the “backstop”. This means to have a soft border
between the North and the South of Ireland but the NDP (royalist northrens party) doesn’t want this. They
see it as a chance to isolate them from the UK. So, at the moment there is uncertainty about what will
happen.
*******************
4.- British literature since 1945.
In prose it is possible to find a new generation of writers after the IIWW called the “Angry Young
Man” who had feelings of frustration and disappointment. The best example of this generation is the book
“Lucky Jim” by Kingsley Amis (1954) the main character personifies this new state of mind, impatience with
tradition, vulgarity and resentment against the cultivated. It was a famous book at the time.
Also, we can find some outstanding writers of the moment such as W. Golding, Iris Murdoch or A.
Burgess. They lived the war and stimulated them to examine the relation between good and evil, innocence
and experience. Golding wrote the famous book “Lord of the flies” in 1954, which has been adapted into film.
Irish Murdoch was also a philosopher and it is possible to see this reflected in her work. She liked to
investigate the relationship between literature and life.
72
After the war, poetry was still being created but it was becoming a minority form of literature.
During the 50’s several manifestos were created from a group called “the movement”. The most
significant poet of this group was Philip Larkin. It is also necessary to mention the great poet Dylan Thomas.
It is true that his great poems were created before the war but by the age he pertained to this generation.
Finally, we are going to talk about drama. The theatre had to adapt and find its place after the war.
The Cinema, radio and television were ways of community to the masses, the whole theatre was becoming
something more minority. In London was created the National Theatre which was a place to experiment with
a new form of theatre. In 1955 and 1956, two new plays were represented; they meant the two main types of
theatre for a while.
The first was “Waiting for Godot” (1955), with a minimal set, characters, dialogues, and struck
audiences in their basic expectations of what a play should be (Beckett).
Both works created two different traditions in contemporary theatre. Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard
followed the line of Beckett, while Wesker or Bond followed the one of Osborne.
*******************
4.- British literature since 1945.
In the years that followed the II World War, some authors reflected about good and evil in mankind,
between innocence and wisdom. There was a feeling that mankind could do anything. For good or bad. We
began a period of uncertainty.
Some authors that tried to think about this are William Golding with his famous book “The Lord of the
flies” (1954), the philosopher Iris Murdoch (“The sea, the sea”; 1978), or Anthony Burgess and his dystopian
future in “A clockwork Orange” (1962). There was also a new generation which didn’t understand tradition
and felt frustrated with the present. They were called “the young angry men” and the book that best reflects
this feeling is “Lucky Jim” by Kingsley Amis (1954).
In poetry, two names are important during the 1950s, Philip Larking and the Welsh poet Dylan
Thomas, who died in 1953. Finally, in drama, two names inspired the new acting scene after the war. The
Irismen Samuel Beckett and John Osbourne. Beckett led an experimental way after the premiere of his play
“Waiting for Godot” in 1955, the minimalist set and short dialogues opened the door to the theatre of the
absurd, while Osbourne in 1956 premiered “Look back in anger”. This play was more conventional in the
forms, like a new way of realism, which could engage with a new generation of public.
5.- Elements of the unit related with our subject
In this unit it has been written a summary of the last 70 years in the United Kingdom and Ireland from
the economical, political and cultural point of view. All this information could be really important to our
students to better understand the history and culture, and from there, to help them develop their English
language competences.
It can also help them to understand something so trendy at the moment as Brexit or why Ireland is
divided in two parts. All these contents are related with other subjects such as History, Geography or
Philosophy.
The use of ICT resources to improve the motivation to learn the contents of this unit is essential. We
have many web pages with information, audiovisual material such as journalistic short news and
documentaries, newspapers, etc.
73
6.- Conclusion
As we have seen during the whole exposition of this unit, this period of time (since 1945 up to now),
it is an important period to understand better things like Brexit for the UK. All this period has been a time to
find its new place in the world. Uk began the XXth century as the biggest international power. Its influence
diminished after the First World War, and more after the second.
For the contrary, Ireland began the XXth century as part of the UK and fought for its independence
and finally achieved it. After the IIWW was seeking its place as well, but with different expectations than the
British. It is possible to say that from the 90’s of the XXth century until the crisis of 2008 Ireland enjoyed the
moment of more prosperity in its History.
But as we see, everything goes really quickly nowadays and we know what the future will bring.
*******************
6.- Conclusion
As we have seen during the development of this unit, the UK and Ireland have experienced some
difficult // challenges since the war. They have also enjoyed some good moments of economic development,
but, unfortunately we are in a moment in which nobody knows the way events will turn out. That feeling of
uncertainty will not disappear for a while.
7.- Bibliography and Webliography
.- Greenblatt (ed): the Norton Anthology of English. Norton, 2018.

.- Rogers: the Oxford Illustrated History of English literature. OUP, 1997.
.- Oakland: British Civilization: an introduction. Routledge, 2016.
.- Kinder and Heigelmann: the Penguin Atlas of World History. 2004, Penguin.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to show a political, social and economic overview of Great Britain and Irelan
since 1945. We also need to give a brief portrait of the most important writers of this period.
2.- Political, social and economic evolution of Great Britain since 1945
The United Kingdom was mostly destroyed by the IIWW. It meant the end of its hegemony as one of
the big super powers. The country needed help and the USA created the Plan Marshall, which invented lots
of money in all Europe to begin to rebuild everything. In the UK the labour party won the election for the first
time (Attlee) and began to nationalise the essential services. These two measures (Plan Marshall and
nationalisation of essential service) was the beginning of the welfare state.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s the situation improved. Consumerism rose and the worries changed.
Little by little immigration became the most important problem for British society.
In 1993 the UK entered the EU with Ireland. During that decade the first problems since the IIWW
arose. There was an oil crisis which created inflation and unemployment. The Labour Party was unable to
tackle these problems and at the end of the 1970’s lost the government: Thatcher was elected.
In the 1980’s, Thatcher began the implementation of the neoliberal ideas. SHe began to privatise the
public services and to endwith the power of the trade unions. The relationship with the USA during this
period was excellent.
74
In the 1990’s the new labour Party, with Tony Blair won the elections and began to apply what he
called the “third way”. At the end, Blair was just keeping and developing the ideas created during the
Thatcher period.
In 2008 the world suffered another global economic crisis. Uk’s response was very effective. Gordon
Brown was already the prime minister and injected money to the British economy being able to save it. But
two years later he lost the election and conservative David Cameron was elected. The government of
Cameron was quiet until he decided to do a referendum about the EU. In 2016, the British decided to leave
the EU and Cameron resigned. SInce then, the UK lives a changeable period in politics. Brexit has
influenced the whole political matters since 2016 and we don’t know the whole impact.
3.- Political, social and economical development in Ireland since 1945
Ireland didn’t participate in the IIWW. It was a neutral country. But still the great dependency from the
UK. It meant that Ireland suffered a long period of austerity.
In the 1960's the country began to improve its situation. During this period it also began a “civil
rights” movement in Ulster (Northern Ireland) to ask for equal rights between catholics and protestants. This
created violence and tension and extremist organisations were created (royalist groups or the provisional
IRA). This situation made the government of London to end the autonomy of Ulster.
In 1973 joined the European community with the UK.
From the 1980’s Ireland promoted liberal economic policies which helped the country to achieve
prosperity until the economic crisis of 2008.
In 1998 it signed the “good Friday” agreement, with this deal the violence in Ulster disappeared but after
Brexit (2016). There is a fear that we will come back to the same point as before. The problem here is if
Northern Ireland will have a hard or soft border with the South of Ireland. Still it isn’t clear what the future of
this area will be.
4.- British literature since 1945: prose / poetry / drama
In prose during the 1950’s appeared a new generation: the Angry Young man”. They had that feeling
of frustration and disappointment. The most important book of this generation is “Lucky Jim” by Kingsley
Amis (1954), in which the main character personifies this mood: an impatient person with tradition, vulgarity
and resentment against the cultivated.
Other important writers which survived the IIWW are William Golding (“The lord of the flies” (1954)),
A. Burges (“A Clockwork Orange” (1962)) or Iris Murdoch (“The sea, the sea”). They explored in some of
their books the relationship between good and evil, innocence and experience.
In poetry a new group in the 1950's: “The movement”, led by Philip Larking. It was also DYlan
Thomas who died in 1951.
In drama, the creation of the National Theatre in London helped with the development of new types
of theatre. In 1955, Samuel Becket showed “Waiting for Godot ''. It was a play with minimal set, characters
and dialogues. In 1956, John Osbourne premiered “Lock back in anger”, which was a conventional play in
the forms, disconcerting because of its choices of a most likely, like a new way of realism, which could
engage with a new generation of public.
These works created two different traditions in contemporary theatres. Harold Pinter and Tom
Stoppard followed the work of Beckett and Wesker and Bond the work of Osborne.
75
Unit 59: POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL EVOLUTION IN THE USA SINCE 1945. IT'S
MEANING IN THE FOREIGN POLITICS. NOWADAYS LITERARY WRITERS IN THE USA PANORAMA.
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL EVOLUTION IN THE USA SINCE 1945
2.1.- POLITICAL EVOLUTION
2.2.- SOCIAL EVOLUTION
2.3.- ECONOMICAL EVOLUTION
3.- AMERICAN FICTION TODAY
4.- AMERICAN POETRY TODAY
5.- AMERICAN DRAMA TODAY
7.- CONCLUSION
8.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Introduction
This is a big unit because the political, social and economical evolution of the USA since 1945 is full
of facts, explanations and individuals. It is difficult to explain in two hours. We have to depict the literary
tendencies in the last 70 years as well. We will need to summarise many things but try to be able to properly
explain the development of the USA.
2.- Political, Social and economical development of the USA since 1945
2.1.- Political development since 1945
With the end of the IIWW new threats appeared, the main one was a confrontation with the
communists. Really quickly it was created in Europe as an area of cominist influence, and fell down what
Churchill called “the iron curtain”.
This developed in what is called the “cold war”. Two blocks which are enemies but they don’t fight
directly one to each other. Instead, they will use other areas to continue with their conflict. This was the case
in Korea in the beginning of the 50s. The Soviet Union supported the North of Korea and the USA the south.
The same will happen in Vietnam or Cuba. This situation also created a “Witch Hunter'' in the USA during the
50s, when Senator Mc Carthy began a hunting of supposedly comunist spies, which were infiltrated in
American society supposedly.
At the beginning of the 70s the relationship between the US and the soviet union improved. For the
USA the problems began to come from a different place. In the 70s the conflict with the producers of oil.
They increased the price and began a period of inflation and unemployment.
In the 80s with Reagan we saw the end of the comunist bloc and the beginning of the global era.
This was consolidated in the 90s, where the bipolar world changed and a multipolar world began. For
example, China has emerged as a strong block in this new world.
In 2001, Bush junior had to deal with the biggest terrorist act in the USA's history, and the “Global
terrorist era” began. All these acts had been a consequence of intrusive foreign policy developed by the USA
especially since the 80s, in which Americans have been able to help the most extreme groups in some areas
and later on to occupy by force some countries.
2.2.- Social development of the USA since 1945
76
The social development of the USA has been conditioned by the integration of black people mainly.
This problem, which seemed overtook after the civil war, has been present continuously in the social agenda.
At the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, again it was the main social problem in the USA. It
became a “civil rights” fight for equality. After being in the background again, it recently became trendy,
especially with the victory of Obama, the first afro-american president of the USA; but the problem of
integration of black people in the USA is not only one. Big communities of immigrants “no white” such as the
latinos, or asian people have had some problems integrating. In recent years, the victory of Donald Trump as
President of America has raised against all these problems of integration, and racial issues. People like
Trump use their issues to mobilise the white working-class group, which feels abandoned in this global era of
free trade, where products are made cheaply in Asia, and the welfare state in America is non-existing.
Before finishing with this part I would like to speak quickly about the importance of the Internet
nowadays in how our society is and where it is going.
2.3.- Economical development of the USA since 1945
After the IIWW the USA began to exercise international control over the economy in the capitalist
part of the world. This was possible after the Bretton Woods summit, with the creation of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which in theory are controlled by the United Nations but at the end it
was the USA who exercised real control.
The USA economy worked really well during the years after the war until the 70s, when the war effort
in Vietnam and the increase of oil prices created an inflation period.
Nixon had to finish with the gold standard trying to control this inflation and the increase of
unemployment.
During the 80s, with Reagan, the Federal State began an important privatisation of public services
which benefited the large corporations but created an improvement in the economy.
During the 90s and the new millennium the American economy suffered some crisis. The most
important was in 2008, when Lehman Brothers fell down, breaking all the theory about companies “too big to
fail”.
Nowadays, the situation is really complex. The model developed in Breton Woods doesn’t work
anymore. The USA has a big massive debt and new countries such as China have emerged as competitors
of the American economy.
In the context, a new President was elected, DOnal Trump who has been speaking about imposing
new tariffs to non-american products. At this point it is difficult to know in which direction will go the american
economy.
3.- American function today
American fiction nowadays is like a new version of the melting pot, full of diverse subjects and styles.
After the IIWW the main influence was the development of the postmodernist theories which helped with
experimental writings. It was the idea that everything was possible with language.
Between all the styles that it is possible to find in America, probably the so-called minimalism, is the
most widespread. In this style we can highlight Raymond Carver, who writes about ordinary
middle-americans whose lives are subtly out of control.
77
They use an unadorned language with a low emotional pitch. Another type of fiction is the regionalist
which follows a little Faulkner; they focus on the lives of people from small twins, whose lives don’t quite add
up.
In this new fiction, after the post-modernism period of the 60s and 70s, we can see a certain sense
of distance with the characters and more use of irony.
Beat generation: Allen Ginsberg: “Howl” (1956); William S. Borroughs: “Naked Lunch” (1959); Jack
Querouac: “On the road” (1957); row bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous
creativity; rejection of the materialism.
Roman a clef: a novel about real life.
4.- American poetry today
In American poetry after the IIWW something curious happened, many poets tried to mix the formal
forms of European poetry with the more colloquial way of American poetry.
The most important American poet since 1945 is Robert Lovell, who wrote especially in the 60s,
where his rebel ideas flourished. He rebelled against his family ties, Calvinism and the authority of the State
and its military establishment.
Other important poets are Charles Olson and John Benyman.
5.- American Drama today.
The American theatre awake came through the decisive break with the formulaic conventions of the
commercial theatre (at the start of the IWW conditions ready).
In 1915 it was created by the so-called Provicenton Players. One of the leaders of this group was
Eugene O’Neill. His plays began to be represented after the IIWW. His plays were among the first to
introduce into US drama techniques of realism (earlier associated with Russian playwright Chekhov, Ibsen,
and Strindberg.
His drama “Long day’s Journey into right” is often numbered on the short list of the finest US plays in
the 20th century, alongside Tennesse Williams’ “A streetcar named desire” and Arthur Miller’s “beat of a
salesman”.
After O’neill, the other two main American playwrights appeared. They were Tennessee Williams
(1911-1983) and Arthur Miller (1915-2005).
The Williams-Miller duo created drama that was stylized yet realistic, with strong confrontations and
climaxes and some lyrical or angry declamation, whose subject was little people addled by circumstances
which threatened to overwhelm them using “theatre-poetry” (stage effects) and an intermittently heightened
dialogue, they inverted the cheerful pieties of the American Dream. Their heroes and heroines, rarely heroic
in the old sense of recognized distinction, usually went down to defeat.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give an overview of the history of the USA since 1945, emphasising the
political and economical aspects. We also need to mention the most important American writers of this
period. This is an essential period to understand our world nowadays.
2.- Political, social and economical evolution in the USA since 1945.
78
After the IIWW two blocks were created. The western one has an economical system based on
capitalism and the other one with communism. The USA became the big superpower in the capitalist block.
This was the beginning of the “cold war”. It was called “cold war” and the two big powers never fought
directly. In the beginning of the 1950’s began the Korean war and in the end of the 1950’s the Vietnam war.
They were the two big conflicts of this “cold war”.
During the 1950’s this fear of communism spread around the american society. It began a “Witch
Hunt”, headed by senator McArthy. In the 1970’s the USA left Vietnam and began a less conflictive period in
international affairs.
During the 1980’s the USA with Ronald Reagan as president the Soviet Union collapsed leaving the
USA as the bigger superpower in the world.
The 1990’s the bipolar world had left space to the multipolar world with the hegemony of the USA.
This balance began to change in the beginning of the newcentury with new “challenges” (“Global terrorist
era”, the consequence of massive foreign policy developed by the USA specially since the 1980’s ) and the
emergence of new superpowers such as China.
Regarding the social evolution in the USA, the most important period is during the 1950’s and
1960’s, when the “civil rights” fight for equality became really important. The problem with the black
community is something that hadn’t been closed after the civil war. During this period emerged great figures
such as Martin Luther King or Malcom X, who led this movement.
With the election of Donal Trump in 2016 as President of the USA it became clear that these
problems were still there. That they had never disappeared completely. With the killing of the black african
american george floyd all these problems emerged again. This new movement was called “Black Lives
Matters”.
In Bretton Woods it was decided the economical plan for after the IIWW. It was agreed to create an
international economic institution IMF, in theory under UN control, with the aim of keeping the health of the
economic system and helping the countries with problems. It was also agreed to create the World Bank, to
help the IMF to achieve its objectives.
This system began to change during the 1970’s when the price of the petrol rose rapidly, creating a
huge inflation and unemployment in the developed countries. Nixon finished the “gold standard”, which left
everything prepared for the financial sector to take control during the 1980’s. With Reagan this financial
sector (Wall Street). The most important sector. He began the privatisation of the public sector which
benefited the large corporations.
But in 2009 a massive “economic crisis” kicked everyone. Leman Brothers, one of the “too big to
fail”, failed. Thirteen years later and after a pandemic, we don’t know the direction that the American
economy is taken. With a huge debt, with new competitors, without a plan… at the moment the direction that
the USA will take is a mystery.
3.- American fiction today

The great generation in the USA after the IIWW is the Beat generation. They became important
during the 1950’s, with their new bohemian, hedonism, showing their non-conforming and rejection of
materialism, and their spontaneous creativity. They were an inspiration for the new movements of the 1960’s.
The most important names of this generation are: Allen Ginsburg (“Howl”, 1956), William Borroughs (“Naked
lunch”, 1959) and Jack Querouak (“On the road”, 1957). Other two important writers of this period were JD
Salinger (“The catcher in the rye”, 1951), and Truman Capote (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, 1958 or “In cold
blood”, 1965).
79
In the 1980’s appeared a new fiction, less sentimental, in some cases minimalist, whose most
important figure was Raymond Carver. He wrote specially short-stories.
4.- American poetry (after IIWW)

The most important poet after the IIWW is Robert Lowell who wrote against family ties, Calvinism
and the authority of the state. The american poetry was a mix between the European poetry with the more
colloquial American poetry.
5.- American drama

The modern American drama has its roots in Eugene O’Neill, who introduced realism into the
USAdrama. He wrote during the interwar period but his plays weren’t represented until after the IIWW. His
most important play was “Long day’s journey into night” (1941 but published in 1956).
But the most important playwrights after the IIWW were Tennessee Williams (“A streetcar named
desire”) and Arthur Miller (“Death of a salesman”). They created a drama, stylized yet realistic, with strong
confrontations and climaxes and some lyrical or angry declamation.
6.- Elements…
7.- Conclusion
UNIT 60: CRIME FICTION IN AMERICA: D. HAMMETT AND R. CHANDLER. DETECTIVE NOVEL IN
ENGLAND: P.D. JAMES.
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- Overview of the detective novel in England
3.- P. D. James
4.- Overview of the American Crime Fiction
5.- Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler
6.- Elements of the unit related to the English language
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
This is an interesting unit because it is focused on the beginning of the detective novel genre. It
shows us how in America it was developed in this genre with its own peculiarities. Also, we learn the basic
elements and the most important writers of this genre.
2.- Overview
The detective novels began at the beginning of the XIX century, when it was established to have
regular paid police forces. When them it appeared the figure of the detective who, as a police, will investigate
murders. The sources for this new genre can be found in the gothic novels of the period, but in them the
mystery depends more on the isolated, mediaeval-like setting and gloomy atmosphere than on a legitimitate
mystery. The main elements of the detective novel genre are that there is a mystery or a crime, and the main
characters are trying to solve it. The mystery or the crime is like a puzzle, with confusing circumstances, a
logical investigation, several clues, and deductive reasoning.
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is credited as the first great detective novel writer, and his novel the
moonstone, the first great detective novel. It seems to establish the genre with several classical features of
the 20th century detective stories: a country house robbery, a celebrate investigator, detective inquiries, false
suspects, the least likely suspect, a rudimentary murder, a reconstruction of the crime and a final twist in the
plot.
80
The woman in white
In the 1880s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the greatest fictional character of the detective novels:
Sherlock Holmes. The most famous stories with Holmes are “The adventures of Sherlock Holmes” and “The
hound of the Baskervilles”.
The Golden age of detective novels coincides with the inter-war period: 1918-1939. Many new
detective characters appear as well as many new writers. The first novel of the period was “The mysterious
affair at Styles” written by Agatha Christie, known especially for two characters she created: Hercules Poirot,
Miss Marple. She used to create a masterly constructed plot like in “Murder in the Orient Express”.
3.- PD James (1920-2014)
PD James is the most important figure in the detective genre after the IIWW. She studied in
Cambridge and worked in the NHS and in the social service until 1979, when she began to work as a full
time writer. James used her knowledge on the NHS and the Social services to set most of her works in there.
His most famous character is the Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh, who appeared for the first
time in the novel “Cover her face” in 1962. Her strengths as a writer are characterization and her ability to
construct atmosphere and stories rich in detail.
4.- Overview of the American Crime Fiction
The first writer to create something it could be said that it was a crime fiction was Poe. He also
created the first great detective character “Auguste Lupin” in which Holmes will be based. The most
important of Poe’s works of cri9me fiction is “The murders in the Rue Morgue”.
After him we can find Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935), who has been described as the “mother of
detective fiction”. Her more representative work is “the leavenworth case” (1878)
In the XX century detective novels changed slightly in the USA. They began a not only search for a
murderer by following a linear plot, but also a whole denouncement of corrupt society at all levels.
But the figure of the great detective was shattered by the advert of the American hard-boiled school,
founded in the pages of the pulp magazine “Black Mask”.
Hardboiled crime fiction was a unique American style created by Dashiell Hammett, and refined by
Raymond Chandler. It is distinguished by an unsentimental portrayal of crime, violence and sexe.
The name: for an egg, being hard-boiled is comparatively tough. The counterpart detective would be
stylistically referred to as an “armchair detective”, considered “soft” in contrast. They don’t have to deal with
deceit and violent directly (example of this is Hercules Poirot)
The first hard-boiled writer was Carol John Daly. Hammett created Sam Spade and Chandler, Philip
Marlowe. Both private investigators doing a job for money. They are honest but have a strong streak of
ruthlessness. Hammett and Chandler began to write “Black Mask” but their stories surpassed the ordinary
pulp magazine level of fiction.
5.- Dashiell Hammet (1894-1961)
Hammett worked for many years for a detective agency. From there came all his inspiration. He
began to write detective stories in the 1920s. He was one of the creators of the “hard-boiled” detective genre:
the rough, rogue operative who was a step ahead of the law and not unlike many of the criminals he chased.
81
Between 1929 and 1930, he wrote three stories that featured the tough and dedicated Op, whose
methods of detection were completely ------- and whose personality had more than one dimension. It was
known as “the continental Op”.
In 1930 he published his most famous novel “the Maltese Falcon” with the detective Sam Spade. In
this work the first person narration is dropped and Hammett views the detective from the outside. Also,
Hammett’s language was unsentimental, journalistic, and moral judgements were left to the readers.
By 1934 his career as a creative prose writer was almost over. He worked as a screenwriter in
Hollywood for a while and retired.
6.- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
Chandler worked in different jobs before becoming a writer full-time. This happened in 1933. He
began to publish in the pulp magazine Black Mask, the leading crime pulp of its time. Unlike most of his
pulp-writing colleagues, Chandler tried to expand the limits of the pulp formula to more ambition and human
direction. This is reflected in his work “Killer in the rain”, which later formed part of Chandler’s first novel “The
big sleep”. It starred Philip Marlowe, a 38 years old idealistic, honest and romantic private investigator, who
is a man of honour and a modern day knight with a college education, but tough and cynical at the same
time. He is described as an old-fashioned character, chivalrous, with an individual sense of conduct and
justice, and as an intellectual who reads Hemingway, TS Eliot and Flaubert, among others. Later on, when
he was well known he worked for Hollywood. As a representative and master of the hand-boiled school of
crime fiction, Chandler criticised classical puzzle writers for their lack of realism. He was a slow writer.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to overview the crime fiction literature in England and in the USA. To exemplify
this overview we will write about D. James, D. Hammet and R. Chandler, some of the most important writers
of this genre.
2.- Overview of the detective novel in England

This genre began in England in the beginning of the XIX century when it was created the first
professional police. This new reality provided material for a new type of story. Furthermore, this new genre
used some techniques from gothic novels. The main element of crime fiction was a mystery or crime which
the main character has to solve. The story is like a puzzle with confusing circumstances, an investigation,
several clues and a final deductive reasoning.
The first great writer of crime fiction is Wilkie Collins and his book “The moonstone” (1868), which
established the genre with several classic features: a reconstruction of a crime, a detective using reasoning,
a final twist and a killer who was the one that nobody expected to be the killer.
It is also necessary to mention Arthur Conan Doyle and his great creation Sherlock Holmes. This
character is based on Auguste DUpin. The character created by Poe sixty years before. From Conan Doyle
we can mention “The hound of the Baskervilles” (1902).
In this brief overview we should also mention the golden period of crime fiction. This is the interwar
period where another great writer Agata Christie, who created some of the most known characters of
detective novels: Hercules Poirot and Miss Marple. Among her most famous works we can find “Murder in
the Orient Express”.
3.- PD James (1920-2014)

She is the most famous detective novel after the IIWW. She worked for many years for the NHS and
the social service. She used her own experiences working in these places to settle her stories. Her most
82
famous character is the Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh. Among her strengths we can find her ability
to construct atmospheres and stories in detail and the creation of characters. One of the most famous novels
is “Cover her face” (1962).
4.- Overview of the American crime fiction

In America we have Edgar Allan Poe as the precursor of the genre. As we mentioned before, he
created the character of Auguste DUpin, on which Sherlock Holmes is based. Her most important short story
in this genre is “The murder of the Rue Morgue” (1841).
During the beginning of the XX century in the USA the detective novel changed slightly. They weren’t
any more just a search for a murder. They began to denounce the corruption of society. This began to be
called “hard-boiled” crime fiction. They began to appear in the pulp magazine “Black Mask”. The name
means that an egg if boiled is harder, stronger, tougher, in contraposition of the “armchair detective”, who
doesn’t have to deal with violence. Hammet and Chandler developed this type of stories during the 1920’s
and 1930’s. These stories were harder and darker than the typical detective stories. They have violence, sex
and crime.
5.- Daniel Hammet
He is considered the creator of the “hard-boiled” style. Daniel worked as a private detective before
writing for the magazine “Black Mask”. He created the stereotype of a rough detective but sensitive, cynical
but honest. His most famous book is “The Falcon Maltese” (1930), with the detective Sam Spade. Hammet’s
style was unsentimental and without moral judgments.
6.- Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler also wrote for the magazine “Black Mask”. He continued with the “hard-boiled”
style and tried to improve it. His first novel was “The big Sleep” (1939), where it appear the detective Philip
Marlowe, who represents the stereotype of “hard-boiled” detective: idealistic, honest and romantic, a man of
honour and a modern day knight with a college education, but tough and cynical at the same time.
Chandler worked for a while in Hollywood and he didn’t like the crime fiction stories that were like
puzzles because for him those stories weren’t realistic.
Unit 61: THE INFLUENCE OF CINEMA IN THE SPREAD OF LITERACY PRODUCTIONS IN ENGLISH
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- LITERARY MATERIAL FOR FILMS
3.- COMPARISON BETWEEN CINEMA AND LITERATURE
4.- ADAPTATIONS
4.1.- TYPOLOGY
4.2.- SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATIONS
4.3.- LITERATURE WITHIN CINEMA
5.- ELEMENTS OF THIS UNIT RELATED TO THE ENGLISH SUBJECT
6.- CONCLUSION
1.- Intro
The main purpose of this unit is to determine how cinema has contributed to spread literature in
English. We are interested in analysing the different ways in which literature has been incorporated into films.
Also, it is interesting to know what kind of material has been chosen to adapt and the different types of
literary presence in films.
83
We could also add that this unit is really important for English teachers because we can’t ignore that
the audiovisual culture is extremely important nowadays. Traditionally, the use of films as learning material
for studying a foreign language culture has been neglected. But it seems that lately the interest in the
relationship between literature and cinema has increased.
2.- Literary material for films
From the beginning cinema tried to use literature as the closest art, which had stories to tell. This
first step changed what was cinema which went from a fair attraction to an art which developed its own
language.
During the golden age of Hollywood, from the first sound film, in 1928 (“the jazz singer”) until the end
of the studio system in the 50s, the literature used was mainly the one from the XIX century the reason was
clear. It was the one that the viewers knew better people were already familiar with the context.
But cinema wanted to be opened for more public with different tastes and sensibilities and that made
that more types of literature were adapted. For example, best-sellers, which could guarantee financial
success in most of the cases. For example, “the shining” or “The silence of the lambs”. During the last
decades we have seen that these adaptations can be successful being a TV-series, like “game of thrones” or
“I Claudius”.
3.- Comparison between cinema and literature
Cinema and literature are closed arts but they are different. In this point we are going to briefly see
the similarities and the differences.
The first thing:
CINEMA: it relies upon the power of IMAGES and SOUND. There is no need for imagination.
LITERATURE: it relies upon the power of WRITTEN WORD. We need to use our imagination to create a
mental image of what’s going on.
The second thing:
CINEMA: it relies on passive participation from the spectator, so little academic knowledge is needed.
Everyone in general terms can watch a film.
LITERATURE: relies on active participation from readers. There is an intensive intellectual activity to
“recreate mentally” the book.
The third thing:
CINEMA: frequently doesn’t rely so much on a considerable scholastic background.

LITERATURE: frequently relies on a considerable scholastic background.
4.- Adaptations:
Nowadays we have seen how it has been studied more the relationship between cinema and literature. From
those studies scholars have seen the process of adaptation as a TRANSCODIFICATION which could be
divided into three types:
4.1.1.- Transposition: which is the one that pretends to be a pure adaptation, without many
interventions. For example, the 1996 film Hamlet by Kenneth Brannagh.
84
4.1.2.- Reinterpretation: this type means to keep the main elements of the book but to adapt others.
There is a higher degree of simplification and selection. For example, the film “Dracula” by Coppola.
4.1.3.- Free-adaptation: in this case, the literary text is a pretext, a starting pòint for the director,
who is free to develop something new from there. “Apocalypse Now” by Coppola.
4.2.- Successful Adaptations: Stephen King // ANne Rice // Michael Crichton // J.K. Rowling // Helen
Fielding
4.3.- Literature within cinema:
● When we talk about the relationship between literature and cinema, this relationship is not just
cinematographic adaptations of literary books. We also have INTERTEXTUALITY, that is when in a
film there is a contribution to make literature known. FOr example in “The dead poet’s society”. It
introduces literary elements in the film.
● There are also many films and TV series about the life of writers or about literature. For example,
“Barton Fink”, “Shakespeare in love”.
6.- CONCLUSION
Cinema and literature are not opposite media but different languages: they can complement each
other in the classroom. The use of both can stimulate student’s interest in language and literature.
Audiovisual material can be used with students for working on relevant language aspects taken from
films seen, for working on cultural aspects, making them familiar with them and for encouraging them to read
the “real” or original literary work.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to show the links between cinema and literature and especially the influence of
cinema in the increase of literature in English. Throughout the development of the unit we will check how
cinema began to use literature to tell stories that everybody knew and the different types of adaptation that
we could find. We will finish with a small conclusion.
2.- Literacy materials for films

Nearly from the beginning cinema has used literature because it is a close art, which provided
stories to tell in this new format that was cinema.
It was also a good idea to tell stories that most of the spectators knew. This was normal until the
1960’s when the cinema industry wanted to reach more people, people were adapted, not just the classics.
Nowadays, it is not just the cinema that use literature, the TV series as well (“Game of Thrones” or “I,
Claudius”). It is possible to find writers who succeeded with these books and with the adaptations of their
books. People like Stephen King (”The shining”, “It”, “Carrie”...), Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”), JK
Rowling (“Harry Potter”).
3.- Comparison between cinema and literature
1.- It needs… Cinema: sound and picture. So, it is not necessary to imagine. Literature: written
words. It needs the imagination of the reader.
2.- Interaction with people… Cinema: spectators can be passive. They don’t need to participate.
Literature: active participation of the reader, who needs to create mental pictures of the words.
85
3.- Background… Cinema: spectators usually don’t need any previous knowledge to understand the
film. Literature: frequently the stories rely on an academic background,l in some knowledge needed to
understand the context.
4.- Process of adaptation
4.1.- Transcodification: 3 types: transposition // reinterpretation // free-adaptation

-- Transposition: this type of adaptation is when the director tries to adapt the book exactly in
the same form (without many interventions) (Hamlet, Brannagh).
-- Reinterpretation: this type occurs when the director (or screenwriter) wants to keep
elements of the book but adapt others. There is a higher degree of simplification and selection (Dracula by
Coppola).
-- Free adaptation: this type, as we can see in the name, takes the book nearly as an excuse
(pretext) or as a starting point to develop a story.
4. 2.- Literature between cinema

● Intertextuality: when a film is about literature and helps to spread its knowledge (“The dead
poet’s club”).
● Also many films and TV series about writers or the world of literature: “Bartonk FInk”,
“Shakespeare in love” or “Wilde”.
5.- Conclusion
As we have seen this is an interesting unit because it helps to think about the relationship between
literature and cinema. We, as teachers, want our students to read more but they are attracted by big film
productions. And it is different to fight against this is a reason why this unit is important. We can learn about
new films related to literature to get their attention.
UNIT 62: THE COMMONWEALTH. THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LINGUISTIC
VARIETIES. INFLUENCES AND INTERCULTURAL VARIETIES. NOVELS OF E. M. FOSTER, D.
LESSING AND N. GORDIGER.
INDEX
1.- INTRODUCTION
2.- THE COMMONWEALTH
3.- LINGUISTIC VARIETIES:
● AUSTRALIA
● CANADA
● NEW ZEALAND
● INDIA AND PAKISTAN
● SOUTH AFRICA
4.- E. M. FOSTER
5.- D. LESSING
6.- N. GORDIMER
8.- CONCLUSION
9.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.- Intro
86
This is an interesting unit where we can see the influence of the members of the commonwealth in
Great Britain and the impact of English in the old colonies. It can help students to better understand the
differences of the English language.
2.- Commonwealth
The Commonwealth is a free association of sovereign states that used to be part of the British
Empire. It was formed at the beginning of the XXth century when some old British Dominions were getting
their independence. This was a form of keeping ties of friendship and practical cooperation. The symbolic
head of the commonwealth is the British Queen. The first states to be part were Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and South Africa.
Some countries, like Ireland, first took part of the commonwealth, but they finally left it.
3.- Linguistic varieties
All the countries that formed the old British Empire developed their particular varieties of English.
Australia
Australia was created with a massive immigration from the UK, that means that the base of English came
from Britain but the development was quite peculiar and created a very different variety of English. There are
two main reasons. The first is the new uses they did of old words which are not used in British English
anymore but in Australia began to be used for new uses. The second reason is the influence of the aborigen
languages. From there,. Australians took many new words as well.
Canada
In Canada they have some peculiarities. One is that it is a country with two official languages: English and
French, so English has had a big influence from the French part of Canada. The second peculiarity is that
the country is really close to the USA. This has created a big influence of American English in the English
spoken in Canada.
New Zealand
New Zealand is the country that has the smallest differences between their types of English and the
British English.
India and Pakistan

In these countries English has been used as a lingua franca because they had many different languages and
dialects in their own territories and it was helpful to have a language that everyone could speak and
understand.
South Africa
In South Africa, English had to compete with Africans, the language of the white elite while the black
majority had many different languages. English had a role as a lingua franca.
4.- E. M. Foster (1879-1970)
Fosser was a classicist who studied in Cambridge and travelled around the world. He wrote several
famous novels such as “Where angels fear to tread” (1905) or “Howard’s end”. But the novel he wrote that is
related to the subject of this unit is “A passage to India”. In this novel he explores the relationship between
the Anglo-Indian administration and the natives, the obstacles of sympathetic communication. He shows the
failures to achieve real friendship.
5.- Doris Llessing (1919-2013) (2007, won the nobel prize)
87
Born in Iran from British parents she lived in Zimbabwe until she was 30 years old. She went to
England where she wrote her first novel “the grass is singing” (1950). In 1960 she published the non-fictional
book, “In pursuit of the English”, about her departure from Africa and her confrontations with the English.
Her major achievement is the sequence of 5 novels about Martha Quest, eventually called Children
of violence. It comprises “Martha Quest” (1952), “A proper marriage” (1954), “A ripple from the storm” (1958),
“Landbloked” (1965) and “The four-gated city” (1969). It depicts the upbringing of MArtha in Africa and her
encounter with post-war London. Lessing has been highly praised for her portrayal of modern women and
her criticism of the apartheid system.
6.- Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) (1991, nobel prize)
Gordimer was born in South Africa in 1923 where she lived all her life. She won the nobel prize in
1991. From her first works she forms on denouncing the apartheid system impossed by the white elite in
Soputh Africa. Her fiction chronicled the damaging effects of oppressive racial laws upon the human potential
of white South-Africans. It makes very clear of the brutal burdens that black people bear. Between her works
we would like to mention “Friday’s footprint” or “the lying days''. Gordimer’ first volume of short stories is
“Face to face” published in 1949.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to depict the commonwealth, an institution created by the UK during the last
period of its Empire. Using the commonwealth as an excuse, the idea is to briefly see some varieties of
ENglish spoken in the old British colonies. FInally, we will speak about three authors who mentioned in their
books the life in the British colonies in the XX century.
2.- Commonwealth
The commonwealth is a free association of sovereign states that used to be part of the British
Empire. The aim of this organisation is to keep ties, friendship and practical cooperation among the states.
The symbolic head of the commonwealth is the British Queen.
This organisation was created during the disintegration of the British Empire at the beginning of the
XX centuries. Many of the old colonies were declaring their independence. Formally it was created in 1931
but it wasn’t until the independence of Indica and Pakistan in 1947 that this organisation defined their goals
and objectives clearly.
3.- Some varieties of English from old colonies

The number of countries which used the old British language is huge. In most of them, English is at
least one of the official languages. SO, it is difficult for us to depict all the different varieties of English spoken
in the old colonies. For this reason I am going to summarise briefly the most important varieties from old
colonies which were part of the commonwealth.
New Zealand: this country became a British colony in the XIX century and it seems that they speak a
very similar English that the one spoken in Britain.
Australia: at the same time as New Zealand, Australia became a British colony in the XIX century. In
this case, the Australian accent is quite distinctive. It seems that the use of old British words, used again with
a different meaning, and the influence of the aborigen languages have helped in the development of this
variety.
Canada: this country has two main reasons why they developed a distinctive variety of English. On
the one hand, the country has two official languages. French is really important as well and it has influential
88
English. On the other hand, the USA is really close and its influence in this variety of English is huge and
clear.
India and Pakistan: these two massive countries have used English as lingua franca since their
independence. Both countries have many different languages and dialects, so the use of English as a
common language has been helpful. At the same time all the mix of languages has created a unique variety
of English.
South Africa: this old colony has also developed an special variety of ENglish. In this case, English,
the language of the elite’s language, had to compete with another elite’s language: Africans (which comes
from German and Dutch). The black majority had their own languages and dialects. So, English has been
used as lingua franca in the region but with big influences from Africa's language and the language of the
black majority.
4.- EM Foster
EM Foster was a classicist who travelled quite a lot throughout the British colonies. He published
some well-known novels such as “Where angels fear to tread” (1905) or “Howard’s end” but the reason that
he appears in this unit is his book “A passage to India” (1924), where he depicts the relationship among
anglo-indian administration and the natives. He criticises the lack of understanding, showing a pessimistic
vision on this. He shows the failure to achieve real friendship.
5.- Doris Lessing (1919-2013)

Doris Lessing was born in Iran, grew up in Zimbabwe and lived later on in London. Throughout her
books we can see how she perceived the state of the old colonies in which she lived. She criticized the
apartheid in Africa and the post-war London in her books. Her most important books are the series of 5
books on Marta Quest: “Children of violence” (1952-1969), where we can see the upbringing of Martha in
Africa and her encounter with London. Doris Lessing won the Nobel prize in 2007.
6.- Nadia Gordimer (1923-2014)

She was born in South Africa and she has denounced in her works the apartheid suffered by the
black community. She has criticised the damaging effects of oppressive racial laws imposed by the white
south africans. For her it is very clear the burden that black people have to hold.
Her first volume of short stories is “Face to face” (1949). Other important works of Gordimer are
“Friday’s footprint” and “The lying days”.

In this unit we can see two main elements which are important from our subject. The first one is the
varieties of English. It is important to know and to teach the students about the different variants of a
language. The second one is the history of the commonwealth and using this fact to reflect on colonialism
and racism (education in values).
8.- Conclusion
As a conclusion we could say that this is an essential unit to understand somedark aspects of the
British Empire and the consequences that brought. It is also interesting to see the variety of accents that we
can find in countries that used English in the past. It shows us that a language is something alive that
changes at the same time that the people who speak it change.
UNIT 63: THE BRITISH INSTITUTIONS. THE PARLIAMENT. THE GOVERNMENT. THE POLITICAL
PARTIES AND THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM. THE CROWN.
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- The Parliament: House of Lords and House of Commons and the Crown.
89
3.- The Government
4.- The electoral system and the main political parties.
5.- The three main powers
6.- The elements of the unit related to the English SUbject.
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
This is an interesting unit where we can analyse the form of the British state. This will help us to
better understand British culture and some of its particularities.
2.- The Parliament: many traditions attach to the English institutions. The United Kingdom, officially, is a
constitutional monarchy or parliamentary democracy, where the Headof the state is the Queen and the Head
of the government is the Prime Minister. They don’t have a written constitution. Instead of a constitution they
use rules, regulations, principles and procedures.
The Parliament is divided into 2 separate houses: the house of lords and the house of the commons.
The house (upper house) of lords is constituted by nearly 800 members which are divided into Lords spiritual
and Lords Temporal. The spiritual ones come from the Anglican church and the Lords temporally come from
hereditary peers or life peers. This house has little power after the last reform at the end of the 90s.
Nowadays, it is more a forum for public discussion than any other thing. The house of commons (lower
house) is composed by 650 members of Parliament who are elected by the citizens of the United Kingdom.
Their main functions are to pass bills, to impose taxes and to control the government.
The Crown, as Head of the State, is the past of the government. The Crown is Head of State, Head
of Judiciary, Head of the Church of England and Commander in Chief of the armed forces and Head of the
Commonwealth. The Queen opens the Parliament every year after the summer holidays and formally
“grants” the winning political party the right to form the government. All these functions are mere rituals
nowadays.
How Parliament works:

The maximum period between elections is 5 years
As we mentioned before the main function of Parliament is to pass laws. First, a new law is proposed
and a draw is given to the MPs to read. After that they can debate it and go to the House of Lords for it to be
read and debated again and maybe amended. It goes back to the Commons where it will be finally voted.
Before becoming law it needs the approval of the Queen, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons to
become an Act of Parliament.
The debates in the House of Commons are quite hilarious for a Spanish person but they seem really
informal and aggressive, but it is another tradition kept. They also have Question Time. One day per week
when any MP can ask questions to ministers. The MPs need to write down the questions in a table 2 days
before.
There are several curious things about the Parliament layout. For example, the place has around
400 seats which means that not all the MPs can seat at the same time. It is also peculiar the disposition of a
big table in the centre. In the front beaches we can find the members of the Government and on the other
side the members of the shadow cabinet (which are members of the main opposition).
Their Parliamentary system is based on a political party system, so every MP will follow the directive
of the party leaders. And it is really important the work of the Chief Whip, the person who will tell every MP of
his/her party what they need to vote for every time.
90
Finally, we need to mention that Scotland and Wales have their own parliaments. But this is
something quite new. With less than 25 years.
3.- The Government
Let’s move to the government point where we will see its main elements. Members of the
Government are MPs and the PM is the leader of the political party who won the elections. The PM with
his/her cabinet responsible for ensuring the passing legislation. The PM chooses ministers and departs with
the queen. It also presides over the Cabinet, which has around 20 members. They meet once a week to plan
and lay out all important bills before Parliament. To help to run the complicated machinery of the
government, there is an organisation called the cabinet office.
4.- The electoral system and main political parties
The British political system relies on a party system known as the “first-past-the-post” system. The
system consists of: the country is divided into a number of areas with roughly equal populations known as
constituencies. In each of these constituencies, the candidate who gets more votes is elected.
Historically the main parties were the Tories and the Whigs. During the XIX century, these two
parties were known as the conservative party and the liberal party. But at the beginning of the XXth century
appeared the Labour party.
General elections usually occur every 5 years.
By-election: if a MP resigns or dies. There is a by-election in the constituency he represents.
5.- Main powers: the main powers in the British political system.
Executive: responsible for carrying out government administration. It is made up of: the privy council, the
ministry (the government in office) and the Departments of state.
The Judiciary: The UK has 3 major legal systems (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland).
Each contains their own legal rules, courts and legal professions.
Legislature: Parliament when passing a law: Act of Parliament.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to develop the British parliamentary system and in that form, to understand
better how politics work there. We will deal first with the British institutions and after we will develop the most
important ones: the Parliament and the Government. We will finish by explaining the British electoral system.
2.- British institutions

The 4 main institutions of the British political system are the executive, the legislative, the judiciary
and the crown. We need to clarify that due to the fact that the UK doesn’t have a written constitution, the
country is ruled by rules, regulations, principles and procedures. Formally the UK is a Parliamentary
Monarchy.
A.- The executive: this institution is represented by the government. The government’s leader is the
Prime Minister, who chooses ministers to help him/her with the administration of the country. This cabinet
office has around twenty ministers. Most of the work done by the ministers pass through committees formed
by MP’s and civil servants.
91
B.- The Judiciary: the UK has 3 major legal systems. One for Scotland, another for Northern Ireland
and the last for England and Wales. Each of them has its own rules and courts.
C.- The Legislative: the legislative institution refers to the Parliament which is divided into two
houses the upper house a house of Lords and the lower house or House of commons. The House of Lord
has around 800 members and after the reform that suffered in the late 1990’s, it has become a consultative
chamber.
The House of Commons has 650 members (MP). It is the main house because it can pass bills,
impose taxes and control the government.
The new laws in the UK, after they have been approved by the house of commons and signed by the
queen are called Acts of Parliament.
How it works the British Parliament can be fascinating because they kept many old traditions. For
example, it is weird that not all the members of Parliament can be seated at the same time because there is
not a place for everyone. Their discussions also seem really aggressive and informal to foreigners.
Finally, I need to mention that every week. They have the question time, where every member can
ask anything to the PM or any member of the government.
Before I finish with the Parliament just to say Scotland and Wales have had their own Parliaments
since 1999.
D.- The Crown: this old institution still plays a role in the British political system. Formally the Queen
is the Head of the State, the Head of the Judiciary, and the head of the Anglican church. She opens the
Parliament every year and formally “grants” the winning political party the right to form government. As we
can see all these functions are formal rituals.
3.- Electoral system and main political parties

The whole UK is divided into a number of areas called constituencies with equal population. Each
member of Parliament is elected from one of these constituencies. So, whoever gets more votes in the
constituency is elected. This type of election is called first-past-the-post or winners-take-all.
During the XVIII century the conservative and the Whig parties were created. At the end of the XIX
century appeared the labour party, who represented the interests of the working class. In the XX century the
whig party disappeared and the Liberal party was created. DUring the last century conservatives and labour
have been the big parties, with some movements when the liberal or UKIP have had something to say.
Nowadays it is also important the Scottish National Party which is the main political party.
In this unit we have seen the different elements of the British political system. It can help us to
understand how important tradition is to them and the particularities of their Parliament.
5.- Conclusion
We think that is essential to understand how the British political system works if we want to develop
our knowledge of the English language. It also helps us to know better the special idiosyncrasy of their
culture.
It is really relevant to get a clear idea about how the British institutions work because it will help us to
improve the understanding that students can achieve of the British world. For example, with Brexit. This was
a major political event which needed a good background knowledge in order to understand it properly.
92
UNIT 64: AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. THE CONSTITUTION. THE TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION. THE
PRESIDENT. THE CONGRESS. THE POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- The Constitution
3.- Territorial organisation.
4.- The threefold division of powers
4.1.- the executive. The president
4.2.- The legislative. The congress
4.3.- the judicial. The supreme court
5.- Political parties
6.- Electoral system
8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
This is an interesting unit where the main focus is how the American system works . From the
constitution to the development of the government in the states. It will help us to better understand the
peculiarities of their system and the idiosyncrasy of American culture.
2.- The constitution
The United States of America is a Federation republic country formed by 50 states and the
independence district of Columbia where it is the capital of the country: Washington. The political system
developed in the country is based on their constitution which was signed in 1978 by the thirteen states of the
USA.
This constitution is the highest law. It provides the rules to conform the government, the congress
and judicial system and also develop the territorial organisation of the country. Finally, it also provides
mechanisms to balance the three main independent powers.
The form to reform it is throughout amendments. The first time this mechanism was used was in
1791, with the so-called “Bill of Rights”, some amendments that protected basic individual rights. Other
famous amendments were the abolition of slavery in 1865 or the right to vote for women in 1920. In order to
do the amendment it is necessary two thirds of the congress or a legislation power of a state with two thirds,
to initiate the process. Finally, you need two thirds of all the states to pass it.
3.- Territorial organisation
As we mentioned before, the USA is a federal republic constituted by 50 states and the independent
district of Columbia. Each state has a state government, congress and Judiciary Court. The highest authority
in the State is the Governor, elected by the citizens of that state. The State is divided into counties. The
States also have their own Constitution. The Local government of a country resides in a city or town. So, as
we have seen there is a copy of the federal system on a smaller scale. Finally, the State constitution can not
disagree with the federal constitution.
93
The political system of the US is based in Montesquieu and his threefold division of powers. It was really
important for the creators of the constitution to have control and balance among the different powers. Now
we are going to develop each of them:
4.1.- The executive: the President

The USA doesn’t have a President of the Republic, as a different person of the executive, like for
example France, which also has a Prime Minister. The effect of this is that the President of the USA has
more power over his/her hands. The president’s powers are mainly the executive, where he/she is the
chief-in-command of the army and nominates the main staff of the Federal state such as ambassadors or
Federal secretariats. The President can also veto any law passed by the Congress, values two third of the
congress vote against it. And the President can nominate federal judges, including the ones from the
Supreme Court, the highest court of the country. To govern the country the President has departments to
help him with the task. Like ministries in Spain or the UK.
4.2.- The Legislative: the Congress.
The congress would be the equivalent of the Parliament in the UK or Spain. And it is from two
houses: the upper house would be the Senate and the lower house, the house of Representatives. Both
houses can propose legislation and both need to approve it before a Bill becomes a law.
The Senate
This higher house is the one representing directly the States. Each state appoints two Senators.
They serve for 6 years. And, they can also reject or confirm the President’s proposals for individual
appointment to high officials.
The House of Representatives
This is the most important house. It has 435 representatives. They are voted in each State. The
States have more or less representatives depending on the population. Their terms are of 2 years. For
example, Delaware has 1 representative while California has 53. Its functions are lwa-making, can declare
war, create and collect taxes override a presidential veto by a two-third majority in both houses.
4.3.- The Judicial. The Supreme Court.
The Judiciary power is holded by the Federal Courts and the State Courts. The District Federal
Courts (for Federal Cases) deal with cases related to the US COnstitution and when the government is
amplified. They also can act when someone has committed several crimes in different States.
The County / State's Court (for State cases) deals with crimes or felonies committed in a State. The
decision of a court can be appealed and the higher court someone can appeal to is the Supreme COurt. 3
types of cases commonly reach the Supreme Court. One is litigants from different states, cases involving the
interpretation of federal law and cases involving the interpretation of the constitution.
5.- Political Parties
The USA has developed a two party system. In general, you are free to create a political party and to
present your candidature to everything you want, with some limitations, for example if you want to be
president, like you need to be older than 35 years old and to have been born in the country.
Presidential elections are not really direct ones. But the system promotes the two big parties, with
the system of first-past-the-post, which is a British expression to express this kind of electoral system.
94
They don’t have strong structures and have quite similar approaches to politics but republicans are a
little more conservatives than the democrats who are a little more centre-left. Now we are going to see the
electoral system where I can better develop this idea of the first-past-the-part.
6.- Electoral System
In the USA there are two main types of voting systems. The one for the Congress and the one for
the Presidency. The election for Congress is held every even year and the candidates have to win primaries.
Senators are elected for a six year term and representatives for a 2 years term. They must be residents of
the district.
The election for the Presidency is a long process which begins with the candidatures, which need to
pass a process of primaries. The winner needs to go to the national party convention where, usually he/she
is elected by the delegates of the party.
Finally, in November people vote for State electors, who will form the Electoral College. These
electors support the candidate nominated in the summer Party convention. Presidential elections are not
really direct ones.
Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to the number of representatives plus two, the two
being the two Senators that correspond to every state. Participation is lower than in other countries.
7.- Conclusion
We have taken a look, in this unit at how the USA institutions work in order to run the country.
Without any doubt, this unit has a great potential to be exploited under the cross-curricular themes
established by the LOE, especially the moral and civic education and education for the peace.
We should try to make our students reflect on the way other countries are organised in order to meet
the necessities of their population as a starting point for the comparison with the system we have in Spain
(comparing federal-state government to central-autonomous government). This will be a good way of making
them see things from different points of views, allowing our students to create their own opinion, which are
the objectives of blocks three and four of Bachillerato.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to depict the northamerican parliamentary system and in that form to be able
to understand better how politics work there. We will begin by explaining the Constitution which develops the
rest of the institutions (the presidency, the Congress, or the electoral system). Before we finish the unit we
will relate the most important elements of this unit with English subject.
2.- The Constitution

The American Constitution was signed and ratified in 1788 by the original 13 colonies. It created a
Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic. This paper is the highest law in the country, developing the
territorial organisation, providing rules to conform the government, the Congress and the Judiciary, and gives
mechanisms to balance the 3 independent powers.
The form of reforming or changing the Constitution is throughout amendments. The first
amendments were added in 1798. The Bill of rights, which were the basic individual rights. To pass an
amendment the legislative power which initiates the process needs two-thirds of the votes and also,
two-thirds of votes of all the States.
3.- Territorial organisation

The USA is divided into States. Each of them copies the structures of the Federal State. They have a
COnstitution, a COngress and a judicial court. The States are also divided into countries and the highest
95
authority is the governor, the main representative of the state government. As we mentioned before, the
Constitution is the highest law in the country. For that reason, a State Constitution can’t disagree with the
Federal Constitution.

The American Constitution is based on the ideas of Montesquieu for whom democracy needs to
balance and control the main powers: the executive (government), the legislative (the Congress) and the
judiciary (the Courts and the Supreme Court). In the Constitution is possible to find the different forms to key
this balance
The Executive: the President is the most important person in the whole system. It is the
chief-in-command. He / she can nominate staff or judges and pass laws.
The Legislatives: the Congress is divided into two Houses: the Upper house (Senate) and the lower
house (house of representatives). Both houses can propose legislation and need to approve bills before
becoming law. The Senate is confirmed by two representatives from each state and they serve up to 6 years.
In the house of representation there are 435 representatives. The number of representatives per State
depends on the population of each state. They serve a two year term. After that, they need to be related if
they want to continue in the house of representatives. The Congress functions are quite important. They can
declare war, or create a new tax, to develop new laws or veto a decision taken by the president (but they
need two thirds of the house).
Finally the Judiciary power. This power is divided into Federal courts and State courts. The first are
the courts which deal with Federal cases. They have to be cases which affect two persons from different
states or a matter with the Federal Constitution. If that is not the case, the case will be done in a State court.
A decision taken in a court can be appealed by a higher court. In the worst scenario you have the Supreme
court.
5.- Political parties and electoral system

In the USA you have two main political parties: the democrats and the conservatives. Their system is
considered a two party system but you are free to create your own political party and be elected. These
parties don’t have strong structures.
The electoral system is also developed in the Constitution. There are two types of elections, the
ones for the Congress and the election of the President. For Congress the elections are held in years. For
the house of representative each two years and for the Senate, every six years.
The elections to become President are a long process where the candidates need to win primaries
and be elected as candidate in a convention of their parties by the representatives.
The elections take place the first Tuesday of november. Each state has their electoral
representatives (their number is the same as the representatives of that state in the house of representatives
plus two. These electoral representatives are the votes that will win the candidate who has more votes in that
state. The rest of the candidates won’t have anything in that state. At the end, the candidate with more
electoral representatives will become the new President.
It is important because it can help us to understand aspects of political life in America that
sometimes are different to understand. In this case I think that the most interesting things are the territorial
organisation, with a Federal State, and how long they elect the President.
UNIT 65: THE EDUCATIVE SYSTEM IN THE ANGLO SAXON WORLD
INDEX
96
1.- Introduction
2.- Education in Britain. General overview
3.- Educational stages in detail
4.- Public schools in the UK
5.- Education in England compared to other English speaking countries.
6.- Education in USA
7.- Elements of the un it related to the English subject
8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
2.- Education in Britain. General overview
In the UK there are around 12 million children studying at 40. 000 schools. Compulsory education in
the UK is between 5 to 18. All state-funded schools are required to follow the National Curriculum but not the
independent or “public” schools.
This National Curriculum defines 4 “Key stages”:
Foundation stage: 2 to 5 years.
Primary
Key Stage 1: Year 1 and 2: 5 to 7.
Key stage 2: year 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7: 7 to 11.
Key stage 3: years 8, 9: 11-14
Key stage 4: years 10 and 11: 14-16
Secondary
Key Stage 5: post-16 education: 16-18
At 16: GCSE
Education is compulsory until 18; schooling is compulsory to 16.
From 16: Sixth Form or College: to A levels; Level 3 qualifications; Apprenticeships.
High Education: 4 years Bachelor’s degree. Undergraduate; Master’s degrees: postgraduate; doctoral level.
3.- Educational stages in detail
Elementary school: early years: foundation stage: Primary School; Key Stage 1 and 2; up to 5 years.
Kindergarten nursery
Primary Education: Key Stage 1 and 2: from 6-to 11 years
Secondary School:
To understand the grammar schools we need to revise what happened after IIWW. By then, the
government reorganised secondary education. They created two types of schools: the secondary moderns,
focused on the basics plus practical skills, and the grammar schools, intended for children who would be
going to higher education.
There was in the 60s a debate about this division. The secondary moderns schools were worse
funded and it was thought that it was not fair to this system. The decision was to keep a single type of school
designed to give every child a complete education. But the timetable of the changeover was left to the local
97
authorities, some of whom were very resistant. The result is now a mixture. Most authorities run a proper
comprehensive system, a few run essentially the old system of secondary moderns and grammar schools
(the secondary moderns are called “comprehensives”).
Higher education
● 3 years Bachelor’s degree: undergraduate // 5 years if it is medicine, law or teaching

● Master’s degrees: postgraduate (1 year) or a Research Master Degree (2 years)
4.- Public Schools in the UK
● The private Education sector in the UK: Public Schools or Boarding Schools, they are called Public
Schools (adopter the name for the first time by Eton), because they were open to the public who
could pay the fears, as opposed to the religion schools, where you needed to be part of the
believers.
● The “Public Schools” were important in the development of the Victorian elite, but the classic-based
curriculum was criticised for not providing skills in Science or Engineering.
5.- Education in England compared to other English speaking countries.
● Basically, the educational system in Wales doesn’t differ from the English one. This system remains
more committed to the concept of the community-based comprehensive school while the English has
pursued reforms based on diversity of school types and parental choices.
● In Scotland is a bit different:
○ Primary; 1 to 7 (4-11/12)
○ Secondary; 11/12-17/18
○ S1- S4: year 8, 9, 10, and 11
○ S5: year 12 (lower fifth form)
○ S6: year 13 (upper sixth form)
● The big differences: the final exams
● FIRST EXAM: standard Grade Examination: at the end of S4: it shows educational level.
● SECOND EXAM: after S5 and S6: for Higher education.
6.- Education in USA
Education in the USA is a competence of each state. For this reason there is not a unique system.
Basically, it is compulsory from 6 to 16 and there are Public Schools for Primary and Secondary education,
which don’t charge tuition but rely on state and Local taxes for funds.
Traditionally, the Elementary School ends in 6th grade; the middle school or Junior High School is
7th grade, 8th grade and 9th grade; Secondary School or High School is 9th grade and 10th grade.
A college is a 4 year institution of Higher Education that offers courses in related subjects: arts or
business. Sometimes they can be part of a University.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to understand the educational system in the anglo saxon world. Due to the
lack of time we will focus on the educational system in the uk and the USA. First, we will outline the history of
the educational system in the UK and how it works nowadays. FInally, we will depict the educational system
in the USA.
This unit is really important because it will help us to compare our educational system with the anglo
saxon one and in that form to better understand this important part of their culture.
2.- History of the educative system in the UK
98
During the XIX century, the educational system in England suffered a big change with the
development of Public schools (or boarding schools, the first of which was Eton). They were called Public
schools because everyone who could pay the fees, was able to access, in contraposition, the Religious
school, which were the predominant schools in this period. The Public schools were the place where the elite
of the British Empire was taught and their education was based in the “classic” curriculum.
After the IIW we can find two types of schools. The first of them is the Grammar school, where
children were prepared to access(attend) to higher education. The second type was the comprehensive
schools where children were taught basic skills.
In the 1960’s there was a great discussion about this division which seemed quite unfair for many
children. This is the reason why in theory “grammar schools” had to disappear and everyone had to study in
a “comprehensive school”, which now was prepared to teach and integrate all students.
3.- Education in England
Nowadays England has more than 4000 schools and teaches more than 12 million students. To
study is Compulsory between 5 to 18 years old. It is divided into 5 stages. Before beginning the first stage
(primary) you have the foundation stage (2-5 years old).
The first and second stage is Primary school (5-11 years old). The third and fourth stage is
Secondary school (12-16 years old). In the last stage, stage 5 (from 16) you have three options:
1.- Six forms of college: they prepare you for the A levels. The previous exam to access University.
2.- Apprenticeship
3.- Level 3 qualifications: there are different subjects, with a practical orientation for students who
don’t want to go to university.
The higher education in England is a follows:

1.- A bachelor’s degree which lasts three years (undergraduate).
2.- A master’s degree which lasts a year (postgraduate).
3.- A doctorate course.
Before finishing this part we should mention that in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland the
education systems are quite similar.
4.- The educative system in the USA

In the USA there is not a unique centralised education system because this is a competence of the
States. Even though each stage can develop the system in their own form, they share some basic
characteristics:
1.- It is mandatory (compulsory) from 5 up to 16 years old.
2.- Schools are free but funded by each state or local governments
3.- It is divided into: elementary school: 5 to 11 years old.
: Middle school or Junior High school 12 to 14 years old.
: high school: 15 to 18 years old (high school diploma at the end).
They are also a higher education institution called colleges (which differ from the colleges in the UK)
because they are integrated in Universities and offer studies than Universities.
● Bachelor’s degree: 4 years of undergraduate programs

● Master’s degree: 1 year of master’s degree studies
● PhD or Advanced Professional degree: 2 year’s doctoral studies.
99
UNIT 66: CULTURAL DIMENSION OF ENGLISH IN THE ACTUAL WORLD. BRITISH ENGLISH AND
AMERICAN ENGLISH. PRESENCE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SPAIN. ANGLICISMS
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- English as a lingua franca.
3.- Political, economic and cultural importance of English.
4.- Anglicisms:
4.1.- Anglicisms in the field of economy.
4.2.- Anglicisms in the field of technological field.
4.3.- Anglicisms in the field of Sports.
4.4.- Anglicisms in the field of TV, films and music.
4.5.- Sociological loans.
5.- Lexical Anglicisms

6.- British American and American English:
.- Vocabulary
.- Spelling
.- Grammar
.- Pronunciation
7.- Elements of the unit related to the English subject.

8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
2.- English as a lingua franca. // 3.- Political, economic and cultural importance of English.
● Lingua franca: political, economic and demographic criteria

● Technological and scientific developments: shown in English
● Favoured by 2 empires: British // American
● USA economy and its multinational companies: sign of power.
● Also cultural dominium: Hollywood // music in English // writers // tv series and programs
4.- Anglicisms:
4.1.- Anglicisms in the field of economy.
4.2.- Anglicisms in the field of technological field.
4.3.- Anglicisms in the field of Sports.
4.4.- Anglicisms in the field of TV, films and music.
4.5.- Sociological loans.
This is an effect that affects all the languages in the world but here we are going to analyse the effect
in Spanish language. English is visible in Spain. It is important. Some of the reasons for this are tourism,
commerce, the sports, the entertainment industry… English means for Spaniards higher status and further
prospects of mobility. More opportunities to find a job.
Anglicism: linguistic loans from English, created from a non-existence of an appropriated word.
● Economy: ranking // ticket

● Technological: hardware // software // chequear
● Sports: basket, fútbol, gol, goleador.
● TV, films and music: videoclip // thriller
5.- Lexical anglicisms
100
A.- Necessary loans:
.- no equivalents in Spanish: taxi, coctel.
.- the same spelling: climax, cohesión.
B.- Unnecessary loans:

.- Without change in meaning: RENTAR (instead of ALQUILAR).
.- With change in meaning: TÓPICO (TOPIC).
.- With change in frequency of use. Privado (instead of PARTICULAR).
C.- Spelling of lexical anglicisms:
.- Unacceptable spellings:
.- double vowels: BOOM, FOOTING.
.- double consonants: CASSETTE, JAZZ, HIPPY
.- consonant clusters: BESTSELLER, CRACK
.- Acceptable spellings:
.- kept: manager, jersey, radar.
.- modificated: NESQUIK
.-acceptable by addition: FILMAR, FLIRTEAR
.- acceptable by elimination: ESTÁNDAR, CRISMA
D.- Pronunciation:
.- kept: beicon (bacon)
.- modified: spray
E.- Morphology: boxeo, filmación.
6.- British American and American English:
AE: high degree of uniformity: perpetual movement of people. But it has 3 main dialects: Northern, Southern
and the West, the so-called “General American”.
.- Vocabulary: new things in America that needed to be named;
.- sometimes words with the same meaning: buttered eggs (BE), scramble eggs (AE); cab
(AE), taxi (BE); lift (AE), elevator (BE); can (AE), tin (BE).
.- sometimes one disappear:
.- words with different meanings: college; professor; school.
.- Spelling: in American British attempt to bring the written word to a close resemblance with the
spoken word:
.-- labour // labour

.-- theatre // theatre
.-- catalogue // catalogue
.-- traveller // traveller
.- Grammar:
1).- Americans use Simple Past // British Present Perfect

2).- British use “GOT” as HAVE: no Americans
101
3).- Americans Past Participle of “GET”: “GOTTEN”; in BE is GOT.
4).- AE preference for regular “d” variants.
5).- Subjunctive more common in AE
6).- Prepositions: different treatment: speak to (BE): speak with (AE)
7).- Dates:
AE: 4/12/81: month first.
BE: 12/04/81: day first.
.- Pronunciation
---- AE: variation mainly with vowels.

---- Nasalization in AE: a prominent feature that makes quite clear the distinction B/W (AE)
and (BE).
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to understand why the English language is so important as a form of
communication worldwide, the differences between the two main elements of English (British ENglish and
American English), and how this hegemony of English around the world has affected the Spanish language
in Spain.
2.- Cultural dimension of English in the actual world
It is a fact that English is nowadays worldwide the lingua franca, the easiest form of communicating
with any one around the world. The main reason for this is hegemony has been under English speaking
countries. First with the UK, and since the XX century with the USA. The hegemony of the USA since the
beginning of the XX century means that their big corporations, present in every corner of the world, use
ENglish as their main language.
This economic hegemony can also be seen in the development of Science, where major discoveries
are made in ENglish. Finally, the cultural dominium means that music, films, tv series or books produced in
English are consumed around the world, not just exporting the English language, but the values and
identities of the anglo saxon societies.
3.- British English and British American
This point of the unit is quite interesting but we need to begin clarifying some aspects about dialects.
Here, when we speak about British English we are referring to RP (Received Pronunciation). This is an
accent that not all the English population speak. In the UK it is possible to find many different dialects. From
south to north and from the urban areas to the countryside.
American English is the same. We can consider this dialect (AE) as the mix of the most important
characteristics of the American dialects. In fact it is possible to say three main areas where they have
developed some particular differences: Western, SOuthern and Northern English. We need to remember all
this when we compare British English with American English.
Now, I am going to show the main differences between BE and AE in their vocabulary, grammar,
spelling and pronunciation.
1.- Vocabulary: in this case we can find three different cases. The first is when both dialects have
developed different words to refer to the same thing (scramble eggs/buttered eggs); secondly, when there
were two different words referring to one thing but at the end, one of them is being used less (BE; lift; AE:
elevator) or when the same word means different things in BE and AE: school // professor // college.
2.- Spelling: regarding the spelling, in the AE there is a tendency to get close to the spoken
language, reducing some words which are not pronounced (BE: colour; AE: colour).
102
3.- Grammar: this is an important part which is not possible to develop properly due to the lack of
time. Briefly we will say that AE uses more after simple past where BE uses Present perfect or that AE uses
different past participle in some cases, such as in the verb “get”. AE uses gotten and BE got. Finally, there
are other aspects in which both dialects differ: the use of dates. In AE you begin with the month 04/12/81
while in BE you begin with the day 12/04/81.
4.- Pronunciation: there are variations with some vowels but the main difference between these
dialects is the nasalization of the AE dialect.
4.- Presence of English language in Spain. Anglicisms
As we mentioned before, the hegemony of the USA has made it really easy to use English
worldwide. That has happened in Spain as well. But it is true that the presence of English has not been as
strong as we could think. In fact, one of the ideas when we talk about English in Spain is that Spaniards are
not really good at speaking English. There are several facts that reinforce this belief. The first is that during
the dictatorship Spain was close to the outside world. It meant that everything shown on TV was dubbed. It
was difficult to listen to American music. And also, French was still a prestigious foreign language.
In the last twenty years this has changed and English has been introduced in every aspect of our
lives. This major importance of English in our lives means that we are adopting more anglicisms in our daily
lives. By anglicism we understand a word which has been brought from the English language. To bring words
from other languages is a normal process in the development of languages but we need to see more deeply
the types of inclusion in our language. There is a first division between necessary loans or unnecessary. The
necessary loans (taxi, coctel) may refer to new technologies and for that reason there are no words yet to
name it. Another thing we need to be aware of is the spelling of anglicism. It can be adapted (guisqui) to the
Spanish spelling or can keep its original spelling (cassette, jazz). FInally, there is another difference between
the anglicisms which change its pronunciation (spray) and the ones which don’t change it (bacon).
There are several elements in this unit which appear when we study English. The most important
item here is the explanation of why English is so important. This should be something that students must
know.
Other elements are the notion of dialect and to see the role played by the two main dialects in
English. Finally, it is essential to understand the role of English in Spanish society and to know what
anglicism is.
6.- Conclusion
As we have shown, this is an essential unit to understand why English is so important the role of
English around the world. It is also important to know the role that is played in Spain and to understand what
a dialect is.
UNIT 67: MASS MEDIA IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE (1): THE PERIODISTIC STYLE. THE PRESS. QUALITY
PAPERS AND YELLOW PAPERS.
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- Journalistic style
3.- The press
4.- Quality papers
5.- Popular papers
103
6.- Elements of this unit related to the English language
7.- Conclusion
8.- Bibliography
2.- Journalistic style
● The main function of the press:

○ Providing information
○ Creating or communicating opinions
● So, 2 types of text:
○ Providing information
○ Providing opinions
● The journalistic style:
○ Conciseness (concise)
○ Clarity (Clear)
○ Appealing to the reader (attractive)
○ Correctness (correct)
● Two main types of press:
○ Broadsheets (quality papers): highly structured organisations of the information in terms of
the answers to the main WH-questions.
○ Tabloids (yellow papers): structure mainly around the most emotive and shocking elements
of the news story.
○ The main goals of news writing: accuracy, brevity and clarity: press is not a luxury, it is
necessary. Unfortunately, some journalists turned into professional gossip.
3.- The press

● At the beginning the press was an instrument of internal cohesion for the middle class to conquer
power: social and technological factors made it a bigger form of information.
● From being a press of opinion to a press of information, from a political press to a business press.
● Nowadays, it has lost weight in part because there is a fierce competition with the new mass media
options.
● Newspapers: they give opinions and comments according to a concrete line of thought: but much
more: job ads, gossip, personal ads, horoscopes… Also, a vehicle of advertisement to finance it.
● The Sunday supplements are a free colour magazine, with columns, horoscope, feature articles…
● During the 80s and 90s it was created and spread new free news papers (free-sheets): entirely
financed by advertising revenue.
● Nowadays, electronic editions are important. Also, the concentration of newspapers in the hands of
new press lords who own and control huge information empires.
● British press: from the XVIII century, quick development of the newspapers; US press:
● XIX: creation of the penny press: cheap press, affordable for everyone.
● Since the 60s there has been an “underground” press, with social and sensationalist content
emerging. It also increased the value of objective journalism (watergate).
● Future of print journalism is not clear: with the Internet nobody knows.
4.- Quality papers:
● Some readers are looking for: quality, erudition, reasoned analysis and reliable news: reputation for
being serious: for trying to tell the truth about the news in a serious and responsible way.
● Features to determine if a newspaper is a “quality” one:

○ Semi-academic style and serious tone.
○ Concrete editorial line: an intellectual and “idealistic” perspective of the world.
○ Serious in tone and lack of frivolity.
○ Not only inform about events: also judge them.
104
○ Editorials: serious reflection which give the reader a perspective on local, national and
international events.
● Certain functions of the quality papers:

○ Reference for other newspapers (which don’t produce their own ideas).
○ Ideal vehicle for political leaders, social institutions and national associations.
○ Useful in embassies and diplomatic institutions.
UK: the Times, the Guardian, Daily Telegraph.

US: the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal.
5.- Popular press

● It was born in the XIX century: also called “yellow press”: it is a journalism of gossip and frivolity:
their AIM is to show rather than SAY to MAKE SEE rather than to MAKE KNOWN.
● Popular tabloids or yellow press newspapers, they USE: giant headlines for the leading items;
THRIVE on sensational stories and excitement // race to survive (maybe made the treatment of
INFO more anecdotic).
● The treatment of serious affairs: distortion of facts and use of anything that can be sensational or
morbid.
● Their STYLE is: a plain style with direct statements: suggested open to double meanings.
● Characteristics: different types of language according to the public, the important // relevance given
to certain topics, different ways of organising the graphic info.
● Gossiping, private life of popular people and catastrophe, assassinations and scandalous social
conflicts: are their favourites themes.
● Sensationalist devices: large headlines, large pictures and little text: exaggeration of headlines and
little or no attention to the truth of info.
UK: the sun // daily mirror

USA: the New York Post // the Globe
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to explain briefly the history and types of newspapers. It is necessary to
understand the different periodistic styles.
It is true that newspapers have lost some of the importance that they had in the past but they still
play an important role in society, especially with the digital papers.
We would like to develop the unit following the title. For this reason we will begin by a brief
description of the periodistic style. After that we will quickly show the history of the press. The next point will
be to speak regarding popular and quality papers. We will finish the unit linking the elements of this unit
which appear in the English subject, and final conclusion.
2.- Periodistic style
The periodistic style is related to the two functions which can develop: to provide information //
inform, and to provide opinion // create opinion. SO, the two main periodistic styles are informative text and
opinion texts.
The main characteristics of any informative text are: to be concise, clear, correct and create an
attractive text for the readers. Now that we have seen briefly the characteristics of the periodistic style and
the type of texts we can move on to the next point of the unit, a brief history of the press.
3.- The press
105
The press appeared in the UK at the end of the XVII, but it is during the next century that it will be
more important. The XIX century will be the great moment for newspapers to think of the technological
developments which made it cheaper.
It is also important to notice that the press served as a form of cohesion of the middle class, which
used it to get information and create their opinion.
During the XIX, as we have said, the technological development which helped to create cheaper
newspapers, helped in the creation of the “penny press”, a really cheap and affordable newspaper.
During the XX century newspapers have lost the hegemony that they had during the XIX century as
the main form of getting informed. The main reason for this is the creation of news mass media such as the
radio and the television.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, when the newspapers declined began, it appeared the free newspapers,
which based their projects mainly in advertising.
Nowadays the future of the newspapers is uncertain. We live now in the Internet era, and even the
radio and the television are threatened. But maybe the Internet can save the newspapers. Since the
beginning of the XXI the digital editions of the newspapers are increasing their contents and the number of
readers who follow them. The problem now is how to pay for that content. This is a problem that hasn't been
solved yet.
4.- Quality Press (broadsheet)
As we have mentioned previously, there are two main types of newspapers. Now I am going to
mention one of them: the Quality press. They are also called broadsheets. This name comes from the size of
the paper used. The broadsheet is this massive paper that we need to fold a little if we want to read an
article.
The other name, quality press, expresses which kind of newspapers we are talking about. When you
buy it you expect reliable news and reasoned opinions. The main features are the use of an academic style
and serious tone, and the creation of editorials which give the readers a perspective on local, national and
international events.
Their main function has been to give reliable information and a serious opinion about our reality.
5.- Popular press
Popular papers were cheap, affordable newspapers which were completely different from the quality
papers. But the differences were not just in the form. The yellow papers promoted a journalism based on
gossip and frivolity. Their main aim was to entertain people and for that reason they looked for the most
sensational and weird news and used a plain and direct style but open to doble meaning.
For this type of news papers it was important to cover certain topics such as murders, scandalous
affairs, catastrophes or the private life of popular people.
It is important to say that they developed tools to improve this idea of entertaining the readers. The
graphic information began to be important, the large and sensationalist, and exaggerated headlines or the
large pictures with little text.
UNIT 68: THE MASS MEDIA IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE: RADIO AND TELEVISION. ADVERTISEMENT IN
THE ANGLO SAXON CULTURE: LINGUISTIC AND SEMIOTICS ASPECTS.
106
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- Mass media in the UK
3.- Mass media in the USA
4.- Types of broadcast
5.- Advertising
6.- lInguistic and semiotic aspects
8.- Conclusion
9.- Bibliography
1.- Introduction
● Radio and TV have a capacity to reach large numbers of people. Broadcasting has been regulated
since it was recognised as a significant means of communication.
● Advertising is to promote something such as a product, service or event through public
announcements: it supplies most of the funds for the principal communication media.
2.- Mass media in the UK
● From the 30s radio and TV began to be used broadly.

● The BBC was the first radio broadcasting service: agreed it should not be financed through
commercial advertisement, free from state control, to have quality and be a public service with a duty
to inform, educate and entertain.
● The way to achieve independence from advertisements: sale of annual TV licences.
● Later on, the new UK TV channels were financed by spot advertisement in “natural” breaks between
programmes.
3.- Mass media in the USA

● The first radio programmes made by the radio set’s manufacturers. SOon, firms began to use the
radio for advertising goods they wanted to sell, sponsoring the programmes: this practice became
well established and used for TV: nowadays 3 great national networks: ABC (American Broadcast
Corporation); CBS (Columbia Broadcast Service); NBC (National Broadcast Corporation).
● The National Public Radio: mainly educational: supported by donations and subscriptions of
listeners.
● TV networks: criticised for their excessive triviality. The root of the problem: the TV networks are
financed by advertising and advertisers demand programmes which suit the largest audiences
possible.
4.- Types of TV broadcasts: Informative; didactic; entertaining.
5.- Advertising
● Advertising is a form of mass communication intended to promote the sale of a product.

● Also used to influence people’s opinion to gain political support, to advance a particular case or to
elicit desires of the advertiser in general.
● XIX century period of expansion in advertising: growth of the “penny press”.
● Advertising media: found in any media with some potential viewers.
● Many government: consider radio an important media for education and public information and
severely restrict its use for commercial advertising.
● Advertising: OFTEN: characterised as a means of selling to the masses: why the most efficient
strategy??: unify segments of population and address advertising to them: how many are exposed to
the message, frequency, how many times exposed.
107
● Advertising requires: communicate quickly and clearly: attract attention to the advertising message in
the conscious or unconscious mind, induce an active, positive attitude towards the message,
impress a favourable memory of the message of the mind.
● Success of advertising design DEPENDS ON: quality of the design and psychological factors.
6.- Linguistic and semantic aspects

● Semiotics in the media: study of the signs, also semiotics: looks for the cultural and psychological
patterns underlie language, art and other cultural expressions.
● SEMIOTIC: reality is a system of signs: those involved in semiotics: linguistics, philosophers,
psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists…
● Studying semiotics: to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by
themselves and others constructing it: meaning is not “transmitted” to people (they actively create it
according to a couple interplay of codes and conventions of which people are normally unaware:
though the study of semiotics people become aware that these signs are not what they appear to be:
by making more explicit the codes by which signs are interpreted people may perform the valuable
semiotic function of “denaturalizing” signs.
● Process of public communication: more or less the same than oral communication: addressee;
addresser; message; channel; code; context; feedback.
● This unit related to a cross-curricular topic: consumer’s education subject which should be aroused
in class in order to make students think about the dangers of our own consumer society, in particular
advertising.
1.- Introduction
The aim of this unit is to give a general approach regarding the situation of radio and television in the
anglo saxon society and all the aspects related to that. Due to the lack of time we will focus on the situation
of the radio and television in the UK and in the USA, the big references when we talk about mass media.
2.- Radio and television in the UK
The BBC began to broadcast radio programmes in the 1930’s. In this period it began the discussion
about the main duties that this public service had to fulfil. The final conclusion was that a public radio must
broadcast programs whose main aim is to educate, inform and entertain. Later on, another problem
appeared. WHo had to finance it? In the UK the answer was that each citizen had to pay for the service and
for that reason they had to buy a TV licence. With that money you could pay for a quality service.
In the 1970’s new TV channels apparead (ITV) but they were financed by advertising.
3.- Radio and TV in the USA
In the USA the first radio programmes were paid by the radio set’s manufactures. This form of
producing programmes was the predominant in the USA. It has been criticised by American TV due to the
type of programmes produced, but if your form of keeping your program is through advertising and
advertisers, it is necessary programmes with big audiences, and for this you need mainly to entertain.
The main channels are NBC, CBS, and ABC.
In the USA public radio is really important but needs the support of donations to survive. In this case
we can find more programs dedicated to informing and educating than just to entertain.
4.- Advertising
108
Advertising is a form of mass communication intended to promote the sale of a product. It has been
there since the beginning of the mass media because it was used to finance them. The first example of this
is when it began to be used in the XIX century with the “penny press”, a cheap type of newspaper.
Since the beginning the characteristics of advertising have been clear. Any mass media with
potential people around it was an opportunity to the advertisers and it has always been really important the
message that you send and to attract the attention to your advertisement.
Nowadays, advertising is one of the most important things in the world. Big companies spend tons of
money in advertising, and everyone wants to create the perfect advertising campaign, executives adverts.
Now to create the adverts have become something sophisticated where creatives work with psychologists
and linguistics to find the best forms of selling their products.
5.- Linguistics and semantic aspects
When we talk about the linguistic and semantic aspect of the English mass media. We are referring
to the semiotic disciplines, which studies the signs, looking for the cultural and psychological patterns
underlying language, art, or other cultural expressions.
All these linguistic aspects are really important in radio, TV and advertising because it helps them to
better understand the “language” of mass media: the message.
The semiotic discipline shows us that reality is a construction where everybody plays a role being the
most important element, meaning which is actively created according to a complex mix of codes and
conventions of which people are normally unaware. Finally, just to add that the theory of communication for
the mass media is quite similar to the one for oral communication: there are on addressee, an addresser, a
channel, a code, a context and feedback. Meaning moves throughout all these elements.
There are several elements in this unit which are really important for the process of learning English.
a).- Radio and TV in the UK and USA: our students consume lots of entertainment from American
TV channels.
b).- Types of programs: students can recognise the kind of programs made in radio and tv and
understand why.
c).- Finally, the linguistic and semiotic aspects of the unit are related to the English language. To
know about the linguistic theory of the language can help students to be aware of the completeness of any
language.
7.- Conclusion
As we have shown this is an important unit to understand how important mass media is nowadays.
We have summarised characteristics and history, and we also saw the linguistic aspects of this type of
communication. For us it is really important to know all this due to the society in which we live, a society
based on a fast consumption of news produced by the mass media. To understand how it works theoretically
is basic.
UNIT 69: SOCIETY AND CULTURE. STEREOTYPES AND EMBLEMS FROM ENGLISH SPEAKING
COUNTRIES. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SONGS AS A VEHICLE OF CULTURAL INFLUENCE
INDEX
1.- Introduction
2.- The British Isles: stereotypes and emblems.
3.- USA: emblems and stereotypes.
109
4.- English songs as a vehicle for cultural influence.
6.- Conclusion
7.- Bibliography
2.- The British isles: stereotypes and emblems:
● Nation’s symbols: 3 important characteristics:

○ Emotional charge they carry.
○ Complex web of associations attached to them
○ Represent ideas or emotions which are difficult to express in words alone..
● British Isles: ethnically diverse: 4 different countries: terms as “British” or “Britain” can seem artificial.
● British identification: equated with English: several reasons: state power concentrated in London:
England dominates numerically.
● SCOTS: unite in defence of their national identity: resentment against centralization but Scots
divided by language, religion, prejudices and regionalisms.
● Contemporary British: diverse: immigration.
● Stereotype:
○ English see themselves as CALM, REASONABLY, PATIENT and COMMONSENSICAL
distinguished from the EXCITABLE, ROMANTIC and IMPULSE.
○ CELTS: the CELTS may consider the English as ARROGANT, PATRONISING and COLD.
● Societies change: many things regarded as typically British from culture done a long time ago: no
longer representation of modern life: F. E.
● England: “Land of tradition” (opening of Parliament or change of the guard) in their private life, less
inclined to follow tradition (tea-drinkers or love for queuing): or always talking about cricket, the
Empire or the weather. Reputation for politeness (but hooligans) // reputation for animal lovers (but
fox hunting).
● SCOTS: always drank and wore a kilt. SCOTTS emblem: THISTLE
● WELSH: singing “Delilah”: WALES emblem: LEEK (ST. Davis)
● IRISH: friendly // associated with the HARP and wearing something green (Shamrock emblem) (ST.
Patrick).
● ENGLISH: Rose // St. George.
● Emblem: a visible object or representation that symbolises a quality type or group.
3.- The United States: stereotypes and emblems.
● USA: huge country: 5 regions:

○ New Engladers.
○ East coast (New York)
○ Midwest (traditional)
○ South (conservation)
○ West
● Stereotypes associated to America: they talk loudly: 2 images associated:
○ Well-built person as handsome as a movie star or….
○ American tourists are friendly and fast (fast food). Also…
○ Texan: wearing jeans and cowboy boots.
● Stereotypes associated with the USA: everything is bigger; cities are more dangerous; eat fast food
all the time; everyone carries a gun: the film industry promotes these stereotypes.
● The emblem: the eagle.
4.- English songs as a vehicle for cultural influence
110
● Music: probably the main vehicle of mass communication for the younger generations: enjoy the
music, sing the songs, copy the dress, and identify with the attitudes and actions of their favourite
singers and groups.
● Music industry: US, the biggest exporter of music: followed by the UK.
● Songs in English: a great resource for English teachers: good to develop their skills: understand
other cultures at the same time they are having a good time (enjoying).
● The music began to influence, with English as a lingua franca, in the USA in the XX century.
● New way of spreading the culture, social habits and language.
● Development of the radio and pop music: helped to spread messages to young people all over the
world.
● Roots of today’s pop music: America's deep south: birthplace of Blues: early 50s began to spread
but just for block people: Elvis Presley.
1.- Introduction
The main purpose of this unit is to be able to recognise stereotypes in the anglo saxon world and to
understand the fact that they don’t mean that every person from a specific country is playing the typical
stereotype of the region.
We will also explain the main emblems in the anglo saxon world and we will end by writing about the
importance of music in the development and expansion of the English language.
2.- Stereotypes and emblems
First of all we need to define stereotypes and emblems. We mean by stereotype, the simplified
picture created from uncritical judgments, prejudiced attitude and an oversimplified opinion which represent a
person from a specific collective. In our case that collective is a country.
If we want to define an emblem we need to think about something that a specific collective has given
some emotional value which symbolises something special for that collective.
3.- Stereotype and emblems in Britain
In the name of this unit it is impossible to see that we have asked about the stereotypes and
emblems of all English speaking countries but due to the lack of time we are going to focus first in the British
Isles (including Ireland) and later on, in the USA.
We are going to begin with the UK, where not too long ago, there was a big debate about the
concept britishness. What does it mean to be British? Is there a stereotype that we need to follow if we want
to be more British?
At this moment we also need to clarify that it is not the same to speak about stereotypes from inside
the UK that from outside. If you are from inside, you can be a Scottish person who has in his mind some
stereotypes about how an English person is. But probably, for a Spanish person, the Scottish guy and the
English one share the same stereotypes.
The typical stereotypes regarding habitats such as every British person drinks tea, speaks constantly
about the weather and lives to drink in the pub.
As we have just said, this is the typical stereotype that we can find in the heads of many foreigners.
Regarding the emblems, England has a rose and has a saint of the country, Saint George. Scotland
has a thistle as an emblem and Saint Andrews as their Saint. Wales has a leek as an emblem and Saint
David is their Saint. FInally, Ireland has a shamrock emblem and their saint is Saint Patrick. As we
111
mentioned before, all these emblems and saints have a special relationship with those communities and for
that reason they mean something to them.
4.- Stereotypes and emblems in USA
In this new point we are going to deal with the stereotypes and emblems in the USA. As in the case
of the British Isles, there is a huge variety in the USA. For that reason, it is more difficult to find out the
stereotypes which represent a society so different and big as the american one. First of all, it is possible to
divide the whole country among five different parts: New England, South, West, Midwest, and East. There
are many things that change from one area to another: the geography, the weather, the ethnicity, the
history… We can also find differences among people from the USA, using stereotypes of other Americans
from different areas and foreigners who have never been there. Here in Spain, we have the idea of the
American tourist; big, fat guy, really nice and open. We also know that the American film industry has
reproduced some stereotypes throughout films.
Before I finish with this point we need to mention the American emblems: the eagle, and the anthem
(the stripes and the stans).
5.- English song as a vehicle for cultural influence
From the 1950’s the music industry has been really important for the USE not just economically, but
also socially. It helped the country to achieve cultural hegemony in the world.
With the creation of rock and roll and later on, pop music. It was clear that it was a new way of
spreading the culture, social habits and language. It was the perfect vehicle for mass communication. For
this reason around this important art, a big industry was created.
For us, as an English teacher, music is a key element because as we have just said, it can help our
students to understand better not just the language but the society in which English is used. It can also be
used as a tool to motivate students.
This unit has many elements, which are related to English as a subject. This unit helps us to better
understand the anglo saxon society and to realise how important the English songs are in teaching English.
7.-
As a conclusion I would say that it is really important to know what a stereotype is. If we want to
teach English we need to show the society in which English is spoken but we don’t want to represent a
society based on prejudices and oversimplified opinions. This unit has shown us the importance of English
music in the task of spreading the culture and social habits of the anglo saxon society.
112

Prácticas Unidades de Teoría

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prácticas Unidades de Teoría

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prácticas Unidades de Teoría

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prácticas Unidades de Teoría

UNIT 41. ROMANIZATION OF BRITAIN. INFLUENCE OF LATIN ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

3.- INFLUENCE OF LATIN IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE. LOANWORDS AND CALQUES

3.2.- The influence of Latin an Old English

3.3.- The influence of Latin on Middle English: a trilingual society

2.- The process of Britain’s romanization

2.1.5.- Culture and arts.

3.- Influence of Latin in English language. Loanwords and calques

3.2.- The influence of Latin on Old English

A.- Continental period.

3.2.1.- The Continental Period.

3.2.2.- The settlement period.

3.2.3. The Christianity period.

3.2.4.- The Benedictine reform.

3.3.- The influence of Latin on Middle English: a trilingual society.

3.4.- The Renaissance

3.5.- Modern and Contemporary English

5.- Bibliography and Webliography

2.- The process of Britain’s romanization

3.- Influence of Latin in English language

3.2.- Influence of Latin in old English:

3.5.- Calques and loanwords

4.- Elements of the unit related to the English subject

2.- The Normand conquest

(Situation of the language)

- 1204: King John lost Normands

2.- Historical background

3.- Linguistic situation in Britain after the Norman conquest

4.- Influence of French in the English language

5.- Calques and borrows

The types of borrowings we can find:

6.- Elements of……

-- Historical background with the Norman conquest as the main fact.

The Norman conquest

2.- The Norman conquest

4.- Influence in the English language

The main changes are:

5.- Calques and borrowings

6.- Elements of the unit related to the English subject

2.- Historical Background

2.- Historical Background

3.- Orally transmitted mediaeval literature

3.- Orally transmitted mediaeval literature

4.- The legend of King Arthur

4.- The legend of King Arthur

5.- Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.

5.- Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.

8.- Web Bibliography

3.- Orally transmitted mediaeval literature

4.- The legend of King Arthur

5.- Chaucer (1341-1400) and the Canterbury Tales.

6.- Elements of the unit related to….

The main elements of this unit are:

2.- Historical Background

3.- Elizabethan theatre

Important playwrights of this period were Thomas Kyd or Christopher Marlowe.

4.- Shakespeare’s life and work.

We are going to divide his works in types:

Sonnets: 164 poems: 4 stanzas: 3 quatrains + a final couplet: iambic pentameter.

2.- Historical background