Riassunto programma di Inglese quinto anno, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica Riassunto programma di Inglese quinto anno e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was born in 1812. He had an unhappy childhood. His father was imprisoned for debts and Charles was put to work in a factory. At fifteen, he found employment as an office boy and studied at night. He had become a very successful reporter of Parliamentary debates in the House of Commons, and began to work as a reporter for a newspaper. He adopted the pen name “Boz”, publishing “Sketches”, a collection of articles. Dickens started a full time career as a novelist; he published “Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, Hard Times. Finally, he died in London in 1870. Dickens style He is a Victorian writer. He use many repetitions, the contraposition/contrast between children and Masters, rich and poor. He used some exaggerated images (the child was ready to eat the other child). Comic situations, satiric and comic style. Plot is long and complicated because novels were published in instalments, they made suspense in the readers; this means contact with the readers because writers saw the readers reaction. Dickens and the children Dickens attacked the social evils of his time, such as poor houses, unjust courts and the underworld. During this period, workhouses were born, they were ran by parishes and they spread all over England to give relief to the poor. The conditions in the workhouses were terrible, poor people were subjected to hard regulation, they were exploited and rations of food and clothes were small. The officials said poverty was the consequences of laziness and their bad conditions in the workhouses would inspire poor to improve their own conditions. Oliver Twist the story. Oliver Twist first was published in instalments and became later a book. The autobiography novel reflects the economic insecurity and humiliation Dickens experienced as a child. Oliver Twist is a poor boy of unknown parents; he is brought up in a workhouse, and he run later away in London because of his inhuman condition. There he falls into the hand of a gang of pickpockets, trained by Fagin, who try to make a thief out of him. A middle class family, who adopts him, helps the boy. Then investigations are made about who the boy is and it discovered he has noble origins. The gang of pickpockets and Oliver’s half-brother, who paid the thieves in order to ruin Oliver, are arrested in the end. Oliver wants some more In this period, a tall boy said that in the night, he could eat the thin boy who slept next to him for his hunger; so the children decide to extract the name of the child who has to ask for the same more soup and Oliver Twist is chosen. One evening after everyone have finished eating, Oliver went to the Master, asking for some more soup. The Master became pale of anger and brought Oliver to Mr Lundrins who decided that the child had to leave the workhouse. Dickens underlines children conditions. Hard Times the story. The novel is set in an imaginary industrial town named Coketown. Thomas Gradgrin has founded a school where his theories are taught and he brings up his two children, Louisa and Tom, in the same way, repressing their imagination and feelings. He marries his daughter to a rich banker of the city, thirty years older than she is. Their marriage is unhappy, but she try to help her brother given him a job in a bank. Tom, who is lazy and selfish, robs his employer; at first, he succeeds the suspicion on an honest worker, but finally he is discovered and obligated to leave the country. Coketown Coketown is a novel by Charles Dickens, born to a social criticism to Victorian’s town. In 19th century, Britain became a nation of buildings, characterized by overcrowding, crime and disease. The novel is set in Coketown, an imaginary industrial city, described as a town, of unnatural red and black life “the painted face of a savage”, full of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which “serpent of smoke” coming out. The writer want indicate the monotony, not only in the colours but also in the sounds, noises, buildings and streets. People have lost their personality, their individuality: they are equally like one another and look like robots. By the use of metaphors, we can clearly deduce the presence of two types of risks that coexist and cause not only serious physical dangers (pollution) but also even psychological problems. The alienation due to the repetitive life in Coketown is a worrying message of the existence of a psychological risk that workers may suffer. Charlotte Bronte The life. She did not receive a formal education; she was self-educated, reading from the local public library or from periodicals. She decided to use a pen name to publish her novel “Jane Eyre”. It was immediately successful. She married Reverend Arthur Nicholls and died the following year, probably of an illness due to pregnancy. The story. Jane is living with the Reed family where she is confined indoors; she is always excluded from the other children. Jane tries to educate herself but she is held back from her attempt by the abuse of John Reed, who punishes her. She is sent away to Lowood Institution, a school for orphaned girls. There she receives education and later she takes up employment as a governess. Oscar Wilde The picture of Dorian Gray. “I would give my soul” is a passage taken from the second chapter of “The portrait of Dorian Gray” written by Oscar Wilde. It is set in Basil’s studio, where Mr. Hallward has painted Dorian’s portrait. When the portrait is finished Lord Henry Wotton, Basil’s friend, looks at it for the first time. Dorian’s beauty enchants Lord Henry and his unselfconsciousness about his wonder face stuns him so he expresses his opinions about beauty. -Beauty is a form of genius- says Lord Henry, -is the wonder of wonders- like the sunlight or spring- time, but like theme it won’t last forever. Beauty is linked to time, -time is jealous of you- says to Dorian, -You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, fully- he urges on him, because when his youth goes, his beauty will go with it so time becomes beauty’s enemy. In this passage, third person narrator with an internal perspective tells the story. Oscar Wilde uses similes, for example when Lord Henry says that beauty is the great fact of the world –like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon-. He uses personifications: –Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses- says Lord Henry as if time could be a person who feels, who acts. He uses paradoxes: -It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances-, -The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible- says finally. Oscar Wilde is contrasting Victorian’s age. The portrait becomes the symbol of the bad conscience of the middle class; he is attacking erroneous morality, the hypocrisy, the materialism. Lord Henry says the beauty of Dorian becomes the symbol of a new Hedonism: what Victorian century needs. Robert Louis Stevenson The life. The suffragettes Even if the conditions of women were improved by the end of XIX century, they did not have the same rights as men. In 1903 a movement called Suffragettes developed. They asked for Universal suffrages for also all women and in 1918 Woman’s suffrage was granted to them and it was extended to all women on the same basis as men in 1928, but firstly they had to chain themselves to railings, commit suicides, broke windows, burn public places and they go on hunger strike: “Votes for Women” they said. It was the first form of battle for emancipation in which they believed in the right to vote and they fought for this. The first form of feminist rebellion started in 1860s and in 1897 a groups of suffragists came together under the “National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies”. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the “Women’s Social and Political Union” in Manchester and its motto was “Deeds not words” and then in 1906 they moved to London where in 1908 they organised a march on Hyde Park. When the first World War broke out women became involved in the work in the fields and factories. Their contribution was one of the main reasons why they were granted the right of vote who was extended to all women adults over the age of twenty-one in 1928. Women Working class women: had to work in unsafe and dirty places. They did not go to school. High-class women: wanted to work, but they could not because they were angel. They could only teach or write under a false name. They could go to school but they could not go to university. At the end of the century the situation changes: working class women worked less, the Education Act was passed so everybody went to school, colleges were founded for high class women, moreover women could keep their property when they married. Women were essentially the “Angel of the house”, they had no stay at home with children and they had to create a heaven for the husband, but sometimes they were victims of domestic violence. Some women were called “pioneers” because they were not married or their husbands helped them and they practised sports, or travelled, or were artists, or were medicians. Some women were called “fallen women” because they had children out of the marriage. Vote for women Women’s suffrage was granted on the 6th February 1918. However, British women had to fight to obtain the right to vote since 1860s. The struggle was long and tough because there was a widespread conviction that women could not be trusted to make reasonable choices; men believed that they had no brain, so treated them with inferiority. The most famous name in this movement was Emmeline Pankhurst, who in 1903 founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Manchester. This organisation was more militant than previous groups, and it was prepared to use forceful tactics to obtain female suffrage. In fact, its motto was “DEEDS NOT WORDS” and this is why in 1906 the WSPU moved to London. There women organized a mass march of Hyde Park, claiming their rights, but once again they were ignored. The newspaper mockingly called them “Suffragettes”. In order to call attention, women led some violent actions: broke shop windows, chained themselves to railings, tried to set fire to public buildings, started hunger strikes and some of them committed also suicide; the clashes with the police were frequent, and many of the suffragettes, including Mrs Pankhurst, were imprisoned and here force-fed when they were on hunger strike. “Respectable” people were horrified by the actions taken by suffragettes, because they were very far from the gentle and refined Victorian stereotype. These violent actions led to the conviction that women would never be able to use the vote property. With the outbreak of the WWI in 1914, women stopped demonstrations and any other activity. WWI gave women a good chance because they had to replace men in their jobs. They were able to show their importance for the nation and this is why the government granted the vote to women with the people Act. Every women over 30 years old was allowed to vote in 1918. In June of 1928, the government extended this right to all women over 21 years old. The Edwardian age and the First World War In 1902, after Victoria’s death, Edward, Victoria’s son, came to the throne as Edward VII. The Edwardian period was a time of Industrial unrest, strike against government who led to a constitutionally crisis and violence of Suffragettes. Edward died in 1910 and his son, who became George V., succeeded him. In 1917, he changed his family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. He had to face the First World War, the Home Rule of Ireland and the “Easter Rising” in Dublin. The First World War broke out in 1914 when Germany marched through Belgium to attack France. The war involved two factions: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy on one side and the Triple Entente (with Britain, France, and Russia) on the other. It was a new type of war, there were modern artillery, machine guns and shells and they used trances and innovative equipment. The war finished in 1917 when the USA joined the war considering it a “war to end all wars”. On 11th November 1918, Allied and German leaders signed an armistice. The Edwardian age Edward VII came to the throne in 1902 after the death of Queen Victoria. He restored the monarchy and carried out a successful foreign policy. Indeed, he signed with France the “Entente Cordial”, an agreement that allowed them to settle some colonial disputes. However, Edwardian period was a time of industrial unrest, strikes and violence. Workers against the government because of high prices and low wages organized the strikes and Liberals supported them. They moved the first step towards the creation of a welfare state: insurance and old age pensions were introduced. In addition, women used violence and they came to be known as “Suffragettes”. They fought since 1860 to obtain the right of vote. When Edward VII died, he was succeed by his son George V who represent a model monarch because he carried out his royal responsibilities with exemplary dedication and during the WWI; he visited many hospitals and was close to soldiers. In 1917, he changed his surname to Windsor, because of his anti-German feeling. Finally, Ireland asked for the right of the people to control their own affairs, in 1916, the “Easter Rising” in Dublin, which caused a civil war, resulted in the creation of the Irish Free State, while the northern part remained in the hands of UK. World War I The WWI broke out when the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914. Therefore, Germany marched through Belgium, which was neutral, in order to attack France. The war involved Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side and the Allies (Triple Entente), which included Britain and its colonies, France and Russia and Italy and USA. Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914 and it tried to justify this, defending Belgium’s neutrality. Germany was a strong state and with better equipment and trained soldiers, it defeated the Allies in few weeks. New weapons were used such as machine guns, tanks, shells and gas. On the 2nd of April 1917, USA joined the war and led to German defeat in 1918. Allied signed an Armistice at Versailles in 1919. The Soldier The poem was written during the first world war by Rupert Brooke, in a Petrarchan style (it is a sonnet of two quatrains and two tercets) and in an English rytme. The sonnet reflects an abstract vision of the war: in a sense of patriotism against the enemy, in defence of their country but he never speaks about the cruelty of war. He showed only the heroic side of it. The poem starts with an image of death –if I should die-, he says in fact he is not scared by it because of wherever he dies wherever he goes he would always be under an English heaven, he fights for her, for his land-mother. England gave him love, breath, birth, consciousness. In the final sestet, the dead soldier’s heart beats with English sights and sounds, recreating a world of quiet dreams, peace and gentleness. Modernism Modernism developed on the first decades of 20th century in Paris. It was a period of originality and vitality in the history of art, thanks to the publication of new theory such as Freud and Einstein theories, which showed new points of view about the individual. In the novel, the writer explored the psyche of the character through new techniques such as the stream of consciousness technique, or the interior monologue, which were introduced to reproduce the flow of thoughts. In poetry were used: elevated languages, free verses, symbols and fragmented images were mixed. While in painting, fauvism and cubism developed, the painting showed separating objects and figures into geometric shapes, and then they were broke into fragments and reassembled with different points of view. Generally, it saw the end of Queen Victoria’s reign marking a break from the previous century. Joyce Joyce is a modern writer. One of his masterpiece is Dubliners. Dubliners is a collection of 15 stories divided into 4 groups: childhood, adolescence, mature life, public life; all the stories are set in Dublin. In the stories, there are not many actions and the plot does not exist. The most important thing is the moment of the revelation, through the epiphany that can be caused by banal situation. The main theme is the inability to find a way to escape from “paralysis” (the paralysis of a character is a symbol of Dublin’s paralysis, through that; Joyce wants to make conscious people of their situation). Joyce uses a third person narrator with different points of view, a free direct speech and epiphany. Eveline is a short story. The main character is a 19 years old girl who has the opportunity to leave Dublin and escape from the cruelty of his father. The story is written in third person narrator, using also free direct speech to make us follow her mind that make shifts in time. Ulysses The main events of the novel are banal things of the everyday life, like having breakfast or going to a funeral. Joyce compares his characters to the characters of the Odyssey; in fact, they are very different. Moreover, both the poems are divided in three parts. Dublin becomes itself a character of the novel because Joyce describes houses he knew, pubs and place where he went. Leopold Bloom represent the common man, Stephen Daedalus is the alienated character and he represents the adopted son, Molly is Bloom’s wife and she is an adulterer wife. The mythical method is used by Joyce to give to the characters another dimension and to underline the resemblances and the differences between Dubliners. Animal farm Plot. The book is a short narrative set on a farm, where a group of talking and oppressed animals wants to rebel against their cruel master, who exploits them, under Napoleon’s leadership. At first pigs are guided by Seven Commandments based on equality, but gradually become dictatorial: “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”. There is a parallel between the plot and the history of the Soviet Union, but Orwell wanted to write a satire on dictatorship in general. Old Mayor’s speech- Animal farm. After Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, fall asleep, all of his animals meet in the barn as the old Mayor wanted a 12 years-old pig. It starts speaking to his comrades and tries to convince to rebel against Man. Napoleon says that the lives of his fellow animals are “miserable, laborious and short” and all animals are born into the world as slaves and the only cause of their condition is Man, who steals labour and does not produce anything in favour.