Resources for Literature 12
Required Readings Links
English Literature is a spectacular elective for those students who are looking for a fun and challenging course. Literature 12 students benefit from exposure to the wide and imaginative world of history, literature and human experience; the readings broaden our understanding of our culture while also increasing aesthetic and critical judgment.
This web page is intended as a general resource for any BC student studying the course. Specifically, however, it has been set up as a link of sources and alternate assignments for students taking the course online through a Distance Education school.
The
CORE or required readings of the course are outlined below with
an extensive list of useful links. There are
seven NEW required readings which have been highlighted
in fushia. For
unit-specific links, quizzes and web-quests (which could be suggested
to your
instructor
as alternate
projects) click on the links to the right.
Anglo-Saxon/Medieval - Required Readings
- from Beowulf, "The Coming of Grendel"
"The Coming of Grendel"
"The Coming of Beowulf"
"The Battle with Grendel"
"The Burning of Beowulf's Body" (Athena Edition) or
"The Farewell" (Prentice-Hall Edition)
- from The Canterbury Tales, "The Prologue" (Knight, Squire, Wife of Bath, Miller, Monk, Friar, Nun, Parson, Oxford Cleric, Summoner, Pardoner, Reeve)
- "Bonnie Barbara Allan" (ballad)
- from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 1 to the end if using the Athena Edition, and lines 259 to the end if using the Prentice-Hall Edition)
Labyrinth: The Labyrinth provides free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a World Wide Web server at Georgetown University.
The Medieval Sourcebook: A wide variety of primary sources are available here.
A Medieval Feast: Learn all about what it was like to be present at a Medieval Feast.
The Medieval Pilgrimage Project: A virtual school whose intention it is to allow students to experience what the pilgrims of Medieval times experienced.
Medieval Recipes: Learn how to cook authentic Medieval meals!
Medieval Web Archive: For an incredibly detailed list of even more Medieval sources see this site.
Medieval Women:This translated document provides a first hand description of a Medieval Feast.
Messe it Forthe: A Medieval Cookbook!
Pilgrims Lives: What would have the lives of the pilgrims really been like? Find out here.
Old English Literature and Culture on the World Wide Web: Extensive resources from history to manuscripts to grammar.
Medieval-Renaissance Food Homepage: Everything from Medieval Mustard to apple tarts.
Earthlore Explorations: Designed to encourage and support individual quests and original thinking by creating a source for content rich interaction with subjects of cultural history.
Anticipation Guide: This guide presents statements about topics that will be presented in Beowulf. Having students answer questions prepares them to read as active participants.
Beowolf Adapted: The story of Beowulf with a modern twist - a good example of paraphrasing in plain language.
Beowulf Resources: Bibliography, translations and information about Old English.
Grendel's Mother's Attack: Interactive student created retelling with analysis.
Beowulf - Quest for a Hero: Find out how early Anglo-Saxon tribes lived, what they wore and ate, how they talked and worked. Re-trace Beowulf's journey, look at the original text of the epic poem, find key words in the text to help you understand the language and images, gain insight into the history of these early Anglo-Saxons and even learn a few cool Beowulf jokes.
Beowolf in Hypertext: A considered analysis of the text, the characters and the history. A quiz is also part of the the fun.
Beowulf Comic: Check out this unusual take on the old story.
Chaucer Game: Test your skills at matching the old englsih with a modern translation!
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: Essays about Chaucer and his works, including individual Canterbury Tales
Chaucer Essays: A wide collection of online essays.
Chaucer MetaPage: Chaucer's works, bibliography, life and times, and other Medieval links.
Canterbury Tales - Notes: These detailed study notes will be of use to all levels of Literature 12 students.
Satire and Comedy in Chaucer: become acquainted with rhetorical devices of satire and identify applied satiric techniques in Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer's Life and Works: A biography, quotes, essays and more.
Cyberguide for Canterbury Tales: During these lessons, students examine the significant themes and make connections to current issues and their lives.
The Geoffrey Chaucer Website Homepage: Provides a wide range of glossed Middle English texts, as well as selections from relevant works by earlier and later writers, critical articles from a variety of perspectives, graphics, and general information on life in the Middle Ages.
Sir Gawain Essays: A useful collection of essays and criticism.
Sir Gawain Luminarium: Essays, links and more!
Sir Gawain Room: Interesting sketches, history and analysis.
Sir Gawain Notes: Detailed study notes!
Renaissance/17th Century - Required Readings
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, "Whoso List to Hunt"
Christopher Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepard to His Love"
Sir Walter Raleigh, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepard"
William Shakespeare, Sonnets 29, 116, 130; Hamlet, The Tempest, or King Lear
John Donne, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning;" "Death be not Proud"
Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins"
John Milton, "On His Blindness"; from Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 1-263
Pepys, "The Fire of London"
Renaissance: Discover what inspired this age of balance and order in this interactive exhibit.
16th Century Poets: A collection of references for a wide selection of poets including Sir Thomas Wyatt.
17th Century Poets: A collection of references for an even wider selection of poets with a particular emphasis on the Metaphysical and Cavalier poets.
Rennaisance Literary Resources: An exhaustive list of links to hundred of related sites.
Absolute Shakespeare: Everything you ever wanted to know about the bard's lif, work and times is here!
The Shakespeare Mystery: Who was he really? Join the fascinating debate here.
Shakespeare and the Internet: This site attempts to do two things - it hopes to tbe the most accurate internet collections of essays and sources related to Shakespeare's work and it aims to post all the intersting and new links that no one else knows about.
Sites on Shakespeare: Check out the University of Victoria's useful web links.
Shakespeare Trivia: What a fun quiz about Shakespeare's life!
Shakespearean Couple Quiz: Have fun trying to match a name with their appropriate love interest...Romeo to Juliet...Othello to Desdemona, etc.
Donne's Poetry: These notes and summaries of all his major works will help you to organize your thoughts and understanding of his often complex imagery and ideas.
Donne's Life and Works: A detailed history of Donne's life and works.
Milton Notes: A biography, detailed notes and a fun quiz too!
John Milton: Quotes, life, works, essays and more.
Christopher Marlowe & Dr. Faustus - A Unit for High School English Teachers: To acquaint students what the life of playwright Christopher Marlowe was like, to introduce the background of Elizabethan drama, to introduce the classical roots of Elizabethan tragedy, to explore the universal themes presented in Dr. Faustus
Milton: Devoted to the life, literature and times of John Milton.
Enlightenment - Required Readings
Lady Mary Chudleigh, "To the Ladies"
Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Canto III and V excerpts)
Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal"
Eighteenth-Century Resources: Extensive collection of sites from Jack Lynch.
Alexander Pope: His life, times and works.
Rape of the Lock Home Page: Includes background materials, versions of the poem, illustrations and related materials.
Theme Analysis of "A Modest Proposal": Detailed evaluation and criticism of Swift's famous essay.
Sparknotes on "A Modest Proposal": More detailed insights and helpful summaries.
Pre-Romantic and Romantic - Required Readings
Robert Burns, "To a Louse"
William Blake, "The Tyger"; "The Lamb"
Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
William Wordsworth, "My Heart Leaps Up"; "The World Is Too Much with Us"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
George Gordon Lord Byron, "Apostrophe to the Ocean"
Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ode to the West Wind"
John Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale"; "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be"
The Romantic Period: Norton Anthology's online summary of the period. Very detailed and extremely useful!
The Romantic Chronology: A detailed timeline of literary and cultural events of the Romantic time period.
Romantic Encyclopedia Online: Scroll down for extensive information about a number of the romantic poets.
The Romantics: Dozens of fantastic links related to the Romantic period of literature.
Notes on "To a Louse": A fully anotated breakdown of the poem. An important resource as the poem is not in your Adventures in English Literature textbook.
The Samuel Taylor Coleridge Archive: Includes his writings, resources and links.
The William Wordsworth Page: Provide information about his life and writings.
Wordsworth's World: Detailed information on his life, times and works.
JohnKeats.com: Read his poems, letters and a biography.
More Keats: The Victorian Web's detailed information on Keats' life and works.
Keats Notes: Detailed study notes for all his odes.
British Library John Keats Exhibit: Includes portrait, poems, a reading, pictures of his house in Rome and a letter.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnet 43
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"
Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
Emily Bronte, "Song"
Emily Dickinson, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death'
Thomas Hardy, "The Darkling Thrush"
The Victorian
Web: Need to know something - anything - about the
Victorian age. Start here!
Tennyson: Life stories and links to all things Tennysonian.
The Tennyson Page: An excellent collection of his poems and a link to a wonderful reading of Ulysses.
Elizabeth Barret Browning: Life Stories, Books and Links.
Robert Browning: Life Stories, Books and Links.
Emily Bronte: Life Stories, Books and Links.
Emily Dickinson: Life Stories, Books and Links.
Early 20th Century - Required Readings
Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est"
T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"
Wilfred Owen: Life Stories, Books, and Links
T.S. Eliot: Life Stories, Books and Links
W.B. Yeats: Life Stories, Books and Links
The Waste Land: This famous poem is not a required reading but the annotations are illuminating and worthy of your time. The many allusions in this poem are annotated with hyperlinks.
Late 20th Century - Required Readings
Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good
Night"
Margaret Atwood, "Disembarking at
Quebec"
Stevie Smith, "Pretty"
Dylan Thomas: Life Stories, Books and Links.
Margaret Atwood: Never on eto allow people to misrepresent her, it comes as no surprise that Atwood maintains her own website of links, essays and biography. A super resource for interested students!
Stevie Smith: A biography, links and access to an audio recording of "Not Waving but Drowning."
All the Literature Resources You Will Ever Need: Wow! An exhaustive list of literature links put out by the London School of Journalism.
English Literature Timeline: An impressive of all the important dates in English Literature from before Christ to the current time.
The Online Learning Centre: Links to every author you can think of.
Literary Terms: Many of the terms required for study in English Literature 12 are covered here.
Malaspina
Cultural Timeline:
peruse this detailed collection of all the great book and historical
events of various time periods.
English Literature
on the Web: An extensive collection of literary texts and
resources.
- Return to Top
University of Toronto's Poetry Index: Includes an extensive collection of poetry indexed by title, poet, first line, date and key word, as well as a Canadian section and some questions and answers.
Sonnet Central: This site hosts an archive of English-language sonnets, commentary, pictures, and relevant web links. Also, included in the site are excerpts of critical essays and a reading room where sound files can be downloaded. And you can submit your own sonnet
Legends is a marvelous site that concentrates on the legends that haunt or stories and literature and the historical background for each. There are a wealth of links and a lot to interest a writer here.
Yahoo Authors: Links to favourite authors.
Authors on the Web: A collection of links to sites about famous authors.
A Celebration of Women Writers: Extensive links organized alphabetically and by country. Under Albania, for example, is Mother Teresa with hundreds of links to online resources about her and her work.
Literary Calendar: Find out what literary event occurred on any day of the year. Links to various related literary sites.
Are any of these links no longer active? Email a notice here.
Anglo-Saxon/Medieval
Rennaisance/17th Century
Enlightenment
Romantic
Victorian
Early 20th Century
Late 20th Century
Unit Quests and Quizzes
Unit
One Web Quest
Unit One Quiz
Unit
Two Web Quest
Unit Two Quiz
Unit
Three Web Quest
Unit Three Quiz
Unit
Four Web Quest
Unit Four Quiz