LTE05: Survey of English and American Literature

Activity 1
Name: Jericho P. Bautista Score: _________
Course and Year: BSED English-III A Date: Sept. 23, 2022

A reflection paper is your chance to add your thoughts and analysis to what you have read and
experienced. It is meant to illustrate your understanding of the material and apply what you've
learned to your life and education.

I. Reflection Paper No. 1

Write down your realizations on the major periods of English and American Literature. Reflect
on the following points:
1. The importance of knowing English and American Literature
1. Trace the major literary works produced in English and American literatures
2. Explain the tenets of specific literary movements in English and American
literatures

I learned that this literature is important to know what the culture, beliefs, religion, and
lifestyle have been in the past years. I considered literature as a work of art because it gives life
to the people and it discusses society, even in politics, which has a major impact on the
literature that is being written in every period. While the importance of English and American
literature is to understand their history as one of the major contributors to making literature.
Also, we cannot know if we didn’t study their literature first because they are the ones who
make the world crucial in terms of literature, of course. They have the greatest writers of all
time who have made a large impact on the whole world. Their literature is so timeless that we
are able to study and read it.

Moreover, in English literature, I remember Romeo and Juliet, which are being studied and
famous worldwide. I think it is in the curriculum of every nation and that English has a huge
influence in terms of literature. This novel is all about a girl who is in love with Romeo, but
Juliet’s father is against their relationship, and at the end of the story they both die. It is a very
tragic story that would really hurt you, and you might relate to this story. Huckleberry Finn is
another work of American literature. This novel tells the story of Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a
street urchin whose father is a drunkard, in the first person. Tom Sawyer's friend is Huck Finn.
He recently got some money and is learning how to be a gentleman. One of the book's main
characters is Jim, an adult black slave who has fled. Huck is morally conflicted throughout the
story due to the values he has been taught in society, but he chooses Jim's friendship based on
his own valuation. The novel is notable for being one of the first works written in vernacular
English by an American, for its coarse language, and for its harsh satire on established attitudes,
particularly racism (Robbins, D.J. 2022).
 Furthermore, in Old English, their literary works are all about the philosophical perspective of
time. Then, in Middle English, it is all about religion and didactic content. Whereas the English
Renaissance was influenced by Greco-Roman thinkers for public performance such as theatre
and literary works. While in America, they emphasized the commonplace and ordinary. It is all
about the real-life scenario of what we see and experience. Therefore, this lesson showed
different literary pieces that came from different periods. We also traveled back in the past to
be able to understand what we have literary works nowadays. It laid the groundwork for us to
build a solid foundation in English-American literature.