Documento de Cátedra Literatura Anglófona I

Profesora titular: Teresita Carelli

Profesora adscripta: Jimena Sol Olivares

NEOCLASSICISM
Activity 1: READ this introduction to THE RESTORATION PERIOD –
NEOCLASSICISM.

The main characteristics of the new literature may be summed up in the phrase ´From the
head, not the heart.´ The literature of the past had been passionate, concerned with the
relationship between God and man, man and woman, man and man as seen from the
viewpoint of feeling and imagination. But in the Restoration period, feeling and
emotion were mistrusted: feeling implied strong convictions, and strong convictions had
produced a Civil War and the harsh rule of the Commowealth; imagination
suggested the mad, the wild, the fanatical. It was best to live a
calm civilized life governed by reason. Such a life is best lived
in the town, and the town is the centre of culture; the country
estates are impoverished, and little of interest is going on there;
the country itself is barbaric. And so the themes of the new
literature are town themes – politics, the doings of polite
society, the intellectual topics of men who talk in clubs and
coffee-houses. (taken from English Literature by Anthony Burgess)

The Augustan writers wanted to be completely in control of what they already knew,
the tendency to repeat the same effects over and over again – nearly always to use the
heroic couplet, to exploit the same rhythms, the same phrases, the same similes. Hence
that petrification of language which we call ´18th poetic-diction´, in which women are
always nymphs, lips always ruby, love always equipped with darts, meadows always
verdant.

Further Reading:

https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/neoclassicism

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Documento de Cátedra Literatura Anglófona I
Profesora titular: Teresita Carelli
Profesora adscripta: Jimena Sol Olivares

Activity 2: READ THE RAPE OF THE LOCK – CANTO I (only)

by Alexander Pope, 1712.

Based on an actual incident and written to reconcile the families that had
been estranged by it, The Rape of the Lock recounts the story of a young
woman who has a lock of hair stolen by an ardent young man.

Activity 3: ANALYZE its verse form, style, aesthetic aspects,

subject matter, theme, etc.
The Rape of Lock is a heroic couplet (a couplet is a literary device featuring 2
consecutive lines of poetry that typically rhyme and have the same meter). As
regards form, it consists of lines of 10 syllables each, so we can say this poem
is symmetrical. Lines are of similar length, which is another reason to why
this is symmetrical. This poem is written in closed form, i.e. it is characterized
by regular patterns of meter, rhyme, line length, and stanzaic divisions.

Activity 4: ANSWER this question:

What makes THE RAPE OF THE LOCK by

ALEXANDER POPE a neoclassical poem?

Note: you might find these sources useful:

https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/rapeofthelock/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44906/the-
rape-of-the-lock-canto-1

https://www.bl.uk/works/the-rape-of-the-lock

Note: Activity 4 is the only one activity related to Restoration

Literature to be published. Publish your answer in Google Classroom.

Due date: April 30th.

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Documento de Cátedra Literatura Anglófona I
Profesora titular: Teresita Carelli
Profesora adscripta: Jimena Sol Olivares

ROMANTICISM
Activity 5: SEARCH for this link -
https://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism -
and EXPLORE the article about THE ROMANTIC
MOVEMENT.

Further Reading:

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-
romantics

Activity 6: CREATE a summary table in order to present information

about the Romantic Movement in a way that is accessible and
understandable to your reader.

Note: Activity 6 is the only one activity related to ROMANTICISM to be

published. Publish your answer in Google Classroom.

Due date: April 30th.

Course expectations:

o Activities 1 and 5: the main aim is to learn about the historical, societal, and literary
characteristics of both periods.

o Being able to answer the following questions is the expected outcome after completing
the required activities:

 What is neoclassical literature?

 What are the characteristics of neoclassical poetry?
 Who are the great neoclassical English poets?
 Which are their most famous works?

 What is Romanticism?
 What are the characteristics of romantic poetry?
 Who are the great poets of the First Generation?
 Who are the great poets of the Second Generation?