Restoration and Enlightenment: Characteristics of chronological eras and the development of British literature in its historical context / genocidal-war-criminal html

Metaphysical Poetry poetry characterized by intellectual displays and concern with metaphysical, or philosophical issue uses the following poetic devices: conceits are extended comparisons that link objects or ideas not commonly associated. For example- Donne compares two lovers to the legs of a drawing compass. paradoxes are images or descriptions that appear self contradictory but that reveal a deeper truth: “Death, thou shalt die.”

Lyric brief, melodic poem expressing personal thoughts or feelings. In ancient Greece, lyrics were recited or sung to the accompaniment of a lyre (hence the name lyric). styles often influenced by the historic period. Renaissance England, Ben Jonson’s era, admired classical Greece. It is natural, therefore, that Jonson used an ancient Greek form called an epigram (from the Greek for “inscription”). Epigrams include these features: short lines with bouncy rhythms paradoxical twists, as in “Drink to me only with thine eyes...” parallel structures, as in “Still to be neat, still to be dressed,...”

Diaries narrator either participates in or observes the events. narrator refers to himself or herself as “I.” narrator can tell you his or her thoughts but not those of others. Nonfiction diaries and journals almost always use the first-person point of view, since they present a person’s daily account of his or her thoughts and experiences. Most diaries are non-fiction, but some authors such as use fiction Defoe to write from the first-person point of view. This makes it seem as if he actually witnessed the events he writes about, as in this passage: “It was about the 10th of September that my curiosity led, or rather drove, me to go and see this pit again,...” Reporting only his or her own thoughts and experiences, the first-person narrator provides a personal perspective that helps bring readers into a private world and creates a strong sense of intimacy and immediacy. thehundredbooks.com/pepys.jpg

Satire is writing that uses humor to expose and ridicule vice and folly. can appear in many genres-for example, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a satirical novel and “A Modest Proposal” is a satirical essay. Although satirists unmask evils, they sometimes mask their targets in order to avoid the dangers involved in naming real people, places, or beliefs. Swift uses masks such as these in Gulliver’s Travels:  imaginary lands and people, such as Lilliput and the Lilliputians  fictional conflicts, like that between Big- and Little-Endians In his essay, “A Modest Proposal,” Swift uses these devices:  understatement, in which the literal meaning falls short of the topic; saying you cannot think of one objection to a terrifying proposal is an example.  hyperbole, or exaggeration  sarcasm, a bitter way of saying the opposite of what you mean (In both his novel and his essay, Swift uses the satirical weapon of irony, a surprising contradiction between reality and appearance.)

“A Modest Proposal” Swift recognized that the best audience for "A Modest Proposal" was the upper class-a group of people who had the ability to make changes for the better in Ireland. On a satirical level, however, Swift's essay mocks this very group of people. He suggests that their relentless pursuit of luxury has developed in them a taste for almost unimaginable delicacies. In this way, they become the perfect target for his modest proposal. swift-a-modest-proposal/

Dictionary and Biography A dictionary defines words and may provide information about their pronunciation, history, and usage. Samuel Johnson compiled the first standard dictionary of the English language. A biography is an account of someone’s life written by another person. Just as Johnson’s Dictionary was a landmark, so was Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. In reading it, note how Boswell uses many details from his own personal knowledge to portray Johnson’s character. Both these selections A Dictionary of the English Language and The Life of Samuel Johnson, reveal the philosophical assumptions and beliefs of the Enlightenment. This eighteenth-century intellectual movement stressed the following values: the importance of regularizing and preserving knowledge elevated diction, or word choice, revealing a respect for learning a perception of reason and judgment as the highest human abilities