What is the name of the title character in The Monk?

Father Ambrosio, of Madrid is the name of the title character in The Monk. He kills two women who turn out to be his mother, Elvira, and his sister, Antonia, in the 1795 novel by Matthew Lewis. Father Ambrosio, of Madrid. He kills two women who turn out to be his mother, Elvira, and his … Read more

Who wrote “Shoot, if you must, this old gray head”?

John Greenleaf Whittier describes the bravery of the fictional title character in his poem “Barbara Frietchie” (1863) who said, “Shoot, if you must, this old gray head”. The aged Frietchie displays a Union flag when Confederate troops march by. Stonewall Jackson forbids his troops to harm the old woman.

How many plays did Aeschylus write?

Aeschylus, the “father of Greek tragedy” (525-456 B.c.) wrote some 90 plays, but only 7 have survived. They are: The Suppliants The Oresteia The Persians Seven Against Thebes Prometheus Bound Agamemnon The Libation Bearers

What is the correct pronunciation of the name Edward Said?

what is the correct pronunciation of the name edward said

The surname of the Columbia professor Edward Said who wrote Orientalism (1978) and The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983) is pronounced SAH-eed. The surname of the Columbia professor who wrote Orientalism (1978) and The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983) is pronounced SAH-eed.

Where did the character Mrs. Malaprop appear?

where did the character mrs malaprop appear

Mrs. Malaprop appeared in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play The Rivals. She had a habit of misusing words in sentences like “I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny of learning.” The character gave rise to the term malapropism.

Where was novelist Jamaica Kincaid born?

where was novelist jamaica kincaid born

Novelist Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua, in the West Indies, in 1949. Her given name is Elaine Potter Richardson. St. John’s, Antigua, in the West Indies, in 1949. Her given name is Elaine Potter Richardson.

Who were the Angry Young Men?

who were the angry young men

The Angry Young Men were a group of British playwrights and novelists in the 1950s, including John Osborne, Kingsley Amis, and Alan Sillitoe. Their politics were left-wing; their favorite theme was alienation.

What were the real names behind these famous pen names?

what were the real names behind these famous pen names

Boz. Charles Dickens George Eliot. Mary Ann Evans George Orwell. Eric Arthur Blair Ellery Queen. Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee Stendhal. Marie-Henri Beyle Saki. Hector Hugh Munro Voltaire. Francois-Marie Arouet Maksim Gorki. Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov

What does “in a Pickwickian sense” mean?

what does in a pickwickian sense mean

“In a Pickwickian sense” refers to the joking use of insulting words or epithets. The phrase comes from Dickens’s Pickwick Papers (1836-37). Samuel Pickwick exchanges barbs in just such a friendly way with Mr. Blotton in Chapter One.

What is closet drama?

what is closet drama

A  closet drama is a play, usually in verse, written for private reading rather than performance. Byron’s Manfred (1817) and Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound (1820) are examples.

What is the origin of the journalistic term muckraker?

what is the origin of the journalistic term muckraker

Shortly after the turn of the century, President Theodore Roosevelt said that the writers of exposes who flourished at the time reminded him of John Bunyan’s Man with the Muckrake. The Man with the Muckrake when offered a heavenly crown, “would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake … Read more

How long did Edith Wharton’s marriage last?

how long did edith whartons marriage last

New York socialite Edith Newbold Jones (1862-1937) married George Wharton in 1885. Their marriage lasted twenty-seven years until 1912, when she divorced him. By then she was living in France, where she remained until her death.

What is the difference between a bildungsroman and a roman a clef?

what is the difference between a bildungsroman and a roman a clef

A bildungsroman (in German, it means “education novel”) deals with the formation of a young person and includes common coming-of-age stories. James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) is an example. A roman a clef (in French, it means a “novel with a key”) contains one or more characters or situations … Read more

What is a rubaiyat?

what is a rubaiyat

Rubaiyat is the plural of the Persian word meaning “a poem of four lines.” The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam of Naishapur is a poem composed of such quatrains. The twelfth-century Persian poem was translated freely into English by Edward FitzGerald in 1859.

At whom was Alexander Pope’s poem The Dunciad (1728) aimed?

at whom was alexander popes poem the dunciad 1728 aimed

Published in several versions from 1728 to 1743, the mock-epic poem The Dunciad satirized bad writing and attacked critics of Pope’s poetry. In the final version, the king of the Dunces is Colley Cibber, England’s Poet Laureate from 1730 to 1757. Other targets of Pope’s venom were dramatists Nahum Tate and Lewis Theobald. Published in … Read more

How many novels has James Dickey written?

how many novels has james dickey written

James Dickey has written two novels, Deliverance (1970) and Alnilam (1987). Dickey also wrote the screenplay for the 1972 movie Deliverance, and appeared in the film as a sheriff. A poet and critic, Dickey received the National Book Award for poetry in 1966 for Bucketdancer’s Choice (1965).

In what battle did Sir Philip Sidney suffer a mortal wound?

in what battle did sir philip sidney suffer a mortal wound

Sir Philip Sidney suffered a mortal wound in The Battle of Zutphen in 1586. The author of Arcadia (1590) was fighting in the Netherlands against the Spanish. He was shot in the thigh after lending his leg armor to another soldier. He died of infection three weeks later, at the age of thirty-two.

Who coined the term “the lost generation”?

who coined the term the lost generation

Gertrude Stein coined the term “the lost generation”. She translated the phrase from a French garage proprietor who was angry at a young mechanic’s negligence in fixing Stein’s car. Stein used it to refer to Hemingway and his contemporaries: “All of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation.” The … Read more

Who wrote the Uncle Remus stories?

who wrote the uncle remus stories

Joel Chandler Harris adapted the Uncle Remus folktales, which were first published in the Atlanta Constitution and were later collected in Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings (1880).

Who wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb”?

who wrote mary had a little lamb

One of the earliest and most influential American magazine editors, Sarah Josepha Hale wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in 1830. In addition to founding the first national women’s magazine, Godey’s Ladies’Magazine, and successfully campaigning to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, she was inspired to write the rhyme by an actual case of a child’s … Read more

What is the deepest circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno?

what is the deepest circle of hell in dantes inferno

The deepest circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno is the Ninth Circle. It is where betrayers of their family or country are frozen in ice. There, in the center of the earth, a three-headed Lucifer eats at Judas Iscariot and at Cassius and Brutus, betrayers of Julius Caesar.

How did Thomas Chatterton (1752-70) die?

how did thomas chatterton 1752 70 die

Thomas Chatterton was the author of several pseudo fifteenth-century poems supposedly written by monk Thomas Rowley. He committed suicide in his London garret by taking arsenic at age seventeen, driven to despair by poverty. He became a hero of native English verse to Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats. Chatterton was the author … Read more

Where does Jacques Derrida teach?

where does jacques derrida teach

Born in 1930, the French philosopher, critic, and founder of deconstructionism Jacques Derrida teaches at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. Born in 1930, the French philosopher, critic, and founder of deconstructionism teaches at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.

What are the major cycles of English mystery plays?

what are the major cycles of english mystery plays

Four main collections of English mystery plays based on biblical episodes survive: The York Cycle (early fourteenth century), forty-eight plays The Towneley Cycle (mid-fourteenth—early fifteenth century), thirty-two plays The Chester Cycle (fourteenth century), twenty-four plays The Coventry (or N Town) Cycle (fifteenth century), forty-three plays