OVERVIEW OF
LITERATURE
TROUGH THE
AGES
LITERATURE
“littera” “letter”
Knowledge of books
refer to the sum total of the world’s national
literatures
The relationship is reciprocal. Our
culture affects what we write and what
Literature, we write is used to interpret our history.
History &
However, our history influences culture,
Culture which creates a beautiful loop in which
these three things work together to
define a group of people, a nation, etc.
Overview of Literature
through the Ages
World Literature
(Periods)
EARLY PERIOD OF LITERATURE
•The Classical Period (1200 BCE – 455 CE)
•The Medieval Period (455 CE – 1485 CE)
•The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)
The Classical Period (1200 BCE – 455 CE)
A golden age for literature and arts
The Classical Period (1200 BCE – 455 CE)
Some Significant Literary work
•The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
•Works and Days by Hesiod
•Theogony by Hesiod
The Classical Period (1200 BCE – 455 CE)
Gorgias
Aesop
Greek writer Plato
& Socrates
philosopher
Aristotle
Euripides
The Medieval Period
(455 CE – 1485 CE)
Also known as
Anglo-Saxon Period
The Medieval Period
(455 CE – 1485 CE)
Some Significant Literary work
• The Canterbury Tales
• Beowulf
• The Dark Ages and the
Bards
• The Dream of the Holy
Rood
The Medieval Period (455 CE – 1485 CE)
Famous Author during this period:
Significant Literary Genres
The Medieval • Elegy
Period • Religious Liturgy
(455 CE – 1485 CE)
• Narrative Romance
The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)
It is the division
between the Middle
age and Modern era.
The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)
Some Significant Literary work in this period
When I was Fair and Young
Famous Author
The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)
LATER PERIOD OF LITERATURE
The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790)
The Romantic Period (1790 – 1830)
The Victorian Period (1832 – 1901)
The Modern Period (1914 – 1945)
The Post Modern Period (1945 onward)
The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790)
The Age of Reason Era of Logic
The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790)
•All for love
Some Significant •The Rake of the Lock
Literary work •Rights of Man
•Elegy written in a
Churchyard
The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790)
Famous Author during this period
The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790)
•Essay
Popular Types of •Melodrama
literature •Letters
•Fables
The Romantic Period (1790 – 1830)
• Great Age for the
Novel
• Emphasize on
Emotion, Imagination
and Individualism.
The Romantic Period (1790 – 1830)
•I Wondered Lonely as a
Cloud
Some Significant •Kubla Khan
Literary work •Song of Innocence and
of Experience
•Mathilda
The Romantic Period
(1790 – 1830)
Famous Authors
The Victorian Period (1832 – 1901)
The literature of this Era
expressed the fusion of pure
romance to gross realism.
The Reign of
Queen Victoria.
The Victorian Period (1832 – 1901)
•The Pickwick Papers
Some Significant
Literary works •How do I love Thee
•Ulysses
The Victorian Period (1832 – 1901)
Famous Authors
The Modern Period (1914 – 1945)
Characterized by a
self-conscious
break with
traditional ways of
writing, in both
poetry and prose
fiction
The Modern Period (1914 – 1945)
•The Road Not Taken
Some Significant •And Death Shall
Literary works Have No Dominion
•Insensibility
The Modern Period (1914 – 1945)
The Post-Modern Period (1945 onward)
Characterized by
reliance on narrative
techniques such as
fragmentation,
paradox, and the
unreliable narrator
The Modern Period (1914 – 1945) Some Significant
Literary works
The Modern Period
(1914 – 1945)
Famous Authors
That ends my discussion…
Next meeting we will discuss the following…
Divisions of Literature
• What poetry is?
• Kinds of poetry
• Lyric Poetry
• Narrative Poetry
• Dramatic Poetry
• Special Types of Poetry
o The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson
o Withered Vine by Ma Chi-Yuan
o Number 3 in the Docket by Amy Lowel
o Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
