English Literature Historical Periods Quiz

Elizabethan Period (1558-1603)

• Queen Elizabeth saves England from Spanish invasion and internal squabbles
• Early works of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd, and Sidney emerge during this period

Jacobean Period (1603-1625)

• Later works of Shakespeare
• Writers like Aemilia Lanyer, Ben Jonson, and John Donne emerge during this period

Caroline Age (1625-1649)

• John Milton, George Herbert, Robert Herrick, and the "Sons of Ben" write during this period
• Reign of Charles I and his Cavaliers

Puritan Period (1649-1660)

• Under Cromwell's Puritan dictatorship
• John Milton continues to write, along with Andrew Marvell and Sir Thomas Browne

Characteristics of the Renaissance Age

• Reforms in institutions
• Reason dominates over religion
• Man-centered society
• Development of science and mathematics
• Era of renowned names in literature, including Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Milton

The Enlightenment (1660-1790)

• An intellectual movement in France and Europe
• Emphasized reason, progress, and liberty
• Associated with nonfiction writing, such as essays and philosophical treatises
• Major Enlightenment writers include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and René Descartes

Romanticism (1798-1832)

• A literary and artistic movement that reacted against the Enlightenment
• Celebrated spontaneity, imagination, subjectivity, and nature
• Notable English Romantic writers include Jane Austen, William Blake, and Lord Byron
• Prominent figures in the American Romantic movement include Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville

Victorian Era (1832-1901)

• A period of English history between the passage of the first Reform Bill and the death of Queen Victoria
• Notable Victorian novelists include the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot
• Prominent poets include Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Modernism (1890s-1940s)

• A literary and artistic movement that provided a radical break with traditional modes
• Major themes include the attack on notions of hierarchy, experimentation in new forms of narrative, and doubt about the existence of knowable reality

Metaphysical Poets

• A group of 17th-century poets whose works are marked by philosophical exploration and colloquial diction
• John Donne is the foremost figure, along with George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, and Abraham Cowley

Symbolist Movement

• A group of late 19th-century French writers who favored dreams, visions, and the associative powers of the imagination
• Believed that the purpose of art was not to represent reality but to access greater truths
• Influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's works

Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s)

• A period of musical, literary, and cultural proliferation in New York's African-American community
• Key to developing a new sense of Black identity and aesthetics
• Writing luminaries include Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston

The Beat Generation

• A literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era