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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Piers Plowman: An Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
This article introduces the questions of penance and obligation that are at the heart of Piers Plowman and shows how the work's fierce satire and commitment to justice have influenced English literature, from multimedia reimaginings to...
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University of Maryland

Teaching Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This is a terrific resource for teachers of British Literature, which includes instructions for using FrankenMoo yourself and/or with students.
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: The Middle Ages: The Black Death

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson from a unit on Middle Ages British literature focuses on the Black Death or Black Plague. It features links to information about the Black Death: "The Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know," a question and answer style...
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to 18th Century British Theatre

For Students 9th - 10th
This article charts the growth of 18th-century theatre, looking at the new venues, stage technology, audiences, playwrights, and great actors of the age.
Article
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Experiencing Medieval Literature

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explains how 'illiterate' individuals encountered literary texts and traditions through textiles, wall paintings, sculptures, and listening to works read aloud in the Middle Ages.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Language and Ideas

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
From Johnson's Dictionary to letter-writing, newspapers and coffee-house culture: explore how different forms and mediums helped to develop and circulate language and ideas during the long 18th century.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Collection Items

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover a wealth of original sources from the Restoration and 18th century period, including literary manuscripts, letters, first editions, playbills, maps, and prints.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Dream Visions

For Students 9th - 10th
The dream vision as a form was as popular in the late medieval period as the novel is today. From courtly comedy to social critique, via feminist polemic, this article explores some of the most captivating works of the medieval period.
Article
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Travel, Trade and Exploration in the Middle Ages

For Students 9th - 10th
Medieval Europeans were fascinated by the lands that lay beyond their own continent. This article looks at the real and imaginary travels of explorers and tradesmen through works including The Book of John Mandeville, The Travels of...
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Collection Items

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover a wealth of literary manuscripts and early print editions from the medieval period.
Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Theatre and Entertainment

For Students 9th - 10th
From Restoration comedy to The Beggar's Opera, She Stoops to Conquer and The School for Scandal: examine key plays alongside the history and conventions of Restoration and 18th-century theatre.
Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Politeness, Sensibility, and Sentimentalism

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore polite culture, sensibility, and sentimentalism in the 18th century, and how these concepts are reflected in the writing of the period.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Satire and Humour

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Discover how writers of the 17th and 18th centuries used satire and humour to address issues around politics and power, inequality and class, gender and marriage - as well as to entertain readers and audiences.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Georgian Society

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the Georgian period in its social, political, and historical contexts, with overviews of popular politics, the rise of consumerism, and entertainment.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Rise of the Novel

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover how the novel emerged as a new literary form in the 18th century and examine pioneering texts, from Oroonoko and Robinson Crusoe to Gulliver's Travels and Pamela.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Sentiment and Sensibility

For Students 9th - 10th
This article introduces Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his famous play "The School for Scandal".
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Print and Perception

For Students 9th - 10th
Margaret Cavendish and Katherine Philips both wrote across a range of genres and achieved considerable success in their day. This article explores their different approaches to the difficulties of being a 17th-century female writer.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: The 'Stuff' of Tristram Shandy

For Students 9th - 10th
Dashes, loops, wiggles, and blanks: this article investigates the visual oddities of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rise of the Novel

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explains how the novel took shape in the 18th century with the works of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Laurence Sterne, and how the book industry responded to the new genre.
Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rise of Cities in the 18th Century

For Students 9th - 10th
Cities expanded rapidly in 18th-century Britain, with people flocking to them for work. This article explores the impact on street life and living conditions in London and the expanding industrial cities of the north.
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Frances Burney's Account of Her 'Terrible Operation'

For Students 9th - 10th
The diarist and novelist Frances Burney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1810 and wrote an account of her 'terrible operation' for her sisters. Jenni Murray considers why this is one of the most courageous pieces of writing she has...
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British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Georgian Entertainment: From Pleasure Gardens to Blood Sports

For Students 9th - 10th
This article examines the variety of entertainment and leisure activities enjoyed in Georgian Britain.
Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Popular Politics in the 18th Century

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Caricatures capturing public opinion and riots on the streets; this article discusses how the majority of Georgians, who didn't have the right to vote, engaged in politics and expressed their grievances.
Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Newspapers, Gossip, and Coffee House Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explains how the coffee-house came to occupy a central place in 17th and 18th-century English culture and commerce, offering an alternative to rowdy pubs and more formal places of business and politics.

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