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I could not possibly finish this book without the help of others, who are always there to support me. First and foremost I would like to thank God for giving me strength and knowledge to finish this book. I would like to thank my parents, for financial support and for being my inspiration. And I would also like to thank the special people in my life for being my inspiration. And specially thank you very much to my Beautiful and Brilliant teacher. TEAHCER ADELLE CHUA-SOLIABAN for giving us a project that will make me a good competent and tested my capabilities in making book. This book “Master of English and American Writers” mirrors how smart the writers of different periods, by making beautiful stories that give us a lesson. This book is designed to help students to learn more about English and American Writers. This book mirrors the beautiful culture of the people, their rise and fall, their glory and their hardest periods. Most importantly it seeks to establish that writing is indeed a precious gift. Biography of Caedmon Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo- Saxon who cared for the animals and was attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy (657–680) of St. Hilda (614–680), he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to the 8th-century monk Bede. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet. Cædmon is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in medieval sources, and one of only three for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived. His story is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by Bede who wrote, "[t]here was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English, which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven." Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, the nine-line alliterative vernacular praise poem in honour of God which he supposedly learned to sing in his initial dream. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of Old English and is, with the runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of Old English poetry. It is also one of the earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language. Hymn By Cædmon (Ostensibly) Translated by A.Z. Foreman Hail now the holder of heaven's realm, That architect's might, his mind's many ways, Lord forever and father of glory, Ultimate crafter of all wonders, Holy Maker who hoisted the heavens To roof the heads of the human race, And fashioned land for the legs of man, Liege of the worldborn, Lord almighty. The Original: Nū sculon heriġean heofonrīċes weard, Meotodes meahte ond his mōdġeþanc, weorc wuldorfæder, swā hē wundra ġehwæs, ēċe Drihten, ōr onstealde. Hē ǣrest sceōp eorðan bearnum heofon tō hrōfe, hāliġ Scyppend; þā middanġeard monncynnes weard, ēċe Drihten, æfter tēode fīrum foldan, Frēa ælmihtiġ. Biography of Venerable Bede Born: 673 AD Died: 735 AD, at 62 years of age. Nationality: English Categories: Monks 673 - Bede was born on the lands of the monastery. 680 - Bede was placed at the Wearmouth monastery at the age of seven under the care of Benedict Biscop, founder of the monastery. 692 - Ordained deacon at the age of nineteen. His writings are categorized as scientific, historical and theological which reflects the range of his writings from music and metrics to Scripture commentaries. 703 - Became a full pledged priest at the age of thirty. He observed the Rule of the monastery and was punctilious in his attendance in choir at the daily offices. After choir practice, he would study and teach his fellow brothers in the monastery. He was able to make a new calculation of the age of the world since the Creation. 732 - Completed the Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), contains an account of Britain between the landings of Julius Caesar in 54 BC and Saint Augustine in 597 AD. He practiced the allegorical method of interpretation. 735 - Bede died at the monastery, he was able to finish his book with just dictating words to his fellow monk, Cuthbert. His book, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum) gained him the title of "The Father of English History". 1899 - Bede's scholarship and importance to Catholicism were recognised when he was declared a "Doctor of the Church" as Saint Bede The Venerable. Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum Biography of Geoffrey Chaucer Born: 1343 AD Died: 1400 AD, at 57 years of age. Nationality:English Categories:Authors,Diplomat,Philosopher,Poets 1343 – He was born this year in London. 1359 – In the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France, Geoff traveled with Lionel of Antwerp, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. 1360 – He was captured during the siege of Rheims, becoming a prisoner of war. Edward contributed £16 as part of a ransom, and he was released. 1366 – He married Philippa Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later became the third wife of Chaucer's friend and patron, John of Gaunt. 1367 – He is presumed to have studied law in the Inner Temple at about this time, although definite proof is lacking. It is recorded that he became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail any number of jobs. 1368 – He may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. 1373 – He traveled to Picardy the next year as part of the military expedition, and visited Genoa and Florence in this year. 1374 – He obtained the very substantial job of Comptroller of the Customs for the port of London, which Chaucer began on 8 June of this year. 1377 – On a trip, later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage between the future Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred. 1378 – Richard II sent him as an envoy/secret dispatch to the Visconti and to Sir John Hawk wood, English Man-at Arms/Soldier for Hire, in Milan. 1386 – He also became a Member of Parliament for Kent. 1389 – He was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of supervisor organizing most of the king's building projects. 1399 – Almost immediately after the overthrow of his patron Richard II in this year, he vanished from the historical record. 1400 – He died this year in London, England. Canterbury Tales In April, with the beginning of spring, people of varying social classes come from all over England to gather at the Tabard Inn in preparation for a pilgrimage to Canterbury to receive the blessings of St. Thomas à Becket, the English martyr. Chaucer himself is one of the pilgrims. That evening, the Host of the Tabard Inn suggests that each member of the group tell tales on the way to and from Canterbury in order to make the time pass more pleasantly. The person who tells the best story will be awarded an elegant dinner at the end of the trip. The Host decides to accompany the party on its pilgrimage and appoints himself as the judge of the best tale. Shortly after their departure the day, the pilgrims draw straws. The Knight, who draws the shortest straw, agrees to tell the first story — a noble story about knights and honor and love. When the Knight finishes his story, the Host calls upon the Monk. The drunken Miller, however, insists that it is his turn, and he proceeds to tell a story about a stupid carpenter. At the end of his story, everyone roars with laughter — except the Reeve, who had once been a carpenter. To get back at the Miller, the Reeve tells a lowbrow story about a cheating miller. At the end of The Reeve's Tale, the Cook, Roger, promises to tell a true story, but he doesn't complete his tale. By now, the first day is rapidly passing, and the Host hurries the pilgrims to get on with their tales. Using the best legalese that he knows, he calls upon the Man of Law for the next tale. The Man of Law proceeds to tell the tale of Constancy. The Host is very pleased with the tale and asks the Parson to relate another one just as good. The Parson declines, however, and rebukes the Host for swearing and ridiculing him (the Parson). The Shipman breaks in and tells a lively story to make up for so much moralizing. The Wife of Bath is the next to tell a story, and she begins by claiming that happy marriages occur only when a wife has sovereignty over her husband.