Category: English 5: World Literature
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA (1547-1616), Spanish novelist (Don Quixote and others), playwright, and poet was born at Alcalá de Henares in 1547. The attempts of biographers to provide him with an illustrious genealogy are...
In this brief article, scholar, editor, and translator Luis Sundkvist explores the life of noted Russian author Ivan Turgenev and considers ways in which his life and work intersected with the Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Biography...
Marianne Moore (1887 – 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. She won several awards for her poetry in her lifetime, and her poems are frequently anthologized. Poetry (1919) by Marianne...
Leo Tolstoy (or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy), 1828-1910, was a Russian novelist and social reformer, born on the 9th of September (August 28) 1828, in the home of his fathers – Yasnaya Polyana, near Toula...
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881), Russian author, born at Moscow, on the 30th of October 1821, was the second son of a retired military surgeon of a decayed noble family. He was educated at Moscow...
Alexander (or Aleksándr) Sergeyvich Pushkin (1799—1837) was a Russian poet born in Moscow, on the 7th of June 1799. He belonged to an ancient family of boyars; his maternal great-grandfather, a favourite negro ennobled by Peter...
WHEN the mortal remains of Ivan Turgenev were about to be transported from Paris for interment in his own country, a short commemorative service was held at the Gare du Nord. Ernest Renan and...
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904), like Pushkin, Lermontov, Bielinski, and Garshin, died young, and although he wrote a goodly number of plays and stories which gave him a high reputation in Russia, he did not...
This short story by Ivan Turgenev is one chapter from his first major work, a gathering of observations and stories from his travels through Russia. This chapter is excerpted from A Sportsman’s Sketches, which was...
Dante (or Durante) Alighieri (1265-1321), the greatest of Italian poets, was born at Florence about the middle of May 1265. He was descended from an ancient family, but from one which at any rate...
The earliest Roman poetry (actually Latin poetry) dates back to the second century B. C. It is often understood as an adaptation of models originally designed by the Greeks. One of the most spectacular and...
A Letter to Students Why We Read The Odyssey Tuesday, March 9, 2010 By Deborah Stokol I’ve been full-time substitute teaching English at Harvard-Westlake, my Alma mater, for six weeks now, lecturing on The...
Gary Bembridge offers a short video tour of the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,...
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist and philosopher, is known for Faust and Letters to a Young Poet, among other things.
History of Kenya From HistoryWorld by Bamber Gascoigne Masai and Kikuyu German-British carve up British East Africa Company East African Protectorate Kenya Colony Mau Mau Independence Masai and Kikuyu: to the 19th century In...
History of the Renaissance From HistoryWorld by Bamber Gascoigne The word Renaissance The Renaissance may be vivid in the mind’s eye – in images of human figures sculpted in the round, or in scenes...
Lectures on Early Modern European History If you enjoy history, The History Guide site is well worth exploring. It is an outstanding site full of interesting articles, all written by a homeschool-friendly college professor,...
The Romantic Era Lecture 16: From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis The categories which it has become customary to use in distinguishing and classifying “movements” in literature or philosophy and in describing...
Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon Lecture 15: From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis Frenchmen, you will no doubt recognize in my conduct the zeal of a soldier of liberty and of...
The Medieval Synthesis Under Attack Savonarola and the Protestant Reformation Lecture 5: From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis The people of Florence are far from considering themselves ignorant and benighted, and yet Brother Girolamo...
The Medieval Synthesis and the Discovery of Man: The Renaissance Lecture 4: From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis Living, I despise what melancholy fate has brought us wretches in these evil years. Long before...
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood has kindly shared these Dante videos with us: he has made a short video reflection on each canto of Dante’s Inferno. We hope you find these helpful in your studies. If...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 32-34, which cover Circle 9 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video explanations contain...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 18 – 31, which cover Circle 8 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 12 – 17, which cover Circle 7 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. (See the end of Canto 11 for the entrance into Circle 7.) Please be aware that this...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 4 – 11, which go through Circles 1-6 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional...
Dr. Mahfood shares his insights on the first three cantos (the Dark Wood and Gate of Hell) in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes....
Babette’s Feast & The Beatific Vision by Joshua Gibbs Feb. 9, 2014 Several months ago, Babette’s Feast received a Criterion release accompanied by a fat little book of essays about the film, as well...
Have you ever read Dante’s Divine Comedy? It is a three-part book-length Italian narrative poem that tells of Dante’s journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and it’s considered one of the greatest works...
Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936), usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet. His cycle of poems, A Shropshire Lad evoke the dooms and disappointments of youth in the...