Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Primary education

The Hellenic Branch

The only extant language in this branch is Modern Greek.

Greek is one of the oldest Indo-European languages. Mycenaean dates from 1300BC. The Ancient Greek of Homer was written from around 700BC. The major forms were Doric (Sparta), Ionic (Cos), Aeolic (Lesbos), and Attic (Athens). The latter is Classical Greek.

The New Testament of the Christian Bible was written in a form of 1st Century AD Greek called Koine. This developed into the Greek of the Byzantine Empire. Modern Greek has developed from this.

Greek has three genders and four cases for nouns but no form of the verb infinitive. The language has its own script, derived from Phoenician with the addition of symbols for vowels. It is one of the oldest alphabets in the world... Continue reading ""entirely belongs to" shareholding" »

Features of English Practical Criticism

The origins were a desire to rescue literary studies from historicism and contextualism, and proponents wanted to turn literary study into a scientific method — to give seriousness and a true methodology to the analysis of literature. Richards thought that the only way to do that was to restrict the study to the text alone.

Richards gave his students sheets of paper on which literary fragments had been printed: short poems or fragments of longer works. He did not print the name of the author, the title, or the date, in order to decontextualize the text for study. He told the students to work with the text with no additional information. From these studies, he wrote Practical Criticism in 1929, from which... Continue reading "Practical Criticism and New Criticism: Principles & Fallacies" »

The Rise of New Criticism

The New Critical method was rapidly adopted, particularly in the North, due to its inexpensive and easily transferable characteristics. Prominent scholars in the North included Austin Warren, W.K. Wimsatt, and Cleanth Brooks. Brooks, in particular, emerged as the most influential New Critic.

Transforming Literary Study

Traditionally, English literature was taught as the History of English Literature, an extrinsic method. New Critics sought to transform these departments into centers of Literary Criticism. They achieved this through three key methods that fundamentally changed the organization of the teaching profession:

• Staffing University Departments

  Gradually, New Critics began to occupy chairs of literature previously

The Genesis of New Criticism

English Foundations: I.A. Richards' Influence

The roots of New Criticism were initially in England, specifically at the University of Cambridge, championed by I.A. Richards. A lecturer, Richards linked New Criticism to the USA by moving to Harvard in 1939. He found in America a very suitable ground to develop his theory of criticism, as Americans sought new methods for literary study without relying on external context. Richards' seminal work, Practical Criticism, explains his method in detail.

René Wellek and Cosmopolitanism

René Wellek contributed significantly to the cosmopolitan component of New Criticism, ensuring it was not an exclusively Anglo-American method of criticism.

American Roots: The Southern Literary

Understanding New Criticism

New Criticism is a significant critical movement characterized by renewal and innovation. It has two main branches:

• The British branch, known as Practical Criticism.
• The American branch, called New Criticism.

Originating in England in the 1920s, New Criticism reached America, where it found fertile ground for growth. It significantly influenced the study of literature and poetry in Western countries.

At the beginning of the 20th century, American critics were captivated by European, particularly British, art and culture. They experienced a sense of cultural inferiority, feeling limited to European or Native American traditions.

New Criticism's influence is undeniable; one must either oppose it or align with it. It is impossible... Continue reading "Understanding New Criticism: Origins and Impact" »

Victorianism: A Period of Transition (1840–1880)

The Victorian era (1840–1880) was characterized by profound doubts, significant changes, and hesitation. It was a period of great movement, connecting the old world with the new, the ancien régime with modernity, serving as a crucial transition toward the modernity of the 20th century.

Key Features Shaping Victorian Criticism

1. Growth of Literacy

   A large segment of the population gained the ability to read and write English. In 1807, a bill providing universal education was defeated by the British Parliament because the Napoleonic Wars introduced revolutionary ideas, and Parliament feared the English populace reading them. The bill was eventually passed in 1877.

2. Weakening of Religious Dogma

   Religious

Ezra Pound's Indifference to Traditional Criticism

Pound remains entirely indifferent to three specific areas of literary study:

• History of criticism: He rejects traditional historical frameworks.
• Biographical approaches: He criticizes what he terms "washlist criticism," which places excessive importance on biographical data.
• Ahistorical analysis: His method judges a poem according to intrinsic qualities rather than the period in which it was written. He does not believe the passage of time affects the quality or consideration of a literary work.

The Timeless Nature of Poetry

Pound argues that poetry is "always the same; the changes are superficial." While styles, feelings, topics, and vocabulary evolve, the core remains constant.

"What we need is... Continue reading "Ezra Pound: Universal Literary Theory and Criticism" »

Modernism's Literary Revolution: Key Movements

The early 20th century marked a transformative era in literature, often referred to as Modernism, with Ezra Pound as a central figure.

Periods of Modernist Development

Modernism can be broadly divided into two significant periods:

• 1910-1914: The Period of Aggressive Dismantling of Victorianism. This initial phase saw a deliberate break from the conventions and sentiments of the Victorian era.
• 1920-1930: The Period of Fulfillment and Artistic Fruits. This decade witnessed the maturation of Modernist art, yielding some of the greatest contributions to English criticism.

Pioneering Critics of the Modernist Era

The latter period produced influential English critics such as T.S. Eliot, I.A. Richards, F.R.... Continue reading "Modernism's Dawn: Imagism and Vorticism's Impact" »

T.S. Eliot's Concept of Literary Tradition

This concept forms a crucial point of union between Eliot, Pound, Arnold, and the New Critics. While 'traditional' often implies outdated, for Eliot, it held a unique meaning. Eliot's perspective on history sometimes appears contradictory. He sometimes viewed the poet's role as simply expressing their epoch, and at other times, as actively disagreeing with their contemporary period. Eliot leaned towards the former, believing a poet should passively represent their era's ideas without disagreement. This is why he praised Elizabethan poets for their wonderful capacity to 'poetize' their period.

Great universal classic art, in his view, lacks a critical historical capacity; it doesn't question events but... Continue reading "T.S. Eliot's Poetics: Tradition, Language, and the Poet's Role" »

The Industry Life Cycle

1. New Industries

New or reformed industries emerge from technological innovations in products or services, shifts in manufacturing, new consumer needs, or economic and sociological changes. Examples include online men's fashion.

• Characteristics: High initial costs due to low production volumes, slow demand growth, high risk, low customer loyalty, and low entry barriers.
• Pioneer Advantages: Positioning, building customer loyalty, and establishing reference technology.
• Strategies: Reduce uncertainty through technology consolidation, build industry structure, cooperate with stakeholders, maintain rigorous financial policies, and ensure operational flexibility.

2. Growing Industries

Industries such as employment services and computer... Continue reading "Understanding the Four Stages of the Industry Life Cycle" »