^^^^^^^^^^ HENRY FIELDING: THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES The outspoken eighteenth-century man of letters, Samuel Johnson, wrote to a woman who had read the novel Tom Jones: I am shocked to hear you quote from so vicious a book. I am sorry to hear you have read it: a confession which no modest lady should ever make. I scarcely know a more corrupt work. That's an unusual judgment about a landmark book in the history of world literature, but it's a sample of the kind of passionate response--both favorable and unfavorable--Tom Jones has inspired since it was published. Its author, Henry Fielding, was born on April 22, 1707, in Somerset, in southwest England, the area where his hero is born and raised. Unlike Tom, Fielding had...

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Tags: novel, restoration, study guide

Volpone, a Venetian nobleman, has no relative to make his heir; he must name someone his beneficiary. Several rivals try to attain his favor by bringing the sick Volpone gifts that they hope will be returned tenfold. Mosca, a clever parasite to Volpone, encourages the three major gulls to give until it hurts. These birds of prey are Voltore, a lawyer; Corbaccio, an old miser about to die himself; and Corvino, a rich merchant and husband to Celia, a beautiful lady of Venice. Also naively competing for Volpone's wealth is Lady Would-be, the affected wife of an English knight, Sir Politic Would-be. After each gull is fleeced before our eyes, Mosca encourages Volpone to think of seeking a greater treasure than gold: the wife of Corvino. After a...

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Tags: comedy, play, restoration, study guide

  The Duchess of Malfi takes place in Italy, mostly at the Duchess’s palace in Malfi, in the sixteenth century. The Duchess is a young widow whose two brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, are visiting her from Rome at the play’s start. Antonio, the manager of her household, has just returned from France. Before leaving the Duchess, Ferdinand engages Bosola, previously used by the Cardinal as a hit man, to ostensibly manage the Duchess’s horses, but in reality to spy on her for the brothers so they can be sure she remains chaste and does not remarry...

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Tags: play, restoration, study guide

  Spanish is one of the great European languages, rich in heritage from its more than nine centuries of existence. This is the language that comes from the region of Spain that English-speakers call Castile. As Christopher Columbus and other Spanish explorers came to the New World, Spanish became the lan-guage of all the peoples from Florida to Tierra del Fuego (with the exception of Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken). When you go to places like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, or Nicaragua, you speak in or are spoken to in Spanish. If you visit cities like Santiago de Chile, Montevideo, Asuncion, Buenos Aires, Lima,...

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Tags: for dummies, spanish

  I don’t believe in God, but I miss Him. That’s what I say when the question isput.  I asked  my  brother,  who  has  taught  philosophy  at  Oxford,  Geneva,  and  theSorbonne, what he thought of such a statement, without revealing that it was my own.He replied with a single word: “ Soppy.”The person to begin with is my maternal grandmother, Nellie Louisa Scoltock,née Machin. She was a teacher in Shropshire until she married my grandfather, BertScoltock. Not Bertram, not Albert, just Bert: so christened, so called, so cremated. Hewas a headmaster with a certain mechanical  dash to him:  a motorcycle-and-sidecarman,  then owner of a Lanchester,  then, ...

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Tags: literature, no-fiction, prose

Whether you are too busy to take a class or merely want to supplement your language learningexperience with additional materials, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Learning Italian, Second Edition,was written specifically for the independent study of Italian.Any idiot can speak Italian, and lots of them do. The word “idiot” comes from the Greek rootidios and means “of a particular person, private, own.” In Latin, an idiota simply refers to a pri-vate person. You see this root in the words “idiom” and “idiosyncrasy.”Beware of the idiots! Lame and suffering from a speech impediment, Claudius (10 B.C.–54 A.D.)is remembered as a scholar and a competent administrator during the time he reigned. Againstall odds, this “idiot” rose up to become Roman...

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Tags: for dummies, italian, linguistics

  The Phonology of Italian offers an overview of the main characteristics of Italiansound patterns under consideration of regional variation and an analysis couched inthe framework of Optimality Theory.With regard to this goal immediately two questions arise. 1. What is Italian? 2. Whyis there a need for such a book? The first question might be raised by readers whoare aware of the complex linguistic situation of Italy and the Italian language—orlanguages, one might say. Section 1.1 will be dedicated to a clarification of this situation.The second question could be expected from anyone familiar with the literature onItalian phonology. Italian is by no means an understudied language. It has receiveda lot of attention in the linguistic literature,...

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Tags: italian, linguistics, oxford, phonetics

The book walks you through your language in 23 easy steps. Almost automatically you will acquire a large working vocabulary that will suit your needs. As you work through the steps, use the sticky labels (included). At the back of the book, you will also find cut-out flash cards to make learning fun. When you have completed the book, cut out the menu at the back and take it along on your trip. Available in 11 languages. ...

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Tags: norsk, norwegian, translated

  Jonathan Swift's masterpiece is the finest satire in the English language. Shipwrecked traveler Lemuel Gulliver finds himself washed ashore in Lilliput, a kingdom populated by tiny people. Fascinated by their exotic visitor, the Lilliputians enlist Gulliver's services in their bitter civil war. But Gulliver becomes the object of a court intrigue and has to make a hasty escape. On his next voyage, his ship is blown off course to Brobdingnag, whose giant inhabitants strike him as horrific and occasionally revolting. A third journey takes him to Laputa, a floating island occupied by pedantic scientists and philosophers. Finally, he encounters a society of rational horses, the Houyhnhnms, and witnesses the appalling behaviour...

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Tags: BRITISH, english, literature, prose

  The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos (334 lines), but then revised, expanded and reissued under Pope's name on March 2, 1714, in a much-expanded 5-canto version (794 lines). The final form was available in 1717 with the addition of Clarissa's speech on good humour. The poem satirizes a petty squabble by comparing it to the epic world of the gods. It was based on an incident recounted by Pope's friend, John Caryll. Arabella Fermor and her suitor, Lord Petre, were both from aristocratic recusant Catholic families at a period in England when under such laws as the Test Act, all denominations except Anglicanism suffered...

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Tags: english, literature, poetry

  The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as being one of the best Restoration comedies written and is still performed sporadically to this day. ...

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Tags: comedy, literature, play, poetry

  This grammar has been written specially for non-Norwegians. Our aim has been to give a simple, step-hy-step presentation of the grammatical rules and systems of Norwegian «bokmâl», one of the two official written variants of Norwegian. The many examples given throughout the book assist the reader in practical usages which have proved difficult for those learning the language. As the intention of this book is to give a practical guide to modern Norwegian as it is used in an everyday context, emphasis has been given to providing translations of the Norwegian examples which are as colloquial and idiomatic as possible. The British English variants used throughout in the translations may on occasion appear unfamiliar to speakers of. for...

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Tags: grammar, norsk, norwegian, translated

  ContentsixPreface x1   Introduction: Shakespeare’s “Perfectly Wild” Sonnets 12   Identity 133   Beauty 354   Love 585   Numbers 746   Time 89Appendix: The Matter of the Sonnets 102Notes 152Works Cited 154Index 157 -->!---->...

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Tags: critics, essay, literature, shakespeare

T his has been a big labour, which would have been impossible had I not been able to share ideas with (and to borrow from) many col- leagues and past editors. Several recent editors of  the poems have been  exceptionally  kind  in  offering  advice  and  additional  assis- tance. John Kerrigan has been particularly helpful and encourag- ing, especially since his edition of the Sonnets is such an impossibly fine example to follow. His careful reading of  the typescript saved me from many errors. Katherine Duncan-Jones has offered many wise  words, in  print  and  in  person, without  which  this  edition would be much poorer than it is. A helpful conversation...

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Tags: BRITISH, english, literature, oxford, poetry, romance, shakespeare

The greatest of English dramatists except Shakespeare, the first literary dictator and poet-laureate, a writer of verse, prose, satire, and criticism who most potently of all the men of his time affected the subsequent course of English letters: such was Ben Jonson, and as such his strong personality assumes an interest to us almost unparalleled, at least in his age. Ben Jonson came of the stock that was centuries after to give to the world Thomas Carlyle; for Jonson's grandfather was of Annandale, over the Solway, whence he migrated to England. Jonson's father lost his estate under Queen Mary, "having been cast into prison and forfeited." He entered the church, but died a month before his illustrious son was born, leaving his widow and child...

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Tags: english, literature, play

Of John Webster's life almost nothing is known. The dates 1580-1625 given for his birth and death are conjectural inferences, about which the best that can be said is that no known facts contradict them. The first notice of Webster so far discovered shows that he was collaborating in the production of plays for the theatrical manager, Henslowe, in 1602, and of such collaboration he seems to have done a considerable amount. Four plays exist which he wrote alone, "The White Devil," "The Duchess of Malfi," "The Devil's Law-Case," and "Appius and Virginia." "The Duchess of Malfi" was published in 1623, but the date of writing may have been as early as 1611. It is based on a story in Painter's "Palace of Pleasure," translated from the Italian...

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Tags: english, literature, play

I cannot omit giving the World an account, of the uncommon Villany of a Gentleman of a good Family in England practis’d upon his Sister, which was attested to me by one who liv’d in the Family, and from whom I had the whole Truth of the Story. I shall conceal the unhappy Gentleman’s own, under the borrow’d Names of Sir William Wilding, who succeeded his Father Sir Edward, in an Estate of near 4000l. a Year, inheriting all that belong’d to him, except his Virtues. ’Tis true, he was oblig’d to pay his only Sister a Portion of 6000l. which he might very easily have done out of his Patrimony in a little Time, the Estate being not in the least incumbred. But the Death of his good Father gave a loose to the Extravagancy of his Inclinations,...

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Tags: literature, prose, short story

The purpose of this book English, like all languages, is full of problems for the foreign learner. Some of these points are easy to explain - for instance, the formation of questions, the difference between since and for, the meaning of after all. Other problems are more tricky, and cause difficulty even for advanced students and teachers. How exactly is the present perfect used? When do we use past tenses to be polite? What are the differences between at, on and in with expressions of place? We can say a chair teg - why not *a cat teg? When can we use the expression do sol When is the used with superlatives? Is unless the same as if not? What are the differences between come and go, between each and every, between big, large and great, between...

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Tags: advanced, grammar, oxford

Grammatical descriptions of English which are addressed to learners are often oversimplified and inaccurate This is the inevitable result of lack of time in the classroom and lack of space in course books and practice books Badly expressed and inaccurate rules, in turn, become enshrined in grammar books directed at teachers and students The misrepresentation of English grammar gives a false view of the language, perpetuates inaccurate 'rules', and results in errors in communication It is against this background that the Longman English Grammar has been writtenThe primary aim of this book is to present a manageable coverage of grammar at intermediate and advanced levels, which will serve two purposes1...

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Tags: advanced, grammar, longman

A fascinating history of the USA from the time of the Amerindians to the culturally diverse but united country of today. CONTENTS A  NEW  WORLD 1  The, first Americans 2  Explorers from  Europe 3  Virginian beginnings 4  Puritan New England 5  Colonial life in America 6  The roots of revolution 7  Fighting for independence A  NEW  NATION 8   Forming the, new nation 9   Years of growth 10 West to the Pacific 11  North and South 12  The civil War 13  Reconsrruction YEARS OF GROWTH 14 Miners, railroads and cattlemen  15 Farming; the Great Plains  16 The Amerindians' last stand  17 Inventors and industries 18 The Golden Door  19...

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Tags: american, history, longman