Epic Conventions:

The hero is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance, usually the ideal man of his culture. He often has superhuman or divine traits.  He has an imposing physical stature and is greater in all ways than the common man.

The setting is vast in scope. It covers great geographical distances, perhaps even visiting the underworld, other worlds, other times.

The action consists of deeds of valor or superhuman courage (especially in battle).

Supernatural forces interest themselves in the action and intervene at times. The intervention of the gods is called "machinery."

The hero is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance, usually the ideal man of his culture.

He often has superhuman or divine traits.  He has an imposing physical stature and is greater in all ways than the common man.

He is mortal, overcomes all that get in his way of achieving a goal, and can transcend earth

Written in Old English

Alliteration: Kenning Simile Caesura

These poems are characterized by a tone of longing and sadness

“The Seafarer”

“Wife’s Lament”

“The Wanderer”

Canterbury Tales By Chaucer

Written in rhymed iambic pentameter, Chaucer writes of the pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas a Beckett

The prologue: Set up the frame of the

story Described the time of year

the story took place Explained the contest

“Pardoner’s Tale” Corruption of the church

“Wife of Bath” What do women desire most?

Morality Play Allegory

Protestant Reformation Henry VIII Recognition of corruption in the Catholic

Church

The widespread belief in personal ability and the potential of the individual had its roots in humanism

HUMANISM: An intellectual movement in which writers and artists sought to merge the lessons of Latin and Greek classics with the teachings of Christianity.

Poetic patterns combined with complex subject matter

From the Italian meaning “little song”

ALL sonnets have the following: Iambic Pentameter Strict rhyme scheme 14 lines Lyric poem

“Sonnet 30” By Edmund

Spencer

“My love is like to ice, and I to fire. . . “

“A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne

“Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show /to move, but doth, if th’ other do”

“On My First Son” by Ben Jonson

“Rest in soft peace, and asked, say ‘Here doth lie /Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry;”

In medias res (in the middle) Literary Epic poem The speaker invokes the Muse or a divine

being to speak through the poet Characterized by Epic similes (extended comparisons

between dissimilar things) Allusion (references to biblical characters

and events, classical, mythological)

“The Passionate Shepherd to his Love” by Christopher Marlow

“The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh

“To the Virgins to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick

“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell

STEP ONE: Prewriting and PlanningA. Chose and limit your topic

B. Identify sources that will be helpfulComplete bibliography cards Evaluate sources

C. Take notes Summarize, Paraphrase, Quote

AVOID PLAGIARISM

STEP TWO: Prewriting: Developing an Outline

A. Develop and outline B. Develop a thesis statement

STEP THREE: DRAFTINGA. Write from an outlineB. Manage informationC. Draft Introduction and conclusion

STEP FOUR: CITING SOURCES A. Document information B. Format your citations C. Insert parenthetical documentation D. Create your Works Cited list

STEP FIVE: REVISING Revise the research paper

Organization Word choice Paragraph support Introduction Transitions Conclusion

STEP SIX: EDITING AND PRESENTING

A. Use an editing checklist Words omitted? Typing errors? Punctuation correct? Proper nouns capitalized? Sources documented? Pagination?