Reflection paper 8

  Romeo and Juliet is an enduring tragic love story written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare borrowed his plot from an original Italian tale.  It is believed Romeo and Juliette were based on actual characters from Verona.  The story of characters are Romeo, Juliet, Lady Montugue, Benvolio, Mercutio,Balthasar,Prince, Lady Capulet, Tybalt,Nurse,Peter.

   The play opens with servants from both houses engaged in a street brawl that eventually draws in the family patriarchs and the city officials, including Prince Escalus. The Prince ends the conflict by issuing a decree that prohibits any further fighting at the risk of great punishment. Romeo laments his unrequited love for a woman named Rosaline. Peter, who is trying to read a list of invites to a masked party at the Capulet house that evening. Peter read the list and decides to attend the party because Rosaline will be there. He plans to wear a mask so that he will nobody will recognize him as a Montague. However, Juliet's cousin Tybalt recognizes Romeo and wants to kill him on the spot. Afterwards, Juliet's Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet is a Capulet, which upsets the smitten youngster.  Finally Romeo appears and tells Juliet that he loves her. Juliet to meet Romeo at the chapel where Friar Laurence lives and works. Juliet meets Romeo there, and the Friar marries them in secret. Montague argues that Romeo has justly fought and killed Tybalt for the murder of Mercutio.  The Prince exiles Romeo from Verona and declares that if Romeo returns, he will be executed.  Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber, where they make love for the first and last time, consummating their marriage.

  The Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so that he can rejoin her when she awakens. The Messenger  failed to reach Romeo and  he learned of Juliet's apparent demise from his servant. Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and goes to the Capulet crypt.  There, he encounters Count Paris who has come to mourn Juliet privately.Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris.  Still believing Juliet to be dead, Romeo drinks the poison.Juliet then awakens only to find her beloved Romeo dead.  Unwilling to live without him, she stabs herself with his dagger.

REFERENCES: http://www.historyandwomen.com/2011/01/love-story-of-romeo-and-juliet.html

                         http://www.gradesaver.com/romeo-and-juliet/study-guide/short-summary/

Reflection paper 7

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised a few days later on 26 April 1564. Born to John Shakespeare, a glovemaker and tradesman, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent farmer. He was not born into a family of nobility or significant wealth. He did not continue his formal education at university, nor did he come under the mentorship of a senior artist, nor did he marry into wealth or prestige.

He wrote a lot of works about tragedies,comedies,histories. They are so precious. Many of his plays were published. His earlier plays were mainly histories and comedies such as 'Henry VI', 'Titus Andronicus', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Richard II'.  In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays. Shakespeare married  at the age of 18 with  Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local farmer . She was eight years older than him and their first child, Susanna, was born six months after their wedding. Two years later, the couple had twins, Hamnet and Judith, but their son died when he was 11 years old.

William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest playwright of all time, although many facts about his life remain shrouded in mystery. He lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I and coined hundreds of new words and phrases that we still use today.

REFERENCES: http: //www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/william_shakespeare

                          http://www.bardweb.net/man.html

Reflection Paper 6

  At this course we talked about Christopher Marlowe’s life and works. Marlowe has many contributions to English letters especially drama and blank verse. He has been identified as the most important of Shakesphere's predecessors.He has an interesting life During Marlowe's stay at Camberidge and London he wrote many plays and poems including "Tamburine 1 and 2"," The Jew of Malta "," Edward II", "The Passionate Shepard to his love", "Hero and Leander", "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus", and others.

  Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England, on February 6, 1564. He enrolled at King’s School, Canterbury, at the New Year, 1579.  This was unusually late in life , Marlowe would have been nearly fifteen years old, only months away from the upper limits for enrollment. He probably first became interested in drama.  In 1587 it was officially acknowledged that he had earned the M.A. degree. After the award of the M.A. degree, Marlowe was soon well known in London literary circles, gaining a reputation for reckless talk about religion.His plays are often thought to be among first to embody the true spirit of the Renaissance , concentrating in their humanist fashion on man as opposed to God. There was an alleged association with a supposed School of Night, or Atheism. Because of these reasons some people think that Marlowe was killed in some kind of conspiracy but violent death was common in the 16th century.

  His works respresent a departure from didactic spirit of the miracle and mystery plays of the 1500s.Charecters were no simple personifications of virtues. . Although his career was short, Marlowe wrote plays that applealed to an emerging popular audience and strongly influenced other dramatists.

  REFERENCES : theatrestudies.tripod.com

                          www.luminarium.org/renlit/marlowebio.htm

Reflection Paper 5

   Medieval literature lasted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire AD 500 to the beginning of the early Renaissance in Italy in the fourteenth century. It was characterized by the dominant concerns of faith, the social collective, and spiritual salvation. By the eleventh century it was written in Latin, the language of the Church and learning.This terms of some writers Geoffrey Chaucer ,Margery Kempe, Francesco Petrarch, Dante. These writers reflected the social life.

   Reform is one of the most significant themes, spiritual and intellectual, of the Middle Ages; and it has both institutional and individual dimensions. The Reformation crisis led to further variations on this crucial theme. The Church was in disarray on the eve of Reformation. For example the Black Death struck the population of Europe.

   The Renaissance comes from the Italian word rinascitá, which means "rebirth". They saw this as a Rebirth of the old Roman and Greek Civilization. The renaissance first began in the fragmented city - states of Italy. These renaissance intellectuals said that the epoch following the fall of the Roman Empire in roughly 500 A.D. until their own times was the Dark Ages - or the more politically correct term, the Middle Ages. Yet these people were kidding themselves. It is a paradox that the cultural and intellectual achievements of the renaissance owed a lot to the medieval world. There were gains in literature, art, philosophy, political, and yes, historical thought. Individualism: people wanted to receive personal credit for what they did, instead of praising God for everything. The Renaissance is thought of as having ended in 1527 with the Sack of Rome by Charles V.

  Consequently this period has movements. These movements brought a lot of innovations. And also there are important writers and poets in this period.These writers and poets effected the period and of course affected. 
 REFERENCES: www.historymedia.com
                           www.medievellife-net.

Reflection Paper 4

  The middle Ages started around the 14th. Century . The life of all the classes was dominated by the feudal system. This period was dominated by the feudal system and role of the knights and their servants. Life in the middle ages also include an entertainment section and medieval sports providing the history, facts and information. Middle ages religion, church played an important role. This period therefore provides interesting facts and information about the religious life. For instance; Religious festivals.

  Every man was expected to be able to use weapons during the middle ages. There were basically two types of armed men during the medieval.The Knights and the Foot soldiers, who included the Archers. For safety, people in the middle ages formed small communities around a cental land or master.

  There were many important writers and poets. One of the most precious poets is Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales became his best known and most acclaimed work. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, 1387 and 1400. It is the story of thirty people who travel as pilgrims, who came from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they are travel to Canterbury.

   The Middle Ages was the classical heritage of Rome. I think this period is very compherensive, so we should always research about this period and improve ourselves.

     REFERENCES: www. lordsandingladies.org