books

British Literature in Historical Perspective: Medieval Period (1215-1485)

/ Rebecca J. Whitman

Other kings faced more violent opposition from the nobles and two of them, Edward II in 1327 and Richard II in 1399, were deposed and assassinated. The Black Death, a grim name for the plague, ravaged England in the 14th century and may have killed one-third of the population. Drained by an intermittent series of wars with France, which dragged out for more than one hundred years, England was then torn by a brutal civil war from 1455 to 1485.

At the end of England’s bloody civil war, Henry VII came to the throne and all of the forces that had shaped the island kingdom for a thousand years came together in a newly unified state. England was poised to participate in an incredible period of discovery and expansion.

They had come, the conquerors, warriors, and priests, the knights and serfs, the outlaws and the righteous, the men, the women, the children, and had settled an island that a glacier had sliced off the European continent. On that relatively small stretch of land, they created a country, a language, and literature that was to become one of the wonders of the world.

Source: Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Literature: The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2012. Pages 4-5

Michael Wood’s Story of England

Throughout this series about the historical perspective of British literature, we will be journeying through time and space to visit the history of England as it was discovered in the town of Kibworth. Kibworth is a place that just so happens to hold archeological proof of life all the way back to the Romans as well as through every other major shift in civilization. To help us grasp the effects of history on common people, we will be watching this series throughout this series.

Episode 3: The Great Famine and the Black Death

Episode 3 Discussion Questions

  1. What are villeins?
  2. Describe open field farming.
  3. What kind of jobs did the unfree people have to do for landlords?
  4. How did a plowman become synonymous with every man or woman in England?
  5. How did climate change lead to the worst famine in European history?
  6. What was the Black Death? What caused it?
  7. How did communities work together to survive? Does that behavior still exist today? Why or why not?

British Literature in Historical Perspective: Old English-Medieval Period (1086-1215)

/ Rebecca J. Whitman

The island of England has been invaded and conquered by Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and French Normans. They have survived and adapted through each change, but this last invasion threatens everything they know about their way of life.

Now the Normans brought more than their language to the island. They also brought a form of government, social order, and land tenure we call feudalism. This is a vision of the natural and human world as a triangle or pyramid. At the peak is the king and below, in carefully graded steps, are nobles and freemen, down to the serfs who till the land.

Yet all social systems are more fluid than they appear from the outside, and the feudal era in England was a tempestuous time. In 1215, a group of nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. This Great Charter, which limited the powers of the king, marks the beginning of parliamentary government in England.

Source: Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Literature: The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2012. Pages 4-5

Michael Wood’s Story of England

Throughout this series about the historical perspective of British literature, we will be journeying through time and space to visit the history of England as it was discovered in the town of Kibworth. Kibworth is a place that just so happens to hold archeological proof of life all the way back to the Romans as well as through every other major shift in civilization. To help us grasp the effects of history on common people, we will be watching this series throughout this series.

Episode 2: Doomsday to Magna Carta

Episode 2 Discussion Questions

  1. What was one of the great innovations of the Normans, and how was it used to oppress the English people?
  2. How did Normans view the English?
  3. What was the old Gar tree?
  4. Since Norman times, pubs became an important institution. Why?
  5. Who was Simon de Montefort and why was his death site a place of pilgrimage?
  6. What caused the civil war in 1264?
  7. How did Meryton College become the landlord?

 

 

Review: Barbara Barth’s Sleeping With Dogs, A Poetic Memoir

/ Rebecca J. Whitman / 1 Comment

Like the title suggests, this book of poetry is a memoir about the author’s journey into owning multiple dogs and what life is like with them. It is organized chronologically, so it is clear to see the progression of her growth over time. Becoming a dog mom to multiple dogs began as a grief response but blossomed into a new purpose. Adopting dogs that were often abused gave her a mission to love them back to health.

Barth’s honesty is compelling. Her poems are approachable and grounded in real events and images. This is not a poetry book that challenges you to think about philosophy or anything too deep. It is more about dog adoption and what that taught the writer. With several poems about the dogs themselves, the reader gets to fall in love with them as well. The journey of love and loss, healing and wholeness, is fully relatable and admirable.

This is a short book (just 35 pages) and all the poems are relatively short free verse. It would be a welcome read for animal lovers especially dog lovers. If you love Chihuahuas, this is a must read.

About the Author

Barbara Barth turned to writing and adopting dogs to heal after the loss of her husband in 2008. Known as Writer With Dogs over the years, she now calls herself Chihuahua Mama and lives with six demanding Chihuahuas in a charming small town forty miles from Atlanta. She is Literary Arts Chair on the Board of her local art center. Inspired by the many talented artists she meets Barth started painting. Her whimsical style embraces ladies, gardens, critters, and of course cats and dogs.

Find her online at:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbarabarthstudio/

Blog: https://barbarabarthartandwords.blogspot.com/

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BarbaraBarthStudio