Blog de jmvillar

Culture of English-Speaking Countries 10

Dear all,

Please allow me these few words to let you know that all the classroom notes from this course (Culture of English-Speaking Countries) have been UPLOADED onto a folder at the VIRTUAL CAMPUS (UJAEN). I think this is the best option to make sure that every student planning to sit or re-sit the exam in forthcoming months has full access to those contents.

You will be required a password (jmvillarcult) to gain access to that folder at the virtual campus. You will need another password (jmvillarcultura) to unzip every file stored in there.

All the best

Lexicology and Lexicography of English 02

Dear all,

Copy and paste the link below into your URL bar to download an only .zip file including all the power point slides used in our lessons throughout the present semester. Please note that, due to copyright issues, the set readings for this course can only be found at the photocopy room (C3 building). The contents of the aforementioned .zip file include all the previous pages already present at the photocopy room plus the last chapter that some of you have been asking for via e-mail.

http://www.toofiles.com/es/oip/documents/zip/lexicology.html

All the best,

Culture of English Speaking Countries 09

Dear all,

Due to the recent shutdown of megaupload, I have uploaded the contents of our course onto a different site. By clicking the following link, you will be redirected to ‘upload station’. There you will have access to all the contents considered during our lessons in a single compressed file.

http://www.uploadstation.com/file/r9UcbD6/CULTURA_ENTREGAS_1-20.zip

It’s curious how a single action by the FBI can affect a wide variety of internet users. Is cloud computing at stake? I wonder what will happen with all those people who used megaupload and similar websites to make hard disk copies. As regards our course, the only consequence is that you won’t be able to download the corresponding contents from that site. And of course this forces me to spend some extra time re-uploading those same contents.

Culture of English Speaking Countries 08

This week we will round off our course ‘Culture of English-Speaking Countries’ by assessing the presentations that students have been working on throughout the first semester. Given the limited time available, these will be delivered in our classroom (A4-28) between January the 17th and January the 20th, following the schedule below.

Students are strongly encouraged to be on time and stick to a FIFTEEN-MINUTE LIMIT per presentation (the slots below ALSO include a minimum ‘break’ time between shifts). Please note that the names of the presenters are not included here to avoid the collection of personal data. Good luck to you all.

Tuesday, January the 17th, 2012

10:40-11:00 From the English Settlement up to the Act of Quebec
11:00-11:20 The Canadian Confederation

Thursday, January the 19th, 2012

9:30-9:50 Canada and the British Empire
9:50-10:10 From the National Crisis to the Great Depression
10:10-10:30 Development in British Africa and Reasons for Conflict

10:40-11:00 The Boer Wars
11:00-11:20 The Impact and End of Apartheid
11:20-11:40 The East India Company

11:50-12:10 The British Empire and the Independence Movement
12:10-12.30 The Partition of India: The Conflict with Pakistan

Friday, January the 20th, 2012

10:30-10:50 Literature in Colonial Australia
10:50-11:10 Oceania: Popular Culture and Modernity
11:10-11:30 The Westminster Statute and the Treaty of Waitangi

11:40-12:00 Westernization as a Source of Conflict and Resistance
12:00-12:20 Slavery in the Caribbean Colonies
12:20-12:40 Revolts in the British Caribbean

12:50-13:10 The Commonwealth Nowadays
13:10-13:30 Current Relations between English-Speaking Countries

All the best!

Culture of English Speaking Countries 07

18 Cities and Immigration – The US Empire
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/d4tBj62/18_Cities_and_immigration_-_The_US_Empire.zip

19 First World War – 1920s – Wall Street Crash
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/2fyhpm5/19_First_World_War_-_1920s_-_Wall_Street.zip

20 Second World War – Anticommunism – Civil Rights
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/v3CBFBH/20_Second_World_War_-_Anticommunism_-_Civil_Rights.zip

QUESTIONS

i. During which years was Ellis Island active? What were its main purposes?

ii. What is ‘The Melting Pot’? Who wrote it? What does it speak about?

iii. Explain the difference between ‘Progressives’ and supporters of ‘Laissez-faire’ (c. 1900).

iv. Which were the main achievements of Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘Square Deal’?

v. What is the ‘Monroe Doctrine’? What policy did it contemplate?

vi. Why did Americans experience a great deal of moral conflict regarding the Cubans and Filipinos in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War?

vii. Which were the main countries fighting the First World War? Was the U.S.A. actually impartial during the conflict? Why / why not?

viii. The ‘Maine’ and the ‘Lusitania’ are related to two main armed conflicts. Explain why.
ix. Comment briefly on the different opinions expressed by President Wilson and Georges Clemenceau concerning the end of the First World War. Whose point of view prevailed in the Versailles Treaty (1919)?

x. Did the growing wealth during the 1920s equally benefit everybody in the U.S.A.? Comment briefly on this.

xi. What was the ‘Red Scare’? In which way was it related to Sacco and Vanzetti?

xii. Comment briefly on the reasons leading to ‘Black Thursday’ and ‘Terrifying Tuesday’. When did those take place? What is the phrase generally used to refer to these events and the context in which both took place?

xiii. In which sense was Franklin D. Roosevelt perceived to be different from Herbert Hoover?

xiv. Explain what the ‘New Deal’ was and comment briefly on its main achievements.

xv. Which were the opposing factions in the Second World War? List the countries that joined each side.

xvi. What was the ‘Containment’ policy of the 1940s and 1950s? How is it related (or not) to Joseph McCarthy?

xvii. After Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson decided to speed up the former President’s reform plans. Comment on his main achievements concerning African Americans, the healthcare system, education and any measures against poverty.

xviii. Why is Rosa Parks often described as a Civil Rights ‘catalyst’?

xix. Which were the main points in Martin Luther King’s famous speech in Washington D. C. ?

xx. Which was the crucial moment for the Gay Rights Movement in the late 1960s? Concerning this same movement, what happened in 1973? (APA) Why was it important to the advancement of equality rights in the U.S.A.?

Culture of English Speaking Countries 06

15. Revolution, War and Reconstruction

16 Slavery, Abolitionism and the Civil War
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/AqjWYrV/16_Abolitionism_and_Civil_War.zip

17 Mines, Railroads and Farms
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/mHdM8wv/17_Mines,_railroads_and_farms.zip

i. Comment on the main purposes of the ‘Fugitive Slave Act’. How were bounty hunters significant to this matter?

ii. What is the abolitionist John Brown known for?

iii. Which were the main difficulties that the North had to face in the Civil War? Which were the main disadvantages that the South had to face?

iv. What happened in Vicksburg by spring 1863? In which sense was it important to the development of the Civil War?

v. Comment on General Lee’s defeats at Gettysburg and Richmond. What does all this have to do with the ‘Appomattox Meeting’?

vi. Who was assassinated on the night of April 14, 1865? Who did it? How did this take place?

vii. What was the main purpose of the 13th Amendment?

viii. What are the ‘Black Codes’ and the ‘Grandfather Clauses’? Which goals did they pursue?

ix. What were ‘Reconstruction Governments’? Why were they so controversial?

x. What is the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine? What does it have to do with the cases ‘Brown v. Topeka’ and ‘Plessy v. Ferguson’?

xi. What is the ‘sea of grass’? Why was it important to the Sioux and the homesteaders? Did this cause any conflict(s) between both groups?

x. Explain the prominence of the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Wounded Knee Massacre to Native Americans.

xi. Explain what the ‘Ghost Dance Movement’ and the ‘Trail Broken Treaties’ are.

xii. Who were the so-called ‘Captains of Industry’ or ‘robber barons’? Explain the difference of meaning between both terms.

Culture of English Speaking Countries 05

14. The American Colonies up to 1765 – Native Americans

i. Which were the usual farming practices and building techniques of the Pueblo people?

ii. What do ‘tepee’ and ‘potlach’ refer to?

iii. Which was the first English settlement in North America? When, and by whom, was it founded?

iv. Explain what ‘indentured servant’ means. Where would you expect to find one?

v. Which reasons led Roger Williams to found Rhode Island?

vi. Which was the starting point for Thanksgiving? Comment on its origin.

vii. Could you mention and describe briefly the three main groups of English colonies in North America? Why is the year 1733 taken as a point of reference to describe these colonies?

viii. What was the ‘frontier way of life’?

15. Revolution, War and Reconstruction

i. Which were the four main reasons for widespread discontent and growing fervor against British rule throughout the North American colonies?

ii. What was the ‘Boston Tea Party’? Was it a key to the road to independence?

iii. Mention (and explain) two main deeds performed by Paul Revere in the context of the rebellion against British rule.

iv. When was the Declaration of Independence issued by Congress? Which Founding Father was responsible for writing the document? Explain the main points in it.

v. What was the ‘Oregon Fever’? When did it take place?

vi. What were Samuel Slater and Moses Brown famous for?

vii. How were the lands between the Appalachians and Mississippi divided after 1783? Which was the dividing line between these two territories?

Culture of English Speaking Countries 04

11. The Pre-Romantic and Romantic Eras – Subjectivity and Revolution

i. Should Romanticism be described simply as a reaction against the Age of Reason? Explain why

ii. Mention two main consequences of the Peace of Utrecht (1713)

iii. Which were the main forces explored in William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’?

iv. Which sort of literary pieces would you expect to find in Thomas Percy’s ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry’? Why is it termed as ‘antiquarian’?

v. With the rise of industrialization, many people left the country to work in new factories in the cities. But this bore three main consequences. Enumerate them.

vi. During the Romantic Era, John Dryden and Alexander Pope were criticized in terms of their relation to tradition. Explain this.

vii. Could you (briefly) highlight the main points in Rousseau’s perspective of civilization and society?

viii. Which sort of revolutionary ideas were discussed in William Godwin’s ‘Caleb Williams’ (1794)?

ix. Who wrote ‘A Vindication of Man’s Rights’ and ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’? Where lays the importance of these two works?

x. Why did William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge disagree concerning the kind of language that suits poetry best?

xi. Could we describe William Wordsworth as a ‘pantheist’? Explain your answer.

xii. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was politically committed to two proto-socialist movements. Which ones? In what they did consist? Who was his companion in one of these projects?

xiii. What is the main difference between the first and the second generation of Romantic poets?

xiv. In which sense can we label George Gordon –Lord Byron– as a satirist?

xv. Explain the value and function of the poet in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘A Defense of Poetry’. Who helped compiling and publishing his works (posthumously)?

12. The 19th Century

13. Modernists and Aesthetes

i. Is it important to avoid generalization when examining long-lived periods? How would this apply to the Victorian Era?

ii. What caused the Peterloo Massacre (1819)? Where did it take place?

iii. Which were the main changes introduced by the First Reform Act (1832)?

iv. What did the Six Points of the People’s Charter (1838) call for?

v. Which kind of ideology prevailed during the Victorian Era? (mainstream ideology)

vi. The Poor Amendment Law created a workhouse system. Which were its main disadvantages?

vii. What did the Contagious Diseases Acts (1864, 1866, 1869) state?

viii. Was the English Revolution of 1848 a complete success or an utter failure? Why?

ix. What was the Working Men’s College? Who was its main precursor?

x. How did William Morris contribute to the Arts & Crafts Movement?

xi. Why was ‘peace’ important to Britain’s outward-looking perspectives about trade?

xii. Which year did Gladstone’s Whig party lose power to the conservative Tories?

xiii. Who were the Boers?

xiv. What does one mean by ‘Social Darwinism’? Does it have any relationship with the political and ideological climate of the Victorian and early-20th-century periods?

xv. Could you succinctly explain what the ‘separate spheres’ model meant? Did it finally become the dominant reality in Victorian society?

xvi. Is it possible to assert that the image of universal repression concerning Victorian sexuality is misleading? Does this equally apply to both men and women?

xvii. Which was the leading edge of many women’s rights campaigns in the Victorian period?

xviii. What was the Langham Circle (1850s)? What is it known for?

xix. Did Marxism become common currency in Britain before the turn-of-the-century? Why?

xx. Summarize the main ideas linked to the rise of trade unions. In other words, what did the rise of trade unions reflect?

xxi. What do we mean by ‘Victorians perceived a strong link between moral rigor and success’?

xxii. Why was ‘Wuthering Heights’ particularly ‘notorious’ after its publication in 1847?

xxiii. What was the Royal Academy? Which were its main aims? When was it founded?

xxiv. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood had evident connections with a variety of Victorian cultural figures. Could you mention four of these? (avoid mentioning the Rossettis, who were at the same time part of this movement).

xxv. Describe the moral perspective found in George Eliot’s ‘The Mill on the Floss’ (1860).

Culture of English Speaking Countries 03

08 Theatre and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare – Early Modern Women

i. What would have happened if two of Shakespeare’s authors had not published the large Folio ‘Comedies, Histories and Tragedies’ in 1623?

ii. Which authors were regarded as the models of English verse and drama as Shakespeare developed his career as a playwright?

iii. How could suspension of disbelief and audience participation affect the performance of a play?

iv. Which play by Christopher Marlowe suggested a pattern of pathos to Shakespeare’s Richard II?

v. Write the names of two plays nowadays considered to be a joint venture between Jon Fletcher and William Shakespeare.

vi. Provide a brief description of the structure of ‘Shake-speares Sonnets’ (1609).

vii. Explain the conception of love in ‘Shake-speares Sonnets’ (1609). Focus on the kind of love it explores.

viii. Which two authors argued that William Shakespeare wrote in a non-partisan, non-ideological manner?

ix. Was Queen Elizabeth I a passive recipient of the traditional stereotypes of female weakness that prevailed during her own age? Why / why not?

x. Which practice was criticized in Margaret Tyler’s ‘Mirrour of Knighthood’ (1578)?

xi. Which argument brought Margaret Fell into trouble? Who did she marry? Why was this union important?

xii. Did the Reformation offer new opportunities to female spirituality? If so, how?

09 The Stuarts and the Restoration – The Glorious Revolution _ Scotland and Ireland

i. Which were the two times that the Stuarts were expelled from the throne of Britain?

ii. What was the Gunpowder Plot (1605)? Who was its main leader?

iii. What was the importance of the Treaty of London (1604)? Did peace last long?

iv. Under which king were the English colonies in North America established?

v. What was the name of the ship in which the Pilgrims reached the New World? When did that journey take place?

vi. Who was William Laud?

vii. How was Britain polarized in the wake of the Civil War (1642-1651)?

viii. Could you summarize Oliver Cromwell’s political and religious concerns?

ix. Which were the main reasons leading to the execution of Charles Stuart on 30 January 1649?

x. Which were the main consequences derived from the establishment of the Commonwealth –regarding the House of Lords and the Church of England?

xi. Mention some of the radical changes supported by a variety of religious groupings (Diggers, Ranters, Quakers, Muggletonians…) during Cromwell’s regime.

x. Why did Oliver Cromwell reject an offer of the crown by Parliament?

xi. Mention some of the measures adopted by the ‘Cavalier Parliament’ to dash Charles II’s hopes at establishing a broadly-based church, with toleration for non-Anglicans.

x. How did the Treaty of Dover (1670) damage the image of the monarchy?

xi. Which were the main aims of the Popish Plot (1678) and the Rye House Plot (1683)? Were they successful?

xii. What was the Glorious Revolution (1688)? Was it really bloodless?

xiii. Why were the Battle of the Boyne (1690), the Massacre of Glencoe (1691) and the Battle of Culloden (1746) important to the Stuart cause?

xiv. How was the sense of separate identity in Scotland and Ireland affected by the Unions of 1707 and 1800?

xv. Focus on the legislation passed against Catholics in Ireland. What did it consist in? Did anybody denounce the hardship suffered by the Irish?

10. Empire – 18th Century – Independence of the USA

i. How many people emigrated from the British Isles to North America during the seventeenth century?

ii. What was the Transportation Act (1718)?

iii. Provide a few examples illustrating how religious concerns continued to constrain and influence cultural activity in the 18th century.

iv. How was political division echoed in 18th-century culture?

v. Summarize the main points of the moral models promoted by Hogarth, Goldsmith and Richardson.

vi. What is the ‘Enlightenment’, and what does this notion have to do with ‘Reason’?

vii. Explain the difference between ‘sense’ and ‘sensibility’ according to 18th-century standards.

viii. Which authors took Pope’s poetry of the countryside to areas closer to morbid or funereal meditations?

ix. Explain the bonds between James Macpherson and the bard Ossian.

x. Who was the last British king to rule over North America? When did he recognize the Independence of the United States?

Culture of English Speaking Countries 02

05 Celtic Britain and the Roman Invasion. The Old English Period

QUESTIONS

i. Who was Boudicca? Why and where was she defeated?

ii. Cite the names of the kingdoms in the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Do not miss to add who their predominant settlers were.

iii. Which were the main duties of a cyning and his thanes (warriors)?

iv. When and why was English first written (using the Roman alphabet).

v. How did the conversion into Christianity affect the preservation of the Anglo-Saxon oral tradition?

vi. Which manuscripts preserve what we nowadays call ‘Anglo-Saxon literature’?

vii. What does ‘Danelagh’ (or ‘Danelaw’) mean?

viii. Which were the warring parties in the Battle of Ethandun (or Ethandune)? What is it famous for?

ix. mention the three main periods in Anglo-Saxon literature.

x. Which battle marks the end of Anglo-Saxon England? When and how did it take place?

06 The Middle English Period

QUESTIONS

i. In which sense did the English language and literature become ‘frenchisized’ under Norman rule?

ii. How did Henry II attempt to deal a fatal blow to the ‘Breton Hope’?

iii. Does the ideal of ‘trew love’ differ from ‘fin amors’ standards? If so, how?

iv. Which was the role of the Church in the 12th century revival of classical learning and the development of the arts?

v. Summarize the medieval concept of allegory.

vi. What was the link between Richard I and the Third Crusade?

vii. Which were the main principles proclaimed in the Magna Carta (1215)?

viii. Who were directly responsible for the murder of Edward II?

ix. Which was the first European order of chivalry? When and by whom was it established?

x. In which context was the Treaty of Bretigny (1360) signed?

xi. Which are the rules of the game proposed by the innkeeper in ‘The Canterbury Tales’?

xii. Would you label Chaucer as an ironist or as a satyrist? Explain why.

xiii. What was ‘bastard feudalism’ and when did it reach its highest peak?

xiv. Which magnate family posed a serious challenge to Henry IV? How did that situation come to an end?

xv. Why is Henry V said to mark the emergence of a self-conscious English court and the promotion of English nationhood?

xvi. What is the link between Sir Thomas Malory and William Caxton?

07 The Tudor & Elizabethan Era – Renaissance and Reformation

QUESTIONS

i. Draw a comparison between the Renaissance concept of human capacity and that same idea in the Middle Ages.

ii. Which are the main tenets of Machiavelli’s analysis of political power in ‘The Prince’ (1513)? Why were these important to Christopher Marlowe?

iii. Did the English Renaissance take place at the same time and with the same degree of intensity as that in Italy?

iv. In which sense was Castiglione’s ‘Il Cortegiano’ (1528) important to the Tudor notion of ‘gentleman’? List the most prominent features (and models) of a Tudor courtier.

v. Who wrote ‘The Defense of the Seven Sacraments’ -with the help of Sir Thomas More?

vi. Which were the main consequences of the Act of Supremacy (1534)?

vii. Explain the links between rhetoric and liberal humanism.

viii. Who discovered the ‘secret’ of Chaucer’s musicality in 1775? Why was that important?

ix. Which authors polished English verse and brought the language to new heights of perfection in the Tudor and Elizabethan era?

x. Why is Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ described as a politically-minded romance?

xi. What is the Spenserian stanza? Cite four authors who have used it.

xii. Explain the meaning of ‘dark conceit’ within the context of ‘The Faerie Queene’.

Culture of English Speaking Countries 01

Dear all,

As I promised, during Christmas I will be uploading onto this site a set of links to the materials of this course –previously only available in paper format at the photocopy room in building C3. Please note that, due to possible copyright issues, the corresponding set readings will not be uploaded here. In other words, the downloadable zip files include content delivered in our lessons throughout the semester. You will need a password (jmvillarcultura) to unzip them (using WINRAR).

Each post will ask several questions having to do with the contents unveiled during those lessons. SOME of the short questions in the final exam will be extracted from the lists gradually added to this blog.

01 List of contents + assessment criteria
02 The concept of literary canon
03 Periodization
04 Towards a non-monolithic view of literary history

QUESTIONS

i. Explain briefly the division of history into three main periods proposed by John Ruskin. Is it still in common use?

ii. Which are the main features of the ‘Whig’ approach to history?

iii. Could you explain the concept of periodization and highlight its pros and cons?

iv. Do structuralists consider literary works in isolation? Could you explain it?

v. What does ‘splitedness’ mean within the context of Modernism?

vi. How does Baudrillard’s idea of the hyperreal apply to Post-modernism?

vii. Use a few words to define ‘otherness’, as seen in Postcolonial Studies.

viii. Describe how feminist and gay criticism sometimes interact with the notion of literary canon.

ix. What is Kermode’s point of view concerning the durability of a literary work?

x. What does the traditional idea of ‘literary canon’ consist on?

Comparing dictionaries

In this initial research paper, students are expected to provide an informed and substantial opinion about the differences between two monolingual dictionaries. To attain this purpose, they are invited to use a variety of methods of analysis plus a combination of different criteria and perspectives based on the information they have received in the course Lexicology and Lexicography of English.

Every student is expected to consider, on the one hand, the monolingual dictionary that he or she usually consults at home and, on the other, Noah Webster’s Complete Dictionary of the English Language (1886). The latter is available at www.archive.org/download/websterscomplete00webs/websterscomplete00webs.pdf

Saving the pdf. file to your computer is strongly recommended (Adobe Reader or any similar program is needed to view content).

The guidelines provided below should also be used as epigraphs and sub-epigraphs in the resulting piece of research. In other words, the structure of this research paper must be made according to the different points highlighted below –neither more nor less.

The resulting paper should be approximately 3000 words in length –about five pages of single-spaced text. The font should be Times New Roman or Arial, size 12.

The deadline to submit this paper is the same day that you sit the exam (31-01-2012).

Guidelines:

1. The dictionary: organization
1.1. Front matter: introduction, intended user, further items of information
1.2. Back matter: tables of weights and measures, etc
1.3. Additional information in some other parts of the dictionary

2. Entries
2.1. Exclusion of any type of information
2.2. Pronunciation (one or more types, where is it found within the entry?)
2.3. Separation of word classes: entries/subentries, senses/sub-senses
2.4. Meaning definitions:
2.4.1. Explanations: what do they consist of?
2.4.2 Listing of sense and related senses
2.4.3. Contextualization / exemplification
2.5. Multi-word units / Word-formation / Fixed expressions
2.5.1. Derivatives (same / different entry)
2.5.2. Compounds (same / different entry)
2.5.3. Collocations
2.6. Grammatical information
2.7. Pragmatic information
2.7.1. Dialect or regional variation
2.7.2. Education and social standing
2.7.3. Subject matter
2.7.4. Attitude
2.8. Semantic transfer (metaphor / metonymy) and relations between words (synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy…)
2.9. Additional devices: illustrations, typographical features, cross-references, etc
3. Conclusion: advantages and disadvantages in each dictionary. Decide on the most appropriate of the two and explain why –according to the previous analysis.

Here follows a list of words that you could consider while writing your paper. Feel free to include any other examples you may consider relevant for the purpose of this study. Just in case you may consider other entries should be assessed, instead of these, go ahead and prepare a list of your own. In any case, it is a good idea to complete this list below with examples from word classes not included / shown here.

vocabulary, nice, meaning, stinky, flowery, sick, since, into, dinner, nutshell, conductor, ajar, bishop, sky, wealthy, steed, crumpet, toilet, loss, automobile, sensitive, rancid, defeated, kingly, daffodil, hardly, scarecrow, to guide, steamboat, knob, gravedigger, albatross, porcupine, poppy, phrenology, guerrilla, usually, sink, kamikaze, synthesize, yokel, homesick, whitewash, cloakroom, fainthearted, wrap-up, hand-in, put up with, take-off, Professor, panorama, business, jack-in-the-box.