English IV- Assignment

English Literature
English literature is the study of literature written in the English language. The writers do not
necessarily have to be from England but can be from all over the world. It dates back more than five
centuries. It represents writers not only from different parts of the world and time periods, but it covers
every major genre and style of writing as well. The story of English literature begins with the Germanic
tradition of the Anglo-Saxon settlers. Anglo-Saxon,now more usually described as Old English.It was
written from 600-1100. Beowulf is the greatest old english poem which the author is unknown.Middle
English Literature(1100-1500)Goeffrey Chaucer is the most important poet of the time.The three main
types of medieval drama are mystery,miracle and morality plays in which the characters personify
moral qualities and lessons are taught.Elizabethan Literature(1558-1603).the most important poets
includes Edmund Spencer,Walter Raleigh and William Shakespeare.Drama is the greatest form of
written during this period.The Age of Milton,John Milton a poet after Elizabethan period.his greatest
work is the epic Paradise lost.Restoration Drama where in a great change in literature happened after
ChalesII became King.After a period closing,the theaters were reopened and the new form of drama
appeared.Neoclassicism(1700-1800),poetry should be guided by reason,the role of the poet is that of
the teacher and it should written according to fix rules with special dictions.Romanticism,is the
expression of personal feelings and emotions.Some important poets are William Wordsworth,Keats
Bryan,etc.The Victorian Period(1837-1900),Novel was the main literary production and Oscar Wilde is
the best dramatist of this period.The Modern Period as a result of the political changes and world wars
is replaced by the loss of faith,suffering and uncertainty that the modern literature expresses.Some
major literary figures are W.B. Yeats in poetry,Virgina Wolf in novel and Samuel Becket in drama.

Filipino Literature

Summary of Iliad

Iliad begins nine years after the Greek armies first arrived at Troy. A plague has overcome the

Greek armies because Agamemnon has refused to return the daughter of a Priest of Apollo. Achilles,

the epic's central character, exposes this fact and confronts the king. Agamemnon agrees to release this

girl, if, and only if, Achilles gives him his 'war-prize', Briseis in return. Achilles finds this to be

tremendously unjust and withdraws from battle taking with him all of his soldiers. He asks the gods to

grant him revenge and make the Greeks require his assistance in order to win Achilles remains

withdrawn for the greater portion of the epic.Agamemnon is encouraged to attack by a dream and after

some trouble with his troops, rallies them. The Trojan side rallies also. The two armies move towards
each other but are stopped by a challenge from Hector: Paris and Menelaus are to fight one on one to

decide the war. Paris flees the battle with the help of a divinity and Menelaus rages on with his brother

demanding the release of Helen and her treasure. Zeus, the king of the gods, calls an assembly of the

gods and orders them to stop helping the battle because he has decided how it is going to turn out.

Meanwhile the battle continues near Troy. The Greek Diomedes makes a heroic stand and kills many

Trojans. The Trojan Aeneas fights Diomedes and is wounded but eventually rescued by his mother,

Aphrodite. Ares reenters the battle on the Trojan side. With Ares at his side, Hector goes on a rampage.

Ares is wounded by Diomedes as Hera and Athena enter to help the Greeks. Telamonian Ajax joins

Diomedes and the Greeks begin to repulse the Trojans. Hector returns to Troy to pray for Diomedes to

be taken from battle. He chastises Paris for cowardice, speaks to Helen and spends some time with his

wife Andromache. Paris and Hector return to war. The Trojans rally again and then Hector challenges a

Greek captain to a duel. Ajax fights him but the duel is ended by nightfall and a truce. Both sides

debate the follow day of the war expressing the need for a truce to care for their dead. The Trojans

propose a settlement. The Greeks reject this, but agree to a truce day for burials. Zeus again threatens

the assembled gods and for a while they heed him. The battle begins and the Trojans, with the blessing

of Zeus, push the Greeks back to their earthen walls. Zeus gives an omen to the Greeks and they rally.

The Trojans rally again and continue to push onward. Night comes and the Trojan army camps outside

the city. The Greeks send an embassy to Achilles requesting his return to battle in exchange for treasure

and an unharmed Briseis. Achilles refuses. The Greeks go to sleep but the captains stay awake and

Odysseus and Diomedes raid the Trojan camps. They kill the Trojan Dolon and steals horses from the

Thracian camp. The battle begins the next day with a Greek rally led by Agamemnon. Zeus instructs

Hector not to fight until Agamemnon is wounded. With this omen fulfilled, Hector rallies the Trojans

and pushes towards the ships. Odysseus and Diomedes are also wounded. Achilles watches the battle

and sends Patroclus to see who has been wounded. The Trojans continue attacking and with

extraordinary feats of strength and bravery by Hector and Sarpedon, they storm the Greek camp. The
fighting remains fierce near the Greek ships. With Zeus turned away from the battle, Poseidon inspires

Ajax and Idomeneus to fight more fiercely. Hector is driven back and wounded. Nestor, wounded, goes

back to the battle with other Greek captains in order to rally the troops. Hera plots to seduce Poseidon

and put him to sleep. With the king of the Gods sleeping, Poseidon enters the battle on the Greek side

and the Trojans are routed. Zeus wakes and reinvigorates the Trojan line. Apollo helps Hector back into

battle and the Trojans again push to the Greek Ships. Ajax defends these valiantly and Nestor continues

to spur on the Troops. Hector calls for torches to burn the boats as Patroclus observes the panic in his

compatriots. Patroclus returns to Achilles and requests to enter the battle. Achilles lets him go leading

the myrmidons. Ajax and Hector continue to fight each other near the ships when the myrmidons enter

battle led by Patroclus, easily mistaken for Achilles in the hero's armor. Patroclus kills the Trojan son of

Zeus, Sarpedon and the battle centers around his body. Zeus has Apollo rescue the corpse of his son.

The battle is pushed back to the walls of Troy Paris attempts to storm the walls of the city, ignoring the

advice of Achilles. Patroclus is killed by a combination of the Trojan Euphorbus, Apollo and Hector.

With the death of Patroclus, the Trojans regain some ground as the two sides struggle for the body.

Hector follows Achilles' chariot, desiring his horses. Hector is wounded and must retreat. The Greeks

save the body of Patroclus. A runner brings the new of Patroclus' death to Achilles and the hero mourns

requesting revenge from his mother. Thetis goes to Hephaestus and gets a new set of armor for her son

which she bestows on him even though she finds him lying on the ground weeping. Achilles goes to

battle and Zeus releases the gods to fight as they desire. Aeneas stands up to Achilles but is wounded,

saved again by a god. Achilles and Hector clash with their troops following and Achilles rampage

continues.Achilles splits the Trojan line and murders many in the near-by river Xanthus. The river god

gets angry with him and Achilles eventually attacks the god himself. The god retaliates and chases

Achilles only to be stopped by Hephaestus who repulses him at Hera's bidding. Achilles presses to the

very walls of Troy. Hector exits to meet his adversary but then flees him, running around the city three

times. Athena tricks him into facing Achilles who kills him after a short struggle. The Greeks dishonor
Hector's body and Achilles drags him back to their camp behind his chariot.The Greeks have a feast

and build a pyre for Patroclus. They burn and then bury his body. After this, Achilles hosts a set of

funeral games for his fallen friend. At night Zeus has Thetis tell her son that Hector ought to be

ransomed and Iris tell Priam to ransom his son. With divine help, Priam comes to Achilles' camp and

ransoms the body of his son. The two share a meal together and go to sleep. Priam leaves at the

goading of Hermes before day break and the epic ends with the funeral of Hector.

Summary of Iliad

The Achaians, under King Agamemnon, have been fighting the Trojans off and on for

nine years, trying to retrieve Helen, the wife of Menelaos, and thus Agamemnon's sister-in-

law. Paris, a son of the king of Troy, kidnaps Helen, who becomes the legendary "Helen of

Troy" and "the woman with the face that launched a thousand ships." Yet, after years of

Achaian attacks, Troy remains intact, and the Trojan army remains undefeated. The same

cannot be said for the Achaian army. At present, the Achaian troops are dying from a

mysterious plague. Hundreds of funeral pyres burn nightly. Finally, Achilles, the Achaians'

most honored soldier, calls for an assembly to determine the cause of the plague. A

soothsayer reveals to the army that King Agamemnon's arrogance caused the deadly plague;

he refused to return a woman who was captured and awarded to him as a "war prize."

Reluctantly, Agamemnon agrees to return the woman, but, as compensation, he says that he

will take the woman who was awarded to Achilles, his best warrior. Achilles is furious, and he

refuses to fight any longer for the Achaians. He and his forces retreat to the beach beside

their ships, and Achilles asks his mother, the goddess Thetis, if she will ask Zeus, king of the

gods, to help the Trojans defeat his former comrades, the Achaians. Zeus agrees to do so.

The two armies prepare for battle, and Paris (the warrior who kidnapped Menelaos' wife,
Helen) leaps out and challenges any of the Achaians to a duel. Menelaos challenges him and

beats him, but before Paris is killed, the goddess Aphrodite whisks him away to the safety of

his bedroom in Troy. A short truce is called, but it is broken when an over-zealous soldier

wounds Menelaos. During the battle that follows, Diomedes, an Achaian, dominates the

action, killing innumerable Trojans and wounding Aphrodite, a goddess. The Trojans seem to

be losing, so Hektor returns to Troy to ask his mother to offer sacrifices to Athena. She

performs the rituals, but Athena refuses to accept them. Meanwhile, Hektor discovers Paris

safe in his bedroom with Helen, and shames him into returning to battle. Then Hektor visits

with his wife and their baby son. It is clear that Hektor is deeply devoted to his family, yet feels

the terrible weight of his responsibility as commander-in-chief of the Trojan army. During the

fighting that continues, the Achaians begin to falter, and at one point Athena, Zeus' daughter,

fears that the entire Achaian army may be slaughtered. Thus, she and Apollo decide to have

Hektor challenge one of the Achaian' warriors to a duel in order to settle the war. Telamonian

Aias (Ajax) battles Hektor so valiantly that the contest ends in a draw, and a truce is called.

During this break in the fighting, the dead of both armies are buried and given appropriate

funeral rites, and the Achaians fortify their defenses with a strong wall and a moat-like ditch.

The fighting resumes, and so many Achaians are slaughtered that Agamemnon suggests that

his troops sail for home, but finally he is convinced that he must return to the fighting.

Messengers are sent to Achilles, asking him to return to battle, but Achilles is still sulking

beside his ships and refuses to fight. Soon Agamemnon, Diomedes, Odysseus, and old

Nestor are all seriously wounded, and Achilles realizes that the Achaians are in danger of

imminent defeat. Therefore, he sends his warrior-companion, Patroklos, to find out who the

seriously wounded are. Patroklos talks with old Nestor, one of the wisest of the Achaian

soldiers. Nestor asks Patroklos to dress in Achilles' armor and return to battle. The Achaians,

he says, will rejoice and have new faith in their death struggle against the Trojans when they
think that they see Achilles returning to the battle. In addition, the Trojans will so fear the

wrath of the mighty Achilles that they will be easily defeated. Patroklos promises to ask

Achilles for permission to use his armor and ride into battle disguised as the mighty warrior.

Meanwhile, Hektor leads a massive Trojan surge against the Achaian wall that stands

between the Trojans and the Achaian fleet of ships, and the wall is successfully smashed. The

tumult is so deafening that hell itself seems unloosed. Achilles is watching and realizes that

his wish may be granted: The Achaians are about to be annihilated. He sends Patroklos into

the fighting, disguised as Achilles himself. The Achaian army rejoices at what they think is the

return of Achilles to the fighting, and the Trojans are so terrified that they are quickly swept

back to the walls of Troy. Patroklos' valor seems superhuman. He has killed nine Trojans in a

single charge when Apollo strikes him with such fury that Hektor is able to catch him off-guard

and thrust a spear through his body. Then some of the most intense fighting of the war follows

in a battle to claim Patroklos' body. Finally, the Achaians rescue Patroklos' corpse, and Hektor

captures Achilles' armor. Then the Achaians return to the beach, guarding their ships as best

they can. Achilles is filled with overwhelming grief and rage when he learns that his warrior-

companion, Patroklos, has been slaughtered. His mother, Thetis, comes to him and advises

him that it is fated that he will die if he tries to revenge Patroklos' death. But she says that if

Achilles decides to revenge Patroklos' death, she will outfit him in a suit of new armor, made

by one of the gods. Achilles chooses: He will defy certain death and the Trojans in an attempt

to punish them for what they (and he) did to Patroklos. Thus, he returns to battle in his new

armor and is so successful that he and the Achaians rout the Trojans. He savagely kills

Hektor, the Trojans' mightiest warrior. Achilles' anger is not sated, however. He ties Hektor's

corpse to his chariot and circles Patroklos' burial mound every day for nine days. Hektor's

parents are so grieved at the barbaric treatment given to their son's corpse that Priam,

Hektor's father, goes to Achilles and begs for his son's body. Achilles is moved by Priam's
pleas and by the memory of his own father. Consequently, he agrees to cleanse and return

Hektor's body. Hektor's body is given the appropriate cremation rites, and then with mourning

and weeping for the noble warrior, the Trojans place his remains in a golden casket and place

it in a burial barrow.