Wednesday 29 May 2019

THE GREAT GATSBY



Here you can revise Francis Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel, an exemplary tale regarding the American Dream, which explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval,  and excess, creating a portrait of "the Jazz Age".
Francis Scott Fitzgerald coined the term "Jazz Age" to refer to the period more commonly known as the Roaring Twenties. Jazz is an American style of music marked by its complex and exuberant mix of rhythms and tonalities. 
The Great Gatsby portrays a similarly complex mix of emotions and themes that reflect the turbulence of the times. Fresh off the nightmare of World War I, Americans were enjoying the fruits of an economic boom and a renewed sense of possibility. Yet in The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald stresses the darker side of the Roaring Twenties, its undercurrent of corruption and its desperate, empty decadence.  Read here.




Saturday 25 May 2019

THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND ENGLISH LITERATURE

Risultati immagini per british colonialism

The British Empire was always about more than just ruling lands; it was a state of mind, a set of beliefs and ideals and a way of looking at the world and making sense of it. Therefore it is no surprise that it left its mark in literature and the arts and that we can use these as a way of tracing its impact and influence.  Read here.
The Victorian period in British history marked the high point of British imperialism. Though the British policy of colonial expansion had begun earlier, during the nineteenth century Britain not only consolidated its existing empire, but also experienced an unprecedented expansion in its colonial possessions. Read here.
The origins of the post-colonial novel can be traced back to a period well before the post-war imperial retreat. Read here.
Here you can find a list of the  best books about colonialism and imperialism.

Saturday 11 May 2019

REVISING GEORGE ORWELL - 5^C LINGUISTICO

Risultati immagini per 1984

Risultati immagini per 1984

George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on 25 June 1903 in eastern India, the son of a British colonial civil servant. He was educated in England and, after he left Eton, joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, then a British colony. He resigned in 1927 and decided to become a writer. In 1928, he moved to Paris where lack of success as a writer forced him into a series of menial jobs. He described his experiences in his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, published in 1933. He took the name George Orwell, shortly before its publication. This was followed by his first novel, Burmese Days, in 1934.
An anarchist in the late 1920s, by the 1930s he had begun to consider himself a socialist. In 1936, he was commissioned to write an account of poverty among unemployed miners in northern England, which resulted in The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). Late in 1936, Orwell travelled to Spain to fight for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalists. He was forced to flee in fear of his life from Soviet-backed communists who were suppressing revolutionary socialist dissenters. The experience turned him into a lifelong anti-Stalinist.
Between 1941 and 1943, Orwell worked on propaganda for the BBC. In 1943, he became literary editor of The Tribune, a weekly left-wing magazine. By now he was a prolific journalist, writing articles, reviews and books.
In 1945, Orwell's Animal Farm was published. A political fable set in a farmyard, but based on Stalin's betrayal of the Russian Revolution, it made Orwell's name and ensured he was financially comfortable for the first time in his life. Nineteen Eighty-Four was published four years later. Set in an imaginary totalitarian future, the book made a deep impression, with its title and many phrases - such as "Big Brother is watching you", "newspeak" and "doublethink" - entering popular use. By now Orwell's health was deteriorating and he died of tuberculosis on 21 January 1950.


Wednesday 1 May 2019

MAY

Risultati immagini per happy may day decoration

"April showers bring May flowers", as the saying goes. And with those flowers comes May Day, a holiday that most people have heard of but have no idea what it’s for.  Read more here