‘Reading and Literature’ Archives
Emblematics
Emblematics In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a new genre of literature known as the emblem book became popular. A rich, visual language of symbolic images was created that soon spread far beyond the pages of the emblem book and had an impact on many aspects of society, including the practice of science. Andrea Alciati (1492–1550), [...]
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe (1564-93) Christopher Marlowe was an English playwright and poet, whose development of blank-verse drama influenced the early plays of Shakespeare. His best-known works are the plays Tamburlaine the Great (1588), The Jew of Malta (1590), Edward II (1592), and Dr Faustus (1604). Marlowe was the father of the modern English [...]
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) Sir Thomas More was an English statesman, scholar and humanist, the author of Utopia and a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He worked for King Henry VIII but refused to recognize him as head of the Church of England. For this he was imprisoned in the Tower and finally beheaded. Among More's works are Picus, Earl [...]
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (849-901), was the king of West Saxons; after defeating the Danes became overlord of all England, so that he is often reckoned the first English king. His work for education was of supreme importance: he founded many schools and brought teachers from all parts of the world. His own writings included [...]
Arthurian Legend
Arthurian Legend Arthurian Legend is the stories about Arthur, who became king of England when he pulled out the sword (Excalibur) in the stone, which no one except the king could do. His court at Camelot was famous for bravery, chivalry, romantic love, and magic which was practised esp. by the magician Merlin, and the sorceress Morgan Ie [...]
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) Herbert George Wells, along with Jules VERNE, was one of the major early writers of science fiction. He is probably the single most influential writer, inventing or popularizing many of the major plot devices and themes of the genre before it even had a name. Indeed, Wells thought of himself simply as a writer, and his [...]
The Time Machine
The Time Machine H. G. Wells (1895) The concept of travel through time was not original to H. G. WELLS. Charles Dickens moved Scrooge into his own past and future in The Christmas Carol (1843), and other writers had used similar magical or mystical means to accomplish the same thing. Wells, however, wrote the first significant tale in which [...]
The Stand
The Stand Stephen King (1978) Many of the best-selling horror novels by Stephen KING and Dean R. KOONTZ have employed science fiction rather than supernatural elements in their plots. Stephen King has used psi powers and aliens from other worlds as the source of evil and in this, his longest single book, he invokes a familiar science fiction [...]
All the Troubles in the World
“All the Troubles in the World” Isaac Asimov (1958) Although many writers anticipated the tend toward greater involvement of computers in everyday life, the internet and the advent of the personal computer did not take quite the course that most expected during the 1940s and 1950s. Like most of his peers, Isaac ASIMOV assumed that computers [...]
Types of Newspapers
Types of Newspapers The traditional role of newspapers has been to deliver prompt, detailed coverage of news as well as to supply other information and features that appeal to readers. The vast majority of newspapers are daily publications serving a local community. However, weekly, national, and special-audience newspapers have special [...]
