Abstract
This paper explains how satire was one of the most common tools used by writers and poets in the 17th and 18th centuries to either attack the political regime of the time or to highlight the ridiculous traditions of the society. It compares and contrasts three literary works which used this form of expression for political and social purposes.

From the paper:

"It was a tradition in the English Literature during the seventeenth and early 18th centuries that poets and writers would often use the technique of satire either for political purposes or simply to highlight the idiosyncrasies of the society. In this regard many major English literary figures used satire in their work but while some of them used it to create a light humorous situation, others would give it a very harsh tone, which resulted in some serious problems with those who were targeted in the work."

Tags:England, humanity, populace, corruption, government, upper, class, humor, culture, morality

Abstract
This paper discusses how legends, tales about heroes and their supernatural thrilling adventures have always attracted people regardless of the age. In particular, the paper focuses on early medieval epics such as "Beowulf" and "The Song of Roland" and the heroic fight between good and evil. It also looks at "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and how the protagonist struggles for his own ideals to become a perfect knight. Finally the paper examines the theme of selling his or her soul to the devil for knowledge, which is centered upon in Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus ".

From the Paper
" In terms of social and cultural values with a great influence upon the heroes, Beowulf must be placed in relation to the structure of the society in those times. It was a Germanic warrior society in which the relationship between the king and his thanes was of great importance; the thanes defended the interest of the king in return for material provisions: weapons, armor, gold, drinks and food. It was an environment based on values like honor and respect in which the duty to revenge the death of someone close was a a question of high morality. If Beowulf fights for saving his people, as he is aware of the fact that being commemorated in songs contains the only immortality a warrior from Beowulf's society could attain, in later medieval romances as " Sir Gawain and the Green Knight " the hero is no longer fighting for his people but for his ideals."

Tags:beowulf, song, roland, gawain, green, knight, doctor, faustus

Abstract
This paper explains the typical elements found in the literary genre known as Bildungsroman and then looks at the influence this particular genre had on English Victorian novels. The paper discusses three famous English novels and explains how they are examples of this genre.

From the Paper
"When you read early nineteenth century novels, you notice some similarities between them with regard to construction and development of their characters. These similarities are due to the genre in which many Victorian novels fall, widely known as Bildungsroman. Bildungsroman as a genre took birth in Germany from where it came to England and affected literature of that time so much so that despite the uniqueness of each novel of that era, there are many similarities that force us to put them all under one single category."

Tags:Charlotte, Bronte, Jane, Eyre, Charles, Dickens, Great, Expectations, Mary, Shelley, Frankenstein

Abstract
This paper explores the influences of various philosophies on literature from the time of Shakespeare to the era before World War I. According to the paper, these began with influences from the Renaissance and the rise of Humanism as a philosophy and continued many of these features even as it developed other influences at different periods. The paper further describes the primary forms of early literature and the eventual development of the novel.

From the Paper
"Literature from the time of Shakespeare to the era before World War I began with influences from the Renaissance and the rise of Humanism as a philosophy and continued many of these features even as it developed other influences at different periods. In the early period, poetry and the drama were the primary literary forms, but after the eighteenth century, prose would develop more power in the form of the newly-developed novel. These three strains would continue up to the time of World War I moving through periods of social mannerism, classicism, romanticism, into realism and naturalism. The seventeenth century was faced with religious issues centering on the..."

Tags:literature, shakespeare, modern

Abstract
This paper discusses the attitude towards women in the Middle ages. It shows that women were considered to be inferior to men and that they were also believed to be the cause of the humanity's downfall. Much of this caricature of women was rooted in the Church's attempt to control the human body. More than anything else, this effort was founded on a deep discomfort that the Church felt with sexuality.

Abstract
Based on a substantial amount of empirical research conducted on second language acquisition, it has been theorized that learners are best able to achieve the critical skill of learning a second language at some point fairly early in their maturational development. This claim is known as the "critical period hypothesis," which postulates that there is some maturational period for language learning that maximizes one's degree of proficiency in the language beyond that of other maturational periods. This study examines whether the critical period during which children are best able to learn English as a second language is before six years or age. To this end, the study compares the English proficiency levels of two groups of eighth grade ESL learners, a group that had begun to learn English before they were six years of age and a group that had begun to learn English after six years of age. Because the nature of language required in school is complex, a fairly complex assessment was made of English proficiency, namely English proficiency was assessed using the Quick-Start in English Written Language Assessment (QSE). The study shows that there are higher proficiency levels for those children who learned English before six than for those children who learned it after six years of age.

Table of Contents:
The Problem
Background
Problem Statement
Significance
Limitations
Null Hypothesis
Review of the Literature
Introduction
Critical Period Hypothesis and the Best Age of Second
Language Learning: The Pertinent Research
Conclusions
Subjects, Materials and Methods
The Setting
Subjects
Materials
Methods
Methods Used To Obtain Permission To Conduct Research
Data Gathering Methods
The Findings
Conclusions and Recommendations
References
Appendix A
Letter Mailed From Researcher to Supervisor
Appendix B
Letter From Supervisor
Appendix C
Letter Sent to Mark's Middle School Principal
Appendix D
Letter received from Mark's Middle School Principal

From the Paper
"While many claims have been made as to what precise age/age group constitutes the critical period, some recent research conducted in Germany, Doll (1996) stated that this critical period takes place during kindergarten or first grade. In other words, the period occurs sometime before the child is six years of age. What is interesting about Doll's findings is that they are in conflict with the majority of the earlier research in the area; this research tending to show that the critical period for effectively learning a second language is between the ages of eight and ten years (Bialystok, 1997)."

Tags:cognitive, development, vocabulary

Abstract
This paper examines the writings that recognize the societal acceptance of homosexuality of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Plato, Socrates and Shakespeare. However, the author indicates that the Victorian period openly shunned homosexuality; thereby, the homosexual literature genre, like society, did not even start to come out of the closet until the 1950s. The paper reviews Tom Spanbauer's contemporary novel, which has had a major impact on gay and straight readers, "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon", about the bisexuality and homosexuality of white cowboys, settlers in the Wild West at the turn of the century and the Navajo Indians.

From the Paper
"The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-80), for example, goes down in history as a model husband and father and a supporter of the virtues of heterosexual marriage. In his noteworthy Meditations that he published in his later life, he noted that his father taught him to "to suppress all passion for young men." Yet, as Emperor, he introduced no official regulations against homosexuality except to not recognize the existence of Antinous, boyfriend of his patron the Emperor Hadrian. Fronto came to Rome during Hadrian's reign, and it was not long before he was known as an orator only second to Cicero."

Tags:letters bisexual underground, classics academician, norm

Abstract
The paper looks at how "love" as a concept has been examined in many different forms as the novel itself has progressed over time. It examines how early English literature commonly portrayed the then stereotypical notion of the idealized or "courtly" lover and how more recent novels have expanded - and effectively recreated - the definition of love. In particular, it explores how this is evident in "Flaubert's Parrot" by Julian Barnes, "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguroand "Enduring Love" by Ian McEwan.

From the Paper
"The Remains of the Day is very much a tragic love story aggravated by the protagonist's continual repression of romantic sentiments. Blinded by unwavering devotion to his position as head butler of Darlington Hall, Stevens conceals his love for Miss Kenton despite an obvious attraction to her. As Shaffer asserts, "the butler clearly represses his sexual attraction to Miss Kenton, a woman with whom he works "at close quarters" during her maiden years" [(47) Shaffer 68-69]. When Stevens receives Miss Kenton's letter at the beginning of the novel and considers undertaking an excursion to meet her, he states, "I had become blind to the obvious" (5). Although Stevens is referring to the "faulty staff plan" (5) at Darlington Hall, these words allude to much more; although he covers his journey in the guise of a business trip, it soon becomes apparent that the main motivating factor is his love for Miss Kenton."

Tags:deception, delusion, braithwaite, stevens, jed

Abstract
The paper shows that the objective during the time of revelation in early nineteenth century Britain was for British women writers to give of themselves in a more defiant manner, setting themselves apart from the calmer, more feminine climate that had heretofore inhabited British literature. The paper shows that British women writers decided they wanted to be better recognized for their inherent literary contributions without being labeled either too feminine or too masculine; rather, they wanted to write like a man without having to be branded by the stigma that typically came with it. The paper explores how authors such as Mary Shelley, Ann Radcliffe and Mary Wollstonecraft contributed to this emancipation movement.

From the Paper
"Mary Shelley, Ann Radcliffe and Mary Wollstonecraft represent an era of the Romantic Period where women were beginning to come out of their literary shells and confront the strongly emotional and defiant aspects of writing that their male counterparts had harbored for so many years prior. With their guidance, subsequent British women writers were given the much-needed opportunity to express themselves in such a manner that embraced both their feminine and masculine sides."

Tags:feminist, frankenstein, literature, patriarchal, romantic

Abstract
This paper examines the following marriages in George Elliot's "Middlemarch": Dorothea to Casaubon, Rosamond to Lydgate, Celia to Sir James Chettam and Frank to Mary. It compares and contrasts these relationships with typical unions of the era. It provides a view of conventional social expectations of marriage in the early nineteenth century.

From the Paper
" "Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed." (Wilde 436). Marriage, or a partnership between a husband and a wife, is in the present day often a union entered into by two adults on the basis of attraction, compatibility, and love. In the nineteenth century marriage was not the same as it is today. Women were expected to take the role of an inferior to their husbands, and pass from dependence on their parents into submission to their spouse (Petrie 185). Marriage was often not a choice for women of that era. Most schools had not begun accepting females, and employment for single women was limited and perceived as disgraceful (Knickerbocker 174). Present day marriages are based on the union of social equals, with a greater emphasis on love, affection and individuality, a tradition that began in Europe during the time when Eliot wrote the novel (Goody 102). The relationships between Dorothea and Casaubon, Rosamond and Lydgate, Celia and Sir Chettam, and Frank and Mary, are representative of that century's ideals; woman's inferiority, accomplishments, and marriage within the neighborhood (Thompson 111). The marriages in George Eliot's Middlemarch are characteristic of the different pairings that were typical in the early nineteenth century."

Tags:british, eliot, english, female, george, literature, marriage, middlemarch, nineteenth, novels, relationships, women