Level 109
1 day < 1 min
LeaderboardGuest · Log in
Modern Literature

Modern Literature

A survey of literature from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, tracing the rise of the novel, the flowering of Romanticism, the ascendancy of Realism, and the birth of literary Modernism.

Wikimedia Commons · Daniel Maclise · Public domain

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. The Birth of the English Novel. Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, and Swift shaped the early English novel, alongside the rise of Gothic fiction.
  2. Romanticism in Germany and England. Rousseau's influence, Goethe's Werther and Faust, and Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads defined early Romanticism.
  3. The Romantic Poets and Frankenstein. Byron, Shelley, and Keats defined later English Romantic poetry, alongside Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
  4. The Novel of Manners and Historical Romance. Austen, Scott, Hugo, and Dumas developed the novel of manners, the historical novel, and the adventure romance.
  5. European Realism. Balzac, Flaubert, Stendhal, Dickens, the Brontës, and Eliot developed Realism as the dominant novelistic mode.
  6. The Russian Novel and Naturalism. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, the Russian golden age, and Zola's Naturalism extended Realism to new depths.
  7. American Literature Comes of Age. Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Twain, and Henry James established a distinct American literary tradition.
  8. Symbolism and the Birth of Modernism. Baudelaire, the Symbolists, Proust, Joyce, Woolf, Kafka, and Eliot inaugurated literary Modernism.

This is the starting point of Modern Literature: you don't need any prior knowledge of this subject to begin.

Key points

Visual module map

1The Birth of the English Novel
2The Romantic Poets and Frankenstein
3European Realism
4The Russian Novel and Naturalism
5Symbolism and the Birth of Modernism

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

Your module mastery

0% (overall measurement)
Approximate breakdown by skill
Understanding of historiographical debate0%

A rough estimate based on the key points reviewed, not an exact measurement of actual mastery.

Final test

You need to review all key points to unlock the final test.

Optional mini-games

Extra practice, with no penalty, to reinforce the module's content.

Review Flashcards

Review each key point with cards that flip to reveal the summary.

Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Watt, I. (1957). The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. London: Chatto & Windus.
  • Auerbach, E. (1946). Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Bern: A. Francke Verlag.
  • Abrams, M. H. and Greenblatt, S. (eds.) (various editions). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
  • Moretti, F. (ed.) (2006). The Novel, Volume 1: History, Geography, and Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Bradbury, M. and McFarlane, J. (eds.) (1976). Modernism: 1890-1930. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.