D+Block+Lit+Group+4

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**By Lynn Moon**
= SUMMARY =

What is Victorian Literature? Who were the famous literary figures? What did they write and why are they considered significant?
The British empire reached its peak during the Victorian Age. In this period, the empire prospered; industry and trade were expanding, and transportation had advanced greatly. Science and technology progressed greatly. During the Victorian era, England also encountered many changes and improvements in its literature.Victorian literature often dealt with the decreasing emphasis of traditional values. Writers of the period also often wrote about the increasing growth of the gap between the economic situations of the upper and middle class and the poor. Victorian literature can be further divided into two: the earlier and the later literature. During the early Victorian literature, authors, in many cases, used actual events that went on as a part of their novels. Their novels were usually long with a great number of characters. Charles Dickens is a famous example of an author from this part of the Victorian era. Some of his famous works include //Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations//, etc. Dickens is famous for his rich characters and his portrayal of the more depressing side of Victorian life. He used satirical humor to show his observations of and perspective on life. The later Victorian literature introduced some discontent and focused on more on the loss of faith in tradition. Matthew Arnold was a famous poet and essayist of the later Victorian era. He described his doubts about modern life and expressed his experience of going through an age when traditions were being questioned. Some of his works include Culture and Anarchy (1869) and “Dover Beach” (1867). = VISUALS = Matthew Arnold[left]. Charles Dickens[right]. Scene from //A Christmas Carol// by Charles Dickens =** WORKS CITED **= Collins, K. K. "Dickens, Charles." //World Book Advanced//. World Book, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. "Charles Dickens." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[|__http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com__]>. Collins, K. K. "Arnold, Matthew." //World Book Advanced//. World Book, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. "Matthew Arnold." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[|__http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com__]>. White, D. E. "English literature." //World Book Advanced//. World Book, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. =** VISUALS CITATION **= //Charles Dickens//. N.d. Perry-Castaneda Library. //ABC-CLIO World History: The Modern Era//. Web. 21 Feb. //2010. // //Matthew Arnold//. N.d. Library of Congress. //ABC-CLIO World History: The Modern Era//. Web. 21 Feb. 2010. //.// //Scene from a A Christmas Carol (Dickens)//. N.d. //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, n.d. Web. 21 //Feb. 2010. .// = FURTHER RESEARCH = __[|http://victorian.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/index.html]__ **This site is useful for more information about the Victorian Era, especially literature.** This source is reliable because the site is sponsored and also has an author and both of these facts are stated clearly right at the bottom. The author is also sponsored by a college: Graduate School of Languages and Cultures, Nagoya University, Japan. The site is also very current. This date of publication for this site is December 28, 2003 and the most recent update was February 24, 2010. The site links are also very current and most of the links that I have clicked on work perfectly fine. This source was probably created with the intention to inform readers; the site provides the audience with links to works of various Victorian writers and also their biographies. __[]__

**This site is useful for learning more about the different variety of authors during the Victorian era.**
This source is reliable because the sponsorship and the author of the website can be found easily and sound like credible sources. The writer, George P. Landow, is a professor of English and Art History from a respectable college like Brown University. This is a man of a very qualified background and can be trusted to supply us with trustworthy information. The site was created with the intention to inform other students more about the different writers of the Victorian Era and try to commemorate as many of them as we can. This site is very current with the most recent update around April of 2009. The links on the site also work very well and take me right to the site.