Expressionism

Preamble Expressionism was an avant-garde literary and artistic movement developed in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. The term was first employed by the French painter, Julien-Auguste Hervé in 1901 and was subsequently applied to literature by Hermann Bahr in 1914. It came out as a revolt...

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Innatism and Language Acquisition

The veteran linguist Noam Chomsky liberated himself from the notion of behaviourism and tended to revive the age-old conception of innatism. The innate view proposes language learning as an innate ability. That is, human beings are inherently born with the propensity to attain a language. The core...

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Sophocles Quick Facts

Sophocles Second of the three greatest ancient Greek writers of tragedy. Full Name: Sophocles Birth: 496 B.C. ? Death: 406 B.C. ? Cause of death: ? Place of Death: Athens Place of Birth: Colonus Hippius (now part of Athens) Buried at: Family tomb near Deceleia Father: Sophillus Mother:...

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Geoffrey Chaucer Quick Facts

Geoffrey Chaucer 14th century English poet, philosopher, courtier, civil servant and diplomat. Full Name: Geoffrey Chaucer Also Known as: Father of English Literature Birth: 1343? Death: 1400? Cause of death: ? Place of Death: ? Place of Birth: London, England? Buried at: Westminster...

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Matthew Arnold Quick Facts

Matthew Arnold Leading English poet, literary & social critic, and essayist of the Victorian age. Full Name: Matthew Arnold Birth: December 24, 1822 Death: April 15, 1888 Cause of death: Heart Failure Place of Death: Liverpool Place of Birth: Laleham, Middlesex Buried at: All Saints'...

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Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora (Also called Anesidora: the sender of gifts) was the first human woman on earth, apart from the gods, goddesses, and human males. Zeus ordered Hephaestus (also spelt: Hephaistos; Roman equivalent: Vulcan) to create her to punish both Prometheus and humankind for the theft...

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Diphthongs

DEFINITION In phonetics, a diphthong is a gliding monosyllabic speech sound that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position of another. PARAMETERS FOR DEFINING DIPHTHONGS Diphthongs present greater difficulty to people learning English because during...

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