Archive for the ‘english lit’ Category »
GRE vocabulary building audiobook
Improve your vocabulary for the GRE or SAT verbal section! This free podcast episode contains moderate to difficult vocabulary words from the Barrons GRE word list. If you consider yourself an auditory learner, or just want to study on the go, this podcast is perfect for you. I’ll be releasing additional tracks in the next few days, so stay tuned. I’m also working on a podcast to mirror the Mnemosyne Project’s list of . If you haven’t checked this out already, do it. It’s amazing.
Vocabulary Podcast for the GRE
Coming soon…
I’m putting together a vocabulary audio podcast for the GRE general. Stay tuned for updates!
The Graveyard Poets
The so-called “Graveyard Poets” were a number of pre-Romantic English poets of the 18th century characterized by their dark meditations on mortality and frequent use of death imagery. Their poems often contain an element of the ’sublime’ and uncanny, and display an interest in ancient English poetic forms and folk poetry. They are often considered precursors of the genre.
The GRE may ask you to associate a certain poem or author with the graveyard poets, but aside from that I wouldn’t spend too much time studying them. Just know what to look for so you can identify the genre and take an educated guess at the author. if you do see a graveyard poem, chances are it was written by either Thomas Gray or Robert Blair. Here’s an excerpt from Blair’s poem “The Grave,” which is pretty typical for the genre.
Robert Blair (1699-1746)
The Grave (excerpt)
While some affect the sun, and some the shade.
Some flee the city, some the hermitage;
Their aims as various, as the roads they take
In journeying thro’ life;–the task be mine,
To paint the gloomy horrors of the tomb;
Th’ appointed place of rendezvous, where all
These travellers meet.–Thy succours I implore,
Eternal King! whose potent arm sustains
The keys of Hell and Death.–The Grave, dread thing!
Men shiver when thou’rt named: Nature appall’d
Shakes off her wonted firmness.–Ah ! how dark
The long-extended realms, and rueful wastes!
Where nought but silence reigns, and night, dark night,
Dark as was chaos, ere the infant Sun
Was roll’d together, or had tried his beams
Athwart the gloom profound.
The Graveyard Poets include , , , , , , , , , , and . is also sometimes included as a graveyard poet.
Give your eyes a rest! This GRE literature podcast contains audio books of everything you’ll need to read for GRE subject test – so you can study in your car, in the bath, at the gym or wherever you bring your ipod. The audio books appear at the end of the posts, along with helpful notes, links and other information. Just scroll down to view the most recent posts, or find the authors you want in the categories section on the right. If you want to download the audio files, just left click on the file and select “save link as.” Or, for easiest listening, . I’m working in roughly chronological order, and updating several times a week. Enjoy!
Literary Terms: Alexandrine
An alexandrine is a line of verse containing 12 syllables in iambic hexameter — in other words, a line with six feet, each of which has the stress on the second beat. Most importantly for GRE purposes, you must be able to identify the last line of a Spensarian Stanza as an alexandrine. This is not, however, the only time they occur.
Poetry written in couplets is sometimes varied by the introduction of a triplet, in which the third line is an alexandrine. This occurs in the following example from Dryden, which introduces a triplet after two couplets:
A But satire needs not those, and wit will shine
A Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line:
B A noble error, and but seldom made,
B When poets are by too much force betrayed.
C Thy generous fruits, though gathered ere their prime,
C Still showed a quickness; and maturing time
C But mellows what we write to the dull sweets of rhyme.
Listen to the audio book of
bk2_01 – The Legende of Sir Gyvon – Canto 01.