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Written piece in which ideas or morals are represented by individual characters or things
Allegory
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A reference within an artistic work to another artistic work
Allusion
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In a literary work, the character whose actions oppose those of the hero.
Antagonist
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A story-poem, often sun aloud
ballad
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A group of american poets and artists whose expressions of alienation in the 1950's became a calling card of the underground. (Ginsberg, Kerouac )
Beat Movement
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Nonrhyming verse consisting of 10-syllable lines.
Blank Verse
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A subdivision of an epic poem
canto
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Artistic or literary movement that is aesthetically based on the Ancient Greeks or Romans.
Classicism
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The point is any story at which the action reaches its zenith.
climax
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Two rhyming lines of poetry in succession, most often of a similar or like meter.
Couplet
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The conclusion or resolution following the climax of a story.
Denouement
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A poem of remembrance
elegy
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French philosophical idea that the individual lives in an indifferent world and must take responsibility for his or her own choices. ( Sartre, Camus)
existentialism
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An allegorical story often employing animals as characters. (Aesop)
Fable
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A category of work within art or letters, usually of a distinctive style.
genre
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A Japanese poem containing 3 lines and 17 syllable in a structured order( 5-7-5)
Haiku
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A literary style in which a situation is shown with the intent of representing its opposite.
Irony
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A group of expatriate writers and artists in Paris in the 1920's centered around Gertrude Stein. ( Hemingway, Fitzgerald)
lost generation
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The comparison of two thins in which one item represents another
Metaphor
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High intellectual movement whose goal was the examination of pure art. ( Pound, Stein, Woolf)
Modernism
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A recurring element of theme in an artistic work
motif
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A lyric poem of rigidly structured stanzas.
ode
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A story depicting a message of a moral or religious nature.
parable
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Evoking pity in a literary work
pathos
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An artistic and literary style in which society and events are depicted as they appear in real life.
Realism
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The period of intensely active literary and artistic activity in england 1660-1688 when Charles II returned to the throne.
Restoration
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Predominately English movement in the 19th century whose basic belief was that passion should supersede logic and whose main opposition was Classicism. ( Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Bryon)
Romantic movement
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A literary work in which, through the use of irony, sarcasm and wit, the absurd in humanity is brought to light. (Swift's A Modest Proposal)
Satire
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A verse of 14 lines and written in one of several rhyme schemes ( Shakespeare, Petrarch)
Sonnet
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One division within a poem, usually of commonly metered verse.
stanza
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A literary device in which a character's thoughts emerge on the page as they occur. (Joyce, Woolf)
Stream of consciousness
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American movement in which insight and experience took precedence over logic and reason and that held the belief that all things coexist in nature. ( Thoreau, Emerson)
Transcendentalism
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Nineteenth-century England, considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire Characterized by rigid social manners and conservativism. ( Dickens,Hardy)
Victorian Age
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Aeschylus ( 525-456 B.C.E)
Ancient Greek Dramatist who specialized in tragedies, among them Prometheus Bound.
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Aesop (c. 620-560 B.C.E.)
Ancient Greek fabulist who allegorical fables have inspired many writers.
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Aligheri, Dante (1265-1321)
Early Renaissance Italian writer who is called the father modern literature. His Divine Comedy is on of literature's great triumphs.
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Anderson, Sherwood (1876-1941)
American short-story writer whose most famous collection is Winesburg, Ohio.
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Austen, Jane (1775-1817)
Nineteenth century English author whose novels include Sense and sensibility, and pride and prejudice.
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Balzac, Honore' de 1799-1850
Early 19th century French writer best known for his series La Comedie Humaine.
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Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989)
Irish-born French novelist and playwright whose Existentialist works include Malloy and Waiting for Godot.
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Bellow, Saul 1915- 2005
American novelist awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976. Herzog and Humboldt's Gift.
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Blake, William 1757-1827
British artist, poet, and engraver who write Songs of Innocence and Experience.
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Bronte, Charlotte 1816-1855
English novelist, sister to Emily, who write under the pen name Currer Bell. Best known for the novels Jane Eyre and Shirley.
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Bronte, Emily 1818-1848
One of three literary sisters, this English novelist wrote under the pen name Ellis Bell. Her novel Withering heights is considered one of the great Romantic novels.
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Bunyan, John 1628-1688
English preacher and writer of allegorical stories, most famously The Pilgrim's progress.
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Byron, Lord George 1788-1824
Prominent Romantic poet known for his adventurous life and writings. Important works include Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
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Camus, Albert 1913-1960
French writer and Existential best known for his novels The Stranger and the Plague.
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Carroll, Lewis (Charles Dodgson) 1832-1898
Prominent British writer, mathematician, an artist, Carroll wrote the classic children's tales Alice In Wonderland and though the Looking Glass.
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Cervantes, Miguel de 1547-1616
Spanish writer whose book Don Quixote is considered the first modern novel.
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Chaucer, Geoffery c.1349-1400
Early English poet who wrote the influential the Canterbury Tales.
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Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich (1860-1904)
Late 19th and early 20th century Russian playwright and short story writer who write the Seagull and The Cherry Orchard.
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Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 1772-1834
One of the first English Romantics, widely remembered for "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Together with William Wordsworth, he published Lyrical Ballads in 1798.
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Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle 1873-1954
Late 19th century French female author who published the Claudine novels as well as the Innocent Wife.
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Conrad, Joseph 1857-1924
Polish born British writer whose most famous books are the novella Heart of Darkness and the novel Under Western Eyes.
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Crane, stephen 1871-1900
American author of the Civil War novel Red Badge of Courage.
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Dickens, Charles 1812-1870
English writer immensely popular with his Victorian audience. A contemporary of Thomas Hardy,. Some important works are A Tale of Two Cities, Great expressions and A Christmas Carol.
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Dickinson , Emily 1830-1886
One of America's great 19th century poets whose emotional poems were never published in her lifetime.
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Donne, John 1572-1631
English writer, essayist, and religious scholar considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets due to his highly original poems, including "The Flea" and "Death Be Not Proud."
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Dostoevsky, Fyodor 1821-1881
Prominent Russian novelist whose major works include Crime and Punishment and The Idiot.
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Dreiser, Theodore 1871-1945
American writer of the naturalist school whose novels include Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy.
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Eliot, George (Mary Ann Evans) 1819-1880
Victorian English female novelist who wrote the realist novels Middlemarch an Adam Bede.
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Eliot, T.S. 1888-1965
American born British Modernist poet who wrote the poems "The Wasteland" and "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock."
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Emerson, Ralph Waldo 1803-1882
Important American Transcendentalist writer and philosopher. The mentor of Thoreau, he wrote the essay "Nature."
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Euripedes c. 480-406BCE
Along with Sophocles and Aeschylus, a preeminent Ancient Greek dramatist.
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Faulkner, William 1897-1962
Acclaimed American Southern novelist had a major influence on contemporary literature. Some major works include The Sound and the Fury, Abloom!Absolom!, and As I lay Dying.
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Fitzgerald, F. Scott 1896-1940
One of the 20th century's literary stars, his writing chronicled the jazz age. His novel The Great Gatsby is considered an American masterpiece.
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Flaubert, Gustave 1821-1880
French writer who coined the phrase le mot juste (the perfect word) and had notoriously meticulous style. His masterpiece is Madame Bovary.
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Frost, Robert 1874-1963
Popular American poet of the 20th century who penned such notable poems as "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" an "Mending Wall."
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Ginsberg, Allen 1926-1997
American Beat poet and active political figure who became the face of a generation's underground. Perhaps his most famous work is the collection Howl.
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Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 1749-1832
Prominent German writer, critic, and scientist who is most famous for his classic Faust.
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Hammett, Dashiell 1894-1961
Popular American writer of noir, or detective fiction. Many of his novels, including Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man, became successful movies.
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Hardy, Thomas 1840-1928
One of the great English writers of the 19th century, his popular novels include Far From the Maddening Crowd and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1804-1864
Important 19th century American writer who wrote celebrated novels an short stories, including The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil."
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Hemingway, Ernest 1899-1961
Holds a place as one of America's most influential writers due to a terse style he honed as a journalist. Best known among his works are the novels The sun Also Rises and A Farewell To Arms.
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Hesse, Hermann 1877-1962
Swiss born German writer who write often about the duality of life. His novels include Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.
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Homer c. 850 B.C.E
Ancient Greek writer sometimes called the father of literature. His epics Iliad and Odyssey are two of history's most important achievements.
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Hughes, Langston 1902-1967
Twentieth century African American poet, novelist, and playwright who helped shaped the Harlem Renaissance. Famous poems include "Wear Blues." "Mother to Son," "Harlem, " and "Theme for English B."
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Hugo, Victor 1802-1885
Prominent Victorian French novelist who wrote Les Mise'rables.
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James, Henry 1843-1916
Expatriate American writer and critic at the turn of the 19th century whose novels include The Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller.
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Johnson, Samuel 1709-1784
The leading thinker of his era, this English writer wrote the first modern dictionary in 1755.
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Joyce, James 1882-1941
Irish author is one of the towering figures of modern literature due to his groundbreaking narratives, shown most spectacularly in the novels Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
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Kafka, Franz 1883-1924
German existentialist novelist who penned the classic The Metamorphosis.
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Keats, John 1795-1821
English Romantic poet who wrote "Ode to a Nightingale" and Ode on a Grecian Urn," among many others.
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Kerouac, Jack 1922-1969
American Beat poet and novelist an voice of the counterculture who wrote on the Road.
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Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882
Popular 19th century American Romantic poet who wrote "Songs of Hiawatha."
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Marlowe, Christopher
English playwright was Shakespeare's contemporary and is often though to have influenced him greatly . He wrote Tamburlaine the Great and Dr. Faustus.
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Melville, Herman
One of the greatest American novelist, his works include the masterpiece Moby Dick and the short story Bartleby the scrivener.
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Miller, Arthur
Acclaimed 20th century American playwright who wrote many Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, including Death of a salesman and The Crucible.
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Miller, Henry
Twentieth century American writer who wrote several controversial works including Tropic of Cancer.
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Milton, John
Considered one of the great English language poets. An outspoken Essayist during the Reformation. Paradise Lost , and paradise regained.
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Moliere, Jean - Baptiste Poquelin
French playwright and actor who helped define modern theater with his plays - Tartuffe and The Misanthrope
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Morrison, Toni
Contemporary African American novelist whose fiction is widely acclaimed.
Won the Nobel Prize in 1993
Beloved and Song of Solomon
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Nabokov, Valdimir
Russian American writer and essayist who is best known for his controversial novel Lolita and its protagonist Humbert Humbert.
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O'Neill, Eugene
Twentieth century playwright widely thought to be America's greatest dramatist.
Desire Under the Elms , The Hairy Ape, The Iceman Cometh
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Orwell, George ( Eric Blair)
English author who penned the satirical political novels, 1984 and Animal farm. Also known for critical work and essays.
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Ovid
Roman poet, inspired Renaissance and Baroque writers with Matamorphoses
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Petrarch
Renaissance Italian poet, great influence on 16th and 17th century British writers.
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Plath, Sylvia
American poet and novelist of the confessional school.
Her tempestuous life was the subject of many of her poems.
"Daddy" "The Bell Jar"
Committed suicide in 1963.
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Plutarch
Greek essayist and biographer whose monumental tome, The Parallel Lives, influence many including Shakespeare.
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Poe, Edgar Allan
One of 19th century America's greatest writers and forefather of the modern horror genre.
The Raven, "The Tell tale Heart , and The Cask of Amontillado
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Pound, Ezra
American born poet and editor( of T.S. Eliot and others) who typified the Modernist movement.
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Proust, Marcel
French novelist who wrote complex novels and stories.
Series of books, " Remembrance of Things Past."
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Rushdie, Salman
British novelist most notable for the death sentence imposed on him by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who thought his novel The Satanic Verses to be blasphemous.
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Sappho
Greek female poet of whose work little remains today except fragments of love poems.
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Scott, Sir Walter
Scottish novelist whose historical novels were extremely popular. HIs most famous is Ivanhoe.
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Shakespeare, William
The mast of playwrights in the English language. He has influenced much of modern literature from poetry to tragedy.
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Shaw, George Bernard
Irish playwright and Novel Prize winner wrote many notable plays including Pygmalion and Saint Joan.
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Shelley, Percy Bysshe
English poet during the Romantic movement who was also husband of writer Mary Shelley (Frankenstein). Lyrical drama Prometheus Unbound.
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Sophocles
Greek dramatist, who along with Aeschylus and Euripides, wrote some of the greatest Greek tragedies. HIs classic Oedipus Rex is among the greatest plays every written.
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Spenser, Edmund
A master of the epic poem and friend of prominent British statesmen, Spenser is best known for his elegant The Faerie Queen.
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Stein, Gertrude
An American writer who lived most of her life in Paris in the 1920's, coining the term "lost generation." in reference to her fellow expatriate writers ( Hemmingway and Fitzgerald)
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Steinbeck, John
American novelist whose stories often centered around the plight of the worker. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962, and his novels include the Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.
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Stevenson, Robert Louis
English writer of the 19th century who write such well known novels as Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Swift, Jonathan
Irish born English writer who is widely acknowledged as one of the world's great satirists. Gulliver's Travels and satire " A Modest Proposal"
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Thoreau, Henry David
American thinker and essayist who along with mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, championed the transcendentalist movement. Walden, was a classic in Western thought.
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Tolstoy, Count Leo
Russian novelist and philosopher who wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
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Twain, Mark ( Samuel Clemens)
Humorists whose novels, including Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, are classics of American Literature.
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Updike, John
Contemporary American novelist who write many popular novels - Rabbit, Run and Bech at Bay
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Virgil (Vergil)
Roman poet who write the epic Aeneid.
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Voltaire
French philosopher and author whose achievements shaped the Age of Enlightenment. Candide.
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Walker, Alice
African American Novelist - the Color Purple.
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Whiteman, Walt
American Poet whose seminal collection Leaves of Grass, is still considered among the greatest American poems.
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Wilde, Oscar
Controversial Irish writer whose works included The Importance of Being Ernest and Salome.
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Williams, Tennessee
Major American playwright from the South who write, among others, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie.
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Woolf, Virginia
British novelist and major influence in modern fiction, her stream of consciousness style has influenced many writers. To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway.
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Wordsworth, William
Poet of the English Romantic movement who , along with Coleridge, published the seminal Lyrical Ballads.
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Yeats, William Butler
Irish playwright and poet who penned The Winding Stair.
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Zola, Emile
French writer and essayist from the naturalist school whose most famous work is " J' Accuse," an article decrying the French government's role in the Dreyfus Affair.
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