In the Historical Context Essay, you will be writing about the time period in which a literary work is written and possibly about the work's author. This assignment will be the first step in researching your topic.

Instructions

Timeline Assignment

In the Historical Context Essay, you will be writing about the time period in which a literary work is written and possibly about the work's author. This assignment will be the first step in researching your topic. It will acquaint you with the time period and other aspects of the historical context surrounding the work you've chosen. 

Step 1

Choose the literary work you will write about:

• "The Man with the Twisted Lip" by Arthur Conan Doyle (starts on p.215)
• "The Californian's Tale" by Mark Twain
• "Death, be not proud" (Holy Sonnet 10) by John Donne
• "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen
• "Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde

Step 2

Using overviews from Artemis Literary Sources, major events from the timelines in Modern History Online, and author biographies from Bloom's Literary Reference Online, build a timeline that covers up to 50 years before the publication of your literary work and up to 25 years after it. Include 10-15 entries in your timeline. The only format restriction is to ensure readability. Each entry should include:

• Title (i.e. The Treaty of Versailles, Donne's Wife Dies)
• Brief description (3 sentences max)
• Statement theorizing the effect on the author/literary work (i.e. Wilde's legal battles and eventual conviction causes the play to close despite it being very popular at first.)
• Works Cited list entry and in-text citations for sources with page numbers