1.
M. R. James
–
Montague Rhodes James OM FBA, who published under the name M. R. James, was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of Kings College, Cambridge, and of Eton College. Though Jamess work as a medievalist is still regarded, he is best remembered for his ghost stories. James redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors, however, Jamess protagonists and plots tend to reflect his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the antiquarian ghost story, James was born in a Goodnestone, Dover clergy house in Kent, England, although his parents had associations with Aldeburgh in Suffolk. His father was Herbert James, an Evangelical Anglican clergyman, and his mother and he had two older brothers, Sydney and Herbert, and an older sister, Grace. Sydney James later became Archdeacon of Dudley, from the age of three until 1909 Jamess home, if not always his residence, was at the Rectory in Great Livermere, Suffolk. This had previously been the home of another eminent Suffolk antiquary. Several of Jamess ghost stories are set in Suffolk, including Oh, Whistle, in September 1873 he arrived as a boarder at Temple Grove School, one of the leading boys preparatory schools of the day. He lived for years, first as an undergraduate, then as a don and provost, at Kings College, Cambridge. The university provides settings for several of his tales, apart from medieval subjects, James studied the classics and appeared very successfully in a staging of Aristophanes play The Birds, with music by Hubert Parry. His ability as an actor was also apparent when he read his new ghost stories to friends at Christmas time, James is best known for his ghost stories, but his work as a medievalist scholar was prodigious and remains highly respected in scholarly circles. Indeed, the success of his stories was founded on his antiquarian talents and his 1917 edition of the Latin hagiography of Æthelberht II of East Anglia, king and martyr, remains authoritative. He catalogued many of the libraries of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. Among his other works, he wrote The Apocalypse in Art. He also translated the New Testament apocrypha and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Biblica and his ability to wear his learning lightly is apparent in his Suffolk and Norfolk, in which a great deal of knowledge is presented in a popular and accessible form, and in Abbeys. James also achieved a deal during his directorship of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. He managed to secure a number of important paintings and manuscripts. James was Provost of Eton College from 1918 to 1936 and he was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930
2.
Fiction
–
Fiction is the classification for any story or similar work derived from imagination—in other words, not based strictly on history or fact. Fiction does not refer to a mode or genre, unless used in its narrowest sense to mean a literary narrative. Instead, the context of fiction is generally open to interpretation, characters and events within a fictional work may even be openly set in their own context entirely separate from the known universe, a fictional universe. Science fiction, for example, predicts or supposes technologies that are not realities at the time of the works creation, for example, Jules Vernes novel From the Earth to the Moon was published in 1865 and only in 1969 did astronaut Neil Armstrong first land on the moon. Historical fiction places imaginary characters into real historical events, in the early historical novel Waverley, Sir Walter Scotts fictional character Edward Waverley meets a figure from history, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and takes part in the Battle of Prestonpans. Some works of fiction are slightly or greatly re-imagined based on some originally true story, often, even when the author claims the fictional story is basically true, there may be artificial additions and subtractions from the true story to make it more interesting. One such example would be Tim OBriens The Things They Carried, creators of fantasy sometimes introduce entire imaginary creatures or beings such as dragons and fairies. In terms of the separation between fiction and non-fiction, the lines are now commonly understood as blurred, showing more overlap than mutual exclusion. Even fiction usually has elements of, or grounding in, truth, also, infinite fictional possibilities themselves signal the impossibility of fully knowing reality, provocatively demonstrating that there is no criterion to measure constructs of reality. The Internet has had a impact on the creation and distribution of fiction. Also, digital libraries such as Project Gutenberg make public domain texts more readily available, the combination of inexpensive home computers, the Internet and the creativity of its users has also led to new forms of fiction, such as interactive computer games or computer-generated comics. Countless forums for fan fiction can be online, where loyal followers of specific fictional realms create and distribute derivative stories. Types of literary fiction in prose, Short story, A work of at least 2,000 words, the boundary between a long short story and a novella is vague. Novella, A work of at least 17,500 words, joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness is an example of a novella. Novel, A work of 50,000 words or more, cartoonist Character Fiction writing Legend Mythology Non-fiction Pseudohistory Eco, Umberto 2009. On the ontology of fictional characters, A semiotic approach
3.
Drama
–
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning action, which is derived from I do, the two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses, Thalia, Thalia was the Muse of comedy, while Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy. Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the mode has been contrasted with the epic. The use of drama in a narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the modern era. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy—for example and it is this narrower sense that the film and television industries, along with film studies, adopted to describe drama as a genre within their respective media. Radio drama has been used in both senses—originally transmitted in a performance, it has also been used to describe the more high-brow. The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production, the structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception. The early modern tragedy Hamlet by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama, a modern example is Long Days Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill. Closet drama describes a form that is intended to be read, in improvisation, the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance, performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience. Western drama originates in classical Greece, the theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Their origins remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE they were institutionalised in competitions held as part of celebrating the god Dionysus. The competition for tragedies may have begun as early as 534 BCE, tragic dramatists were required to present a tetralogy of plays, which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play. Comedy was officially recognized with a prize in the competition from 487 to 486 BCE, five comic dramatists competed at the City Dionysia, each offering a single comedy. Ancient Greek comedy is traditionally divided between old comedy, middle comedy and new comedy, following the expansion of the Roman Republic into several Greek territories between 270–240 BCE, Rome encountered Greek drama. While Greek drama continued to be performed throughout the Roman period, from the beginning of the empire, however, interest in full-length drama declined in favour of a broader variety of theatrical entertainments. The first important works of Roman literature were the tragedies and comedies that Livius Andronicus wrote from 240 BCE, five years later, Gnaeus Naevius also began to write drama. No plays from either writer have survived, by the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, drama was firmly established in Rome and a guild of writers had been formed
4.
Ghost
–
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. Descriptions of ghosts vary widely from a presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a person is known as necromancy. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and they are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life. Ghosts exist as a concept only, despite centuries of investigation, the English word ghost continues Old English gást, from a hypothetical Common Germanic *gaistaz. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North Germanic, the pre-Germanic form was *ghoisdo-s, apparently from a root denoting fury, anger reflected in Old Norse geisa to rage. The Germanic word is recorded as only, but likely continues a neuter s-stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would thus have been a principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation. In Germanic paganism, Germanic Mercury, and the later Odin, was at the time the conductor of the dead. It could also denote any good or evil spirit, such as angels and demons, also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, viz. the Holy Ghost. The now-prevailing sense of the soul of a person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form only emerges in Middle English. The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk, alternative words in modern usage include spectre, the Scottish wraith, phantom and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά, or Latin umbra, haint is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States, and the haint tale is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition. The term poltergeist is a German word, literally a noisy ghost, wraith is a Scots word for ghost, spectre, or apparition. It appeared in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the general or figurative sense of portent or omen. In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology, the OED notes of obscure origin only, an association with the verb writhe was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien
5.
Magic (paranormal)
–
Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
6.
Weird fiction
–
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th century. It can be said to encompass the ghost story and other tales of the macabre, Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in its blending of supernatural, mythical, and even scientific tropes. British authors who have embraced this style have often published their work in literary magazines even after American pulp magazines became popular. Popular weird fiction writers included Edgar Allan Poe, William Hope Hodgson, H. P. Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany, Arthur Machen, M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft adopted the term from Sheridan Le Fanu and popularized it in his essays. In Supernatural Horror in Literature, Lovecraft defines the genre, The true weird tale has something more than secret murder, bloody bones, the pulp magazine Weird Tales published many such stories in the United States from March 1923 to September 1954. Although Lovecraft was one of the few early 20th-century writers to describe his work as weird fiction, for example, China Miéville often refers to his work as weird fiction. The following notable authors have described as writers of weird fiction. They are listed alphabetically by last name and it has been suggested by some, predominantly Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and China Mieville, that Weird fiction has seen a recent resurgence, a phenomenon they term the New Weird. Tales which fit this category, as well as discussion of the phenomenon. Cosmic horror Cthulhu Mythos Dark fantasy Gothic fiction Horror fiction List of genres Lovecraftian horror Occult detective Supernatural fiction Surrealism Urban fantasy Joshi, blog devoted to the English writer W. H. Hodgson, pioner in the weird tale. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature H. P
7.
Horror fiction
–
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as a piece of fiction in prose of variable length, which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere, Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious traditions, focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and these were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. 18th century Gothic horror drew on these sources with the seminal and controversial The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and this marked the first incorporated elements of the supernatural instead of pure realism. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as a medieval romance from Italy discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as contemporary, many found it anachronistic, reactionary, or simply in poor taste — but it proved to be immediately popular. That first novel of Gothic horror inspired such works as Vathek by William Beckford, A Sicilian Romance, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk by Matthew Lewis. A significant amount of fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a female audience. The Gothic tradition blossomed into the modern readers call horror literature in the 19th century. Each of these novels and novellas created an icon of horror seen in modern re-imaginings on the stage. The proliferation of periodicals, as early as the turn of the century. One writer who specialized in fiction for mainstream pulps such as All-Story Magazine was Tod Robbins, whose fiction dealt with themes of madness. Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, including Weird Tales, influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Early cinema was inspired by aspects of horror literature, and early horror cinema started a strong tradition of horror films. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence they were frequently censored, many modern novels claim an early description of the living dead in a precursor to the modern zombie tale, including Dennis Wheatleys Strange Conflict, H. P. Lovecraft stories such as Cool Air, In The Vault, richard Mathesons novel I Am Legend would also influence an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematic of the films of George A. Romero
8.
Morality play
–
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as interludes, Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, having grown out of the religiously based mystery plays of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre. The earliest known morality play is Hildegard von Bingens Ordo Virtutum composed c and it is the earliest morality play by more than a century, and the only Medieval musical drama to survive with an attribution for both the text and the music. Morality plays typically contain a protagonist who represents either humanity as a whole or a social structure. Supporting characters are personifications of good and evil and this alignment of characters provides the play’s audience with moral guidance. Morality plays are the result of the dominant belief of the time period, in Everyman, perhaps the archetypal morality play, the characters take on the common pattern, representing broader ideas. Some of the characters in Everyman are God, Death, Everyman, Good-Deeds, Angel, Knowledge, Beauty, Discretion, the personified meanings of these characters are hardly hidden. The emphasis put on morality, the seemingly vast difference between good and evil, and the presence of God makes Everyman one of the most concrete examples of a morality play. At the same time, most morality plays focus more on evil, while Everyman focuses more on good, other plays that take on the typical traits of morality plays, but are rarely given the title of morality play are Hickscorner and The Second Shepherds Play. The characters in Hickscorner are Pity, Perseverance, Imagination, Contemplation, Freewill, in The Second Shepherds Play, the characters are less obviously representative of good and evil, being primarily a trio of shepherds. But other characters such as Mary, The Child Christ, and An Angel show a strong moral presence, in early English dramas Justice was personified as an entity which exercised “theological virtue or grace, and was concerned with the divine pronouncement of judgment on man”. However, as time progressed, more moralities began to emerge, the Justice in Respublica begins to concern himself with administering justice on “the criminal element”, rather than with the divine pronouncement on a generic representative of mankind. This is the first instance where one may observe a direct divergence from the theological virtues, the Justice in Respublica is personified as a “civil force rather than a theological one”. An evolution of sorts takes place within the morals and agendas of Justice, he begins to don on the Judicial Robe of prosecutor and executioner. Another change envelops in the character of Justice during the century in morality plays, Equity replaces Justice. One may readily observe the evolutionary progression of Justice as portrayed in the plays of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and it is a journey of discovery and great change on which Justice welcomes one to embark as one leafs through the pages of morality plays. Morality plays before the Reformation teach a Catholic approach to redemption, with an emphasis on works and the sacraments, a view originating with Tertullian, Cyprian, but beware, and they be small Before God, he hath no help at all
9.
Prophet
–
Claims of prophethood have existed in many cultures through history, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, in Ancient Greece, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and many others. Traditionally, prophets are regarded as having a role in society that promotes change due to their messages and actions which can convey the displeasure of God for the behavior of people. In the late 20th century the appellation of prophet has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics, alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are often called prophets of doom. In Hebrew, the word נָבִיא, spokesperson, traditionally translates as prophet, the second subdivision of the Hebrew Bible, TaNaKh, is devoted to the Hebrew prophets. The meaning of navi is perhaps described in Deuteronomy 18,18, where God said. and I will put My words in his mouth, thus, the navi was thought to be the mouth of God. The root nun-bet-alef is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness, to receive transcendental wisdom, cf. Rashbams comment to Genesis 20,7. In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Israelite or Jewish neviim often acted out prophetic parables in their life. For example, in order to contrast the people’s disobedience with the obedience of the Rechabites, God has Jeremiah invite the Rechabites to drink wine, the Rechabites refuse, wherefore God commends them. Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judahs pride. Likewise, Jeremiah buys a jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the nation of Judah. God instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The prophetic assignment is not always portrayed as positive in the Hebrew Bible, likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, Leave the way. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel, the life of Moses being threatened by Pharaoh is another example. According to I Samuel 9,9, the old name for navi is roeh, רֹאֶה and that could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. The seer-priests were usually attached to a shrine or temple, such as Shiloh. Canonical prophets were not organised this way, the similar term ben-navi means member of a seer-priest guild. Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh include Abraham, Moses, Miriam, Isaiah, Samuel, Ezekiel, Malachi, in Jewish tradition Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets. A Jewish tradition suggests that there were twice as many prophets as the number which left Egypt, the Talmud recognizes the existence of 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind
10.
Howard Pyle
–
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, but he spent the last year of his life in Florence, in 1894, he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry. After 1900, he founded his own school of art and illustration named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art, pitz later used the term Brandywine School for the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region, several of whom had studied with Pyle. Some of his notable students were N. C. Pyle taught his students at home and studio in Wilmington, which is standing and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His 1883 classic publication The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print and he is also well known for his illustrations of pirates, and is credited with creating what has become the modern stereotype of pirate dress. He published his first novel Otto of the Silver Hand in 1888 and he also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harpers Magazine and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was adapted as the movie The Black Shield of Falworth, Pyle travelled to Florence, Italy in 1910 to study mural painting. He died there in 1911 of a kidney infection. Pyle was the son of William Pyle and Margaret Churchman Painter, as a child, he attended private schools and was interested in drawing and writing from a very young age. He was an indifferent student, but his parents encouraged him to study art, in 1876, he visited the island of Chincoteague off Virginia and was inspired by what he saw. He wrote and illustrated an article about the island and submitted it to Scribners Monthly, one of the magazines owners was Roswell Smith, who encouraged him to move to New York and pursue illustration professionally. Pyle initially struggled in New York, his lack of experience made it difficult for him to translate his ideas into forms for publication. He was encouraged by several working artists, however, including Edwin Austin Abbey and he finally published a double-paged spread in the Harpers Weekly issue of March 9,1878 and was paid $75—five times what he had expected. He became increasingly successful and was an established artist by the time that he returned to Wilmington in 1880 and he also collaborated on several books, particularly in American history. He wrote and illustrated his own stories, beginning with The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood in 1883 and this book won international attention from critics such as William Morris. Over the following decades, he published many illustrated works for children. Pyle married singer Anne Poole on April 12,1881, in 1889, he and his wife sailed to Jamaica, leaving their children in the care of relatives
11.
Anthropology
–
Anthropology is the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology and cultural anthropology study the norms and values of societies, linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the development of humans. The abstract noun anthropology is first attested in reference to history and its present use first appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their New Latin anthropologia derived from the forms of the Greek words ánthrōpos and lógos. It began to be used in English, possibly via French anthropologie, various short-lived organizations of anthropologists had already been formed. The Société Ethnologique de Paris, the first to use Ethnology, was formed in 1839 and its members were primarily anti-slavery activists. When slavery was abolished in France in 1848 the Société was abandoned and these anthropologists of the times were liberal, anti-slavery, and pro-human-rights activists. Anthropology and many other current fields are the results of the comparative methods developed in the earlier 19th century. For them, the publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species was the epiphany of everything they had begun to suspect, Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparison of species he had seen in agronomy and in the wild. Darwin and Wallace unveiled evolution in the late 1850s, there was an immediate rush to bring it into the social sciences. When he read Darwin he became a convert to Transformisme. His definition now became the study of the group, considered as a whole, in its details. Broca, being what today would be called a neurosurgeon, had taken an interest in the pathology of speech and he wanted to localize the difference between man and the other animals, which appeared to reside in speech. He discovered the speech center of the brain, today called Brocas area after him. The title was translated as The Anthropology of Primitive Peoples. The last two volumes were published posthumously, Waitz defined anthropology as the science of the nature of man. By nature he meant matter animated by the Divine breath, i. e. he was an animist and he stresses that the data of comparison must be empirical, gathered by experimentation
12.
Literature
–
Literature, in its broadest sense, is any single body of written works. Its Latin root literatura/litteratura was used to refer to all written accounts, developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature. There have been attempts to define literature. Simon and Delyse Ryan begin their attempt to answer the question What is Literature, with the observation, The quest to discover a definition for literature is a road that is much travelled, though the point of arrival, if ever reached, is seldom satisfactory. Most attempted definitions are broad and vague, and they change over time. In fact, the thing that is certain about defining literature is that the definition will change. Concepts of what is literature change over time as well, definitions of literature have varied over time, it is a culturally relative definition. In Western Europe prior to the century, literature as a term indicated all books. A more restricted sense of the term emerged during the Romantic period, contemporary debates over what constitutes literature can be seen as returning to the older, more inclusive notion of what constitutes literature. Cultural studies, for instance, takes as its subject of both popular and minority genres, in addition to canonical works. The value judgment definition of literature considers it to cover exclusively those writings that possess high quality or distinction and this sort of definition is that used in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition when it classifies literature as the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing. The formalist definition is that literature foregrounds poetic effects, it is the literariness or poetic of literature that distinguishes it from ordinary speech or other kinds of writing. Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura learning, a writing, grammar, originally writing formed with letters, in spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts. Poetry is a form of art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of. Possibly as a result of Aristotles influence, poetry before the century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art. As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and sustained by an oral tradition, novel, a long fictional prose narrative. It was the close relation to real life that differentiated it from the chivalric romance, in most European languages the equivalent term is roman. In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the fifteenth century, with the meaning of news, it came to indicate something new
13.
English people
–
The English are a nation and an ethnic group native to England, who speak the English language. The English identity is of medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD, England is one of the countries of the United Kingdom. Collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons, they founded what was to become England along with the later Danes, Normans, in the Acts of Union 1707, the Kingdom of England was succeeded by the Kingdom of Great Britain. Over the years, English customs and identity have become closely aligned with British customs. The English people are the source of the English language, the Westminster system and these and other English cultural characteristics have spread worldwide, in part as a result of the former British Empire. The concept of an English nation is far older than that of the British nation, many recent immigrants to England have assumed a solely British identity, while others have developed dual or mixed identities. Use of the word English to describe Britons from ethnic minorities in England is complicated by most non-white people in England identifying as British rather than English. In their 2004 Annual Population Survey, the Office for National Statistics compared the ethnic identities of British people with their national identity. They found that while 58% of white people in England described their nationality as English and it is unclear how many British people consider themselves English. Following complaints about this, the 2011 census was changed to allow respondents to record their English, Welsh, Scottish, another complication in defining the English is a common tendency for the words English and British to be used interchangeably, especially overseas. In his study of English identity, Krishan Kumar describes a common slip of the tongue in which people say English, I mean British. He notes that this slip is made only by the English themselves and by foreigners. Kumar suggests that although this blurring is a sign of Englands dominant position with the UK and it tells of the difficulty that most English people have of distinguishing themselves, in a collective way, from the other inhabitants of the British Isles. In 1965, the historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, When the Oxford History of England was launched a generation ago and it meant indiscriminately England and Wales, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and even the British Empire. Foreigners used it as the name of a Great Power and indeed continue to do so, bonar Law, by origin a Scotch Canadian, was not ashamed to describe himself as Prime Minister of England Now terms have become more rigorous. The use of England except for a geographic area brings protests and this version of history is now regarded by many historians as incorrect, on the basis of more recent genetic and archaeological research. The 2016 study authored by Stephan Schiffels et al, the remaining portion of English DNA is primarily French, introduced in a migration after the end of the Ice Age
14.
Pulp magazine
–
Pulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the 1950s. The term pulp derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, in contrast. The typical pulp magazine had 128 pages, it was 7 inches wide by 10 inches high, the pulps gave rise to the term pulp fiction in reference to run-of-the-mill, low-quality literature. Pulps were the successors to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines were best known for their lurid, exploitative, and sensational subject matter. The first pulp was Frank Munseys revamped Argosy Magazine of 1896, with about 135,000 words per issue, on paper with untrimmed edges. In six years Argosy went from a few thousand copies per month to over half a million, Street & Smith, a dime novel and boys weekly publisher, was next on the market. Seeing Argosys success, they launched The Popular Magazine in 1903, due to differences in page layout however, the magazine had substantially less text than Argosy. Haggards Lost World genre influenced several key pulp writers, including Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Talbot Mundy and Abraham Merritt. Street and Smiths next innovation was the introduction of specialized genre pulps, with each focusing on a particular genre, such as detective stories, romance. At their peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, the most successful pulps could sell up to one million copies per issue, in 1934, Frank Gruber says there were some 150 pulp titles. The most successful pulp magazines were Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book and Short Stories, although pulp magazines were primarily an American phenomenon, there were also a number of British pulp magazines published between the Edwardian era and World War II. Notable UK pulps included Pall Mall Magazine, The Novel Magazine, Cassells Magazine, The Story-Teller, The Sovereign Magazine, Hutchinsons Adventure-Story and Hutchinsons Mystery-Story. The German fantasy magazine Der Orchideengarten had a format to American pulp magazines, in that it was printed on rough pulp paper. During the Second World War paper shortages had a impact on pulp production, starting a steady rise in costs. Beginning with Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine in 1941, pulp magazines began to switch to digest size, in 1949, Street & Smith closed most of their pulp magazines in order to move upmarket and produce slicks. The pulp format declined from rising expenses, but even more due to the competition from comic books, television. In a more affluent post-war America, the price gap compared to slick magazines was far less significant, in the 1950s, mens adventure magazines began to replace the pulp. The format is still in use for some lengthy serials, like the German science fiction weekly Perry Rhodan, many titles of course survived only briefly
15.
Good Housekeeping
–
It is well known for the Good Housekeeping Seal, popularly known as the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Good Housekeeping was founded May 2,1885 by Clark W. Bryan in Holyoke, the magazine achieved a circulation of 300,000 by 1911, at which time it was bought by the Hearst Corporation. It topped one million in the mid-1920s, and continued to rise, even during the Great Depression and its aftermath. Circulation topped 2,500,000 in 1943,3,500,000 in the mid-1950s,5,000,000 in 1962,1959 profits were more than $11 million. Good Housekeeping is one of the Seven Sisters, a group of womens service magazines, the Hearst Corporation created a British edition along the same lines in 1922. Famous writers who have contributed to the magazine include Somerset Maugham, Edwin Markham, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Frances Parkinson Keyes, A. J. Cronin, Virginia Woolf, and Evelyn Waugh. In 1900, the Experiment Station, the predecessor to the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, was founded, in 1902, the magazine was calling this An Inflexible Contract Between the Publisher and Each Subscriber. The formal opening of the headquarters of GHRI - the Model Kitchen, Testing Station for Household Devices, in 1909, the magazine established the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Products advertised in the magazine that bear the seal are tested by GHRI and are backed by a two-year limited warranty, about 5,000 products have been given the seal. Beginning with a Beauty Clinic in 1932, departments were added to the Institute, including a Babys Center, Foods and Cookery, some functioned as testing laboratories, while others were designed to produce editorial copy. After the passage of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938, the Hearst Corporation opposed the policy in spirit, and began publishing a monthly tabloid attacking federal oversight. The publisher fought the proceedings for two years, during which time competing editors from the Ladies Home Journal and McCalls testified against Good Housekeeping, the FTCs ultimate ruling was against the magazine, forcing it to remove some claims and phraseology from its ad pages. The words Tested and Approved were dropped from the Seal of Approval, but the magazines popularity was unaffected, steadily rising in circulation and profitability. In 1962, the wording of the Seal was changed to a guarantee of Product or Performance, in its varying forms, the Seal of Approval became inextricably associated with the magazine, and many others mimicked the practice. Good Housekeeping began to be published in the United Kingdom in 1922, in Latin America and particularly in the Latin American community resident in the United States, the magazine is known in Spanish as Buenhogar and is published by Editorial Televisa
16.
The New Yorker
–
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It is published by Condé Nast, started as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is now published 47 times annually, with five of these issues covering two-week spans. Although its reviews and events listings often focus on the life of New York City. The New Yorker debuted on February 21,1925 and it was founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, a New York Times reporter. Ross wanted to create a humor magazine that would be different from perceivably corny humor publications such as Judge. Ross partnered with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann to establish the F-R Publishing Company, the magazines first offices were at 25 West 45th Street in Manhattan. Ross edited the magazine until his death in 1951, during the early, occasionally precarious years of its existence, the magazine prided itself on its cosmopolitan sophistication. Ross famously declared in a 1925 prospectus for the magazine, It has announced that it is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque, although the magazine never lost its touches of humor, it soon established itself as a pre-eminent forum for serious fiction literature and journalism. Shortly after the end of World War II, John Herseys essay Hiroshima filled an entire issue, D. Salinger, Irwin Shaw, James Thurber, John Updike, Eudora Welty, Stephen King, and E. B. White. Publication of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery drew more mail than any story in the magazines history. In its early decades, the magazine published two or even three short stories a week, but in recent years the pace has remained steady at one story per issue. Kurt Vonnegut said that The New Yorker has been an instrument for getting a large audience to appreciate modern literature. Vonneguts 1974 interview with Joe David Bellamy and John Casey contained a discussion of The New Yorkers influence, No other art requires the audience to be a performer. You have to count on the readers being a good performer and those writers you mentioned and myself are teaching an audience how to play this kind of music in their heads. Its a learning process, and The New Yorker has been a good institution of the sort needed. They have an audience, and they come out every week, and people finally catch on to Barthelme, for instance. The non-fiction feature articles cover an array of topics. Recent subjects have included eccentric evangelist Creflo Dollar, the different ways in which humans perceive the passage of time, the magazine is notable for its editorial traditions
17.
John Dee
–
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occult philosopher, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and he was also an advocate of Englands imperial expansion. Dee straddled the worlds of science and magic just as they were becoming distinguishable, one of the most learned men of his age, he had been invited to lecture on the geometry of Euclid at the University of Paris while still in his early twenties. Dee was an ardent promoter of mathematics and an astronomer, as well as a leading expert in navigation. Simultaneously with these efforts, Dee immersed himself in the worlds of magic, astrology, in his lifetime, Dee amassed one of the largest libraries in England. His high status as a scholar also allowed him to play a role in Elizabethan politics and he served as an occasional advisor and tutor to Elizabeth I and nurtured relationships with her ministers Francis Walsingham and William Cecil. Dee also tutored and enjoyed patronage relationships with Sir Philip Sidney, his uncle Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and he also enjoyed patronage from Sir Christopher Hatton. Dee was born in Tower Ward, London, to Rowland Dee of Welsh descent and his surname Dee derived from the Welsh du, his grandfather was Bedo Ddu of Nant-y-groes, Pilleth, Radnorshire, and John retained his connection with the locality. His father Roland was a mercer and gentleman courtier to Henry VIII, John Dee claimed to be a descendant of Rhodri the Great, Prince of Wales and constructed a pedigree showing his descent from Rhodri. Dees family arrived in London in the wake of Henry Tudors coronation as Henry VII, Jane Dee was the daughter of William Wild. Dee attended the Chelmsford Chantry School from 1535 to 1542 and he entered St Johns College, Cambridge, in November 1542, aged 15, graduating BA in 1545 or early 1546. His abilities recognised, he became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. At Trinity, the stage effects he produced for a production of Aristophanes Peace procured him the reputation of being a magician that clung to him through life. In the late 1540s and early 1550s, he travelled in Europe, studying at Louvain and Brussels, in 1552, he met Gerolamo Cardano in London, during their acquaintance they investigated a perpetual motion machine as well as a gem purported to have magical properties. Rector at Upton-upon-Severn from 1553, Dee was offered a readership in mathematics at Oxford in 1554, in 1555, Dee became a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, as his father had, through the companys system of patrimony. That same year,1555, he was arrested and charged with calculating for having cast horoscopes of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth, Dee appeared in the Star Chamber and exonerated himself, but was turned over to the Catholic Bishop Bonner for religious examination. His strong and lifelong penchant for secrecy perhaps worsening matters, this episode was only the most dramatic in a series of attacks. Clearing his name yet again, he became a close associate of Bonner
18.
Edward Kelley
–
Legends began to surround Kelley shortly after his death. This has made him one source for the image of the alchemist-medium-charlatan. Much of Kelley’s early life is obscure and he claimed descent from the family of Ui Maine in Ireland. He was born at Worcester on 1 August 1555, at 4 P. M. according to a horoscope that John Dee drew up and his sister Elizabeth was born in 1558, and he had a brother Thomas who later joined him in Dees household. However, much of Kelleys life before meeting John Dee is not known and he may have studied at Oxford under the name of Talbot, whether or not he attended university, Kelly was educated and knew Latin and possibly some Greek by the time he met Dee. This relation being somewhat dubiously delivered to me, I must tell you that Kelly having a mind, left Oxford abruptly. According to some accounts, Kelley was pilloried in Lancaster for forgery or counterfeiting, both his ears were supposedly cropped, a common punishment during the Tudor Dynasty. He usually wore a cap on his head, and it was thought this was to hide his lack of ears. John Weever says, Kelly that famous English alchemist of our times, who flying out of his own country was entertained with Rudolf the second, some accounts say that he first worked as an apothecarys apprentice, some say he worked as a notary in London. Kelley approached John Dee in 1582, Dee had already been trying to contact angels with the help of a scryer, or crystal-gazer, but he had not been successful. Kelley professed the ability to do so, and impressed Dee with his first trial, Kelley became Dees regular scryer or medium. Dee and Kelley devoted huge amounts of time and energy to these spiritual conferences, from 1582 to 1589, Kelleys life was closely tied to Dees. In those seven years, they conducted conferences or seances, including prayers for enlightenment, in the spirit of Dees ecumenical hopes that alchemy and angelic knowledge would heal the rift of Christendom. Dee also believed that the angels held knowledge that would aid the English in their discoveries of new, Kelley married a widow, Jane Cooper of Chipping Norton. He helped educate her two children, the girl, future poet Westonia, later described him as a kind stepfather, Kelley had also hired a Latin tutor for her, named John Hammond. With the powder Kelley believed he could prepare a red tincture which would allow him to base metals into gold. He reportedly demonstrated its power a few times over the years, including in Bohemia where he, in 1583, Dee became acquainted with Prince Albert Łaski, a Polish nobleman interested in alchemy. In September of that year, Dee, Kelley, and their families left England with Łaski for the Continent
19.
Ebenezer Sibly
–
Ebenezer Sibly was an English physician, astrologer and writer on the occult. He was the son of a mechanic, born in Bristol and he early devoted himself to medicine, and also to astrology. In 1794 he was living in Portsmouth, and became a Freemason there, in 1785 he was working as an astrologer in Bristol, and by about 1788 had moved to London. In 1790 he was temporarily in Ipswich, supporting at the general election Sir John Hadley DOyly, on 20 April 1792 he graduated M. D. from Kings College, Aberdeen. As a student of medicine, he interested in the theories on animal magnetism of Anton Mesmer, joining Mesmers Harmonic Philosophical School. Sibly died in London in about 1799, Sibly is celebrated for the natal horoscope he cast of the United States of America, published in 1787 and still cited. Ebenezer Sibly used a mixture of early modern esoteric works. His brother Manoah Sibly was a linguist, as well as a Swedenborgian preacher and it has been said that experts of the time would have seen that Sibly was not very discriminating about the sources he chose, and drew on unpublished translations that he had borrowed. He knew the Book of Enoch via Charles Rainsford, Sibly published the New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology in four volumes, from 1784. He had completed it by the time he moved to London, revised editions appeared posthumously as Astrology, A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences by Ebenezer Sibly, M. D. F. R. H. S. Embellished with Curious Copper-Plates, London, and The New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology, Sibly published A Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences, in 1792. Sibly wrote a book called Universal System of Natural History in 1794, allen G. Debus, Scientific truth and occult tradition, the medical world of Ebenezer Sibly, Medical History 1982 July,26, 259–278. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Sibly
20.
Homer
–
Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
21.
Odyssey
–
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci. The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into languages around the world. Many scholars believe the poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos, perhaps a rhapsode. The details of the ancient oral performance and the conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, in the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer and it was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have stolen from Musaeus by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene. The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War, and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus protectress, the goddess Athena, requests to Zeus, king of the gods, to finally allow Odysseus to return home when Odysseus enemy, then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes, she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality, they observe the suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius theme, the Return from Troy, because it reminds her of her missing husband and that night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true prince. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena, he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos
22.
Underworld
–
The underworld or netherworld is an otherworld thought to be deep underground or beneath the surface of the world in most religions and mythologies. Typically it is a place where the souls of the departed go, chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. This list includes underworlds in mythology, with links to corresponding articles. This list includes rulers or guardians of the underworld in various mythologies, otherworld World Tree — A tree that connects the heavens, the earth, and the underworld in a number of spiritual belief systems
23.
Old Testament
–
Its counterpart is the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names. The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books, the Catholic canon comprises 46 books, the 39 books in common to all the Christian canons corresponds to 24 books of the Tanakh, with some differences of order, and there are some differences in text. The additional number reflects the split of texts in the Christian Bibles into separate books, for example, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah, the books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical. In general, Protestant bibles do not include books in its canon. The Old Testament consists of translations of many books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. The canon formed in stages, first the Pentateuch by around 400 BC, then the Prophets during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books. The Old Testament contains 39 or 46 or more books, divided, very broadly, into the Pentateuch, the books, the wisdom books. For the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions, for the Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. Likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the spelling when referring to them in the New Testament. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b gives a different order for the books in Neviim and Ketuvim and this order is also cited in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7,15. The order of the books of the Torah is universal through all denominations of Judaism and they are present in a few historic Protestant versions, the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version. Empty table cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon, several of the books in the Eastern Orthodox canon are also found in the appendix to the Latin Vulgate, formerly the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, there is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much the material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah, were finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two to four Books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and these history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. God is consistently depicted as the one who created or put into order the world, the Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well
24.
Witch of Endor
–
The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the deuterocanonical Book of Sirach. She is called in Biblical Hebrew אֵ֥שֶׁת בַּֽעֲלַת־אֹ֖וב בְּעֵ֥ין דֹּֽור, a woman who has a spirit at Endor. When Samuel dies, he is buried in Ramah, Saul, the current King of Israel, seeks wisdom from God in choosing a course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. He receives no answer from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim, having driven out all necromancers and magicians from Israel, Saul searches for a medium anonymously and in disguise. His search leads him to a woman of Endor, who claims that she can see the ghost of Samuel rising from the abode of the dead, the voice of the prophets ghost, after complaining of being disturbed, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Sauls downfall. The spirit reiterates a pre-mortem prophecy by Samuel, adding that Saul will perish with his army in battle the next day. The next day, his army is defeated as prophesied, the woman is described as a woman with an ob in Hebrew, which may be a reference to ventriloquism, and she claims to see elohim arising from the ground. The Yalkut Shimoni identifies the anonymous witch as the mother of Abner, the Church Fathers and some modern Christian writers have debated the theological issues raised by this text. The story of King Saul and the Medium of Endor would appear at first sight to affirm that it is possible for humans to summon the spirits of the dead by magic. In the Septuagint the woman is described as a ventriloquist, possibly reflecting the consistent view of the Alexandrian translators concerning demons, however Josephus appears to find the story completely credible. Medieval glosses to the Bible suggested that what the witch actually summoned was not the ghost of Samuel, but a demon taking his shape or an illusion crafted by the witch. Martin Luther, who believed that the dead were unconscious, read that it was the Devils ghost, whereas John Calvin read that it was not the real Samuel, spiritualists have taken the story as evidence of spirit mediumship in ancient times. The story has been cited in debates between Spiritualist apologists and Christian critics, the woman of Endor was a medium, respectable, honest, law abiding, and far more Christ-like than Christian critics of Spiritualism, asserted one Chicago Spiritualist paper in 1875. The witch appears as a character in oratorios, in dance music, a year after the death of his son at Loos, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called En-Dor, about supposed communication with the dead. It concludes, The Martha Graham Dance Company premiered The Witch of Endor in 1965 at the 54th Street Theater in New York. A one-act work, it had choreography and costumes by Martha Graham, music by William Schuman, sets by Ming Cho Lee, in Endor by Shaul Tchernichovsky, describing King Sauls encounter with the Witch of Endor, is considered a major work of modern Hebrew poetry. Tchernichovsky particularly identified with the character of Saul, perhaps due to his own name, an episode in the 1932 radio program NBC Mystery Serial written by Carlton E. A ship named the Witch of Endor was also featured in the Horatio Hornblower book Flying Colours, the cutter, with an armament of 10 guns, was used by Hornblower to escape from France after he was captured
25.
Samuel
–
Samuel, is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet by Christians and Muslims and his status, as viewed by rabbinical literature, is that he was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus on the cusp of two eras, according to the text of the Books of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel, Saul and David. Samuels mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah, Elkanah lived at Ramathaim in the district of Zuph. His genealogy is found in a pedigree of the Kohathites and in that of Heman. According to the tables in Chronicles, Elkanah was a Levite - a fact not mentioned in the books of Samuel. The fact that Elkanah, a Levite, was denominated an Ephraimite is analogous to the designation of a Levite belonging to Judah, according to 1 Samuel 1, 1-28, Elkanah had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had children, Hannah did not, jealous, Penninah reproached Hannah for her lack of children, causing Hannah much heartache. The relationship of Penninah and Hannah recalls that between Hagar and Sarah, Elkanah was a devout man and would periodically take his family on pilgrimage to the holy site of Shiloh. The motif of Elkanah and Hannah as devout, childless parents will reoccur with Zachariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist, and with Joachim and Anna, on one occasion Hannah went to the sanctuary and prayed for a child. In tears, she vowed that were she granted a child, Eli, who was sitting at the foot of the doorpost in the sanctuary at Shiloh, saw her apparently mumbling to herself and thought she was drunk, but was soon assured of her motivation and sobriety. Eli was the priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel and he had assumed the leadership after Samsons death. Eli blessed her and she returned home, subsequently Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to Samuel. Hannahs exultant hymn of thanksgiving resembles in several points Marys later Magnificat, after the child was weaned, she left him in Elis care, and from time to time she would come to visit her son. According to 1 Samuel 1,20, Hannah named Samuel to commemorate her prayer to God for a child, called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. The Hebrew root rendered as asked in the KJV is sha’al, once it is even mentioned in the form sha’ul, Saul’s name in Hebrew. Biblical historian Michael Coogan suggests that Saul’s birth narrative was transferred to Samuel by the Deuteronomist historians, however, Gordon himself did not see this hypothesis as justified by the available evidence. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, Samuel was a name in the Ancient Near East meaning, Sumu is God but understood in Israel as The name is God, God is exalted
26.
Plautus
–
Titus Maccius Plautus, commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety and he wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine /ˈplɔːtaɪn/ refers to both Plautuss own works and works similar to or influenced by his, not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years and it is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was discovered, and he adopted the names Maccius and Plautus. Tradition holds that he made enough money to go into the nautical business and he is then said to have worked as a manual laborer and to have studied Greek drama—particularly the New Comedy of Menander—in his leisure. His studies allowed him to produce his plays, which were released between c.205 and 184 BC, Plautus attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of theatrical success. Plautuss comedies are mostly adapted from Greek models for a Roman audience and he reworked the Greek texts to give them a flavour that would appeal to the local Roman audiences. They are the earliest surviving works in Latin literature. Plautuss epitaph read, postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, Comoedia luget, scaena est deserta, since Plautus is dead, Comedy mourns, Deserted is the stage, then Laughter, Jest and Wit, And Melodys countless numbers all together wept. Plautus wrote around 130 plays, of which 20 have survived intact, only short fragments, mostly quotations by later writers of antiquity, survive from 31 other plays. Despite this, the tradition of Plautus is poorer than that of any other ancient dramatist. The chief manuscript of Plautus is a palimpsest, in which Plautus plays had been scrubbed out to make way for Augustines Commentary on the Psalms, the monk who performed this was more successful in some places than others. Only the titles and various fragments of plays have survived. The historical context within which Plautus wrote can be seen, to some extent, in his comments on contemporary events, Plautus was a popular comedic playwright while Roman theatre was still in its infancy and still largely undeveloped. At the same time, the Roman Republic was expanding in power, Plautus was sometimes accused of teaching the public indifference and mockery of the gods. Any character in his plays could be compared to a god, whether to honour a character or to mock him, these references were demeaning to the gods
27.
Pliny the Younger
–
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo, better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Plinys uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him, both Pliny the Elder and the Younger were witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, in which the former died. Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 still survive and are of historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to such as the historian Tacitus. Pliny served as a magistrate under Trajan, and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of the relationship between the imperial office and provincial governors. Pliny rose through a series of civil and military offices, the cursus honorum and he was a friend of the historian Tacitus and might have employed the biographer Suetonius on his staff. Pliny also came into contact with other men of the period, including the philosophers Artemidorus and Euphrates the Stoic. Pliny the Younger was born in Novum Comum around 61 AD, the son of Lucius Caecilius Cilo, born there, and his wife Plinia Marcella, a sister of Pliny the Elder. He was the grandson of Senator and landowner Gaius Caecilius, revered his uncle, Pliny the Elder, Cilo died at an early age, when Pliny was still young. As a result, the boy lived with his mother. His guardian and preceptor in charge of his education was Lucius Verginius Rufus, after being first tutored at home, Pliny went to Rome for further education. There he was taught rhetoric by Quintilian, a teacher and author. It was at time that Pliny became closer to his uncle Pliny the Elder. When Pliny the Younger was 17 or 18, his uncle Pliny the Elder died attempting to rescue victims of the Vesuvius eruption, in the same document the younger Pliny was adopted by his uncle. As a result, Pliny the Younger changed his name from Gaius Caecilius Cilo to Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, there is some evidence that Pliny had a sibling. The trustees are apparently named in the inscription, L. Caecilius Valens and P. Caecilius Secundus, sons of Lucius, the word contubernalis describing Lutulla is the military term meaning tent-mate, which can only mean that she was living with Lucius, not as his wife. The first man mentioned, L. Caecilius Valens, is probably the older son, Pliny the Younger confirms that he was a trustee for the largess of my ancestors. It seems unknown to Pliny the Elder, so Valens mother was not his sister Plinia
28.
Athens
–
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
29.
Seneca the Younger
–
Seneca the Younger, fully Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and—in one work—humorist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. As a tragedian, he is best-known for his Medea and Thyestes and he was a tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. He was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, however, some sources state that he may have been innocent. His father was Seneca the Elder, his brother was Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus. Seneca was born in Cordoba in Hispania, and raised in Rome, griffin also infers from the ancient sources that Seneca was born in either 8,4, or 1 BC. She thinks he was born between 4 and 1 BC and was a resident in Rome by AD5, Seneca says that he was carried to Rome in the arms of his mothers stepsister. Griffin says that, allowing for rhetorical exaggeration, means it is fair to conclude that Seneca was in Rome as a small boy. Be that as it may, it is clear that he was in Rome at an early stage in his life. Caligula and Fabius were critics of his works, and Columella, Pliny, Tacitus, from AD54 to 62, Seneca acted as Neros advisor, together with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. One byproduct of his influence was that Seneca was appointed consul in 56. Senecas influence was said to have especially strong in the first year. Tacitus and Dio suggest that Neros early rule, during which time he listened to Seneca, however, the ancient sources suggest, over time, Seneca and Burrus lost their influence over the emperor. In 59 they had agreed to Agrippinas murder, and afterward. This may have contributed as well to his own downfall, following Burrus death in 62, Seneca became the subject of criticism by what Tacitus describes as Neros more disreputable advisers. Charges included allegations of excessive wealth, the grandeur of his property, Seneca requested an audience with Nero in which he sought permission to retire from public duties, pleading age and infirmity. The two then parted on apparently warm terms, Seneca subsequently adopted a quiet lifestyle on his country estates, concentrating on his studies and seldom visiting Rome. In AD65, Seneca was caught up in the aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy, although it is unlikely that Seneca conspired, Nero ordered him to kill himself. Seneca followed tradition by severing several veins in order to bleed to death, a generation after the Julio-Claudian emperors, Tacitus wrote an account of the suicide, which in view of his Republican sympathies is perhaps somewhat romanticized
30.
Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
31.
Thomas Kyd
–
Thomas Kyd was an English playwright, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama. Thomas Kyd was the son of Francis and Anna Kyd and was baptised in the church of St Mary Woolnoth in the Ward of Langborn, Lombard Street, London on 6 November 1558. The baptismal register at St Mary Woolnoth carries this entry, Thomas, son of Francis Kydd, Citizen, Francis Kydd was a scrivener and in 1580 was warden of the Scriveners Company. In October 1565 the young Kyd was enrolled in the newly founded Merchant Taylors School, fellow students included Edmund Spenser and Thomas Lodge. Here, Kyd received an education, thanks to Mulcasters progressive ideas. Apart from Latin and Greek, the curriculum included music, drama, physical education, there is no evidence that Kyd went on to university. He may have followed in his fathers professional footsteps because there are two written by him and his writing style is similar to that of a scrivener. Evidence suggests that in the 1580s Kyd became an important playwright, Francis Meres placed him among our best for tragedy and Heywood elsewhere called him Famous Kyd. Ben Jonson mentions him in the breath as Christopher Marlowe. The Spanish Tragedie was probably written in the mid to late 1580s, however, the play was usually known simply as Hieronimo, after the protagonist. It was arguably the most popular play of the Age of Shakespeare and set new standards in effective plot construction, in 1602 a version of the play with additions was published. Other works by Kyd are his translations of Torquato Tassos Padre di Famiglia, published as The Householders Philosophy, plays attributed in whole or in part to Kyd include Soliman and Perseda, King Leir, Arden of Feversham and Edward III. Kyd is more accepted to have been the author of a Hamlet. Some poems by Kyd exist, but it seems that most of his work is lost or unidentified, the success of Kyds plays extended to Europe. Versions of The Spanish Tragedy and his Hamlet were popular in Germany, the influence of these plays on European drama was largely the reason for the interest in Kyd among German scholars in the nineteenth century. He is also the author of a pamphlet in prose entitled The Murder of John Brewen. From 1587 to 1593 Kyd was in the service of an noble, since, after his imprisonment in 1593, he wrote of having lost the favours of my Lord. Proposed nobles include the Earl of Sussex, the Earl of Pembroke and he may have worked as a secretary, if he did not also write plays
32.
Shakespeare
–
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
33.
One Thousand and One Nights
–
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition, the work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Jewish, the stories proceed from this original tale, some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred nights, while others include 1,001 or more, the bulk of the text is in prose, although verse is occasionally used for songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion. Most of the poems are single couplets or quatrains, although some are longer, the main frame story concerns Shahryār, whom the narrator calls a Sasanian king ruling in India and China. Shahryār begins to marry a succession of only to execute each one the next morning. Eventually the vizier, whose duty it is to provide them, Scheherazade, the viziers daughter, offers herself as the next bride and her father reluctantly agrees. On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the king a tale, the king, curious about how the story ends, is thus forced to postpone her execution in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins a new one, so it goes on for 1,001 nights. The tales vary widely, they include historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques, numerous stories depict jinns, ghouls, apes, sorcerers, magicians, and legendary places, which are often intermingled with real people and geography, not always rationally. The different versions have different individually detailed endings but they all end with the giving his wife a pardon. The narrators standards for what constitutes a cliffhanger seem broader than in modern literature, the history of the Nights is extremely complex and modern scholars have made many attempts to untangle the story of how the collection as it currently exists came about. Most scholars agreed that the Nights was a work and that the earliest tales in it came from India and Persia. At some time, probably in the early 8th century, these tales were translated into Arabic under the title Alf Layla and this collection then formed the basis of The Thousand and One Nights. The original core of stories was quite small, then, in Iraq in the 9th or 10th century, this original core had Arab stories added to it – among them some tales about the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Devices found in Sanskrit literature such as stories and animal fables are seen by some scholars as lying at the root of the conception of the Nights. Indian folklore is represented in the Nights by certain animal stories, the influence of the Panchatantra and Baital Pachisi is particularly notable. The Jataka Tales are a collection of 547 Buddhist stories, which are for the most part moral stories with an ethical purpose
34.
Genie
–
Jinn, also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies, are supernatural creatures in early Arabian and later Islamic mythology and theology. An individual member of the jinn is known as a jinni, djinni and they are mentioned frequently in the Quran and other Islamic texts. The jinn, humans, and angels make up the three known sapient creations of God, like human beings, the jinn can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have free will like humans. Jaini were among various creatures believe among pre-Zoroastrian peoples of Persia, Jinn is an Arabic collective noun deriving from the Semitic root JNN, whose primary meaning is to hide. Some authors interpret the word to mean, literally, beings that are concealed from the senses, cognates include the Arabic majnūn, jannah, and janīn. Jinn is properly treated as a plural, with the singular being jinni, the anglicized form genie is a borrowing of the French génie, from the Latin genius, a guardian spirit of people and places in Roman religion. It first appeared in 18th-century translations of the Thousand and One Nights from the French, numerous mentions of jinn in the Quran and testimony of both pre-Islamic and Islamic literature indicate that the belief in spirits was prominent in pre-Islamic Bedouin religion. Julius Wellhausen has observed that such spirits were thought to inhabit desolate, dingy, and dark places, One had to protect oneself from them, but they were not the objects of a true cult. In Islamic theology jinn are said to be creatures with free will, made from fire by God as humans were made of clay. When jinns are called fire spirits it´s does not refer to their current nature, Jinn are mentioned 29 times in the Quran, Surah 72 is named after the jinn, and has a passage about them. Another surah mentions jinn in the last verse, the Quran also mentions that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both humanity and the jinn, and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities. Like humans, jinn will also be judged on the Day of Judgment, the social organization of the jinn community resembles that of humans, e. g. they have kings, courts of law, weddings, mourning rituals and practise religion. One common belief in Muslim belief lists five distinct orders of jinn — the Marid, the Ifrit, the Shaitan, the Ghul, and the Jann. A few traditions, divide jinn into three classes, those who have wings and fly in the air, those who resemble snakes and dogs, described them as creatures of different forms, some resembling vultures and snakes, others tall men in white garb. They may even appear as dragons, onagers, or any number of other animals, in addition to their animal forms, the jinn occasionally assume human form to mislead and destroy their human victims. Ibn Taymiyyah, a late medieval theologian whose writings would later become the source of Wahhabism, believed the jinn to be generally ignorant, untruthful, oppressive. In Sūrat Al-Jinn, verses 8–10, Allah narrates concerning the jinn how they touched or sought the limits of the sky and found it full of guards and shooting stars. Seven kings of the Jinn are traditionally associated with days of the week, the notion of a qarin is not universally accepted among all Muslims, but it is generally accepted that Shayṭān whispers in human minds, and he is assigned to each human being
35.
Ghoul
–
A ghoul is a monster or evil spirit in Arabic mythology, associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh. It is also related to a Wendigo. The term was first used in English literature in 1786, in William Beckfords Orientalist novel Vathek, in modern fiction, the term has often been used for a certain kind of undead monster. Ghoul is from the Arabic and غول ghūl, from غال ghala, the word is etymologically related to the word galla, the name of a class of Underworld demons from Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. In ancient Arabian folklore, the ghūl dwells in burial grounds, the ghul is a fiendish type of jinni believed to be sired by Iblis. A ghoul is also a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting, demon that can assume the guise of an animal and it lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on children, drinks blood, steals coins. In the Arabic language, the form is given as ghoulah. In colloquial Arabic, the term is used to describe a greedy or gluttonous individual. It was not until Antoine Galland translated Arabian Nights into French that the idea of Ghoul was introduced. Galland depicted the Ghoul as a creature that dwelled in cemeteries. This definition of the Ghoul has persisted until modern times, with Ghouls appearing in literature, television and film, aswang Evil spirit Ghola Jinn Revenant Vampire Wendigo Zombie
36.
Cadaver
–
A cadaver, also called corpse in medical, literary, and legal usage, or when intended for dissection, is a deceased body. Observation of the stages of decomposition can help determine how long a body has been dead. The first stage is autolysis, more known as self-digestion. However, these enzymes are released into the cells because of active processes ceasing in the cells, as a result of autolysis, liquid is created that gets between the layers of skin and makes the skin peel off. During this stage, flies start to lay eggs in the openings of the body, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, open wounds, hatched larvae, of blowflies, subsequently get under the skin and start to eat the body. This bloating occurs largely in the abdomen, and sometimes in the mouth and this usually happens in about the second week of decomposition. Gas accumulation and bloating will continue until the body is decomposed sufficiently for the gas to escape and it is the last and longest stage. Putrefaction is where the structures of the body break down. The digestive organs, the brain, and lungs are the first to disintegrate, under normal conditions, the organs are unidentifiable after three weeks. The muscles can be eaten by bacteria or devoured by animals, eventually, sometimes after several years, all that remains is the skeleton. In acid-rich soils, the skeleton will eventually dissolve into its base chemicals, the rate of decomposition depends on many factors including temperature and the environment. The warmer and more humid the environment, the faster the body is broken down, greek physicians Herophilus and Erasistratus were among the first on record to have dissected bodies. Andreas Vesalius, author of De humani corporis fabrica, who was able to dispel many misconceptions by dissecting human cadavers, is regarded as the father of human anatomy. The tradition of dissecting criminals was carried up into the eighteenth and nineteenth century when anatomy schools became popular in England and Scotland, at that time, a greater percentage of Christians believed in the literal raising from the dead. Because the souls of dissected bodies could not go to heaven, criminals who were executed for their crimes were used as the first cadavers. From the 16th century until 1832, and the passage of the Anatomy Act, the demand for cadavers increased when the number of criminals being executed decreased. Since corpses were in high demand, it became commonplace to steal bodies from graves in order to keep the market supplied. The methods of preserving cadavers have changed over the last 200 years, at that time, cadavers had to be used immediately because there were no adequate methods to keep the body from quickly decaying
37.
Arabic literature
–
Arabic literature is the writing, both prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is Adab, which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, Arabic literature emerged in the 5th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. The Quran, widely regarded by people as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language, would have the greatest lasting effect on Arabic culture and its literature. Arabic literature flourished during the Islamic Golden Age, but has remained vibrant to the present day, with poets, the Quran had a significant influence on the Arab language. The language used in it is called classical Arabic, and while modern Arabic is very similar and it contains injunctions, narratives, homilies, parables, direct addresses from God, instructions and even comments on itself on how it will be received and understood. It is also, paradoxically, admired for its layers of metaphor as well as its clarity, the word Quran means recitation, and in early times the text was transmitted orally. The first attempt at a written version was during the reign of the third Rightly Guided Caliph. Although it contains elements of both prose and poetry, and therefore is closest to Saj or rhymed prose, the Quran is regarded as entirely apart from these classifications, the text is believed to be divine revelation and is seen by Muslims as being eternal or uncreated. This leads to the doctrine of ijaz or inimitability of the Quran which implies that nobody can copy the works style, say, Bring you then ten chapters like unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than God, if you speak the truth. This doctrine of ijaz possibly had a limiting effect on Arabic literature. And as to the poets, those who go astray follow them Do you not see that they wander about bewildered in every valley and this may have exerted dominance over the pre-Islamic poets of the 6th century whose popularity may have vied with the Quran amongst the people. There were a lack of significant poets until the 8th century. One notable exception was Hassan ibn Thabit who wrote poems in praise of Muhammad and was known as the prophets poet, just as the Bible has held an important place in the literature of other languages, The Quran is important to Arabic. It is the source of ideas, allusions and quotes. Aside from the Quran the hadith or tradition of what Muhammed is supposed to have said, the entire body of these acts and words are called sunnah or way and the ones regarded as sahih or genuine of them are collected into hadith. Some of the most significant collections of hadith include those by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, the research into the life and times of Muhammad, and determining the genuine parts of the sunnah, was an important early reason for scholarship in or about the Arabic language. Muhammad also inspired the first Arabic biographies, known as al-sirah al-nabawiyyah, the earliest was by Wahb ibn Munabbih, whilst covering the life of the prophet they also told of the battles and events of early Islam and have numerous digressions on older biblical traditions. Some of the earliest work studying the Arabic language was started in the name of Islam, tradition has it that the caliph Ali, after reading a copy of Quran with errors in it, asked Abu al-Aswad al-Duali to write a work codifying Arabic grammar
38.
Japanese literature
–
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the Diffusion of Buddhism in Japan, since Japan reopened its ports to Western trading and diplomacy in the 19th century, Western and Eastern literature have strongly affected each other and continue to do so. Before the introduction of kanji from China, Japanese had no writing system and it is believed that Chinese characters came to Japan at the very beginning of the fifth century, brought by immigrants from the mainland of Korean and Chinese descent. Chinese characters were further adapted, creating what is known as manyōgana. The earliest literary works in Japan were created in the Nara period, one of the stories they describe is the tale of Urashima Tarō. The Heian period has been referred to as the era of art. During this era, literature became centered on an elite of nobility. The imperial court patronized the poets, most of whom were courtiers or ladies-in-waiting. Reflecting the aristocratic atmosphere, the poetry was elegant and sophisticated and expressed emotions in a rhetorical style, editing the resulting anthologies of poetry soon became a national pastime. The iroha poem, now one of two standard orderings for the Japanese syllabary, was developed during the early Heian period. Genji Monogatari written in the early 11th century by a woman named Murasaki Shikibu is considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of Heian fiction, other important writings of this period include the Kokin Wakashū, a waka-poetry anthology, and Makura no Sōshi. The Pillow Book was written by Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki Shikibus contemporary and rival, as an essay about the life, loves, another notable piece of fictional Japanese literature was Konjaku Monogatarishū, a collection of over a thousand stories in 31 volumes. The volumes cover various tales from India, China and Japan, the 10th-century Japanese narrative, Taketori Monogatari, can be considered an early example of proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war and she is later taken back to her extraterrestrial family in an illustrated depiction of a disc-shaped flying object similar to a flying saucer. During the Kamakura period, Japan experienced many civil wars led to the development of a warrior class, and subsequent war tales, histories. Work from this period is notable for its more sombre tone compared to the works of previous eras, with themes of life and death, simple lifestyles, and redemption through killing. A representative work is Heike monogatari, an account of the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the twelfth century. Other important tales of the period include Kamo no Chōmeis Hōjōki, despite a decline in the importance of the imperial court, aristocratic literature remained the center of Japanese culture in the beginning of the Kamakura period
39.
The Tale of Genji
–
It is sometimes called the worlds first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be considered a classic. Notably, the work illustrates a unique depiction of the lifestyles of high courtiers during the Heian period. While regarded as a masterpiece, its classification and influence in both the Western and Eastern canons has been a matter of debate. The Tale of Genji may have been written chapter by chapter in installments, the work does not make use of a plot, instead, events happen and characters simply grow older. One remarkable feature of the Genji, and of Murasakis skill, is its internal consistency, for instance, all characters age in step and the family and feudal relationships maintain general consistency. One complication for readers and translators of the Genji is that almost none of the characters in the text are given explicit names. The characters are referred to by their function or role, an honorific, or their relation to other characters. This lack of names stems from Heian-era court manners that would have made it unacceptably familiar, Modern readers and translators have used various nicknames to keep track of the many characters. The Tale of Genji was written in a court language that was already unreadable a century after it was written. Thus, the Japanese have been reading annotated and illustrated versions of the work since as early as the 12th century and it was not until the early 20th century that Genji was translated into modern Japanese, by the poet Akiko Yosano. The debate over how much of Genji was actually written by Murasaki Shikibu has gone on for centuries and is unlikely to ever be settled some major archival discovery is made. It is generally accepted that the tale was finished in its present form by 1021, Murasaki Shikibus own diary includes a reference to the tale, and indeed the application to herself of the name Murasaki in an allusion to the main female character. That entry confirms that if not all of the diary was available in 1008 when internal evidence suggests convincingly that the entry was written. Lady Murasaki is said to have written the character of Genji based on the Minister on the Left at the time she was at court, Other translators, such as Tyler, believe the character Murasaki no Ue, whom Genji marries, is based on Murasaki Shikibu herself. Other scholars have doubted the authorship of chapters 42 to 54. For political reasons, the emperor removes Genji from the line of succession, demoting him to a commoner by giving him the surname Minamoto, the tale concentrates on Genjis romantic life and describes the customs of the aristocratic society of the time. Genjis mother dies when he is three years old, and the Emperor cannot forget her, the Emperor Kiritsubo then hears of a woman, formerly a princess of the preceding emperor, who resembles his deceased concubine, and later she becomes one of his wives. Genji loves her first as a stepmother, but later as a woman, Genji is frustrated by his forbidden love for the Lady Fujitsubo and is on bad terms with his wife
40.
English Renaissance theatre
–
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, or as Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1562 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, English Renaissance theatre encompasses the period between 1562 and 1642. Strictly speaking, English Renaissance theatre may be said to encompass Elizabethan theatre from 1562 to 1603, Jacobean theatre from 1603 to 1625, along with the economics of the profession, the character of the drama changed towards the end of the period. Under Elizabeth, the drama was an expression as far as social class was concerned. With the development of the theatres, drama became more oriented towards the tastes and values of an upper-class audience. By the later part of the reign of Charles I, few new plays were being written for the public theatres, theatrical life was largely centred just outside London, as the theatre was banned inside the city itself, but plays were performed by touring companies all over England. English companies even toured and performed English plays abroad, e. g. in Germany, the period starts before the establishment of the first permanent theatres. Initially two types of location were used for performing plays, the courtyards of inns and the Inns of Court such as the Inner Temple and these venues continued to be used even after permanent theatres were established. The first permanent English theatre, the Red Lion opened in 1567, the first successful theatres, such as The Theatre, opened in 1576. The establishment of large and profitable public theatres was an enabling factor in the success of English Renaissance drama. Once they were in operation, drama could become a fixed and their construction was prompted when the Mayor and Corporation of London first banned plays in 1572 as a measure against the plague, and then formally expelled all players from the city in 1575. The Theatre was rapidly followed by the nearby Curtain Theatre, the Rose, the Swan, the Globe, the Fortune, the public theatres were three stories high, and built around an open space at the centre. The upper level behind the stage could be used as a balcony, as in Romeo and Juliet or Antony and Cleopatra, or as a position from which an actor could harangue a crowd, the playhouses were generally built with timber and plaster, and were three stories high. Individual theatre descriptions give additional information to their construction, such as flint stones being used to build the Swan, theatres were also constructed to be able to hold large amounts of people. A different model was developed with the Blackfriars Theatre, which came into use on a long-term basis in 1599. The Blackfriars was small in comparison to the theatres and roofed rather than open to the sky. Other small enclosed theatres followed, notably the Whitefriars and the Cockpit, around 1580, when both the Theatre and the Curtain were full on summer days, the total theatre capacity of London was about 5000 spectators. With the building of new facilities and the formation of new companies
41.
Hamlet
–
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlets father, Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brothers widow. It has inspired many other writers—from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and he almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeares time. In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by highly acclaimed actors in each successive century. Three different early versions of the play are extant, the First Quarto, the Second Quarto, each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The plays structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny, the protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of the recently deceased King Hamlet, and nephew of King Claudius, his fathers brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlets widow, Gertrude, Hamlets mother, Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighboring Norway, which culminated when King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a battle years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway, and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbrass infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian kings son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent. On a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle and they vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed. As the court gathers the next day, while King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss affairs of state with their elderly adviser Polonius, after the court exits, Hamlet despairs of his fathers death and his mothers hasty remarriage. Learning of the ghost from Horatio, Hamlet resolves to see it himself, as Poloniuss son Laertes prepares to depart for a visit to France, Polonius gives him contradictory advice that culminates in the ironic maxim to thine own self be true. Poloniuss daughter, Ophelia, admits her interest in Hamlet, and that night on the rampart, the ghost appears to Hamlet, telling the prince that he was murdered by Claudius and demanding that Hamlet avenge him. Hamlet agrees and the ghost vanishes, the prince confides to Horatio and the sentries that from now on he plans to put an antic disposition on and forces them to swear to keep his plans for revenge secret. Privately, however, he remains uncertain of the ghosts reliability, soon thereafter, Ophelia rushes to her father, telling him that Hamlet arrived at her door the prior night half-undressed and behaving crazily. Polonius blames love for Hamlets madness and resolves to inform Claudius, as he enters to do so, the king and queen finish welcoming Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two student acquaintances of Hamlet, to Elsinore. The royal couple has requested that the students investigate the cause of Hamlets mood, additional news requires that Polonius wait to be heard, messengers from Norway inform Claudius that the King of Norway has rebuked Prince Fortinbras for attempting to re-fight his fathers battles. The forces that Fortinbras conscripted to march against Denmark will instead be sent against Poland, Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude his theory regarding Hamlets behavior, and speaks to Hamlet in a hall of the castle to try to uncover more information. Hamlet feigns madness but subtly insults Polonius all the while, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet greets his friends warmly, but quickly discerns that they are spies
42.
Henry Fuseli
–
Henry Fuseli RA was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as The Nightmare, deal with supernatural subject-matter and he painted works for John Boydells Shakespeare Gallery, and created his own Milton Gallery. He held the posts of Professor of Painting and Keeper at the Royal Academy and his style had a considerable influence on many younger British artists, including William Blake. Fuseli was born in Zürich, Switzerland, the second of 18 children and his father was Johann Caspar Füssli, a painter of portraits and landscapes, and author of Lives of the Helvetic Painters. He intended Henry for the church, and sent him to the Caroline college of Zurich, one of his schoolmates there was Johann Kaspar Lavater, with whom he became close friends. After taking orders in 1761 Fuseli was forced to leave the country as a result of having helped Lavater to expose an unjust magistrate and he travelled through Germany, and then, in 1765, visited England, where he supported himself for some time by miscellaneous writing. Eventually, he acquainted with Sir Joshua Reynolds, to whom he showed his drawings. Following Reynolds advice, he decided to devote entirely to art. In 1770 he made an art-pilgrimage to Italy, where he remained until 1778, Early in 1779 he returned to Britain, taking in Zürich on his way. In London he found a commission awaiting him from Alderman Boydell, Fuseli painted a number of pieces for Boydell, and published an English edition of Lavaters work on physiognomy. He also gave William Cowper some valuable assistance in preparing a translation of Homer, in 1788 Fuseli married Sophia Rawlins, and he soon after became an associate of the Royal Academy. Fuseli later said I hate clever women, in 1790 he became a full Academician, presenting Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent as his diploma work. In 1799 Fuseli was appointed professor of painting to the Academy, four years later he was chosen as Keeper, and resigned his professorship, but resumed it in 1810, continuing to hold both offices until his death. As Keeper, he was succeeded by Henry Thomson, in 1799 Fuseli exhibited a series of paintings from subjects furnished by the works of John Milton, with a view to forming a Milton gallery comparable to Boydells Shakespeare gallery. There were 47 Milton paintings, many of them very large, the exhibition proved a commercial failure and closed in 1800. In 1805 he brought out an edition of Pilkingtons Lives of the Painters, which did little for his reputation. Antonio Canova, when on his visit to England, was taken with Fuselis works. As a painter, Fuseli favoured the supernatural and he pitched everything on an ideal scale, believing a certain amount of exaggeration necessary in the higher branches of historical painting
