LITERATURE AND ENGLISH CULTURE

Prepared By:

Edward Valcárcel Melgarejo

Docente de Educación en Idiomas

Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa

CHAPTER 2 ENGLISH CULTURE

OBJECTIVES

1.Distinguish the most important

characteristics of English Art.

2.Determine the most important

characteristics of British Cuisine.

3. Mention the most outstanding aspects of English Music.

4. Identify and lay out the steps which have passed the religion in England.

5. Specify and differentiate the different levels of British Education System.

6. Analyze and explain the structure and major activities undertaken by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

ENGLISH CULTURE

ENGLISH ART

Its earliest known developed form, one that continues to the present-day, is arguably the decorative surface pattern work exemplified by the Lindisfarne Gospels and the exterior carving of Anglo-Saxon churches and monuments.

The English have never been averse to incorporating overseas influences into their arts, although they can seldom detect such influences after re-working them for a generation or so.

It is popularly considered that English landscape painting typifies English art.

As the population of England grew during the industrial revolution, a concern for privacy and smaller gardens becomes more notable in English art.

English art has often portrayed the coast and the sea, weather effects have often been portrayed in English art.

BRITISH CUISINE

TRADITIONAL CUISINE

The Sunday roast is perhaps the most common feature of British cooking. The Sunday dinner traditionally includes roast potatoes accompanying, or usually followed by, a joint of meat such as beef, chicken, lamb or pork or fish such as Scottish Farmed Salmon and assorted vegetables, themselves generally roasted or boiled. Since its wide-spread availability after World War II the most popular Christmas roast is turkey.

At home, the British have many original home-made desserts such as rhubarb crumble, bread and butter pudding, spotted dick and trifle.

There is also Christmas pudding.

MUSIC OF ENGLAND

18TH CENTURY As courtly music grew more elaborate and internationalized, with composers such as Handel and Mozart, writing operas, oratorios and symphonic works.

19TH CENTURIES With the Industrial Revolution came a parallel revolution in English popular music as people moved from stable agrarian communities into the growing industrial centres with the rise of the brass band in the North of England. Folk Music went through a rapid series of transformations as different regional idioms came together and reformed themselves into the first universally acceptable and commercial popular music. This change began first in the alehouses and later in what became known as the music hall. music hall became the dominant form of English popular music for over a century from its birth in the 1850s.

EARLY 20TH CENTURY Operetta and Musical Comedy were very popular forms in this period.

ENGLISH CHURCH

The Church of England, which was founded by Henry the VIII, functions as the established church in England. Other churches which have started in England include the Methodist church, the Quakers and the Salvation Army.

Governing and Administration.-

The spiritual head of the church is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the Primate of All England and Metropolitan. He is also the focus of unity for the worldwide Anglican Communion of independent national or regional churches.

EDUCATION IN ENGLAND is the responsibility of Department for Education and Skills at national level and, in the case of publicly funded compulsory education, of Local Education Authorities.

The education structures for Wales and Northern Ireland are broadly similar to the English system, but there are significant differences of emphasis in the depth and breadth of teaching objectives in Scotland. Traditionally the English system emphasizes depth of education, whereas the Scottish system emphasizes breadth.

The structure of the English educational system

COMPULSORY SCHOOLING

PRIMARY EDUCATION Primary education in England is conducted through Primary or Infant/First and Junior Schools. Primary schools take children from ages 4 through to 11 Infant and First schools are similar to each other taking children from ages 4 through to 7 or 8 in the case of First schools.

Primary School or Infant School

Reception, age 4 to 5

Year 1, age 5 to 6

Year 2, age 6 to 7

Primary School or Junior School

Year 3, age 7 to 8

Year 4, age 8 to 9

Year 5, age 9 to 10

Year 6, age 10 to 11

Secondary education

Secondary School Or High School

Year 7, age 11 to 12

Year 8, age 12 to 13

Year 9, age 13 to 14

Year 10, age 14 to 15

Year 11, age 15 to 16

In general, the cut-off point for ages is the end of August, so all children must be at the specified age on the 31st of August of that year.

FURTHER EDUCATION

Students will typically study in either the Sixth Form of a School, a Sixth form college, or a further education college. These courses can also be studied by adults over 18. This sector is referred to as Further Education. All 16-18 students are encouraged (this is only mandatory in some institutions) to study Key Skills in Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Students normally enter University from 18 onwards and study for an Academic Degree. Apart from a single private university, all undergraduate education is largely state financed (with tuition fees set at a maximum index-linked £3,000 per year, repayable after graduation contingent on attaining a certain level of income, and with the state paying all fees for students from the poorest backgrounds), and UK students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance. The state does not control syllabi, but it does influence admission procedures.

The typical first degree offered at British universities is the Bachelor's degree (typically three years). Many institutions now offer an undergraduate Master's degree as a first degree, typically lasting four years.

POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Students who have completed a first degree are eligible to undertake a postgraduate degree, which includes:

Master's degree (typically taken in one year)

Doctorate degree (typically taken in three years)

Postgraduate education is not automatically financed by the State, and so admission is in practice highly competitive.

UNIVERSITIES IN ENGLAND

THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Organization

There are 39 colleges within the university, each with its own internal structure and activities. The university's formal head is the chancellor, usually a distinguished politician, elected for life by the members of Convocation, a body comprising all members of the university who hold an M.A. degree.

The vice-chancellor, who holds office for four years, is the head of the university's executive. In addition to Convocation, the other bodies that conduct university business are the Ancient House of Congregation, which confers degrees; the Hebdomadal Council, which formulates university policy; and the Congregation of the University, which discusses and pronounces on policies proposed by the Hebdomadal Council.

Governance and Administration.-

The main legislative body of the University is Congregation, the assembly of all academics who teach in the University. Another body, Convocation, encompassing all the graduates of Oxford, was formerly the main legislative body of the University, and until 1949 elected the two Members of Parliament for the University. Convocation now has very limited functions: the main one is to elect the (largely symbolic) Chancellor of the University, most recently in 2003 with the election of Christopher Patten. Convocation also elects the Professor of Poetry.

The executive body of the University is the University Council, which consists of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. John Hood (succeeding Sir Colin Lucas), heads of departments and other members elected by Congregation in addition to observers from the Student Union. Until 1969, the statutes also provided for an Ancient House of Congregation.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (often called Cambridge University, or just Cambridge), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world.

General Information.-

Cambridge is a collegiate university, with its main functions divided between the central departments of the university and a number of colleges. In general, the departments perform research and provide centralised lectures to students, while the colleges are responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of undergraduate students, graduate students, some of the postdocs and some University staff.

Research and Teaching.-

Cambridge University has research departments and teaching faculties in most academic disciplines. Cambridge tends to have a slight bias towards scientific subjects, but it also has a number of strong humanities and social science faculties. Academic staff (and often graduate students for the larger subjects) teach the undergraduates in both lectures and personal supervisions in which a ratio of one teacher to between one and three students is usually maintained.