Where is Robinson from and what is his job?Who is the author of Tom Jones?In how many volumes is it written?What is the subtitle of Pamela?What kind of novel is it?

Task one

Find out the origin and meaning of the word novel

Find out the definition of the word novel

Useful links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

Here are some famous authors who wrote in English. Can you name a book they have written?

Charles DickensJRR TolkienAgatha Christie Sir Conan DoyleErnest Hemingway

Here are some titles of famous books. Can you name the authors?

The Name of the RoseTales of Mystery and HorrorAlice in WonderlandA Christmas Carol

The rise of the novel was undoubtedly the most important literary event of the 18th century. Before that time there were plenty of forms that might be described as novels, but they certainly did not present a picture of real life. Previous literary forms were in fact generally based on past history,mythology and fable, whereas the novel’s primary criterion was truth to individual experience.Two important philosophers influenced the rise of the novel, R. Descartes and J. Locke. Find out how.

Useful link http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/novel.html

The novel was soon very successful. Find out why.

Useful link http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/novel.html

The novel developed in England for many reasons.

a.expansion of the reading public. In the end of the 18th cent. there were about 80,000 readers out of a population of at least 6,000,000. If it is very far from the mass reading public of today, it is anyway very large by comparison with previous periods

b. success of circulating libraries

c. opportunities for learning to read seem to have been widely available

d. novels were sold in the medium price range

Many of the new readers were women. Women of the upper and middle class were not involved in business, politics or even pleasureand, particularly in town, they were not involved in activities such as spinning or weaving, making bread, candles or soap because most necessities were now manufactured and could be bought in shops. Consequently, women had a lot of free timeand novels served “to pass away the idle time”

As a matter of factnowadays a woman is considered to be the first English novelist

Find out her name and information about her most famous book

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_novel

Prepare a short essay in which you illustrate the main characteristics of the Novel