Question

Like all literary texts, both Sonnet 18 and “The Nose” are products of the specific time periods in which they were written.

Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan era, a time of artistic renaissance. England at the time had a feudal society, and Shakespeare often used his work to criticize the ruling class as well as the political and religious climate of his time (England was very Protestant Christian). He also popularized the idea of romantic love.

On the other hand, Nicolas Gogol–a 19th century Ukrainian author under Russian Czarist rule–often wrote stories in common settings meant to make readers uncomfortable.Gogol, like Shakespeare, supported the politics of their time as well as the religious power (Eastern Orthodox Church). While he supported the status quo, he often used satire to point out issues with the politics of his time.

In class, we discussed how authors didn’t write in a bubble; they wrote based on their own life experiences and the historical events that surrounded them.

For this sample work, you will complete an organizer that analyzes how the language of ONE text, specifically quotations and evidence from the text, highlights the historical, cultural, and social surroundings of the author.

See Sample Below for Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell
Introduction: In the fable Animal Farm, George Orwell captured the essence of the rise of soviet Russia by using language that reflects the historical and cultural era.





Example From Text
Analysis of historical, cultural, and social surroundings of the author
One example from the text that highlights the historical surroundings of the author is…when Orwell refers to the pig Old Major by his human name, “Willingdon Beauty” (4).


Orwell had direct experience fighting against the USSR during the Spanish Civil War. He knew the reality of the “equality for all” promise: violent fascism. He wanted to indirectly warn England, so he set his story on a farm in a familiar place (Willingdon) in the UK.
A second example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is…when Old Major begins his speech in the barn in front of all the farm animals. His first word reveals the political context of the book: “Comrades” (6)



This example shows…that Orwell has Soviet Russia as the target of his political satire. He wished to warn the British of the Soviets as many in the UK supported Communist ideas after centuries of feudal rule. The choice to use the word “Comrade” signifies the animals and their behavior, especially the pigs, will represent the communist revolution.
A final example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is…again in Old Major’s speech, when he tells compares the lives of animals to slavery, saying, “ nearly the whole produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings” (7).



This example shows…Old Major actually represents Karl Marx, the father of communism. Old Major provides the theories of revolution from a ruling class. The working class–the animals–must rise up against the ones who do no work but reap the rewards of others’ labor.


Conclusion: Orwell craftily relies on linguistic references to both the traditional English pasture while also evoking the language of Soviet Russia to make an apt political satire of the dangers of communism.



Now you choose one of the text’s and anlayze the language choices. You will likely have to read a biography of the author to fully connect the language to the socio-historical context.
Title: Author:
Introduction:





Example From Text
Analysis of historical, cultural, and social surroundings of the author
One example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is…


This example shows…
A second example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is…



This example shows…
A final example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is…



This example shows…


Conclusion:

Answer 1

Title: Sonnet 18
Author: William Shakespeare

Introduction:
In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare uses imagery, rhetorical structure, and legal/eternal language to reflect Elizabethan Renaissance ideas about beauty, fame, and the power of poetry. The poem’s metaphors (comparing the beloved to a summer’s day), its formal sonnet structure, and its claims about art’s ability to defeat death all connect the poem to Shakespeare’s historical and cultural surroundings: Renaissance humanism, the Italian/Petrarchan sonnet tradition he inherited, an Elizabethan concern with reputation and immortality, and the social world of courtly patronage.

Example from the text
One example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is… the opening rhetorical question and metaphor: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” / “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”

This example shows…
- The use of the sonnet’s opening rhetorical question (a common Renaissance conceit) and the summer-day metaphor draws directly on the Petrarchan and Italian traditions that English Renaissance poets adapted. Shakespeare is participating in a learned poetic conversation popular among Elizabethan courtiers and readers.
- The praise of individual beauty (“more lovely and more temperate”) reflects Renaissance humanism’s focus on the individual and secular love, rather than strictly devotional subjects—themes that were fashionable in Elizabeth’s courtly culture.

A second example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is… the catalog of natural imperfections: “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date,” and “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines.”

This example shows…
- The close observation of nature and attention to change and transience echo Renaissance scientific and observational interests; poets often used natural cycles to comment on human life.
- The legal/property language (“lease,” “date”) and the emphasis on seasonal instability reflect Elizabethan concerns with mortality, inheritance, and reputation in a society structured by property and lineage. The poem shows awareness that worldly beauty is temporary because social/natural orders are mutable.
- “Eye of heaven” personifies the sun in classical/mythic terms, signaling Shakespeare’s classical education and the Renaissance habit of reworking ancient imagery.

A final example from the text that highlights the historical/cultural/social surroundings of the author is… the volta and closing claim of poetic immortality: “But thy eternal summer shall not fade… Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade… So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

This example shows…
- The confident assertion that poetry confers immortality speaks to an Elizabethan preoccupation with fame and legacy—writers and courtiers sought honor and remembrance (reputatio) through works that would outlast them.
- The personification of Death and the legal-sounding denial of his claim (“Nor shall Death brag…”) mirrors contemporary memento mori attitudes shaped by religious (Protestant) and social contexts, but Shakespeare redirects them into secular, artistic terms: art, rather than church ritual, grants survival.
- The concluding couplet’s neat, rhetorical closure showcases the Shakespearean sonnet form (three quatrains + couplet), demonstrating how the poet uses formal conventions prized by educated Elizabethan audiences to make ideological claims about art’s power.

Conclusion:
Shakespeare’s language in Sonnet 18—its Petrarchan metaphors, attention to natural transience, legal and personifying diction, and the final claim that verse can defeat death—reflects Elizabethan Renaissance values: classical learning, celebration of the individual, concern for reputation and posterity, and confidence in the enduring power of art. The poem’s diction and form thus tie the speaker’s personal praise to broader social and cultural beliefs of Shakespeare’s time.