WIILIAM SHAKESPEARE

Born Baptised 26 April 1564 (birth date unknown)

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England Died 23 April 1616 (aged 52)
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England Occupation Playwright, poet, actor Literary
movement English Renaissance theatre Spouse(s) Anne Hathaway (m. 1582–1616) Children
Susanna Hall
Hamnet Shakespeare
Judith Quiney

Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616)[nb 1] was an English poet and
playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-
eminent dramatist.[1] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".[2][nb 2] His
surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays,[nb 3] 154 sonnets, two
long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major
living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[3]

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne
Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between
1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a
playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears
to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of
Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such
matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed
to him were written by others.[4]
 MARK TWAIN
Mark Twain, detail of photo by Mathew Brady, February 7, 1871 Born Samuel Langhorne
Clemens
November 30, 1835
Florida, Missouri, U.S. Died April 21, 1910 (aged 74)
Redding, Connecticut, U.S. Pen name Mark Twain Occupation Writer, lecturer Nationality
American Genres Fiction, historical fiction, children's literature, non-fiction, travel literature,
satire, essay, philosophical literature, social commentary, literary criticism Notable work(s)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Spouse(s) Olivia Langdon
Clemens (m. 1870–1904) Children Langdon, Susy, Clara, Jean

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by his pen
name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry
Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and
contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various
cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join
Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he
wrote a humorous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which proved to be
very popular and brought him nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received.
Twain had found his calling.
James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 1784
– 28 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist, poet author and writer.

Leigh Hunt was born at Southgate, London, where his parents had settled after leaving the USA. His
father Isaac, a lawyer from Philadelphia, and his mother, Mary Shewell, a merchant's daughter and a
devout Quaker, had been forced to come to Britain because of their loyalist sympathies during the
American War of Independence. Hunt's father took holy orders, and became a popular preacher, but
was unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent living. Hunt's father was then employed by James Brydges,
3rd Duke of Chandos as tutor to his nephew, James Henry Leigh (father of Chandos Leigh), after whom
Leigh Hunt was named.

Leigh Hunt was educated at Christ's Hospital from 1791 to 1799, a period which is detailed in his
autobiography. He entered the school shortly after Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb had both
left; Thomas Barnes, however, was a school friend of his. One of the current boarding houses at Christ's
Hospital is named after him. As a boy, he was an ardent admirer of Thomas Gray and William Collins,
writing many verses in imitation of them. A speech impediment, later cured, prevented his going to
university. "For some time after I left school," he says, "I did nothing but visit my school-fellows, haunt
the book-stalls and write verses." His poems were published in 1801 under the title of Juvenilia, and
introduced him into literary and theatrical society. He began to write for the newspapers, and published
in 1807 a volume of theatre criticism, and a series of Classic Tales with critical essays on the authors.
Henry James
Born April 15, 1843
New York City, NY, USA Died February 28, 1916 (aged 72)
London, England Occupation Writer Nationality American; acquired British nationality in 1915 Alma
mater Harvard Law School Notable work(s) The American
The Turn of the Screw
The Portrait of a Lady
The Wings of the Dove
Daisy Miller
The Ambassadors Relative(s) Henry James, Sr. (father), William James (brother), Alice James (sister)

Henry James, OM (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916) was an American-born writer, regarded
as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a
clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice
James.

James spent the last 40 years of his life in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year
before his death. He is primarily known for the series of novels in which he portrays the
encounter of Americans with Europe and Europeans. His method of writing from the point of
view of a character within a tale allows him to explore issues related to consciousness and
perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting.

James contributed significantly to literary criticism, particularly in his insistence that writers be allowed
the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. James claimed that a text must first
and foremost be realistic and contain a representation of life that is recognizable to its readers. Good
novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting. The concept of a good or
bad novel is judged solely upon whether the author is good or bad.