Lesson on the rise of the novel including what came before

This very long lesson / 2 lessons includes lots of examples of the kinds of literature which existed before novels. It aims to show students quite how dull most literature was and why the conditions arose for the birth and growth of the novel as a genre. It’s pretty context heavy and perhaps a bit dry unless you get students to come and read out some of the pre-novel literature reproduced on the slides - pompous and long winded speeches, religious tracts, sermons to young women on how they should behave, religious poetry, translations of the Classics etc etc. By contrast, novels seem modern, insightful and emotionally mature. I’ve put suggestions in the ‘notes’ section of each slide.