British Women Writers in different periods of time

The English Renaissance

    The English Renaissance began in the later part of the fifteenth century and lasted until the 1660s. Among the most famous women writers of this period is Aphra Behn, who is seen as the first professional woman writer in English. She wrote a number of plays that dealt with topics such as racism and slavery. A good example is Oroonoko published in 1688. Aphra Behn's works include also the plays The Amourous Prince, The Town Fop, The Dutch Lover and her only tragedy, Abdelazer.

The neoclassical period

    Among the well-known women in Bristish literature during the neoclassical period, from 1660 to the end of the eighteenth century, is Anne Finch. She wrote poetry and tried to express all that she saw and experienced. Two other women are recognized for their contribution to neoclassical British literature: Mary Astell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a philosopher and a feminist writer. She is best known now for her theories on the education of women.

The Romantic period

    Jane Austen is one of the most famous women writers that worked during the Romantic period (1798-1832). Her works include several novels, most of which focus on marriage as a way for young women to secure social standing and economic security. Her most famous novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Another famous woman writer from the English Romanticism is Mary Shelley. She is the author of Frankenstein, History of Six Weeks Tour and The Last Man.

The Victorian period

    The Victorian period, between the 1830s and 1900, was the time when the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell lived and wrote. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte produced many British literary classics. Charlotte's novels include Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette and The Professor. Mary Anne Evans adopted the male pen name George as she wanted to set herself apart from the feminine genre of cookbooks and domestic moral tales. Her most famous novel is The Mill on the Floss published in 1860.

The weather is getting hotter and you'll be getting thirstier playing basketball or riding home from school. A cold drink may be just the thing. But be careful what you pour down your throat. Something that looks cool may not be good for your health.

    There are plenty of so-called energy drinks on the market. Most of them have an attractive colour and cool name. Their nutrition list also contains various things from vitamins to ginseng. Sounds great!

    But after a careful check you may find that most energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine. These drinks are typically aimed at young people, students, busy people and sports players.

    Makers sometimes say their drinks make you better at sports and can keep you awake. But be careful not to drink too much.

    Caffeine raises your heartbeat. Because of this, the International Olympic Committee has limited their use. The amount of caffeine in most energy drinks is at least as high as in a strong cup of coffee or strong tea.

    Research by Australian scientists has found that many teenagers are affected by caffeine. The results of their survey show that 27 percent of boys aged 8-12 take in more caffeine than their parents.

    There are potential health risks linked to energy drinks. Just one can of energy drink can make you nervous, have difficulty sleeping and can even cause heart attacks.

    Teenagers should be discouraged from consuming drinks with a lot of caffeine in them, an expert from the Australia Nutrition Foundation said.

    Lions are the top tourist attraction to Kenya and also considered critically endangered. One of the main causes of their death is that people kill them in return for lions attacking their cows. “We put our cows in a small cow shelter at night,” locals said, “and that's when the trouble would start. Lions would jump in the shelter and kill the cows”.

    There have been a lot of efforts to try to protect the lions, but it's a crisis and everyone is looking for a solution. One idea was land leases(租用), another was lion-proof fences. However, no one even knew that Richard Turere, a 13-year-old Maasai from Kenya, had already come up with something that worked.

    One night Richard was walking around with a flashlight and discovered the lions were scared of a moving light. An idea was born. Three weeks and much repairing later, Richard invented a system of lights that flash around the cow shelter, mimicking a human walking around with a flashlight. His system is made from broken flashlight parts and an indicator box from a motorcycle. “The only thing I bought was a solar panel（电池板）, which charges a battery that supplies power to the lights at night.” Richard says. He calls the system Lion Lights.

    His simple solution was so successful: his neighbors heard about it and wanted Lion Lights, too. He put in the lights for them. From there, the lights spread and are now being used all around Kenya. Someone in India is trying them out for tigers. In Zambia and Tanzania they're being used as well.

    Social media is one of the fastest growing industries in today's world. A study conducted by the US Pew Research Center showed that 92 percent of teenagers go online daily. The wide spread of social media has changed nearly all parts of teenagers' lives.

    Changing relationships

    High school student Elly Cooper from Illinois said social media often reduces face- to-face communication. “It makes in-person relationships harder because of people's attention given to their phones instead of their boyfriends or girlfriends,” Cooper said.

    Yet, some people believe social media has made it easier to start relationships with anyone from anywhere. Beth Kaplan from Illinois met her long-distance friend through social media. He currently lives in Scotland, but they're still able to frequently communicate with each other. “I can feel close to someone that I'm talking to via FaceTime,” Kaplan said.

    Wanting to be “liked”

    The rise of social media has changed the way teenagers see themselves. The 19- year-old Essena O'Neill announced on the social networking service Instagram that she was quitting social media because it made her unable to stop thinking about appearing perfect online. Negative comments also can do great damage to a teenager's self-esteem. Teenagers who get negative comments can't help but feel hurt.

    Opening new doors

    However, Armin Korsos, a student from Illinois, takes advantage of the comments he receives over social media to improve his videos on the social networking site YouTube. “Social media can help people show themselves and their talents to the world in a way that has never been possible before,” Korsos said.

    One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn't have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute.

    Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic(惊慌). He thought about all the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.

    He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter from the freezing wind and snow. If he didn't, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him.

    Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.

By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn't lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could— he huddled in his cave and slept.

    The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn't find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved.

    Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls'survival show Man Vs. Wild. That's where he learned the tips that saved his life. In each episode of Man Vs. Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out.

    When Grylls heard about Nicholas'amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive.

    I can proudly say that last year I broke the record for the oldest person in the world to ride a roller-coaster. I'm 105, but I feel younger. Even the doctor agrees I'm in good condition. I'm a bit deaf and my legs feel weak, but they are the only issue.

    I rode the Twistosaurus at Flamingo Land, which spins you round quite fast. I didn't choose to go on that. I'd have preferred a really fast one that went upside down. But I was told I couldn't ride something like that, because my blood pressure could drop and I might have some danger.

    I wasn't nervous — I don't get frightened of anything. I was securely fastened, so I knew I wouldn't fall out. The roller-coaster ride went on for three or four minutes, and it couldn't be a better experience. And I raised a lot of money for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance fund, which was fantastic.

    People were saying I'd got a place in the Guinness World Records. Later, someone came to present me with the certificate. I had it on the wall in my living room, with another one that got a year earlier.

    My record-breaking ways really began a couple of years ago, with the ice-bucket challenge. It turned out that I was probably the oldest person in the world to do it, and the video was very popular. After that, I started to think about what else I could do to raise money for different charities.

    I'm not sure if anyone admires all the fun I'm having. They just say I'm daft and that's about it. But I've had many good days and many exciting times. I've had a really good life. I don't think I've wasted any of it.