英國文化英語論文
Ⅰ 求一篇關於英國文化的英語論文 2000字左右
就是英國文化，包括什麼history,
religion
,law
什麼什麼的，幫我下。。。我的QQ
是916547130。
...希望這篇Bonfire的文章能幫到你。
Bonfire
Night
-
...
Ⅱ 求 有關英國文化的 英語文章。謝啦。。 我要把它做成PPT。
關於Bank Holiday 的介紹，節假日也是文化吧？？另外給你個網址 主要介紹英國文化的：http://www.learnenglish.de/britishculture.htm
What is a bank holiday?
In the United Kingdom and Ireland a bank holiday is a public holiday, when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day.
Bank holidays are often assumed to be so called because they are days upon which banks are shut, but days that banks are shut aren't always bank holidays. For example: Good Friday and Christmas Day are not bank holidays, they are common law' holidays. The dates for bank holidays are set out in statute or are proclaimed by royal decree. The term "bank holiday" was coined by Sir John Lubbock, who felt there was a need to differentiate the two types of holiday.
In England and Wales a bank holiday tends automatically to be a public holiday, so the day is generally observed as a holiday. A number of differences apply to Scotland. For example, Easter Monday is not a bank holiday, and, although they share the same name, the Summer Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday in August in Scotland as opposed to the last elsewhere in the UK.
Top
Origins of bank holidays
Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about 33 saints' days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was reced to just four: 1 May, 1 November, Good Friday, and Christmas Day.
In 1871, Sir John Lubbock introced the Bank Holidays Act, it introced the concept of holidays with pay and designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five in Scotland. These were Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, the 26th December, and Whit Monday (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and New Year's Day, Good Friday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in August, and Christmas Day (Scotland). In England, Wales and Ireland, Good Friday and Christmas Day were considered traditional days of rest (as were Sundays) and therefore it was felt unnecessary to include them in the Act. The move was such a popular one and there were even suggestions that August Bank Holiday should be called St Lubbock's day!
In Ireland, in 1903, the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act added 17 March, Saint Patrick's Day, as a bank holiday, and in 1926 the Governor of Northern Ireland proclaimed 12 July (Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690) as a bank holiday too. This particular holiday is proclaimed annually by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated St Andrew's Day, November 30, as an official bank holiday in Scotland. But there is no public holiday for St David's Day in Wales, or St George's Day in England.
From 1965 the date of the August bank holiday was changed to the end of the month in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Whitsun bank holiday (Whit Monday) was replaced by the late spring bank holiday - fixed as the last Monday in May.
Bank holidays today
The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, is in force today and there are 8 permanent bank and public holidays in England and Wales, 9 in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland.
Ireland has the same eight holidays as England and Wales, plus St Patrick's Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
In Scotland, since the Scotland Act 1998 Scottish Ministers have the responsibility for setting bank holidays. There are other public or local holidays which can be determined by local authorities, based on local tradition. Since 2007, St Andrew's Day has been an alternative, voluntary public holiday, which can replace an existing local holiday. Businesses and schools are not necessarily closed on Scottish bank holidays, and the Scottish banks only follow the English and Welsh bank holidays for business reasons.
When the usual date of a bank or public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a 'substitute day' is given, normally the following Monday.
Once upon a time everything shut on a bank holiday; offices, banks, shops, but nowadays many offices and shops remain open, only banks are not allowed to operate on bank holidays. Nowadays, the only day that most things close in the UK is Christmas Day.
Contrary to popular belief, people do not have an absolute right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, instead they are often part of their holiday leave, it depends on the terms of the contract of employment, but many people working on these days do receive extra money, often "time-and-a-half" or even "double time". Sometimes people will get time in lieu, which means they get paid for working and they get an extra days holiday, which they can take at another time.
People employed in essential services like utilities, fire, ambulance, police, health-workers, etc. usually receive extra pay for working on these days.
In spite of the terrible British weather, many people use bank holidays to go away for a long weekend. This means that museums and other public attractions; historic houses, zoos, sports centres, etc. remain open. But it also means that the traffic on British roads can be horrendous, often exaccerbated by essential road works, or engineering work on the railways. According to the RAC an estimated 11 million Britons take to their cars over the spring bank holiday.
Of course with the use of modern technology, most banks' telephone and internet banking services operate 24/7/365 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every single day of the year.
Ⅲ 英國文化 英語文章 一千字
近代早期英國國家財政體制散論在16-18世紀中葉英國社會所發生的深刻而廣泛的變遷中，國家政權既推動或限制、規nbsp;nbsp;范著社會的變遷，又以自身的性質、職能的轉變成為這場社會變遷的重要組成部分。自nbsp;nbsp;16世紀絕對主義王權興起之後，英國國家政權的統治職能在內涵與外延上都開始發生轉nbsp;nbsp;變，17世紀的政治風雲更使國家政權的階級屬性和統治方式、管理職能朝著近代化的方nbsp;nbsp;向前進。君主立憲政體的確立使英國土地貴族、工商資本家、金融銀行家等各個統治集nbsp;nbsp;團的利益獲得了更為充分、更為有效的表達。本文僅就英國國家財政體制在這一時期的nbsp;nbsp;轉變和完善作一些探討，以期能夠加深和豐富對近代英國社會變遷的整體認識。nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;一、近代國家稅收體系的建立nbsp;nbsp;稅收之於一個國家，猶如血液之於生命。在向近代國家轉型的過程中，構建具有近代nbsp;nbsp;意義的稅收體系對任何一個政府都具有極為重要的作用和意義。一個完整意義上的近代nbsp;nbsp;國家稅收體系必須具備公開、公正、有序、有效等諸種不可或缺的特徵。所謂公開、公nbsp;nbsp;正，是指國家稅收應具有公共事務的性質，必須得到社會成員的認可和認同。所謂有序nbsp;nbsp;、有效，是指國家稅收體系運行時的每一環節、過程都應該依照一定的法度，即國民之nbsp;nbsp;意願而行，國家稅收的每一項收入、支出及績效都要向國民有所交待，接受國民或其代nbsp;nbsp;議機構的核准。這些特徵在技術上就體現為制稅、收稅、用度、審計等多種層次和制度nbsp;nbsp;。這種近代稅收體系的建立決定於制度、經濟、社會和文化等各種歷史和時代因素，也nbsp;nbsp;是國家政權與社會中各個集團、階層、階級利益反復角逐、長期斗爭的結果。英國之所nbsp;nbsp;以能夠在二、三百年間由一個二流國家躍居西歐諸國之首，在很大程度上得益於它較早nbsp;nbsp;地建成了一個相對較完備的國家稅收體系。其最大的特徵就是由議會控制著整個國家稅nbsp;nbsp;收體系的關鍵：征稅大權。nbsp;nbsp;由議會控制、把握征稅權，是中世紀晚期西歐英、法、西諸國共有的現象。這是由當nbsp;nbsp;時重建法律和秩序，消除貴族叛亂，驅逐外敵的社會普遍需求所使然。隨著時代發展，nbsp;nbsp;每個新興的民族國家政權極欲獲得更多的賦稅收入，然而由於各個政府和它的國民相互nbsp;nbsp;作用方式不同，從而形成不同的稅收制度。在西班牙，「出於對內亂的厭倦，西班牙的nbsp;nbsp;代議機構卡斯提爾國會將征稅管制交給了王權，」在法國，由於「三級會議極欲終止法nbsp;nbsp;國動亂的願望，使王室不經被統治者的同意便奪取了征稅權，造就這一權力的緊張形勢nbsp;nbsp;過去之後，這一權力卻長久地保留下來」。[1](P149，147)而英國則不同，即或是在絕nbsp;nbsp;對主義君權達頂峰的都鐸時代，英國國會尤其是下院仍牢牢地把持著征稅大權，都鐸君nbsp;nbsp;王們只能依靠其他途徑開辟財源，如沒收教產加以拍賣。斯圖亞特王朝欲強化王權，奪nbsp;nbsp;得征稅大權，但遭到國會的頑強抵制。在王權與國會之間所展開的復雜激烈的斗爭中，nbsp;nbsp;征稅權始終是雙方爭奪的一個要點。雖然歷經內戰、復辟等種種磨難，由國會控制征稅nbsp;nbsp;大權的原則一直未得改動。直至1688年「光榮革命」發表《民權宣言》規定：王室在議nbsp;nbsp;會規定的稅收之外從事征稅是非法的，[2](P186)再次確定了國會的征稅權。nbsp;nbsp;征稅是歸王權還是歸議會，究竟有何差別及意義呢?筆者以為大體有以下幾個方面值得nbsp;nbsp;關註：nbsp;nbsp;其一，從政體層面上看，稅權的歸屬決定了未來國家政體的發展方向。西、法兩國王nbsp;nbsp;權由於攫取征稅大權而迅速發達起來，建立了對社會經濟的全面控制，成為一種不受任nbsp;nbsp;何力量約束的專制王權；這兩國中的等級(三級)會議，由於將財權拱手轉讓給王權，而nbsp;nbsp;使自身「成為國家機器特別是王權的贅疣。結局是可以預見的，三級會議停開了，而王nbsp;nbsp;權卻因時移事易不再恢復會議產生前的老樣子，國王擺脫了身上的緊箍，開始向專制的nbsp;nbsp;方向大踏步邁進。」[3](P407)道拉斯·諾斯指出「……法國國王所獲得的自由的程度nbsp;nbsp;和其英國對手比起來是大相徑庭的。這種區別在這兩個國家後來兩個世紀的經濟發展中nbsp;nbsp;產生了重大的影響。」[3](P407)英國國會則因手中一直緊握征稅大權，故而成為遏制nbsp;nbsp;王權走向全面專制的重要力量。正是這種力量使得都鐸王權的絕對主義統治處於相對有nbsp;nbsp;限、相對薄弱的境地，使得英國國會在一次次與王權的沖突較量中逐步占據上風，不僅nbsp;nbsp;保全了自己的存在，而且也最終確立起立憲君主制政體。nbsp;nbsp;其二，從行政管理層面上看，稅權歸屬也是
Ⅳ 急求：一千字左右nbsp;關於英國的文化歷史等方面的論文
近代早期英國國家財政體制散論在16-18世紀中葉英國社會所發生的深刻而廣泛的變遷中，國家政權既推動或限制、規nbsp;nbsp;范著社會的變遷，又以自身的性質、職能的轉變成為這場社會變遷的重要組成部分。自nbsp;nbsp;16世紀絕對主義王權興起之後，英國國家政權的統治職能在內涵與外延上都開始發生轉nbsp;nbsp;變，17世紀的政治風雲更使國家政權的階級屬性和統治方式、管理職能朝著近代化的方nbsp;nbsp;向前進。君主立憲政體的確立使英國土地貴族、工商資本家、金融銀行家等各個統治集nbsp;nbsp;團的利益獲得了更為充分、更為有效的表達。本文僅就英國國家財政體制在這一時期的nbsp;nbsp;轉變和完善作一些探討，以期能夠加深和豐富對近代英國社會變遷的整體認識。nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;一、近代國家稅收體系的建立nbsp;nbsp;稅收之於一個國家，猶如血液之於生命。在向近代國家轉型的過程中，構建具有近代nbsp;nbsp;意義的稅收體系對任何一個政府都具有極為重要的作用和意義。一個完整意義上的近代nbsp;nbsp;國家稅收體系必須具備公開、公正、有序、有效等諸種不可或缺的特徵。所謂公開、公nbsp;nbsp;正，是指國家稅收應具有公共事務的性質，必須得到社會成員的認可和認同。所謂有序nbsp;nbsp;、有效，是指國家稅收體系運行時的每一環節、過程都應該依照一定的法度，即國民之nbsp;nbsp;意願而行，國家稅收的每一項收入、支出及績效都要向國民有所交待，接受國民或其代nbsp;nbsp;議機構的核准。這些特徵在技術上就體現為制稅、收稅、用度、審計等多種層次和制度nbsp;nbsp;。這種近代稅收體系的建立決定於制度、經濟、社會和文化等各種歷史和時代因素，也nbsp;nbsp;是國家政權與社會中各個集團、階層、階級利益反復角逐、長期斗爭的結果。英國之所nbsp;nbsp;以能夠在二、三百年間由一個二流國家躍居西歐諸國之首，在很大程度上得益於它較早nbsp;nbsp;地建成了一個相對較完備的國家稅收體系。其最大的特徵就是由議會控制著整個國家稅nbsp;nbsp;收體系的關鍵：征稅大權。nbsp;nbsp;由議會控制、把握征稅權，是中世紀晚期西歐英、法、西諸國共有的現象。這是由當nbsp;nbsp;時重建法律和秩序，消除貴族叛亂，驅逐外敵的社會普遍需求所使然。隨著時代發展，nbsp;nbsp;每個新興的民族國家政權極欲獲得更多的賦稅收入，然而由於各個政府和它的國民相互nbsp;nbsp;作用方式不同，從而形成不同的稅收制度。在西班牙，「出於對內亂的厭倦，西班牙的nbsp;nbsp;代議機構卡斯提爾國會將征稅管制交給了王權，」在法國，由於「三級會議極欲終止法nbsp;nbsp;國動亂的願望，使王室不經被統治者的同意便奪取了征稅權，造就這一權力的緊張形勢nbsp;nbsp;過去之後，這一權力卻長久地保留下來」。[1](P149，147)而英國則不同，即或是在絕nbsp;nbsp;對主義君權達頂峰的都鐸時代，英國國會尤其是下院仍牢牢地把持著征稅大權，都鐸君nbsp;nbsp;王們只能依靠其他途徑開辟財源，如沒收教產加以拍賣。斯圖亞特王朝欲強化王權，奪nbsp;nbsp;得征稅大權，但遭到國會的頑強抵制。在王權與國會之間所展開的復雜激烈的斗爭中，nbsp;nbsp;征稅權始終是雙方爭奪的一個要點。雖然歷經內戰、復辟等種種磨難，由國會控制征稅nbsp;nbsp;大權的原則一直未得改動。直至1688年「光榮革命」發表《民權宣言》規定：王室在議nbsp;nbsp;會規定的稅收之外從事征稅是非法的，[2](P186)再次確定了國會的征稅權。nbsp;nbsp;征稅是歸王權還是歸議會，究竟有何差別及意義呢?筆者以為大體有以下幾個方面值得nbsp;nbsp;關註：nbsp;nbsp;其一，從政體層面上看，稅權的歸屬決定了未來國家政體的發展方向。西、法兩國王nbsp;nbsp;權由於攫取征稅大權而迅速發達起來，建立了對社會經濟的全面控制，成為一種不受任nbsp;nbsp;何力量約束的專制王權；這兩國中的等級(三級)會議，由於將財權拱手轉讓給王權，而nbsp;nbsp;使自身「成為國家機器特別是王權的贅疣。結局是可以預見的，三級會議停開了，而王nbsp;nbsp;權卻因時移事易不再恢復會議產生前的老樣子，國王擺脫了身上的緊箍，開始向專制的nbsp;nbsp;方向大踏步邁進。」[3](P407)道拉斯·諾斯指出「……法國國王所獲得的自由的程度nbsp;nbsp;和其英國對手比起來是大相徑庭的。這種區別在這兩個國家後來兩個世紀的經濟發展中nbsp;nbsp;產生了重大的影響。」[3](P407)英國國會則因手中一直緊握征稅大權，故而成為遏制nbsp;nbsp;王權走向全面專制的重要力量。正是這種力量使得都鐸王權的絕對主義統治處於相對有nbsp;nbsp;限、相對薄弱的境地，使得英國國會在一次次與王權的沖突較量中逐步占據上風，不僅nbsp;nbsp;保全了自己的存在，而且也最終確立起立憲君主制政體。nbsp;nbsp;其二，從行政管理層面上看，稅權歸屬也是 查看原帖>>
Ⅳ 高分求用英文介紹英國文化的文章
1,英國式幽默的介紹
Humor
It is difficult to make generalizations about humor ring the Renaissance because the kinds of things that provoked laughter varied by country, language, and social class. In all parts of Europe, however, laughter was considered an important—even essential—part of life. Scholars often quoted the words of the ancient Greek philosopher ARISTOTLE, who described man as a being capable of laughter. Scholars of drama, medicine, and rhetoric* discussed the nature of humor and laughter. In the fields of drama and fiction, the Renaissance proced some of the greatest comic writers ever.
Humor on the Stage. Comedy played a major role in both formal and informal performances throughout the Renaissance. Renaissance festivals often featured comic performances that made a mockery of the established social order. The most important of these festivals was Carnival, a period of revelry before the sober days of Lent (the 40 weekdays leading up to Easter). Carnival festivities in all parts of Europe included comic plays. French celebrations involved "fools' plays," known as sotties, while Polish events included crude comedies in a realistic style. Songs with mocking or obscene lyrics also formed a part of some Carnival events.
Some early plays featured political humor. The French king Louis XII encouraged political comedies because they helped him to learn what was going on in the state. Other comedies based their humor on stock characters and themes, such as a cheating wife deceiving her dim-witted husband. Although most of these early farces* were penned by unnamed authors, a few well-known poets wrote in this style in France and England. In Italy, a kind of farce called COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE developed in the 1500s. Commedia dell'arte also involved standard character types caught in typical situations. This style of drama featured physical action and broad comedy, with plots ranging from the fairly realistic to the wildly fantastic. Humanist* comedies provided a more intellectual alternative to farce. Humanists of the Renaissance imitated the comedies of the ancient Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence. This classical* style of comedy arose in Italy and spread across Europe. The Italian statesman and author Niccolò MACHIAVELLI proced an obscene comedy called The Mandrake Root that is widely viewed as a masterpiece. Another brilliant work in this style is Ralph Roister Doister, by the English playwright Nicolas Udall.
In addition to staged performances, humor had a regular place at royal and noble courts in the person of the fool, or jester. Dressed in a costume that featured a cap with bells on it, the fool was the one person at the court allowed to ridicule everyone and everything. Fools appeared often as characters in literary works, such as the plays of William SHAKESPEARE. However, the fool's function was not always strictly comical. In many works, he served more to instruct than to amuse.
Humor on the Page. Like the drama of the period, literature of the 1400s and 1500s was largely comic. Renaissance humanists frequently gathered humorous material from classical Greek and Roman literature. They particularly enjoyed collecting short Latin works called facetiae, which could be jokes, serious stories, riddles, or moral fables. Humanists usually did not explain why they chose particular stories for their joke collections. Some, including the Italian poet PETRARCH, drew heavily on the ideas of the ancient Roman writer CICERO about what was funny.
Humanists also enjoyed creating their own humor—especially for the purpose of satire*. The Dutch scholar Desiderius ERASMUS was particularly good at using humor in his satire. One of his funniest works, "The Abbot* and the Learned Lady," ends with the laughter of the witty, ecated lady who has outsmarted the rude, ignorant churchman. German and French humanists of the 1500s proced some extremely funny works of satire by writing mock letters in deliberately bad Latin.
Other Renaissance writers turned to verse for their comedy. One of the Italian comic writers' favorite forms was the mock epic*, a takeoff on a highly respected literary form. The famous poem Orlando Furioso (Mad Roland), by the Italian poet Ludovico ARIOSTO, contains elements of the mock epic style. Another well-known mock epic is The Chess Game by Jan Kochanowski, Poland's most famous Renaissance poet. Poets in England or France do not appear to have used this style, but they did mock the conventions* of other poetic forms. For example, Petrarch had set certain standards for love poetry that involved praising the beloved in extravagant terms. Later writers made fun of Petrarch's style, as in Shakespeare's well-known sonnet "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun."
Humor appeared in both long and short fiction works ring the Renaissance. Miguel de CERVANTES of Spain and François RABELAIS of France incorporated humor in novels that are still widely read today. Most French comic authors wrote shorter stories, often inspired by Italian sources. For example, MARGARET OF NAVARRE based several comic stories in her Heptameron on the famous Decameron (1353) by Italian author Giovanni BOCCACCIO. Some French stories, such as the collection How to Succeed, by Béroalde de Verville (written around 1612), were highly obscene.
In England one popular form of humor was the "jest," a very short story with a punch line (much like a modern joke). Writers collected these comic stories into jestbooks, which were similar to the Italian collections of facetiae. Jestbooks also became popular in Germany in the late 1500s, and some examples appeared in Spain and Italy.
Humor in the Visual Arts. The comic elements found in Renaissance literature also appeared in the art of the period. Art often used humor to deliver moral or religious messages. During the Protestant Reformation*, Protestant leaders put out illustrated pamphlets that portrayed their enemies as animals or showed the devil playing a Catholic monk like a musical instrument. However, not all humorous art had a moral message. In the late 1520s artist Giulio Romano painted a room at a palace in Mantua with lifelike figures of giants who appear to be pulling down the walls and pillars of the room. This witty style of illusion, known as trompe l'oeil (fool the eye), was very popular at the time.
In the early 1500s, artists began painting in a style known as grotesque, based on ancient Roman wall paintings. Grotesques often portray humans and animals in a fantastic manner, with leaves, flowers, and curly lines where arms and legs should be. The famous Italian artist MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI created several works in this style. Many grotesques still exist on the walls of museums and Italian palaces. Humor also found its way into Renaissance sculpture. The Boboli Gardens of Florence, Italy, built in the 1500s, contain such comic statues as a fat dwarf sitting on a turtle.
2,英國街頭文化
Hip hop is a cultural movement that developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among Black Americans and Latino Americans. It was DJ Afrika Bambaataa that outlined the five pillars of hip-hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking, graffiti writing, and knowledge。Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world。 When hip hop music began to emerge, it was based around disc jockeys who created rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables. This was later accompanied by "rapping" (a rhythmic style of chanting) and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJs. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among followers of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.
Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre:
a focus on the indivial song or singles, rather than on extended works or albums
an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology
an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
an emphasis on recording, proction, and technology, over live performance
a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments
The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure. Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form, with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks, and a chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse.The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment.The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions.
Pop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs. While these basic elements of the genre have remained fairly constant, pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, particularly borrowing from the development of rock music, and utilizing key technological innovations to proce new variations on existing themes.
3,英國古典文化
哥特式
Gothicismus, Gothism, or Gothicism (Swedish: Göticism) is the name given to what is considered to have been a cultural movement in Sweden. The founders of the movement were Nicolaus Ragvaldi, the brothers Johannes Magnus, Olaus Magnus and Olof Rudbeck d.ä.. They all held the belief that the Goths had originally lived in Sweden. This belief continued to hold power in the 17th century, when Sweden was a great power following the Thirty Years' War, but lost most of its sway in the 18th. It was revitalized by national romanticism in the early 19th century, this time with the vikings as heroic figures.
The name is derived from Jordanes's account of the Gothic urheimat in Scandinavia (Scandza), and the Gothicists in Sweden believed that the Goths had originated from Sweden. Some scholars in Denmark also attempted to identify the Goths with the Jutes, however, these ideas did not lead to the same widespread cultural movement in the Danish society as it did in the Swedish. In contrast with the Swedes, the Danes of this era did not forward claims to political legitimacy based on assertions that their country was the original homeland of the Goths and that the conquest of the Roman Empire was proof of their own country's military valor and power through history
The Gothicismus movement took pride in the Gothic tradition that the Ostrogoths and their king Theodoric the Great who assumed power in the Roman Empire had Scandinavian ancestry. This pride was expressed as early as the medieval chronicles, where chroniclers wrote about the Goths as the ancestors of the Scandinavians, and it permeated the writings of the Swedish writer Johannes Magnus (Historia de omnibus gothorum seonumque regibus) and his brother Olaus Magnus (Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus). Both works had a large impact on contemporary scholarship in Sweden.
During the 17th century, Danes and Swedes competed for the collection and publication of Iceland manuscripts, Norse sagas, and the two Eddas. In Sweden, the Icelandic manuscripts became part of an origin myth and were seen as proof that the greatness and heroism of the old Geats had been passed down through the generations to the current population. This pride culminated in the publication of Olaus Rudbeck's Atland eller Manheim (1679–1702), where he claimed that Sweden was identical to Atlantis.
維多利亞風格
Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and grew in prominence throughout the Victorian era and the reign of Victoria, a period which would last from June 1837 to January 1901. Covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the 63 year reign would see numerous changes in fashion. These changes would include, but not be limited to, changes in clothing, architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts.
Varieties of Victorian architecture：
Styles conceived in the Victorian era
British Arts and Crafts movement
Instrial architecture
Painted Ladies
Queen Anne (Stick-Eastlake)
Second Empire
Jacobethan (the precursor to the Queen Anne style)
Neo-Grec
Renaissance Revival
Romanesque Revival (includes Richardsonian Romanesque)
[edit] Other movements popularized in the period
While not uniquely Victorian, and part of revivals that began before the era, these styles are strongly associated with the Victorian era e to the large number of examples that were erected in that period
Gothic Revival
Italianate
Neoclassicism
爵位分類：
Peers are of five ranks, in descending order of hierarchy:
Duke comes from the Latin x, leader. Created in 1337.
Marquess comes from the French marquis, which is a derivative of marche or march. This is a reference to the English borders ("marches") with Wales and Scotland, a relationship more evident in the feminine form: Marchioness. Created in 1385.
Earl comes from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon eorl, a military leader. The meaning may have been affected by the Old Norse jarl, meaning free-born warrior or nobleman, ring the Danelaw, thus giving rise to the modern sense. Since there was no feminine Old English or Old Norse equivalent for the term, "Countess" is used (an Earl is analogous to the Continental count), from the Latin comes. Created circa 800-1000.
Viscount comes from the Latin vicecomes, vice-count. Created in 1440.
Baron comes from the Old Germanic baro, freeman. Created in 1066.
In Scotland, the fifth rank is called a Lord of Parliament, as Barons are holders of feudal dignities, not peers. Baronets, while holders of hereditary titles, are not peers. Knights, Dames, and holders of other non-hereditary British honors are also not peers.
For peers, the various titles are in the form of (Rank) (Name of Title) or (Rank) of (Name of Title). The name of the title can either be a place name or a surname. The precise usage depends on the rank of the peerage and on certain other general considerations. Dukes always use of. Marquesses and Earls whose titles are based on place names normally use of, while those whose titles are based on surnames normally do not. Viscounts, Barons and Lords of Parliament do not use of. However, there are several exceptions to the rule. For instance, Scottish vicecomital titles theoretically include of, though in practice it is usually dropped. (Thus, the "Viscount of Falkland" is commonly known as the "Viscount Falkland".)
4,英國概述
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London, the capital, but with three devolved national administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The Channel Island liwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies and not part of the UK.The UK has fourteen overseas territories, all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface, the largest empire in history. British influence can continue to be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies.
The UK is a developed country, with the world's sixth largest economy by nominal GDP and the seventh largest by purchasing power parity。 It was the world's first instrialised country and the world's foremost power ring the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a major power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a nuclear power and has the fourth highest defence spending in the world. It is a Member State of the European Union, holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, OECD, NATO, and the World Trade Organization.
你說的每一項都寫得挺少的
寫不下了，也不知道夠不，留一下郵箱，我可以繼續補充
Ⅵ 英語論文 淺析《哈利波特》中英國貴族文化 怎麼寫啊
我認為，馬爾福家族實際上就是一條暗線，是JK在HP中對英國貴族的諷刺。他們看上去似乎有良好的教養，精緻的面容，蒼白的皮膚，金發灰眼，血統高貴，擁有權利和金錢，蔑視混血和麻瓜。另外還有不可一世和傲慢自大。認為他們不是真正意義上的食死徒。盧修斯只是認同伏地魔的血統論調，納西莎是身不由己，而德拉科只是一個孩子。這些從書中很多地方都能看到。
所以，培養一個貴族的確很難，但是也同樣可笑。只是一副虛假的皮囊。
你可以稍微看看一篇HP親世代同人文：《純白年代》。或許會對你的論文有所幫助。
Ⅶ 急需關於英國美國文化，語言，文學方面的論文（英文版）
你可以從以下幾個方面著手：
1.•the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England:
回答：• The United Kingdom: a country that consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• Great Britain: the name of the island northwest of France and east of Ireland that consists of three somewhat autonomous（自治的） regions: England, Wales and Scotland.
• England is part of Great Britain, which is part of the United Kingdom.
• The U.K. includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. England. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are not countries but the United Kingdom is.
• The Highlanders: the Scots who live in the mountainous regions of the Highlands in Northern Scotland.
• They are proud, independent and hardy people who maintain their strong cultural identity. They mainly live by farming sheep in mountain areas or fishing on the coasts and islands.
• The reputation of the Scots: inventive, hardworking, serious-minded and cautious with money. (In the past, they were pioneer settlers and empire builders in places like America, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.)
• their distinctive national dress: kilt
• Bagpipes
• The Scots can be recognized by and their particular style of speech and accent .
2宗教：
回答：• The Catholic Church: refers to the Christian church headed by the Pope. All members of the church accept the gospel of Christ and the teachings of the Bible. Any revolt against the traditional Christian faith was 「heresy」.
• In the Middle Ages, the Popes was extremely powerful. In the 16th century, some of the actual beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church were questioned by Protestant doctrines and there was a great deal of persecution by Catholics.
• The Protestant Church: refers to the Christian church whose faith and practice originated with the principles of the Reformation. As the Pope』s political power and religious authority declined in the `6th, Protestant churches sprang up in Northern Europe in opposition to the established Roman Catholic Church. In Britain, Protestantism graally became the dominant faith in the Elizabethan age.
• Christianity:
refers to all doctrines and religious groups based on the teaching of Jesus Christ. It was founded in the 1st century in Palestine. Jesus Christ is accepted by Christians as the son of God, and his teaching is contained in the Bible, the holy book of Christianity. In Europe, Christianity is divided into three major groups. Roman Catholic Church, Protestant Church and Orthodox Eastern Church(東正教).
3.學校的不同：
回答：British Ecaion
• Public schools: are the secondary boarding schools that prepare students chiefly for universities. They are supported entirely by fees and private funs.
• The name 「public school」 is traditional one with little meaning today, since far from being public these schools are restricted to a comparatively small section of the population.
• 「Public school」 is a traditional name with little meaning today, because far from being public, public schools are restricted to a comparatively small section of the population.
• Some people feel, the greatest argument for public schools is the strikingly high proportion of ex-public-school boys occupying senior posts in the government, the armed forces, the church, t he universities, the professions, and even in business. They say, this proves the superiority of a public school ecation.
• It was the public schools that laid the foundations of English ecation.
• In England, parents who are rich and conservative in politics will most probably send their children to public schools.
• Three famous public schools in Britain: Eton, Harrow and Rugby.
• Prep schools: also called preparatory schools, they are private elementary schools in Britain, which prepare their students for public schools.
• The prep school curriculum differs considerably from that of the junior school, and there is a distinctive boarding atmosphere. At the age of thirteen, the students will take the 「common entrance」 examination for admission to a 「public school」.
• The prep school curriculum differs considerably from that of the junior school, since its main target is not the 「eleven plus,」 but the 「common entrance」 examination at the age of 13, for admission to a public schools.
• The public schools today are no longer as superior and exclusive as they used to be.
• Firstly, their perfect system, their house system and their tradition of sport have been widely adopted in state secondary schools, and ,many grammar schools have academic records which many a public school might envy.
• Secondly, many so-called public schools are dependent on an annual grant from the central government, in return for which they award between a quarter and a half of their places to pupils paying reced fees or none at all.
• Thirdly, all public schools too, except a few of recognized standard, are liable to be inspected by the State.
• There is thus a graal progress away from exclusiveness in British ecation.
• Oxford University was founded in the twelfth century. It contains about thirty separate colleges.
• Cambridge University was founded in the thirteenth century. It contains about twenty separate colleges.
• There four Scottish universities dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. They are St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.
• London University has far more students than any other British universities.
• 「red brick」: is a slightly contemptuous term to refer to the large group of nineteenth-and-twentieth-century universities and university colleges in Britain.
• 「red brick」 describes their construction, which is contrasted with the more dignified and solidlooking ancient stone architecture of Oxford and Cambridge.
• The two widely admired features of Oxford and Cambridge : are te college system and the tutorial system.
• The college system of Oxford and Cambridge: is one whereby all students live in college ring at least part of their course. The value of this system lies in fostering a community spirit in which a useful mingling of intelligence can take place.
• The tutorial system of Oxford and Cambridge: is one whereby each student gets personal tuition once a week in his tutor』s own room.
• Open University: was founded in Britain in 1969 for people who may not get the opportunity for higher ecation for economic or social reasons. It is open to everybody, and does not demand the same formal qualifications as the other universities. It is non-residential. Lectures are broadcast on TV and radio. At the end of the course, successful students are awarded a university degree.
4.• The Welfare State
回答：• 1) Britain: a welfare state in the sense that it should ensure, as far as it can, that nobody should be without the means for the minimum necessities of life as the result of unemployment, old age, sickness or over —large families.
• 2) The system of national insurance pays out benefits to people who are unemployed, or unable to earn because they are old or sick.
• 3) Free or nearly free medical and dental care is provided for everyone under the National Health Service.
• 4) Supplementary benefits are provided for people who live below the minimum standard.
the retirement pension
• 1) It may be received by any man from the age of 65 (provided he has made his weekly contributions to the fund) if he ceases to work, and by any woman from the age of 60.
• 2) A man who continues to work after the age of 65 gets no pension at first, but when he is over 70 he gets a bigger pension.
• 3) People may receive additional pensions by paying higher contributions while they are working.
• 4) There are in addition non-state methods of providing for retirement pensions.
Family allowances
• (1) They are paid directly out of public
money contributed by taxpayers.
• (2) For the first child of a family, nothing
is paid, but an allowance is made for all
children after the first.
• (3) The payments continue until a child
leaves school and are subject to income tax.
• (4) There are special payments for widows
who have children;payments continue
until a child leaves school and are
subject to income tax.
• (5) There are special payments for widows
who have children.
"meals on wheels"
• "meals on wheels" : refers to meals which are prepared by the public authorities in a central kitchen and then distributed to infirm old people by women who belong to voluntary organizations, using their own cars.
• "meals on wheels"
(1) It is a kind of unpaid service
voluntarily performed by public-
spirited people.
(2) Meals are distributed to infirm old
people in old peoples' homes by
women who belong to voluntary
organizations, using their own cars.
• The grades of the doctors in hospitals : the 「housemen「(實習醫生) or residents(住院醫生) are in the lowest grade and the Consultants are in the highest grade.
• "housemen" or residents: refers to those newly-qualified doctors who spend a year or two living in hospitals gaining experience under supervision.
• the Consultants(會診醫生) must not work in the hospital for the whole of their time. They may work in the hospital either for the whole of their time or for part of their time.
3.
Ⅷ 求一篇關於英國文化的英語論文。是用英語寫的論文。1000字
關於歷史方面的，希望對你有用
尋找崇禎弔死的那棵樹
四月初的太陽照著北京城，暖融融的，懶洋洋的。這是世紀初的北京――公元2001年的四月初，就是在這樣一個上午，我又一次來到故宮後面的景山公園。
又一次來絕不是因為這里多少景緻沒看夠。相反，這里其實沒有多少景緻可看，尤其是置身於這周邊的風景名勝中――正南是故宮，西邊是北海，而這里則只是一座土山，幾個亭子，她根本沒有多少值得誇耀的地方。又一次來是因為有件東西上次過眼太匆匆，沒有細細品味。
這件東西就是那棵樹，崇禎弔死的那棵樹。
那棵樹其實僅僅是一種象徵――在土丘一般的景山東南下方，立著一株歪脖子槐樹，上掛一牌――「崇禎弔死煤山處」。自然，沒有幾個人會相信這就是崇禎弔死的那棵樹，因為這棵碗口粗的歪脖子樹最多不過三、四十年樹齡的樣子，而自1644年崇禎皇帝自縊到現在，差三年就滿甲申年的第六個輪回了。如果那棵樹還長著，該是多麼讓人感慨萬千。面對它，會讓人感受到歲月的無情和蒼老！
我在那棵樹前徘徊了好一陣子，隨後就拾級而上，在景山頂處的萬壽亭坐了下來。故宮就在前方，強烈的陽光使我不得不眯起眼睛――正前方是從天安門甬道到故宮博物院出口的中軸線，這樣一看，故宮恰似一本攤開的歷史書。
那是個風雨飄搖、大廈將傾的甲申年。三月十八日，勢如破竹的李自成農民軍攻破了崇禎的最後一道堡壘――北京皇城。明崇禎帝朱由檢在逼死後妃、劍砍長公主後，踉踉蹌蹌地從紫禁城裡走了出來，跑到這後面的煤山上，望著四處燃起的烽煙，一壺酒一直喝到紅日墜去，星光臨天。隨後他在一棵樹的枝杈間用絲帶打了個結，告訴身邊太監：他痛失江山，無臉見祖宗，死後要以發覆面。隨後就上吊而死。
崇禎之死有著不同凡響的意義。他的死，不僅僅在於一個王朝不可逆轉的滅亡，更在於一個可能忽略的事實：隨著清王朝的入主中原，以一種野蠻落後的孔武粗陋接管一個文明熟透同時也是腐爛的國度，科技文化的因子受到嚴重窒息，人文精神的嫩芽受到百般摧殘，領先世界兩三千年的華夏文明幾乎止住了腳步，開始落後於西方。
國家與民族永遠綁在一起
在西方，在崇禎皇帝上吊五年以後，英國斯圖亞特王朝的查理一世也走上了窮途末路。十七世紀四十年代，可以說是東西方世界一個極其重要的年代――在這之前的幾個世紀里，西方經過人文主義的大覺醒和科技的大進步，東西方基本上形成了一個不甚偏倚的天平。而隨著明朝的滅亡及滿清的入關，世界的天平失衡了。
亡國先亡天下
對崇禎的死，包括不少史學家在內――眾多的人抱有同情之心。同情什麼？同情他的身世，同情他的結局。雖勵精圖治卻無力回天，國運已經明顯不行，苦苦支撐仍力不從心，正如他所說：朕非亡國之君，而事事皆亡國之象。自然，同情崇禎的背後隱藏對一個國家和民族沒落的悲嘆。
崇禎皇帝在位十七年，然而他同中國的所有皇帝都不一樣，從他登基第一天起，國家大廈將傾、分崩離析的事兒就接連不斷地折磨著他，照史家的說法，他十七年裡勵精圖治，企圖中興振作，但終是無力回天。國人對於亡國之君的印象是商紂王、秦二世、陳後主、隋煬帝、宋徽宗之類的主兒，這些人或殘暴無情，或荒淫無恥，或昏庸無道，或懦弱無能，不亡沒有道理；退一步講，如果亡在他的祖輩萬曆皇帝朱翊鈞――這個人懶惰得二十多年不理朝政，亡倒也亡了；如果亡在他的兄長天啟皇帝朱由校――這個人重用太監大搞特務政治，卻在皇宮里對自己的土木手藝手舞足蹈樂此不疲，亡倒也亡了。亡國之君的名義最終落在了崇禎皇帝身上，確實有些「不公平」。於是，史家的觀點是：崇禎是在為萬曆和天啟兩代皇帝充當亡國之君的替罪羊。
中國歷史上的腐朽黑暗時代人們歷歷可數，最腐朽黑暗的我認為應該是在崇禎之前的天啟年間。為什麼？為一個活人造生祠，這本來就有些出格了，況且這個活人是個流氓無賴起家的閹人；這還罷了，建祠的檔次竟還要同「萬世師表」的孔子比肩！建祠的位置更是顯赫得無以復加，在美麗的杭州西子湖，閹人的生祠建在岳飛墓和關公廟之間，讓一位過路的士人忍不住要長嘆一聲！但這一聲長嘆的代價卻是慘遭毒打，身首異處。全國各地都掀起了一場聲勢浩大為其造生祠的「高潮」，如開封甚至扒了兩千間民房建起一座氣勢宏大的生祠，有不少地方為建生祠還拆了學堂和其他廟宇。這個閹人魏忠賢的最大功績在哪裡？那就是伺候好了皇上，是皇上最好的奴才！更可悲的還在於一個國家和民族，在尚勇乏智的東林黨人前仆後繼但都一一慘敗後，熟讀聖人書的人們開始選擇沉默，而相當多的選擇了拍馬逢迎。試想，有那麼多的當官為政者情願甘當一個閹人的鷹犬，甚至干兒干孫，朝野充斥著大量「五虎」、「五彪」、「十狗」以及「干兒義孫」之類腌渣雜碎，朝政的風氣已經無恥到何等地步？讀到這一頁歷史，三百多年後還讓我們為民族裡這樣一群人的醜陋、虛偽、凶惡、囂張與軟弱感到恥辱，而這些事情真可謂世界文明史上的咄咄怪事！
崇禎就是接手這樣的一個爛攤子，但他以十七歲的小小年紀，驅逐客魏，剪除閹黨，整肅吏治，卻顯得干凈利索，手段老到，深得一個國家的期望。當時，許多士人和百姓都覺得大明朝已峰迴路轉，將開始新的復興了。
然而，爛攤子畢竟是爛攤子，並且這個爛攤子已到了爛透了的地步――二十餘年荒怠異常的弊政，尤其是後來天啟年間的腐朽加黑暗，大明朝其實正在滑向無盡的深淵，以至於朱由檢從接手皇位的那天起，就感覺到屁股下面不是舒舒服服的龍椅，而是一座正噴薄著憤怒與仇恨的火山口。崇禎元年，餓殍遍野的陝西已燃起飢民起義的星星之火，而更大的農民風暴正在醞釀。而長城關外的東北，後金貴族早已崛起，努爾哈赤的子孫正虎視眈眈覬覦著關內的大明朝――在他們的眼中，大明朝無疑於圈養的無數肥壯牛羊等待著他們去宰割，去分享。內憂外患，一邊像蔓延而來的大火，另一邊又像呼嘯而來的大潮，這就是崇禎帝朱由檢接手是的窘況，並且隨著時間的推移，形勢愈加地嚴峻。朱由檢不由地先亂了陣腳，繼而手足失措，繼而焦頭爛額。可以說，憂心忡忡的心態一直貫穿著崇禎帝在位的十七年。
後人們在評述崇禎帝時，大多認為其痛失江山的一個致命之處在於兩個字：多疑。多疑使他在用人前後難以一貫始終，多疑使他難以容忍失敗，多疑使他變得格外苛求，多疑更使他自毀長城。人們看到，無論是防禦後金的邊塞還是鎮壓農民起義軍的將領們，都竟如走馬燈一般調換。人們看到，類似袁崇煥這樣出色的將領不是死在疆場上，而是死在大明朝自己的刑場上；人們還看到，崇禎帝在洗滌魏忠賢的閹黨集團後，多疑使他最終啟用的不少人竟還是閹人，只不過換成了自己親信的閹人而已。
崇禎帝為什麼多疑？我想，這是應該予以充分思考的東西。
Ⅸ 求一篇2000字的關於英國文化的英語論文 。。
希望這篇Bonfire的文章能幫到你。
Bonfire Night - November 5th
This popular British rhyme is often spoken on Bonfire Night, in memory of the Gunpowder Plot:
Remember, remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason that gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
The smell of gunpowder smoke and the snap and crackle of bonfires will fill the capital in the run up to Bonfire Night. Thousands of revellers will line London's parks to "ooh" and "aah" as the city explodes into colour, in remberance of Guy Fawkes (Guido Fawkes) and his foiled plot to blow up Parliament and the King in 1605.
Guy Fawkes was born in Yorkshire in 1570. A convert to the Catholic faith, Fawkes had been a soldier who had spent several years fighting in Italy. It was ring this period that he adopted the name Guido (Italian for Guy) perhaps to impress the ladies!
'Guy Fawkes Day' also known as 'Bonfire Night' or 'Fireworks Night' by some, marks the date, November 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators attempted to kill King James I and the Members of Parliament and to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
This conspiracy arose as a reaction to the persecution of Catholics under the rule of King James, a Protestant. Infuriated by the failure of King James, the son of the passionately Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, to grant more toleration to Catholics. Four other Catholics joined with Fawkes in his plans including Robert Catesby. Catesby made a fatal error and invited other Catholics to join the plot until there were 60 plotters in all, you try keeping a secret when 60 people know about it.
Thomas Percy rented a cellar beneath the Palace of Westminster and 36 barrels of gunpowder were placed in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament. But Francis Tresham betrayed the conspiracy in a letter to his brother-in-law Lord Monteagle, warning him not to attend parliament. Monteagle told the government and Fawkes was caught red handed in the cellars under Parliament, with a box of matches in his pocket and a guilty expression on his face! His fellow conspirators fled but many were killed or arrested and 9 members of the 60+ plotters, including Fawkes, were hung, drawn and quartered in January 1606.
Comedians down the ages have said that he was "The only man ever to have entered Parliament with honest intentions."
In London, bonfires were lit to celebrate the discovery of the plot soon after Fawkes was discovered and In 1606 Parliament agreed to make 5th November a day of public thanksgiving and ever since then the day has been celebrated with fireworks and bonfires. However, it is not a public holiday.
November 5 and any other day appointed for church bells to be rung is also called Ringing Day. On this day bells are rung by order of Parliament to mark the deliverance of the King and his government at the exposure of the Gunpowder Plot. It is customary to give the ringers money and drinks.
Children used to make stuffed figures with masks as effigies of Guy Fawkes. They would call these figures guys and display them in the streets, using the traditional formula of "A penny for the guy" when asking passersby for money (which was spent on fireworks or wood for the bonfire). The guys then became the centre-piece of bonfires on the night of November 5 when fireworks light up the sky over most of Britain. But this practice has died out in recent years. The fear of strangers, the fact that children are not allowed to buy fireworks and the negative association with begging, have all but put and end to it.
Many people still hold bonfire parties and BBQs (even though it is usually really cold) and invite their friends to gather around the fire with them. However, because of the rising number of accidents that occur every year many communities hold professionally organised public displays. Some of the venues for these public bonfires are in parks, fields, and on hills.
Some of the traditional food eaten at this time of year includes:-
Sausages (called bangers), a good hearty soup, baked potatoes, bonfire toffee, toffee apples and parkin - a sweet, sticky cake.
New laws were introced to control the use of fireworks in 2004 with an £80 on-the-spot fine for anyone caught breaking them. They include:-
* It is an offence for any person under the age of 18 to possess alt fireworks in a public place (all fireworks except sparklers and party poppers).
* It is an offence to possess category 4 fireworks (professional display fireworks) unless you are a licenced pyrotechnics professional.
* It is an offence to supply fireworks to anyone under the age of 18.
* It is an offence to use fireworks between 11 pm and 7 am apart from:
- November 5th – until 12 midnight;
- New Years Eve – until 1 am;
- Chinese New Year – until 1 am;
- Diwali night – until 1 am.
* It is an offence for any person to throw, cast or fire any firework into any highway, street, thoroughfare or public place.
One of the largest organised events in the UK is the Bridgwater Carnival in Bridgwater, Somerset dating back to the 1605 gunpowder plot. The procession is held each year on the Thursday nearest to November 5. It is an illuminated procession that takes about two hours to pass with over 130 entries made by various local carnival clubs. After the carnival, an annual squibbing display is held along the Bridgwater High Street when over 100 squibs (small fireworks) are set off simultaneously.
Another famous event is held in Lewes (see above), but even though it's the town's most famous event people from outside the area are actively discouraged from attending because it is so dangerous. To mark the demise of 17 protestant martyrs, who were burnt at the stake in front of the Star Inn, now the Town Hall; 17 burning crosses are carried through the town, and a wreath-laying ceremony occurs at the War Memorial in the centre of town. Ladies' and men's races which involve pulling flaming tar barrels "the barrel run", take place along Cliffe High Street at the start of the evening. A flaming tar barrel is also thrown into the river Ouse; which is said to symbolise the throwing of the magistrates into the river after they read the Riot Act to the bonfire boys in 1847. The festivities culminate in five separate bonfire displays, where the effigies are destroyed by firework and flame. Up to 80,000 people have been known to attend this local spectacle, coming from all over the South and sometimes further afield.