ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Twentieth-century English literature

Okay kiddo, let me try to explain it in a simple way. Twentieth-century English literature means all the books, poems, and stories that were written in the English language during the 1900s. This is a very long time ago when your grandparents and great-grandparents were kids, and they read books too!

During this time, many things were happening in the world that affected what people wrote about. There were two world wars, and people's lives were changing because of new technologies like cars and airplanes, and new ideas like women's rights and civil rights.

Some famous writers from this time include J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote "The Lord of the Rings," C.S. Lewis who wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia," and Virginia Woolf who wrote "Mrs. Dalloway." Their books are still popular today, even though they were written a long time ago.

Overall, twentieth-century English literature is a way for us to learn and understand what life was like a long time ago, and to explore new ideas and stories that are still important today.