1. Old English Period (c. 450 - 1100): This period encompasses the Anglo-Saxon era, characterized by works like *Beowulf* and the development of Old English poetry.
2. Middle English Period (c. 1100 - 1485): This period includes the Norman Conquest and the emergence of Middle English literature, with notable works like *Canterbury Tales* by Chaucer.
3. Early Modern English Period (c. 1485 - 1660): This period features the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of English drama, with famous figures like Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Jonson.
4. Restoration and 18th Century (c. 1660 - 1798): This period is marked by the Restoration of the monarchy, the rise of neoclassicism, and the development of the novel, with authors like Dryden, Pope, and Defoe.
5. Romantic Period (c. 1798 - 1837): This period emphasized imagination, emotion, and the individual, with key writers like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats.
6. Victorian Period (c. 1837 - 1901): This period saw the rise of realism, social commentary, and a focus on industrialization and social change, with major writers like Dickens, Austen, Bronte sisters, and Tennyson.
7. Modern Period (c. 1901 - 1945): This period witnessed the rise of modernism, with experimentation in form and style, and a focus on the complexities of modern life, with authors like Joyce, Woolf, and Eliot.
8. Postmodern Period (c. 1945 - present): This period is characterized by a questioning of grand narratives, a focus on fragmentation, and the influence of technology and mass media, with writers like Beckett, Nabokov, and Atwood.
It's important to note that these periods are not rigid and there is often overlap and variation within them.