UNIT 1:

Abrahamic Religions & Critical Theory

Unit Overview
Primary Assessment: In a minimum of 750 words, analyze and evaluate one or more creation story, and one of more modern theory.
Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

Examine these three major world religions through the lens of critical consciousness. How do key figures in each text see what
others fail to see? Consider the stories of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. Compare them with models of false vision, in
Adam, Eve, Cain, Nimrod, Judas, and the deniers. What do the theorists want us to see? What do the texts help you to see in the
world, and in humankind, that is otherwise hidden?

What do you make of the stories of rebellion in Genesis? What can we learn from the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,
Sodom and Gomorrah, Nimrod and the tower? What are these stories saying about human nature and Gods law?

What do you make of the stories of faithfulness in Genesis? What do the stories of Noah, Lot and Abraham teach us? Why is
Abraham the seminal figure for each of these religions? Analyze the dawn of monotheism, the ultimate trial in the sacrifice of Isaac,
and the marking out of the chosen people. What do these key moments mean for each of the three Abrahamic traditions?

Analyze and evaluate the stories of liberation in the texts. Examine Exodus and the delivery from bondage in Egypt. How does Jesus
work to free his people from Roman domination, and from themselves? How does the Quran work to save man from his own tyrant
nature, forgetfulness, and from persecution by the enemies of the faith? How do the theorists see religion and liberation, in terms of
class, region, race, and gender? How do you?

Analyze and evaluate the stories of restriction in the texts. What do you make of the story of Moses and the laws handed down by
God? What about Jesus take on law in the gospel? What of the stories of judgment and punishment in Genesis, Exodus, Matthew,
and the Quran? What do you make of the controversial suras from the Quran that Sells doesnt address? How do they compare to
controversial passages from the Bible? How should a modern reader interpret ancient scripture?

Analyze and evaluate the violence present in the texts, in the Jewish Gods judgment, in the Christian apocalypse, in Islams day of
reckoning, and in Cones theology of racial justice? Where should peace prevail over violence, and where is violence sanctified? Where
do you stand on the question of violence vs. peace?

Whats your personal connections to faith, rebellion, critical consciousness, and the quest for human freedom and social justice?
Unit Literature

Year

Author

Text

Genre

Pages

c. 950-450 BCE

Moses

Genesis, The Story of Creation

Religious

c. 950-450 BCE

Moses

Genesis, The Story of Abraham

Religious

c. 950-450 BCE

Moses

Exodus, The Story of Moses

Religious

13

60 CE

anonymous

The Gospel of Matthew

Religious

15

1999

Michael Sells

Approaching the Quran

Non-Fiction / Religious

610 CE

various

Quran

Religious

1844

Karl Marx

A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

0.5

c. 1948

F. A. Ridley

Socialism and Religion

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

3.5

1971

Gustavo Gutirrez

A Theology of Liberation

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

1970

James H. Cone

A Black Theology of Liberation

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

5.5

1982

Marta Weigle

Women and Mythology

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

World Literature: Unit Overview

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES and CRITICAL THEORY

What do you think you know about these religions?

What do you want to know?
What might further study accomplish?

Psychology: the study of consciousness and he human mind,

specifically as a function of awareness, feeling, or motivation

How can we create a safe space to analyze texts,

while also honoring peoples living faiths?

Anthropology: the study of humans, their origins, physical and

cultural development, biological characteristics, and social
customs and beliefs

HISTORY OF IDEAS

Dawn of monotheism.
Development of national God, favoring Jewish people
Encoding of immutable, absolute laws in religious thought
God as ultimate concern
whose demands come before even family
A God that is both moral and
transcendent to human understanding of morality
Transforming received tradition:
o in Judaisms reworking of Mesopotamian narratives,
o in Christianitys transforming Jewish narratives of
sacrifice and deliverance, and
o Islams transforming traditional Arabic poetry
of longing for the beloved, the desert journey, and
the heros generous sacrifice
Political resistance in religious contexts:
o Jews v. Egypt and Philistines,
o Christians v. Rome,
o Islam v. hostile tribes
Days of reckoning:
o the defeat by God of nations, in Judaism;
o the judgment by God of each sinner, in Christianity;
o the day of reckoning by Allah of each individual, in Islam
Atonement:
o law and ritual in Judaism;
o faith and sacrament in Christianity;
o duty and remembrance in Islam
Modern struggles for liberation where contemporary
political struggles in regional, racial, and gender terms put
ancient texts in modern contexts.

KEY TERMS
Critical Consciousness: the ability to perceive social, political,
and economic oppression and to take action against the
oppressive elements of society.
Oppression: prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control
Hierarchy: a system or organization in which people or groups are
ranked one above the other according to status or authority
Rebellion: the action or process of resisting authority, control
Liberation: the act or process of freeing someone or something
from another's control
Polytheism: the belief in two or more gods

Sociology: study of social behavior, its origins, development,

organization, and institutions.
***

Psychoanalytic literary criticism, argues that literary texts, like

dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of
the author, and manifest the author's own neuroses.
Marxist literary criticism, applies the theory of Karl Marx by
analyzing the role of class, class relations, as well as social
conflict, and oppression
Feminist literary criticism, exposes how literature reflects
masculine ideology; examines gender politics and traces the
subtle construction of masculinity and femininity, and their
relative status, positionings, and marginalizations..
LITERARY TERMS
Antagonistany force that is in opposition to the main character, or
protagonist. (e.g. Tybalt is antagonist to Romeo in Romeo and Juliet)
Dynamic Charactera literary character who undergoes an
important inner change, such as in personality or attitude
Duality an instance of opposition or contrast between two
concepts or two aspects of something; a state of being divided
Static Character a character in a work of fiction who does not
undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story
Imagerybroadly defined, any sensory detail or evocation in a work;
more narrowly, the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling,
to call to mind an idea, or to describe an object. Basically, imagery
involves any or all of the five senses.
Metaphorone thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting
a likeness or analogy between them. It is a comparison or
identification of one thing with another unlike itself without the
use of a verbal signal such as like or as. (e.g. Juliet is the sun.)
Personificationtreating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it
were a person by endowing it with human qualities. (e.g. The tree
lifts her leafy arms to pray.)
Protagonistthe main character in a work (e.g. Macbeth in Macbeth)
Settingthe time and place of the action in a story, poem, or play.
(e.g. Star Wars opens in A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away)

Patriarchy: a system of society or government in which men

hold the power and women are largely excluded from it

Stylea distinctive manner of expression; each authors style is

expressed through word choice, tone, degree of formality,
figurative language, rhythm, grammar, structure, sentence length,
organization, and every other feature of a writers use of language.

Matriarchy: a system of society or government in which women

hold the power and men are largely excluded from it

Symbolisma person, place, thing, event, or pattern in a literary

work that figuratively represents or stands for something else.

Monotheism: the belief that there is only one God

World Literature: Unit Overview

UNIT 2:

The Epic & The Monomyth

Unit Overview
Primary Assessment:

In a minimum of 750 words, analyze and evaluate the form and function of epic poems (i.e. The Epic of
Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey) and evaluate how they parallel with Campbells monomyth?

Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

1.

What is an epic? What are the conventions of an epic? What are the literary devices of epic literature?

2.

What is an epic hero? How does the heroes of antiquity follow Campbells theory of the monomyth? What are the implications?

3.

How does the epic serve as a narrative form of a national identity? How does the hero serve as model of the ideal citizen?

4.

Consider the mode of the epic hero, contrasted in this story with the everyday life of the anonymous citizen. What does the
story say about fame and immortality, vs. a quiet family life? What do you say? Where is the good, and what are the implications?

5.

What evidence is there that the polytheistic pagan stories of Gilgamesh may have influenced monotheistic Christianity?

6.

How do modern theories on myth apply to the epic poems of antiquity?

a.

Do you see Frazerian anxiety over natural forces, and a primitive effort to understand and manipulate them?

b.

Do you see a Freudian unconscious psyche at work, in the play of Oedipal tensions?

c.

Where are Durkheims social values? How is this conveyed?

d.

Where are Jungs archetypes at work? Which are more predominate throughout the various epics?

e.

What are the gender dynamics in the epics, in the construction of maleness and femaleness, among and between genders?

Unit Literature
Year

Author

Text

Genre

Pages

1987

Joseph Campbell

The Heros Adventure

Non-Fiction: Modern Theory

c. 2100-1300 BCE

anonymous

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Epic Poetry

c. 800 BCE

Homer

The Iliad

Epic Poetry

12

c. 800 BCE

Homer

The Odyssey

Epic Poetry

13.5

World Literature: Unit Overview

EPIC is a long narrative poem that deals with a heros adventure

and/or significant historical events to a culture or nation, often
containing insights into the ideals, values, and beliefs of the culture
that created them.

LITERARY TERMS

AN

Alliterationa repetition of initial consonant sounds, especially the

beginning of words (e.g. Bob bought balloons)
Allusiona reference designed to call something to mind without
mentioning it explicitly

EPIC CONVENTIONS
PROTAGONIST:
* a hero of great national importance; the ideal man of culture
* often superhuman, possessing divine traits
* stronger and greater in all ways than the common man
* whose actions determine the fate of a nation, or all humankind
* participates in the monomyth, or heros journey
* while extraordinary, not perfect; often having a human flaw

Antagonistany force that is in opposition to the main character, or

protagonist. (e.g. Tybalt is antagonist to Romeo in Romeo and Juliet)
AppositiveNoun or pronoun used to clarify or explain other nouns
or pronouns already introduced (e.g. Im Juan, a TBA student.)
Archetyperecurrent patterns of action, character types, themes or
images which are identifiable in a wide range of literature; for
instance, the female character who is responsible for the downfall
of a significant male character.
Conventionsa widely used and accepted technique in literature,
film, drama, etc.

SETTING:
* set in a distant and glorious past

Genrea type or class of literature such as epic (e.g. Beowulf) or

narrative (e.g. Of Mice and Men) or poetry (e.g. A Dream Deferred).

* majestic and grand in scale,

* covering the natural and supernatural world
* spans vast distances, other worlds, and various time periods
PLOT:
* the heros action consists of deeds of bravery and courage

Hubrisexcessive pride, especially toward or defiance of the gods.

Metaphorone thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting
a likeness or analogy between them. It is an comparison or
identification of one thing with another unlike itself without the
use of a verbal signal such as like or as. (e.g. Juliet is the sun.)

* there is often divine intervention on human affairs

* the supernatural often becomes part of the action.
THEME:
* Western epics often glorify the quest for honor
* acknowledges the power of fate, or destiny
* identifies the flaws of the human condition
* addresses the thematic archetype of good versus evil.

Protagonistthe main character in a work, who may or may not be

heroic. (e.g. Macbeth in Macbeth)
Symbolisma person, place, thing, event, or pattern in a literary
work that figuratively represents or stands for something else.
Variationrestatement of a concept or term using different words or
phrases to stress importance or to provide additional perspective.
(e.g. The nobleman's son then passed the steep rocky cliffs, the
narrow path, the narrow single-file path, an unknown way)

STYLE:
* writing is elevated, even ceremonial

ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES and CRITICAL THEORY

* narrative typically begins in media res (in the middle of things)

Psychoanalytic literary criticism, argues that literary texts, like

dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties
of the author, and manifest the author's own neuroses.
Freud believed the psyche consisted of the:

* narrative usually with the hero at his lowest point; flashbacks used
* repetition and stock phrases make poem easier to memorize
* frequent use of epic simile, similes that extends over several lines
* epic catalogues are given consisting of long, detailed lists to place
the finite action of the epic into a broader context
* epithets, or added attributes/descriptors, accompany or occur in
place of a name and has entered common usage
(e.g. the swift Achilles, Hector the breaker of horses)
* patronomics, or the referral to family lineage, are used to stress
the importance of family reputation, and honor

Marxist literary criticism, analyzing the role of class, class

relations, as well as social conflict, and oppression
Feminist literary criticism, exposes how literature reflects
masculine ideology; examines gender politics and traces the
subtle construction of masculinity and femininity, and their
relative status, positionings, and marginalizations.
Archetypal literary criticism, argues that archetypes determine
the form and function of literary works, that a text's meaning
is shaped by cultural and psychological myths.

(e.g. Achilles, son of Peleus)

World Literature: Unit Overview

UNIT 3:

Ancient Greece
Unit Overview
Primary Assessment: In a minimum of 750 words, respond to one of the essential questions pertaining to the dialogues of Plato below.
(You are welcome to select another topic of your choosing, however, it must be approved).
Pre-Socratics: Essential Questions for Class Discussion:
1.

How do the Pre-Socratics mark a shift in thinking from creation stories, epics, and lyric poetry?

2.

In what ways do these fragments share/depart from our contemporary understanding of the universe?
How are they like and unlike modern science?

3.

Some fragments see the truth of the world not in immutable laws and fixed identities of Platonic philosophy,
but in constant flux and paradox. Later thinkers will mark this shift, with moderns celebrating the birth of
reason and permanent truths in the work of Plato, and post-moderns lamenting the loss of Pre-Socratic insights
into the paradoxical nature of reality. What do you make of these ancient insights into an ever-shifting real?

Dialogues of Plato: Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

1.

What do you make of the character of Socrates? How do you judge him, his method, his passion for argument, his relentless
questioning, his gadfly personality? (How do you judge the Athenians who sentenced him to death?)

2.

What is the nature of justice? Compare Socrates ideas on justice to his experience of justice in his trial under the Athenian democracy.
How do these ancient stories of justice compare to your understanding about how our justice system works, or should work?

3.

What is real? What is illusion? What does it mean to know? Analyze and evaluate Platos idea of the forms, his championing of
ideas over the transitory and ever flawed material world. (What are the tensions between Platonic idealism and the pragmatism?)

4.

What do you make of the tensions between idealism and pragmatism? Where do you stand in the spectrum between perfect, pure
ideals and a flawed but realizable practicality?

5.

How does the mind work? What roles do desire, passion and reason play in our lives? What role should they play? What is the
nature of the psyche, the soul, in the dialogues and in your own ideas?

6.

How does Plato mark a radical shift from the mythic, poetic, and epic modes weve read so far? What are Platos attitudes on
traditional stories of the gods, poetic inspiration, and the violent passions of the epic warrior? What do you make of this inward
turn toward rational order, whose legacy is still with us today?

7.

Analyze and evaluate the form of the dialogue and its arguments through close readings, to illuminate the structures of Platos text
beneath its surface.

8.

What do you make of Socrates dialectical method, as a model for learning, teaching, thinking, and participating in a democracy?
What are the implications to your answer?

9.

What is the ideal State? What do you think of Socrates theoretical Republic? How does this compare with our social-political system?
Unit Literature

Year

Author

Text

Genre

Pages

c. 625-370 BCE

Thales, Anaximander,
Heraclitus, and Democritus

Early Greek Philosophy

Philosophy

c. 380 BCE

Plato

Euthyphro

Philosophy

4.5

c. 380 BCE

Plato

Apology

Philosophy

c. 360 BCE

Plato

Crito

Philosophy

c. 360 BCE

Plato

Phaedo

Philosophy

c. 360 BCE

Plato

The Republic

Philosophy

12.5

World Literature: Unit Overview

HISTORY OF IDEAS

LOGICAL FALLACIES

Pre-Socratics:
Watch for radical shift from mythic and epic thinking,
narrative form, to the birth of scientific thinking. How are
they similar, and/or different?

Note motifs of flux and paradox, the loss of which postmoderns will lament in the philosophy of Plato, which
comes to dominate European thought for many centuries.

Dialogues of Plato
Watch for struggle against model of the epic hero, toward a
model of rational self-mastery. (Taylor)

Important shift from external focus of epic mode to internal

focus of contemplative mode. Here, one might suffer
externally but its the interior of the psyche which measures
goodness. Dawn of interiority, peculiar to modern notion of
Western self (Taylor)

Birth of idealism, where abstract ideas are given priority

over the material world that shadows them.

Analysis of the human soul, its divisions, functions, fictions,

vices and virtues.

Championing of reason over emotion and passion. Unity of

soul, composure, against the irrational inspiration of the
poets, and the violent passions of the epic hero. (Taylor)

Opposition of mythic mode, where universe is chaotic, and

gods are as capricious as humans. Now, an orderly, elegant
universe, to which man must align himself (Taylor)

Look for roots of Christian idealism, into which Plato grows

as the Attic Moses

KEY TERMS
Anecdotea brief story or tale told by a character in a piece of
literature. For example, Chaucers entire Canterbury Tales is a
collection of anecdotes related by the Pilgrims on their journey.
Paradoxa statement that seems contradictory but may actually
be true. A popular paradox from the 1960s was when war
protesters would fight for peace.
Speakerthe person, not necessarily the author, who is the
voice of a poem.
Tonethe attitude a literary work takes toward its subject and
theme; the tenor of a piece of writing based on particular stylistic
devices employed by the writer. Tone reflects the narrators attitude.
Rhetoricthe art of using language as a means to persuade.
Logosan appeal to logic or reason
Pathosan appeal to passion or emotion
Ethosan appeal to ethics of the speaker, his or her overall
character, moral selfhood, trustworthiness, etc.

Fallacyan argument with unsound reasoning, either from an error

in thinking, or from an intention to mislead the audience.
Affective fallacyrefers to the supposed error of judging or
evaluating a text on the basis of its emotional effects on a reader.
Appeal to authorityargued that a statement is correct because the
statement is made by a person or source that is commonly
regarded as authoritative. The most general structure of this
argument is: Source A says that p. Source A is authoritative.
Therefore, p is true.
Appeal to consequencespresents a premise (typically a belief) to
be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to
desirable or undesirable consequences. This is based on an appeal
to emotion and is a form of logical fallacy, since the desirability of
a consequence does not address the truth value of the premise.
Appeal to forcewhere force, coercion, or the threat of force, is
given as a justification for a conclusion.
Appeal to ignoranceclaiming a premise true due to its not having
been proven false, or is false only because it has not been proven
true.
Argumentum ad homineman attack on the person rather than on
the opponents ideas.
Bandwagon fallacyconcludes a proposition to be true because
many or all people believe it; it alleges that If many believe so, it is
so.
False dilemmaalso called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy,
involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered,
when in fact there are other options. Closely related are failing to
consider a range of options and the tendency to think in
extremes, called black-and-white thinking.
Genetic fallacywhere conclusion is suggested based solely on
something or someones origin rather than its current meaning or
context.
Hasty generalizationa logical fallacy of faulty generalization by
reaching an inductive generalization based on insufficient
evidence. It commonly involves basing a broad conclusion upon
the statistics of a survey of a small group that fails to sufficiently
represent the whole population.
Intentional fallacyin literary criticism, addresses the assumption
that the meaning intended by the author of a literary work is of
primary importance.
One-sidednesswhen an argument ignores evidence that threatens
their position.
Quoting out of contextwhen a passage is removed from its
surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended
meaning.
Red herringa diversion intended to distract attention from the
main issue.
Slippery slopearguing that a relatively small first step inevitably
leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant
impact, much like an object given a small push over the edge of a
slope sliding all the way to the bottom. It ignores the possibility of
middle ground and assumes a discrete transition from category A
to category B.
Straw manwhen a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually
holds or is universally considered weak. Setting up a straw man
diverts attention from the real issues.
Tu quoquewhen an accusation or insult is turned back on the
accuser.
Two wrongs make a rightwhen it is assumed that if one wrong is
committed, another wrong will cancel it out.

World Literature: Unit Overview

UNIT 4:

Ancient China
Unit Overview
Primary Assessment: Write 6 poetic aphorisms, roughly equal parts art and analysis:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

On Li Po
On Tu Fu
On Tao
On Confucius
On your Way
On your Way

Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

1.

Analyze and evaluate two visions of the Way, Taoism and Confucianism. What are the tensions between a natural,
spontaneous, and free mode of being, and taking on the traditional duties of social responsibility?

2.

What are the tensions between a model of life grounded in stable social structures, and a life free from the constraints of
civilization, closer to nature?

3.

Analyze and evaluate the poems of Li Po and Tu Fu. How do they construct meaning through poetics, and
their reflections of Chinese philosophy?

4.

How can you convey your own philosophy and poetic skills through aphoristic expression?

Unit Literature
Year

Author

Text

Genre

Pages

c. 550 BCE

Confucius

The Analects

Philosophy

c. 550 BCE

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

Philosophy

c. 750

Li Po

Select Poems

Poetry

c. 750

Tu Fu

Select Poems

Poetry

World Literature: Unit Overview

KEY TERMS
Aphorisma brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation. Benjamin Franklins Poor
Richards Almanac contains numerous examples, one of which is Drive thy business; let it not drive thee, which means that one
should not allow the demands of business to take control of ones moral or worldly commitments.
Conceita comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, in particular an extended metaphor within a
poem. Conceits might be the idea of tracing a love affair as a flower growing, budding, coming to fruition, and dying, for example.
Hair might be spun gold; teeth like stars or pearls, etc. The wall in Robert Frosts Mending Wall is a conceit upon which Frost
focuses the messages in his poem.
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
Stay where you are until our backs are turned!
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Henry W. Longfellow similarly extends the image of the ship in The Building of the Ship. Its not just a ship he is talking about, but
the nation.
Extended metaphora detailed and complex metaphor that extends over a long section of a work, also known as a conceit.
Figurative languageIn literature, a way of saying one thing and meaning something else. Take, for example, this line by Robert Burns,
My love is a red, red rose. Clearly Mr. Burns does not really mean that he has fallen in love with a red, aromatic, many-petalled, long,
thorny-stemmed plant. He means that his love is as sweet and as delicate as a rose. While, figurative language provides a writer with
the opportunity to write imaginatively, it also tests the imagination of the reader, forcing the reader to go below the surface of a literary
work into deep, hidden meanings.
Figure of speechAn example of figurative language that states something that is not literally true in order to create an effect. Similes,
metaphors and personification are figures of speech which are based on comparisons. Metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, and
hyperbole are other figures of speech.
Personathe voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or may not share the values of the actual
author. Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby is such a persona.

World Literature: Unit Overview

UNIT 5:

Ancient Rome
Unit Overview
Primary Assessment: Timed, in-class essay on form and theme.

Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

1.

Epicureanism and Stoicism: How do the ancient Romans mark a shift in ethical thinking from the ancient Greeks? What was
Aristotles view of virtue ethics, and how do his ideas align or contradict with the ethics of Epicurus and Epictetus? How do they
define the purpose of human life? To what extent does Marcus Aurelius represent Roman stoicism, of Platos philosopher-king?

2.

Empire and the Other: What story is the Roman Empire telling about itself, through its mythical founder Aeneas and his
company of Trojans? What qualities are present in their characters, and how do they connect to the business of Empire? How do
the portraits of the enemies and obstacles to the journey of the founding of Rome paint in negative space what it means to be a
Roman, and what it means to be Romes other? Today, when the U.S. has often been compared to the dying Roman Empire,
what does its story teach us, and can we use what we learn to avoid Romes fallen fate?

3.

Identity and the Nation: What are the overt and covert aims of this story in terms of the identity of the Roman people, and
their political past, present, and future? What role does narrative play in the formation of identity, here, and in our lives? What
role does sport play, today, and in Book V?

4.

Gender and Power: How is gender mapped out in the text, in men and women, gods and goddesses, and in masculine Rome vs.
feminized Carthage, in the male Occident and female Orient?

5.

The Gods Above: What is the nature of divinity in the text, and how does it compare to other religions whose texts weve read?
How do humans interact with the gods? What do you make of the ritual sacrifices made to win their favor? What is the nature of fate,
compared to earlier texts, and contrasted to modern notions of destiny? Compare and contrast what you know about Christianity
with the religious system in the Aeneid . Note, Christianity will replace pagan religion in Rome within 300 years of Virgils writings.

6.

The World Below: How do we account for the evolution of ideas about death, as literature moves from portraits of a neutral
death to one of punishment and reward? What are the changes in the vision of the afterlife, from ancient Mesopotamia and
Greece to Rome? What do we make of the similarities and differences between this Roman afterlife and Christian and Islamic
visions to come? What are the political, economic and philosophical roots in the changes? Note the move from neutral death to
judgment and reward. Watch for precursors of individual salvation from death and damnation.

7.

Our Place in Between: Analyze and evaluate the texts portrait of the human condition in this life. Compare and contrast the
way the Romans see themselves, and how we think of fate and freedom, the self, the good, our suffering, the purpose of it all, and
the hope of knowing and steering our mysterious fates in an inscrutable universe.

8.

Poetic form: What stories does the style tell in this artful translation of Virgil? How does the way the storys told speak to the
questions outlined above? Compare and contrast the purposes and projects of this self-consciously constructed secondary epic,
with the primary epic we read in Gilgamesh, and in the Iliad and Odyssey.

9.

Art and Architecture: Examine the art and architecture of ancient Rome, and preview its reconfiguration in the buildings of the
Roman Catholic Church. What do the changes and continuities say about the transformations of power from an earthly empire to
the most powerful Christian church?
Unit Literature

Year
c. 350 BCE
c. 270 BCE
c. 270 BCE
125 CE
c. 180 CE
c. 30 BC

Author
Aristotle
Epicurus
Epicurus
Epictetus
Marcus Aurelius
Virgil

Text
Nicomachean Ethics
Letter to Menoeceus
Principal Doctrines
The Enchiridion
Meditations
The Aeneid
World Literature: Unit Overview

Genre
Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy
Epic Poetry

Pages
5.5
2
2
3
2
40

Unit Vocabulary for the analysis of form. Study these terms to prepare for a coming test, your papers, midyear, and AP exam.
Characterizationthe method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work: Methods may include (1) by what
the character says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3) by the characters own actions.
Epica poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of mighty heroes and heroines, often concerned with the
founding of a nation or developing of a culture; it uses elevated language and grand, high style. Prime examples of epic poetry include
The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Paradise Lost. A more contemporary example could be George Lucass Star Wars.
Anaphorathe regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. A look at John F.
Kennedys inaugural speech gives us good examples of anaphora. Another older example of anaphora follows:
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England ...

John of Gaunt in Shakespeares Richard II (2.1.40-50)

Apostrophean address or invocation to something that is inanimatesuch as an angry lover who might scream at the ocean in his or
her despair. Many are familiar with the title line of a famous Christmas carol, which exemplifies apostrophe: O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie.... The poem, To a Skylark by Percy B. Shelley is a good example of apostrophe: Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
he addresses the skylark. Shelley does the same in Ode to the West Wind, when he opens with O wild West Wind, thou breath of
Autumns being...
Metonymya figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something as in The
White House announced today.... A famous metonymy is The pen is mightier than the sword In this sentence the pen stands for
publishing (and we can extend that to all media) and the sword for the military. Similar metonymy is used by W. M. Letts in the final
stanza of the poem The Spires of Oxford:
God rest you, happy gentlemen,
Who laid your good lives down,
Who took the khaki and the gun
Instead of cap and gown.
God bring you to a fairer place
Than even Oxford town.
Onomatopoeiaa word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes; buzz is a good example. The purpose of these
words is to make a passage more effective for the reader or listener. In Fahrenheit 451, for example, Ray Bradbury uses onomatopoeia
when he says, Mildred rose and began to move about the room. Bang! Smash! Wallop, bing, bong, boom.
Oxymorona figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements, sometimes resulting in a humorous image or
statement: tight slacks, jumbo shrimp, deafening silence, and baggy tights are just a few examples.
Parallel StructureA repetition of sentences using the same structure. This line from Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address provides
an example:
The world will little not nor long remember what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here.
Rhetorical questionA question that is asked simply for stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered. William Wordsworths poem,
The Happy Warrior, opens with two rhetorical questions in (lines 1-2):
Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he
That every man in arms should wish to be?
SynecdocheWhen a part is used to signify a whole, as in All hands on deck! and The rustler bragged hed absconded with five hundred head of
longhorns. Hands stand for the whole of the sailors, and the rustler obviously took more than just the heads and the horns of the
animals he was stealing. William Shakespeare penned a famous synecdoche in Mark Anthonys speech to the citizens in Julius Caesar.
Friends, Romans and countrymen, lend me your ears Frank Sinatras famous song, I left my heart in San Francisco is another example
of synecdoche. In fact, song lyrics are filled with this particular literary device.
World Literature: Unit Overview

UNIT 5:

High Medieval / Early Renaissance Italy : Dantes Inferno

Unit Overview
Primary Assessment: 1500 word paper on this topic:
Modernize Hell to reflect your analysis and evaluation of Dantes Inferno, explaining the differences and similarities between your
and Dantes vision of flourishing as a human being, and the progressive steps away from that vision. Two options:
1.

Write a creative piece in which you walk Dante through your own allegorical Hell, during which Dante presents sophisticated
arguments from his viewpoint, which you address. Must have a complex and creative thesis, body, and conclusion just like
Dante. You should include at least 5 direct quotes from the Inferno.

2.

Analyze and evaluate the developing portrait of the afterlife, from our reading in ancient literature, to Dantes Inferno in the
medieval period. You should address Dante at length, with at least 5 direct quotes from the Inferno, in addition to your selections
from earlier works.

Essential Questions for Class Discussion:

1.

Approaching the Inferno as a work of literature, as an allegory of life in this world, what are Dantes model for flourishing as a human
being, and the progressive steps away from that model, downward into Hell?

2.

How does the text reflect and depart from the early Christian text we read? How has Greek philosophy mixed with Christianity here in
the late Medieval period? How has Dante (and Christianity) worked to refigure the contest between poetic inspiration and human
reason? What is the utility of, and limits to, human reason?

3.

How does Dantes portrayal of Hell work to reflect medieval modes of political power, and medieval notions of identity?

4.

Analyze and evaluate the nature of transgression in Dante, its categories and hierarchies, its expression of High Medieval
Christianity, of moral code, of social norms, of historical contexts, of human prejudice.

5.

How does sin disrupt in the sinner the right relationship with self, and with the other? What is the meaning of grace?

6.

What is Dantes vision of the human condition, our fallen nature, our heights and depths, our hope for redemption?

7.

How does the style and structure of the Inferno reflect Medieval cosmology, the importance of literature in the vernacular, the union of
earthly and divine love, the dawn of Renaissance humanism?

8.

How does Dantes use of imageryhis descriptions on the architecture, sights, sounds, and smells of Helleffect the reader?

Unit Literature
Year

Author

Text

Genre

1320

Dante Alighieri

Inferno

Epic Poem

World Literature: Unit Overview

Pages

HISTORY OF IDEAS

Medieval model of royal super-power in a weak state, punishing the body of the challenger of that power: where the crime is
recreated in the torture, where the omnipotence of the power is re-established in the same moment that the truth of the crime is
published in the body of the criminal (Foucault)

Medieval individual is more anonymous, and in many ways more autonomous, than moderns. Modern self is constructed, in part,
through interventions of diffuse power structures that were absent before early modern era (Foucault, others)

Recasting Aristotelian ethics in Christian mode, as in Aquinas, to form a fusion of Greek rationalism and the belief in Divine
Revelation from the ancient Hebrews

Medieval vision of Greek philosophys orderly and elegant universe, where everything is categorized (Aristotle) and made to plan

Key Vocabulary (for the analysis of form)

Allegorya prose or poetic narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrates multiple levels of meaning
and significance.
Allusiona reference to a literary or historical event, person, or place. For example, in Jane Smileys novel, 7,000 Acres, the father
figure is Larry who attempts to divide his land among three daughters a la Shakespeares King Lear. Someone who has a great
burden may refer to it as an albatrossan allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner wherein the
narrator is punished for his crime against nature by having to wear a heavy albatross (sea bird) around his neck until he repents.
Bathosfrom the Greek word for depth, it is a movement from the elevated to the low, commonplace, or ridiculous.
Informal dictionlanguage that is not as lofty or impersonal as formal diction; similar to everyday speech. Such diction might
include such words as OK, bye, hey, huh!
Narratorthe character who tells the story, or in poetry, the persona.
Narrative structurea textual organization based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward,
chronological framework.
Similea direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, usually using the words like or as to draw the connection. See also
metaphor. Charles Dickens wrote: There was a steamy mist in all the hollows, and it had roared in its forlornness up the hill, like
any evil spirit
Terza rimaa verse form consisting of three-line stanzas in which the first and third line of each rhymes with the second of the next.
There is no limit to the number of lines, but poems or sections of poems written in terza rima end with either a single line or couplet
repeating the rhyme of the middle line of the final tercet.
Here is a passage from Robert Pinskys translation of the Inferno:
Outspake I then, and said; 'Poet, I pray
Thee by that Holy One though did'st not know,
That I from this and greater evil may

a
b
a

Escape, lead though me where though said'st, that so

These eyes may see where Peter sits enshrined
In glory, and those spirits whelm'd in woe.'

b
c
b

Then moved he, and I held on behind.

World Literature: Unit Overview