Contemporary Implications in World Literature

As students in one of the top business schools in the country, many may wonder “Why on earth am I required to take three writing and literature classes in order to graduate?” Some may feel that these required courses are simply a waste of time. How can  literature classes contribute to our future goals of becoming world famous CEOs and/or big shots on Wall Street, right? Wrong.

Ever heard of Socrates? He once said ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ What did he mean by this, and how does this relate to a student taking English 2850 at Baruch College, in the heart of the greatest city in the world? Socrates did not say that the unexamined life is simply ‘less meaningful,’ he said it’s not even worth living. That’s a bold statement. How does one examine their life and reach a place of greater understanding of self?  What can a person do to grow spiritually? I don’t believe that there is one correct answer to these questions, but I do believe that literature gives people the power to transcend.

So many young adults roll their eyes when they find out they are required to read Shakespeare or Tolstoy for their literature class. But maybe there is a method to the madness of a professor who assigned those readings. Centuries after they were written, classic works of literature are still read, studied and analyzed by people across the world. These works are still interpreted hundreds of years later because of the innate power they hold which allows readers to connect with characters, analyze the text with reference to their own lives, and ponder how the themes found in these great works mirror the society they live in. Whether you’re a business major, pre-med student, law school attendee etc. what person would not benefit from the ability to stop, take a minute and analyze their lives to find out how they can improve themselves every day?

The purpose of my blog will be to analyze how texts we read in Professor Smith’s class can echo the contemporary society we live in  and allow us, as college students to examine our lives and broaden our horizons. So even though we may be attending college in the greatest city in the world, perhaps my blog can help us move beyond an empire state of mind, and into the realm of classic world literature.