Perspective in Poetry and Prose: When you read a story or poem, one of the first elements you picks up on is the perspective used by the author. This affects what you know and you don’t know, and how you experience the action as it unfolds. Both Wang Wei and Li Bo use differing perspectives in their poems; sometimes, they use first or second person narration, other times, the third. The same is true of the elders’ chorus in Sophocles’ Antigone, as well as in the myriad stories of The Thousand and One Nights. Write an essay analyzing the type of the perspective used in a specific poem or passage from at least two of the above works, and determine the significance perspective plays in informing the reader’s understanding or experience of the work as a whole.
The Role of Comparison: Metaphors, similes and allegories are all comparative instruments that help illustrate or convey ideas. They are found throughout Dante’s Inferno, the Thousand and One Nights, and Sophocles’ Antigone. Explain one or two similes, allegories or metaphors (extensive, implied or otherwise) from at least two of the above works, and determine the role each plays in producing meaning to the work.
