Great Works of Literature I (Fall 2016)

Women in Literature
Both Antigone and One Thousand and One Nights feature women as the protagonist, at times when women were not ordinarily depicted as lead characters in literature. Do the depictions of Antigone and Sharazad honor women or demean them, and in what way(s)?

Crime and Punishment
In Inferno, Antigone, and One Thousand and One Nights, there are punishments which accompany the “crimes” characters have committed. But what makes a crime? Can the punishments themselves be seen as crimes? Are they moral? Do they become moral because they are being inflicted onto sinners? If not, what does that say about the inflictors?

Divine vs. Human Justice and Punishment
In The Inferno, we see a divine system of punishment and justice as opposed to Antigone, where human characters in power assert their system of punishment for crimes committed within their dominions. In addition, The Odyssey features examples of both human and Olympian justice and punishment. Whose laws/punishments are more just to fit the crime? What are the motivations behind these laws/punishments, and are they truly effective?

Death As A Means To An End
In Antigone and The Thousand and One Nights, both female protagonists stare into the face of death and are willing to die in order to achieve their respective causes. What are the ideals that make them so willing to die without letting even those close to them change their mind? How do they succeed or fail in fighting for these ideals?

Paper Prompts

#1: Both Dante Alighieri and authors of One Thousand and One Nights reference their native land in their works. In the Inferno, Dante speaks to spirits of fellow Florentines about the future of the city, while Middle Eastern and Indian cities, where the stories were collected from, were frequently used as the setting of the stories. Despite this similarity, the incorporation of native locations and events seem to have very different effects, since Dante’s stories have an overall fantastical setting (in hell) whereas One Thousand and One Nights was supposed to have worldly locations. Does the references add or take away anything from the stories themselves? What would the stories be like if these references were removed?

#2: From Dante’s “Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe” to Wang Wei’s “That splendid things are empty, of course, I know”, the masters left us interesting mysteries. Are these mysteries by the authors or made by translators? Are they intentional or by mistake? How do these impact the works themselves? Does it matter which source it is from?

Who Says?: Law is created by authority, not morals. As such, it is both possible and probable that law and justice, as implicitly defined throughout the narratives of Antigone and Dante’s Inferno, are tainted by human error. Additionally, a third standard for authority, law, justice, and punishment can be concluded from The Thousand and One Nights, using both the Kings’ stories and all of Scheherezade’s woven tales. Define a figure of authority. Consider the flaw(s) each figure of authority bends to, providing evidence of how it leads to unjust or simply arguable punishment. Alternatively, if your interpretation of the texts argue the “victim” is in fact guilty of some crime, suggest and defend a more fitting punishment. Discuss how they relate to one another, or simply discuss the two most interesting.

A Man’s Man, Or Not: What does it mean to be masculine? Which traits do our texts express to be disagreeable for men? Using evidence, examine and discuss at least two of the texts, in relation to each other, with this question in mind. Are certain characters within texts more masculine than others? What are the risks and fears associated with reaction less drastic than, say the King in Thee Thousand and One Nights murdering a new woman every night, Creon standing so firmly against compassion for Antigone, or even Dante’s relationships with everyone he encounters?

Liquidity: The Inferno, the Odyssey, and the poetry of Wang Wei all incorporate liquidity as a strong symbol. Whether it’s a river of boiling blood, a vicious sea, or a soft mist, each author’s inclusion of fluids enhances or furthers the storyline in some way. In an analytical essay, discuss the specific role and/or meaning of any liquids used in the above literary pieces, and how they’re significant to the story as a whole.

Metamorphosis: In both The Thousand and One Nights and the Inferno, human beings are forced to endure metamorphosis as a form of justice or torture. However, the motivation and moral justice behind these transformations differ in each story. For example, in The First Old Man’s Tale, the old man’s son is spitefully morphed into a bull by his wife. In an essay, analyze the specific case, and overall, implementations of metamorphosis in both pieces. What purpose does it serve in each? How do they relate or contrast? Why?

1. Collection
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante narrates his own journey using the stories of these damned souls. In a Thousand and One Nights, Shahrazad tells a collection of stories to guide her through the nights with the king. What effect does the storyteller’s relation to the tales play a part in the collective effect of the whole? What complications do these different story telling methods bring?

2. Lost in Translation
Texts have been translated and/or altered so that members of other communities can read and listen to the tales. Does the effect of translation have a different impact depending on the length of the text (Wang Wei’s short poem vs the lengthy a Thousand and One Nights)? What contributing factors can be a reason for these texts to be “lost in translation,” meaning that there are notable differences in the original and translated versions?

Justice

In many of the texts we read so far this semester, there seems to be a recurring theme of people committing crimes and getting reciprocated for them. Consider the role justice has in the texts we read so far and whether or not the punishment one receives truly fits one’s crime. Write an analytical essay that addresses how justice functions with the overall narrative structure of at least two texts we have read.

Narration

In all of the texts we read thus far, the translators present the reader with a distinct narrative structure. We have discussed the implicit I used in both Wang Wei’s and Li Bo’s poetry as well as Dante’s first person narrative form in the Inferno. The Thousand and One Nights is structured differently because of its layered framework: switching between first and third person narration. Consider the effect(s) these narrative structures have on the reader. Write an analytical essay discussing how the narrative of at least two texts are told and their effects on the reader’s understanding of each text.

Story telling: in the majority of the works we’ve read thus far, story telling has been used as a technique for delaying negatives (such as death and punishment), gaining prestige and thus favor a (Odysseus) as well as a way to form connections and bonds with others. Take two characters from any of the works we’ve read and compare how they use storytelling and what the stories they tell convey/do for them.

Sins: In many of the work’s we’ve read, sins, how their judged and how they’re judged as sin can go hand in hand. In The Odyssey, although not as obvious as the sins in The Inferno, certain actions are looked down upon and even punished by the gods. Additionally, in the One Thousand and One Nights, although not considered “sins”, many of the stories we hear are about wrongdoings of the characters and how they are punished for them. Choose a sin and how differently it is punished and looked upon in different works.

1. The Accused: For this comparison, analyze some of the accused characters in The Thousand and One Nights and in The Inferno. How do the types of “sins” stack up against one another? Employ elements such as intention, violence, victim of sin (God, child, etc.)

2. The Righteous Princesses: Shahrazad and Antigone both put their lives on the line for a greater good. Compare and contrast their arguments for doing so. Additionally, what is it that they believe in so much that they are willing to die for it? Do they each succeed in their mission?

Most of the works we have read this semester have portrayed women as inferior characters when compared to men. In the Inferno, throughout Dante’s journey into hell, he encounters and speaks to countless souls—some of which he had met during their time on earth. However, these souls tend to be of the male rather than female gender, rendering a certain kind of male domination in the epic as a whole, especially since Dante—the main character—is also a man. In the same way, the stories told by Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights are usually stories with a male protagonist rather than a female, once again emphasizing a superiority of men to women. Write an analytical essay addressing this tendency for women to be inferior to men or possibly proving otherwise.

The Inferno, Antigone, and The Odyssey all bring forth the notion of an afterlife. The Inferno, unlike the other two works actually explores what that after life would look like by describing Dante’s journey into hell. Antigone, although it provides us with no vision of what the afterlife could be, it places an emphasis in honoring dead bodies in order to please the God of the Underworld. The Odyssey on the other hand, tells us of Odysseus’ actual journey into hell—in less detail of course than Dante’s—and highlights a few characteristics such that of Odysseus not being able to hold his mother, one of the souls he encounters. Write an essay in which you analyze this notion of death and the underworld and how the inclusion of this in Antigone, the Inferno, and The Odyssey relate to the work as a whole. Why did the author feel the need to include the idea of an afterlife, and in the case of the Inferno even go so far as to specifically describe it.