Why We Should Read Great Literature In Western culture, many literary works have been set apart from the rest by being termed great literature. What qualifies a work to be great literature, and why should we read it? An excellent source on this topic is Mortimer Adler, one of the premier American philosophers of the twentieth century and founder of the famous Great Books List. According to Adler, all great literature meets three criteria: the work is pertinent to contemporary life, is worth
tossed aside to the dust-bin of history. The same is true of books; some books are more worthy of study than others because of the profundity and clarity with which they express the ideas that they contain. The study of the great books has been the backbone of good education for centuries. If you look at the books read by the intellectual giants of our culture, you find that there are particular books that come up again and again. These books were required of most schoolboys until the rise of Dewey
canon selection is not based on aesthetic principles alone, but on values, which also evolve. The so-called "traditional canon" theoretically represented what the oft-quoted Matthew Arnold called the "best that is known and thought in the world" (38). Only relatively recently was Arnold's view questioned as controversial (Searle, 82). With the breakdown of the fo... ... middle of paper ... ...ED * Arnold, Matthew. "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time." Essays in Criticism:
the book and read, it is that simple", stated Mortimer J. Adler (...). This can be appliable though, in people who know how to read. Frederick Douglass, a black slave, desired to be educated and literate but he had to face many obstacles to achieve this. His essay "Learning to Read and Write" describes his attempts of getting literate and how he finally achieved his goal. Douglass' essay should not be included in Adler's list of Great Books, but instead it should be considered a good book, because
Introduction This paper focuses on two books, the picture book and realistic novel. I am hopeful while doing a critical analysis of these two books that it would help me to create an effective mini library in my future classroom. I would like to use it as a helpful tool to teach children how to compare the differences and similarities of the two genres and many more. I have chosen Corduroy as my picture book and Because of Winn-Dixie as my realistic novel to write on this written critique because
Between Good Books and Great Books Reading is fundamental, but some books are more so than others. Surely Daniel Steele is a far cry from William Shakespeare, but what exactly is the difference? Even in the realm of quality literature there are still "good" books and "great" books. The difference between the importance of good and great books is also why it is so important to read great literature: Great books have a scope much larger than good ones. Good and great books differ by nature
influence in restructuring the world of today. The West seems to be on the defensive, confronted economically, politically, and militarily by the rise of China (delete this: as well as politically along with militarily) by a gesture of Islamist abhorrence (what do you mean by “as well as politically and militarily by a gesture of Islamist abhorrence”? It’s not clear. Are you trying to convey the idea that the West’s political and military interventions in the Muslim world are a sign of their defensive
“The Next Christendom” Book Review by Joseph Vigilante “The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity” by Philip Jenkins examines the change in global Christianity from being a predominantly Euro-American religion and tracks its fast spread in the South. The thesis of the book is that Christianity has dramatically shifted South to the continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America and is rapidly growing in those regions while declining in the West. Throughout the book, Jenkins examines how
William H. McNeill coined the phrase Rise of the West as a way to distinguish Western countries –specifically Western Europe and the Americas—from the rest of the world. In his book, Rise of the West (1964), McNeill asserts that the West’s technological and military strengths, and aptitude for war were central in shaping global relations during the Early Modern Period (1419-1788). Contrary to Rise of the West enthusiasts, who prioritizes a single, Euro-centric narrative, the study of Global Cultural
scientific achievements. The Islamic empire in the eight century preserved and elaborated scientific tradition. They assimilated ancient wisdom and adapted it to their own needs and thinking. Islamic civilization expanded society as a whole and made great contributions in many fields, such as science, math, medicine, theology, and architecture. Without the contributions made by the Islamic culture, the Renaissance Era would not have been the same. After the fall of the Roman Empire many classical texts
All Quiet On the Western Front By 1929, the example of Remarque's altered text of All Quiet on the Western Front, as Hemingway pointed out, gave further proof of greater intolerance in America than in England. Aldington's experience with Death of a Hero, however, would prove the exception. This war novel is actually an anti-war novel, tracing the lives and losses of a young group of soldiers caught in the brutality of World War I. Gripping, realistic, and searing with a vision inconsistent with
“The Canterbury Tales” and “The Decameron”. Both books take place around the same time frame, 1300AD. “The Canterbury Tales”, takes place in London, England and “The Decameron” takes place in Florence, Italy. It would be just to think that since both books take place in a western civilization, both books would reflect the same morals and daily life styles. This is not the case at all. Throughout this paper I will attempt to show how these two books portrayed a totally different lifestyle. In “The
Whilst The Inferno is a divine book set in another world and All Quiet On the Western Front is placed in reality, both characters must face many intense, hellish struggles. Enduring great torment and pain, Dante continues on his jourThroughout time there have been countless novels about the struggles and conflicts of man and how a hero overcomes these challenges. Best novels of their times, All Quiet On the Western Front and Dante’s Inferno have many similarities as well as differences. While both
found that this book reminded me of a memorable passage from the movie Apollo Thirteen: a military man in the tense Houston control shares with a political figure his forewarning that the tragedy before will be the catastrophic moment for the space program Mission control flight chief Gene Kranz overhears their conversation and addresses it: 'With all due respect, gentleman, I believe this will be our finest hour.' This summarizes the book quiet well as the apparent demise of the western church (when
Description of World War II in Chester Wilmot's The Struggle for Europe Though this student looked in Who's Who and Contemporary Authors, no information on Chester Wilmot could be found. One considered searching the Directory of American Scholars, but that would not be helpful since he is from Australia. In The Struggle for Europe, Wilmot seeks to explain several points. First, he explores and explains how the western allies succeeded militarily but failed politically during World War II.
Vote Was Won introduces the role of brave women in their journey to success of the national suffrage movement. Mead writes about the success that was brought by the women in the western states, and gives the readers an insight on the struggles of racism and elitism that played throughout the suffrage movement in the western states. In eight perceptive chapters, the authors focuses on a few states in the west, in which she explains the successes or failures of the campaigns for woman suffrage. Mead
Terry Jones might be most familiar to readers as one of the leading actors, for lack of a better word, of the Monty Python troop, but he is also a historian. Fortunately, all of his books, including this one, are easy to read, provocative, and excellent works of accessible scholarship worthy of a large and appreciative audience. Terry Jones’ Barbarians takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. Not only does it offer us the chance to see the Romans from a non-Roman perspective, it also reveals
Quiet On The Western Front In the gruesome novel, All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, tells a story of a young boy named Paul Bäumer that fights in World War I as a German soldier. Paul is the protagonist and the narrator for most of the novel. The reader can see, through Paul, the horrors of war. Critics agree that the novel is believable. “Paul's story is the realization of the horror of war…” (Tighe 60). The setting of the novel is in the trenches of the Western Front in France
In the era after World War I, Japanese workers were determined to create a revolution that would liberate them and make their lives better. The literature and arts from this period depict the power struggle and the conflicts between the masters and the working class in Japan. This was the age where most Japanese individuals were obsessed with the idea of modernity that was inspired by the west. The mostly younger working class had a great urge to break away from the traditional lifestyle of the past
insurmountable difficulty great works of art are born. Although years of bloodshed and civil war had plagued Rome since the death of Julius Caesar, some of the most powerful and influential literature in the western world was developed in that timeframe. During the Age of Augustus (approximately 43 BC – 17 AD) such great writers as Virgil, Horace, Livy, Propertius, and Ovid created epic masterpieces of literature and philosophy. It was through the collective efforts of these great poets and writers as