Great Literature - What Makes it so Great? What is "great" literature? What makes it so great? Who decides it is great? And, most importantly, why should people read it? The answers to these four questions tell their own story, the story of the grandest works ever written. Great literature is what has stood the test of time. This time frame can be as long as many thousands of years, and as short as twenty. What is important is that the piece of literature has been thoroughly analyzed
Tom Jones is a great novel of English Literature Tom Jones is a great novel of English Literature; it presents a dilemma raised in a humorous way. The 18th century masterpiece develops in the countryside of England at the village-like place of Summerset. Sexual temptations, moral assumptions, and unique characters make the story as captivating a creative painting from Picasso. Most important; the character of Tom Jones is very identifiable for his realistic approaches, sexual adventures
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
The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is by far one of the most interesting yet congested books I have ever read. I feel as if the story is shifting as soon as I was able to tell what was happening. One idea that was constant was the themes, symbols and motifs used throughout. Love and the seduction of money, to me, were the most influential themes that I noticed in the book. Instead of picking them apart I would like to combine them. They worked in synchronicity
Literature varies in many ways. Two ways in which this can happen can be between escape literature and interpretive literature. According to Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense, “Literature of escape is that written purely for entertainment… Literature of interpretive is written to broaden, deepen, and sharpen our awareness of life.” In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, interpretive literature is more evident than escape in regard to the fact that it was written not only for pleasure
Throughout America’s 239 years of history, American literature has been changed throughout its time as period of new culture and movements are introduced in the United States. Out of all the different time periods America has been through, the most important and impactful one is the Great Depression. The Great Depression created new lifestyles and culture for the American people, which helped emerging authors, such as John Steinbeck and Harper Lee, express their views and beliefs between the wars
For readers who observe literature through a feminist lens, they will notice the depiction of female characters, and this makes a large statement on the author’s perception of feminism. Through portraying these women as specific female archetypes, the author creates sense of what roles women play in both their families and in society. In books such as The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the roles that the main female characters play are, in different
The two texts that this essay will compare and contrast are the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller. Both works are based around the central topic of ‘the American Dream’ and the unceremonious death of it. However, the journeys that the protagonists take to meet their tragic ends are very different though the motives involved are accused murder and adultery. This essay’s aim is to determine whether the novel or the play best is more
Should Great Expectations be considered a part of the canon of great literature based on its portal of social class issues in Victorian England? This is a question that has been pondered by many, but has a justifiable answer. This book should not be considered a part of the canon of great literature for several reasons, such as the rise in social class, marriage between classes, and the depiction of women. One reasoning as to why Great Expectations should not be considered a part of the canon of
basis of its literary merits; in fact, it was long seen as one of the great novels of the burgeoning modern era, a sort of bridge between the values and storytelling styles of the waning Victorian period and those of the modern era (Gatten), and regarded a high-ranking space amidst the great literature of the century, if not the millennia (Mitchell 20). Conrad’s literary masterpiece manages references to other great literature, universal themes which cut to the heart of philosophical questions of
What is Great Art? I wonder what Clyde Butcher would say to me if I were to ask him to explain to me exactly how he feels when he is experiencing the Everglades and taking the amazing photographs of this beautiful place. Would his words come anywhere close to expressing his passion for the Everglades and other natural areas as his photographs do? Would his words be an even better explanation and expression of his feelings towards the Everglades than his photographs? How about Marjory Stoneman
quoted by Jamie Allen (CNN Interactive Senior Writer)(1999) For most people the mention of "great literature" stirs up the classic images of such authors as Shakespeare, Twain, Hemmingway, Salinger, Fitzgerald, and Melville among many others. Without belittling those very talented authors I would like to question their superiority over lesser acclaimed or widely known authors. What makes great literature and who gets to decide what qualifies? Perhaps a book such as Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Achebe’s Inability to Understand Conrad’s Heart of Darkness A fierce Achebe radically condemns Conrad as "a thoroughgoing racist" in his article, arguing that Heart of Darkness is not a piece of great literature, but "an offensive and deplorable book" (Achebe 1791). He structures his argument around a few central ideas, such as the grotesque perception of the Africans by the protagonist, the antinomy between the Thames and Congo River, the lack of historical fact, and the parallel between the
suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials . . . on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of the standards applied by the censor" (Cromwell). Definitions aside, great literature is being banned by many people for a number of reasons and shouldn't be. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
It is often said that when considering a work of great literature, the title of such work can be just as important as the context of the story. Authors time and again wait until they have completed the context of their work to give it a title as to make sure this chosen title is the best possible representation of their work. Stated equally as often is that the significance of some of these titles is easy to recognize while in other titles, the significance is only developed gradually. The latter
Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland by Charles L Dodgeson (Lewis Carrol) is a classic masterpiece and example of great literature. Many people know of this book as merely a child’s tale or a Disney movie. As both were adopted from the book, many of the ideas were not. I have my own feelings and opinions of this book. Remarkable use of words and an originally creative theme and plot structure are both used in this book. The author of this novel used many hidden meanings, symbolism, and ambiguous
opened to many of the mysteries of life. To make a great book, there are certain criterion which a book must meet. A book needs to be entertaining so the reader will enjoy it and continue to read on. A great novel needs to be well written. It should have a message or a lesson for the reader to pick up on. All great literature also needs to be timeless so it can be applied in different times and places. The Little Prince is a good novel, in great part, because it has very entertaining characters
angels round about the throne, and the number of them was thousands of thousands." - St. John, the Evangelist. Angels are even recorded in the Koran, "You shall see the angels circling around the throne, giving glory to their Lord". The world's great literature and art tell us about many angel characters - some we're familiar with and some obscure to us now. Yet, the common thread that weaves amongst the legends and the lore is the undeniable influence that angels have had upon nearly every culture
Vengeance in Hamlet With Outline Time and time again, we as a complex society have recognized in many pieces of great literature the idea of man and revenge. Throughout history, the idea of vengeance has destroyed large communities, populations and entire civilizations. The problem with man and revenge is that one may be side-tracted of why or whom he is avenging. This similar idea is conveyed in the theme of Shakespear's Hamlet , "Vengeance can confuse a man's mind and soul to the point
Olympus. The myths are all things to all people – a rollicking good yarn, expressions of deep psychological insights, words of spine-tingling poetic beauty and food for the imagination. They serve a timeless universal need, and have inspired great literature, art and music, providing archetypes through which we can learn much about the deeper motives of human behavior. No-one has the definitive answer as to why or how the myths came into being, nut many are allegorical accounts of historical facts