Wisdom literature

Texts: Wisdom and Warnings Every ancient and medieval civilization has a literary history that gives us, today, lessons/ideas of wisdom and warnings of dangers that I can personalize and apply in my own life. The ancient texts this paper will be focusing on is the Hebrew Bible, the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Cave by Plato, and The Oedipus Trilogy. Despite originating from different cultures, each of these texts bear wisdom and caution. Ancient texts offer us many lessons and ideas of wisdom that…

Literature writers often develop their stories around essential concepts that may be helpful in understanding life lessons. Stories connect us to one another, be it fiction or nonfiction, child or adult. Literature is not only a means to learn about great authors of the past; the magic of story sparks discovery in ourselves as well as the world around us. Many theorists and literature writers infuse their own views of issues and events into their stories, often in subtle ways that creates…

American Literature has constantly changed throughout time as the American culture has changed. Style and content has been the largest factors used to differentiate between multiple authors in many different time periods. Authors use different styles and contents to teach readers messages that they believe are meaningful. When all the differences are put aside, readers can see one common theme in all of American Literature. An author’s main purpose is to show who they truly are or what they…

I had always assumed that my talents in relation to writing had a relatively mediocre limit, a “glass ceiling” of sorts. All my early literary efforts resulted in collapse and a greater distaste for writing. For me, writing was like trying to catch sand slipping through my fingers: never attainable. I remember a much smaller version of myself sitting down with a freshly sharpened pencil, extra-wide lined paper, and leave engulfed in eraser shavings. The beginning of the story would always…

Literature is a term used to describe written and sometimes spoken material. It represents the culture and tradition of a language or a people. The Sophocles’ trilogy is an adequate example of literature. The stories of Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus are tales that correspond with one another. The key symbols in the stories reinforce their main theme: fate. Sophocles' trilogy of Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus discusses the theme of Fate. In Oedipus the…

Chapter one of How to Read Literature like a Professor describes the day to day encounters of a young boy. Foster explains that though the story is just a simple plot line detailing a common part of teenage life, it should be viewed as a quest, rather than just a normal teenage story. Through this example, Foster highlights key components of a quest, and it is demonstrated that a quest-style plot can be found in a large variety of writing styles, genres and literature. Foster also emphasizes…

decided to interview Professor Elif Armbruster from Suffolk University's, English department. Professor Armbruster research interest are American Realism (1870-1920), American Domestic Architecture (especially late 19th/early 20th century) and Women’s Literature. Even though, I could have interviewed another professor from the English department which I don’t know, by conducting this interview I got to know more of Professor Armbruster. Also, I really owe her for motivating me to pursue a minor…

Literature in America has evolved through many generations. During the 19 century, the writing styles of the Puritans and the Classicists have shifted into the ideals of American Romanticists. The ideas, structures and styles differed between the types of writing. In the Puritanical era of writing the authors focused on strict structure and order. As writing styles evolved into American Romanticism, authors expanded their ideas to create a world of fantasy and freedom. In the short story, “The…

necessarily a commentary of the repetitive tribulations of man, this quote by George Santayana does speak on the commonality of all history and human endeavor. After two thousand two hundred and sixty-four years, two completely different pieces of literature can have the same connection to the human experiences, a complete confirmation of circularity of society. Furthermore, these two stories don’t only have the same connection to humanity, but they have a connection with each other in their…

hero’s adventure starts and comes to an end. This is a common template used by writers in their stories. The hero’s journey can be seen in many different historic literature and continues through today’s literature. Homer’s the Odyssey and the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew, are both examples of the Hero’s journey being used in ancient literature. Through the Hero’s journey, the hero will go through twelve steps to complete their adventure. The first step to a hero’s journey is called the ordinary…