World Literature (Teacher) [Teacher ed.] 0890516766, 9780890516768

Citation preview

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 1

11/14/12 3:13 PM

First printing: November 2012 Copyright © 2012 by James P. Stobaugh. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write: Master Books®, P.O. Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638 Master Books® is a division of the New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-89051-676-8 ISBN: 978-1-61458-271-7 (ebook) Cover design by Diana Bogardus. Interior design by Terry White. Unless otherwise noted, all images are from shutterstock.com, Library of Congress (LOC-image), and Wikimedia Commons. All images used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license (CC-BY-SA-3.0) are noted; license details available at creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Other photos are public domain (PD-US) and (PD-Art). Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan, All rights reserved worldwide. Permission is granted for copies of reproducible pages from this text to be made for use within your own homeschooling family activities or for small classrooms of 10 or less students. Material may not be posted online, distributed digitally, or made available as a download. Permission for any other use of the material needs to be made prior to use by email to the publisher at [email protected]. Please consider requesting that a copy of this volume be purchased by your local library system. Printed in the United States of America Please visit our website for other great titles: www.masterbooks.net For information regarding author interviews, please contact the publicity department at (870) 438-5288 Dedication This Book is gratefully dedicated to Karen and our four children: Rachel, Jessica, Timothy, and Peter. He has given us a ministry of reconciliation . . . (2 Corinthians 5:18).

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 2

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Contents

Using Your Teacher Guide............................................................................................................................. 6



Grading Record Options................................................................................................................................ 7



Preface ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 1. Sumerian, Egyptian, and Hebrew Literature (Part 1)............................................................................10

Epic of Gilgamesh, Author Unknown, Enuma Elish, Author Unknown

2. Worldview Formation and Discernment .................................................................................................20 3. Sumerian, Egyptian, and Hebrew Literature (Part 2)............................................................................29 Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead, Author Unknown, Hymn to Osiris, Author Unknown



4. Ancient Greece (Part 1)................................................................................................................................38  The Iliad, Homer 5. Ancient Greece (Part 2)................................................................................................................................47 The Odyssey, Homer 6. Ancient Greece (Part 3)................................................................................................................................54 Histories, Herodotus



7. Ancient Greece (Part 4)................................................................................................................................61  The Death of Socrates, Plato 8. Ancient Greece (Part 5)................................................................................................................................69  The Republic, Plato 9. Ancient Greece (Part 6)................................................................................................................................77 The Rhetoric and the Poetics, Aristotle 10. Ancient Greece (Part 7)................................................................................................................................84

"Oedipus Rex," Sophocles

11. Ancient Rome (Part 1)..................................................................................................................................92

The Aeneid, Virgil

12. Ancient Rome (Part 2)................................................................................................................................ 100

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

13. Early Church History (Part 1)................................................................................................................... 109

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, Didache, Author Unknown

14. Early Church History (Part 2)................................................................................................................... 117

Writings, Clement of Rome and Justin Martyr, The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Author Unknown

15. Early Church History (Part 3)................................................................................................................... 126

Confessions, Augustine of Hippo

16. Japanese Literature...................................................................................................................................... 133

Poems, Ono no Komachi, Kakinomoto Hitomaro, Poems, Minamoto no Toshiyori

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 3

11/14/12 3:13 PM

17. Indian Literature.......................................................................................................................................... 140

The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, Author Unknown, Panchatantra, Bidpai

18. Persian and Arabic Literature................................................................................................................... 147

The Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam, The Koran

19. Chinese Literature....................................................................................................................................... 155 “After the Ancients,” “Without all that Racket,” “Peach Blossom Spring,” T’ao Ch’ien, The Sayings of Confucius, Confucius 20. Middle Ages (Part 1)................................................................................................................................... 162  Divine Comedy (The Inferno Only), Dante Alighieri 21. Middle Ages (Part 2)................................................................................................................................... 170 22. Middle Ages (Part 3)................................................................................................................................... 177  Poema del Cid, Author Unknown, “Yet if, for Singing your Praise,” Plate for the Engraving,” Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz 23. Romanticism (Part 1).................................................................................................................................. 184

Faust, Goethe

24. Romanticism (Part 2).................................................................................................................................. 193

Faust, Goethe

25. Realism (Part 1)........................................................................................................................................... 201

War and Peace, The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy

26. Realism (Part 2)........................................................................................................................................... 208

Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky

27. Realism (Part 3)........................................................................................................................................... 215 “Easter Eve,” Anton Chekhov, “The Bet,” Anton Chekhov 28. Realism (Part 4)........................................................................................................................................... 222

A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen

29. Modern Age (Part 1)).................................................................................................................................. 229

“I Am Not Alone” and “Tiny Feet,” Gabriela Mistral

30. Modern Age (Part 2)................................................................................................................................... 237  The Löwensköld Ring, Selma Louisa Lagerlöf 31. Modern Age (Part 3)................................................................................................................................... 244

The Stranger, Albert Camus

32. Modern Age (Part 4)................................................................................................................................... 252

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

33. Modern Age (Part 5)................................................................................................................................... 259

Nectarina Sieve, Kamala Markandaya

34. Modern Age (Part 6)................................................................................................................................... 266

Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton



Essay Options............................................................................................................................................... 273



Chapter Tests................................................................................................................................................ 285

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 4

11/14/12 3:13 PM

READING LIST: The following is a list of additional books and texts not included within the study that are needed for this course. It is strongly suggested that students read most, if not all these titles during the summer before taking this course. Most will be available at local libraries or as free downloads at The Online Books Page (onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/lists.html), Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/wiki/ Main_Page), or Bartleby (www.bartleby.com/). Augustine, Confessions Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment Goethe, Faust Homer, The Iliad Homer, The Odyssey Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country Tolstoy, War and Peace Virgil, The Aeneid

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 5

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Using Your Teacher Guide How this course has been developed: 1. Chapters: This course has 34 chapters (representing 34 weeks of study) to earn two full credits; writing and literature. 2. Lessons: Each chapter has five lessons, taking approximately 45 to 60 minutes each. 3. Student responsibility: Responsibility to complete this course is on the student. Students must read ahead in order to stay on schedule with the readings. Independence is strongly encouraged in this course, which was designed for the student to practice independent learning. 4. Grading: Depending on the grading option chosen, the parent/educator will grade the daily concept builders, and the weekly tests and essays. (See pages 7 and 8.) 5. Additional books and texts: A list of outside reading is provided after the table of contents. Students should try and read ahead whenever possible. Most readings are available free online or at a local library.

Throughout this book you will find the following: 1. Chapter Learning Objectives: Always read the “First Thoughts” and “Chapter Learning Objectives” in order to comprehend the scope of the material to be covered in a particular week. 2. Daily warm-ups: You should write or give oral responses for the daily warm-ups to your educator/ parent. These are not necessarily meant to be evaluated, but should stimulate discussion. 3. Concept builders: You should complete a daily concept builder. These activities take 15 minutes or less and emphasize a particular concept that is vital to that particular chapter topic. These will relate to a subject covered in the chapter, though not necessarily in that days lesson. 4. Assigned readings: Remember to read ahead on the required literary material for this course. Students should plan to read some of the required literature the summer before the course. 5. Weekly essays: You will be writing at least one essay per week, depending on the level of accomplishment you and your parent/educator decide upon. These are available in the teacher guide and online. 6. Weekly tests: These are available in the teacher guide and online.

Earn a bonus credit! Easily integrate related history curriculum for an additional credit, a combination study done in less than two hours daily! History Connections are shown on the chapter introduction page in order to help a student study these texts consecutively, exploring literature and history in unison. (The American, British, and World History curriculum is also written by James Stobaugh and published by Master Books®.)

6

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 6

11/14/12 3:13 PM

What the student will need each day: 1. Notepad/computer: for writing assignments. 2. Pen/pencil: for taking notes and for essays. 3. A prayer journal. As often as you can — hopefully daily — keep a prayer journal. 4. Daily concept builders, weekly essay options, and weekly tests are available in the teacher guide and as free downloads at: nlpg.com/WorldLitAids

Increasing your vocabulary: Part of the reason for reading so many challenging literary works is for one to increase his or her functional vocabulary. The best means of increasing vocabulary is through reading a vast amount of classical, well-written literary works. While reading these works, one should harvest as many unknown words as possible, and try to use five new words in each essay written. Create 3x5 Vocabulary Cards

Front

Adversity

Back Harmful, Evil Adversity is a Noun The adverse effects of smoking are great.

When one meets a strange word for the first time: •

Do your best to figure out the word in context,

•

Check your guess by looking in the dictionary,

•

Write a sentence with the word in it.

Use the illustration above to formulate vocabulary cards of new words.

Grading Record Options (See chart on following page.) This course has been developed to allow three grading options for a parent/educator. This allows one the flexibility to adjust the usage of the course content to individual situations and varying requirements. For ease of grading, Option A (essays/exams) and Option B (essays/exams/concept builders [CB]) both provide a total weekly score of 100 points for a course total of 3,400 possible points. Dividing the total score at the end of the course by 34 will provide a percentage grade for the student. You may use the standard system (90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, below 60 = F), or you may use your own personal grading system. The third grading option simply allows for additional work (warm-ups [WU], additional essays, etc.) to be counted toward each week’s final grade. This can be done at the educator’s discretion and be added into the overall score of Option A or Option B.

7

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 7

11/14/12 3:13 PM

week

Option a

Option B

Essays = 50/Exams = 50

Essays = 40/Exams = 40/CB = 20

Essay

Exam

Essay

Exam

Option C Add Additional 10/20

CB

WU

Additional Essay

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

total

34

Total Essays and Exams: Divide by 34 for grade

Final Grade _______

Total Essays, Exams and CBs: Divide by 34 for grade

Total WU and Additional Essays Add in score to Option A or B

Final Grade _______

* See Grading Record Options on the prior page for record-keeping guidance.

8

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 8

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Preface World Literature is a rhetoric-level course. Two things are distinctive about rhetoric-level courses: they are content driven and they presume higher-level thinking. In most cases, you are going to have to read in excess of 200 pages per lesson. Therefore, it is highly advisable that you read most of this material the summer before you begin this course. Theologian Walter Bruggemann, in his essay “Blessed Are the History-Makers,” reminds us that culture is created, history is made, by those who are radically committed to obeying God at all costs (Walter Brueggemann, Hope within History [Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1987], chapter 3). Will you be counted among that number? Be smart, but above all, be obedient to the Word of God. For the first time in 300 years, in your generation I observe the marriage of smart minds and born-again hearts. This combination is potent indeed and has revolutionary implications for the 21st-century world. Now, as only once before (i.e., during the Puritan era), this generation is both smart and saved; in other words, it is a spirit-filled elite, and the ramifications are exciting to say the least. There is much need. Social critic Os Guinness, in his seminal work The Dust of Death prophetically argues that “western culture is marked . . . by a distinct slowing of momentum . . . a decline in purposefulness” (Os Guinness, The Dust of Death [Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1973]). Guinness implies that the ideals and traditions that have been central to the American civilization are losing their compelling cultural authority. There is, in short, no corpus of universally accepted morality that Americans follow. As Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy states “. . . there is no recognized moral knowledge upon which projects of fostering moral development could be based” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy [San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997]). You are part of one of the most critical generations in the history of Western culture. Indeed, only the generation of which Augustine was a part comes close in importance to your generation. In both cases — today and during the life of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo — civilizations were in decline. Young Augustine lived through the decline of the Roman world; you are living through the decline of American cultural superiority. However, the barbarians conquered Rome; the Christians conquered the barbarians. My prayer for each person who reads this course is: I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 3:14–21).

9

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 9

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 1

Sumerian, Egyptian, and Hebrew Literature (Part 1) (3000 B.C.–300 B.C.) First Thoughts The story of Mesopotamia is the story of the very genesis of civilization. There is some debate about where people stopped merely herding their livestock and started farming and building cities and therefore creating a civilization. However, there are some strong arguments that it began in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, meaning “between the rivers,” lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. It is located in the general vicinity of the present national states of Iraq and Syria.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . .

In fact, there is strong evidence that Mesopotamia is, in fact, Eden, where God placed the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve (Genesis 1). Again, there is strong evidence that the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates is this very place.

10

1. Write a process essay that speculates on how the Epic of Gilgamesh moved from an oral to a written form. 2. Compare and contrast the Gilgamesh Flood narrative with the biblical Flood story (Genesis 8). 3. Compare and contrast the Enuma Elish (translated by N.K. Sanders) with Genesis 1 and 2. 4. Compare the gods and goddesses with the gods and goddesses that Elijah encountered.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Book of Esther, author unknown History connections: World History chapter 1, “Mesopotamia.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 10

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 1200 B.C.) Assignments •

Warm-up: What are three distinctive components of Sumerian Civilization?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 1-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 1-A

Read this excerpt from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and respond to the following:

1

What is the setting? The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on earth. It comes to us from ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script. It is about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (somewhere between 2750 and 2500 B.C.E.), in the Mesopotamia, Tigris-Euphrates River Valley.

2

Who is the protagonist (main character)? Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest king on earth and the strongest super human that ever existed; however, he is young and oppresses his people harshly. The people call out to the sky-god Anu, the chief god of the city, to help them. In response, Anu creates a wild man, Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding Gilgamesh’s lands. This brute, Enkidu, has the strength of dozens of wild animals; he is to serve as the subhuman rival to the superhuman Gilgamesh (Tablet 1).

3

What crisis is the protagonist facing? Gilgamesh undertakes a journey in which he faces snakes, fires, and a flood. Ultimately he fails in his quest to attain immortality.

4

How does he handle this crisis? Gilgamesh is courageous and bold but is unnerved by the loss of his good friend Enkidu.

5

Predict the outcome of this story/crisis. Most readers predict a happy ending.

6

From context, what does the word “travail” mean? To labor in hardship and despair.

7

What is the resolution of the crisis? The Epic ends with Gilgamesh, at the end of his journey standing before the gates of Uruk, inviting Urshanabi to look around and view the greatness of this city, its high walls, its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as the foundation of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carved Gilgamesh’s account of his exploits.

11

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 11

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Religion Assignments •

Warm-up: Describe Sumerian religion

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 1-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

12

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 12

11/14/12 3:13 PM

A report is an informative essay where the reader communicates information to a reader. Plan your report: List your specific ideas, group related ideas under topics, arrange your ideas in order, make an outline, and write your report.

Specific ideas

A Report

CONCEPT BUILDER 1-B

Marduk Worship

Babylonian Civilization

Outline I. Topic 1 Religion A. Specific Idea 1 Marduk Worship 1. Evidence 1 Epic of Gilgamesh

There are more, particularly two gods — Ea and Enlil ­— whose powers and attributes pass over to Marduk.

II. Topic 2 Ea and Enlil B. Specific Idea 2 Share Power 1. Evidence 2 Enûma Elish

13

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 13

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Biblical Parallels Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh to a modern hero (e.g., Spiderman).

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 1-C.

•

Students should write rough drafts of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

A process paper either tells the reader how to do something or describes how something is done.

Process Essay

CONCEPT BUILDER 1-C

What are you trying to explain?

The movement evolution of the oral Epic of Gilgamesh to the written Epic of Gilgamesh.

Why is this process important to you?

Understanding this process will help us understand more about the society that wrote, read, and admired the Epic of Gilgamesh.

What is the process?

As Babylonian society changed and met new challenges, it changed its hero to reflect these changes. For example, Gilgamesh became more compassionate as Babylonia became more peaceful

14

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 14

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Enuma Elish: Tablet One Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare Apsu to YHWH, God.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 1-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copy of essay due tomorrow.

Compare and contrast the Gilgamesh epic and the biblical account of the Flood (Genesis 8). The Flood

Compare/Contrast Essay

CONCEPT BUILDER 1-D

Epic of Gilgamesh

Bible

Setting

Ancient Middle East, perhaps in the Euphrates River Basin

Euphrates River Basin

Characters

Ut-Napishtim

Noah

Plot

The events were very similar to the biblical account; however, Noah released a raven once and a dove twice; Ut-Napishtim released three birds: a dove, swallow and raven.

The events were very similar to the biblical account; however, Noah released a raven once and a dove twice; Ut-Napishtim released three birds: a dove, swallow and raven.

Diety(ies)

Marduk and his pantheon

The one true God, YHWH.

15

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 15

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Compare Two Flood Narratives

Assignments •

Warm-up: What do you say to someone who does not believe that there really was a global Flood?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 1-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 1 test.

16

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 16

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Compare and contrast the Enuma Elish and the biblical account of creation (Genesis 1). Creation

Enuma Elish

Setting

then from Apsu and Tiamat in the waters gods were created, in the waters silt precipitated, Lahmu and Lahumu, were named; they were not yet old not yet grown tall when Anshar and Kishar overtook them both, (i.e., born after)

Compare/Contrast Essay

CONCEPT BUILDER 1-E

Before a world could be created, gods needed to be created.

Bible 1.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. God existed before time itself.

Characters

Plot

Apsu (male, fresh water) and Tiamat (female, sea water) mingle and engender Lahmu (male) and Lahamu (female) who are silt deposits as well as Anshar (rim of the sky) and Kishar (rim of the earth. Anshar and Kishar engender Anu (Sky) who in turn engenders Ea-Nudimmud (who ends up as the ruler of fresh waters. Ea’s wife is named Damkina. Ea is created in the image of his father Anu. Marduk decides to create humans (lullu — barbarians, savages, aboriginal humans) to serve the gods. Ea and the other gods shape humans out of the blood of the executed Kingu.

God created Adam and then Eve. Both were made in His image.

Adam and Eve lived in the garden. When they sinned against God in disobedience, they were cast out.

10. Marduk and the other gods create Babylon and the great temple Esagila. Diety(ies)

Marduk was the chief god, but there were many other gods/ goddesses.

www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 17

God or YHWH

17

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Throughout this course you will write several different types of essays. During this lesson you will write a process essay. A process essay is an academic essay that explains how a process works or how to make or do something. Write a process essay that speculates on how the Epic of Gilgamesh moved from an oral to a written form. SUMMARY: Epics celebrated and preserved the values of a culture for a new generation. The stories of Gilgamesh no doubt began as a series of oral (i.e., spoken) narratives about a mythological figure. What makes this epic so interesting is that it is further confirmation that there was a Flood. Not only does the Bible record a Flood, but extra-biblical sources also testify to a Flood. However, some epics are completely false, partly true, or completely true. The Davy Crockett legends/epic in American history are fictional accounts of an actual person. The Davy Crockett legends are partly true and partly made-up. The biblical Flood epic, however, is completely true — it happened the way that the Bible tells us it happened. B. Compare and contrast the Gilgamesh flood narrative with the biblical Flood story (Genesis 8). SUMMARY: Once upon a time, the gods destroyed the ancient city of Shuruppah in a great flood. God destroyed the world by a flood because of wickedness (Gen. 6:13). However, Utnapishtim, forewarned by Ea, managed to survive by building a great ship (Gen. 6:10). His immortality was a gift bestowed by the repentant gods in recognition of his ingenuity and his faithfulness in re-instituting the sacrifice. Noah does not have physical eternal life. The hero is Ziusudra, the counterpart of the biblical Noah. Ziusudra heard the decision of the Divine Council to destroy humanity. He was able to survive the flood by building a boat. The mention of the great waters, the boat, and the window on the boat all have biblical parallels. C. In a court of law a man may be convicted if two independent, unprejudiced witnesses testify in the same way about the same event. Besides the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Genesis creation story parallels the Enuma Elish story (Babylonian). In other words, two independent, unprejudiced sources recorded the same event at different parts of the world. Genesis is not only theologically accurate, it is most certainly historically accurate and should be understood accordingly. Compare and contrast the Enuma Elish (translated by N.K. Sanders) with Genesis 1 and 2. SUMMARY: The world was created by the gods. It was formed from chaos. The metaphor of chaos to order is strong in both accounts. It is clear that both the Hebrew Moses and the Babylonian author of the Enuma Elish had access to the same historical event. Their accounts were similar but written by different people at different places. If the reader needs more evidence that the biblical story of creation is accurate by virtue of its claim of inerrancy, this evidence confirms the veracity of the biblical story again.

18

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 18

11/14/12 3:13 PM

CHAPTER 1 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essays (100 Points) A. The following creation story is from Japan. Compare and contrast this creation story to Genesis 1–2. After the creation of Heaven and earth, Divine Beings were produced between them. Hence it is said that when the world began to be created, the soil of which lands were composed floated about in a manner which might be compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water. At this time a certain thing was produced between Heaven and Earth. It was in form like a reed-shoot. Now this was transformed into a God, and was called Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, and next Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, in all three deities. These were pure males spontaneously developed by the operation of the principle of Heaven. The next Deities who came into being were Uhiji-ni no Mikoto and Suhiji-ni no Mikoto, also called Uhiji-ne no Mikoto and Suhiji-ne no Mikoto. The next Deities which came into being were Oho-to nochi no Mikoto and Oho-to mahe no Mikoto. The next Deities which came into being were Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto. These make eight Deities in all. Being formed by the mutual action of the Heavenly and Earthly principles, they were made male and female. From Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto to Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto are called the seven generations of the age of the Gods (portfolio.richard-hooker. com/sites/worldcultures/ANCJAPAN/CREAT2.HTM). ANSWER: The world was created first and there is a definite movement from chaos to order. However, there is nothing like monotheism in either the Shinto or Babylonian creation story. The JudeoChristian God existed before time. He was not created; He creates. B. Give the historical background to Daniel 5. In your discussion, compare the Hebrew hero Daniel to the Sumerian/Babylonian hero Gilgamesh. ANSWER: Daniel 5 is the dramatic story of the fall of the Babylonians to the Persians. Daniel was a humble, devoted follower of God who put himself in danger when it was necessary. Gilgamesh was an unprincipled man, who generally advanced his cause over all others.

19

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 19

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 2

Worldview Formation and Discernment First Thoughts If you are a committed Christian believer, you will be challenged to analyze the worldviews of individuals and institutions around you. You are inextricably tied to your culture, but that does not mean you can’t be in this culture but not of this culture. Throughout this course and your educational career you will be challenged to analyze the worldviews of many writers. You will be asked to articulate your own worldview and to defend it against all sorts of assaults. William Bradford, for instance, has a worldview that is radically different from many writers you have read and hopefully similar to yours. What is Bradford’s worldview? It is obviously Christian theistic. For now, though, it is important that you pause and examine several worldviews that you will encounter in literature and the arts. You will then need to articulate your own worldview.

20

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Compare the worldviews of each in the following passages. 2. Contrast C.S. Lewis’s obvious Christian theistic worldview with the three others. 3. Write a worldview for yourself.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Book of Esther, author unknown; Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead and Hymn to Osiris Un-Nefer, author unknown. History connections: World History chapter 2, “Foundations of Worldviews.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 20

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Background

American Hero

CONCEPT BUILDER 2-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is a worldview?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 2-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 2.

In American culture the concept of “hero” has changed considerably over the last 80 years. How will the American hero evolve in the next 20 years? This author believes that the next hero(ine) will be a subjective, empathic, pragmatic man/ woman who upholds a moral code, but no particular moral code. This moral code will be based roughly on the Golden Rule. It is observed, for instance, in cinema, that more and more heroes/ heroines are principled characters with a mission or goal. The producer is not particularly concerned about what morality paradigm his hero embraces, as long as the hero embraces it with sincerity and the worldview endangers no one.

21

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 21

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Two Basic Worldviews Assignments •

Warm-up: Contrast the two basic worldviews that Aristotle and Plato champion.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 2-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

22

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 22

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Using the diagram below, show how you have matured as a person.

Worldview Maturation

CONCEPT BUILDER 2-B

Being homeschooled

Going on a mission trip to Ecuador

How you have matured as a person.

My commitment to Jesus Christ

The birth of my brother or sister

23

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 23

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Four Main Epochs

Worldview in Art

CONCEPT BUILDER 2-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Theism dominated most of world history. Why?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 2-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

What is the worldview of these artistic pieces? Match the appropriate letter with each picture.

1. C 2. B 3. A 4. D

24

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 24

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Seven Basic Worldviews Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare naturalism to realism.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 2-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

My Worldview

CONCEPT BUILDER 2-D

To this author, the spiritual world is more important than the visible world.

+ Mankind is uniquely created in the image of God.

My Worldview

+ The Bible is the unique source of God’s inspired, inerrant Word to His people concerning morality.

25

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 25

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay

Worldview in Star Wars

CONCEPT BUILDER 2-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare this personal worldview, written by a student who offers her own personal religious views, to your worldview.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 2-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 2 test.

Match the following quotes from Star Wars (6 movies) with worldviews. You will be using one answer twice. 1. C 2. B 3. A 4. B 5. D

26

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 26

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Note the worldview in the following passage. Humans who bestow superior value on the lives of all human beings solely because they are members of our own species are judging along lines strikingly similar to those used by white racists who bestow superior value on the lives of other whites, merely because they are members of their own race. — P. Sanger SUMMARY: A naturalist perspective: all animals are equally valuable — or not — and therefore we are free to abort babies or put animals on the same level as human beings. Naturalism argues that people who argue for the superiority of mankind — created in the image of God — over other animals are wrong. B. Discuss the worldview of C. S. Lewis from his following statement. For mere improvement is not redemption. . . . God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. — C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity SUMMARY: Answers will vary. C. Write a worldview for yourself using the following questions to guide you. What is the priority of the spiritual world? Authority — Is the Bible important to you? Do you obey God and other authority — your parents — even when it is uncomfortable to do so? Pleasure — what do you really enjoy doing? Does it please God? What is the essential uniqueness of man? SUMMARY: And how we need the grace of God. We are a lonely, separated, broken people desperately in need of a Savior. All humankind, good and bad alike, rich and poor, are in the wrong before God, and we all fall under God’s judgment. In spite of our sincere intentions, we systematically, inevitably shatter our virtuous dreams by allowing self-interest and hostility to motivate our lives. But, God, out of His great love for us all, gave us His Son to be our Savior. Yes, with Christ as the center of our lives, we have hope. I am unequivocal in my confession that a decision for Christ is the only way to health, happiness, wholeness, and eternal security. God’s love is so amazing that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. Therefore, He has a right to demand all of us in return! Likewise, I am not ambivalent in my confession that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). In the areas of social justice, equality between the sexes and races, ministry to the poor and to the homeless, and peacemaking, the Church must be prophetic. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). Equally important is my responsibility to create and to support wholesome family life. The Christian family remains the single most important channel that God has chosen to inculcate in humankind His nurturing principles of fulfilled living. Solid, healthy Christian family life is a primary goal of my time on this earth. Recognizing the pressures of economics and time, I must nonetheless obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to keep Jesus Christ in the center of my home. (James P. Stobaugh)

27

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 27

11/14/12 3:13 PM

CHAPTER 2 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) A. What is a “worldview?” ANSWER: A worldview is a way that a person understands, relates to, and responds from a philosophical position that he embraces as his own. Worldview is a framework that ties everything together, that allows us to understand society, the world, and our place in it. A world view helps us to make the critical decisions which will shape our future B. What was William Bradford’s worldview? ANSWER: His world view is Christian theistic.

28

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 28

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 3

(3000 B.C.–300 B.C.)

Sumerian, Egyptian, and Hebrew Literature (Part 2) First Thoughts Another Mesopotamian literary piece is the biblical Book of Esther. The authorship of Esther is unknown. It must have been written after the death of Ahasuerus (the Xerxes of the Greeks), which took place in 465 B.C. The writer was a contemporary with Mordecai and Esther and intimate with both. Hence, we may conclude that the book was written probably about 444 to 434 B.C., and that the author was one of the Jews of the Babylonian captivity. This book is more purely historical than any other book of Scripture and it is remarkable that the name of God does not occur in it. Nonetheless, it is an incredibly powerful theocentric testimony to God’s faithfulness.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the themes in Esther. 2. Contrast the way the Egyptians characterize their gods with the way the Hebrews characterize their God (i.e., the one true God!). 3. Discuss the different characters in Esther.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Book of Esther, author unknown; Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead and Hymn to Osiris Un-Nefer, author unknown.

29

History connections: World History chapter 3, “The Jewish Exile.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 29

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Handel

Esther Assignments •

Warm-up: What are your favorite lines in this oratorio?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 3-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 3.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 3-A

Read this excerpt from the Book of Esther, and respond to the following:

1

Why did the author of Esther begin his story by introducing Xerxes? While King Xerxes is not the protagonist of this story — Esther is — he is nonetheless an important foil. His actions, directed by God, will determine the future of the Israelite captives.

2

Vashti is a perfect foil. Her only purpose is to develop King Xerxes. What is the author trying to tell us about King Xerxes? Vashti appears and disappears in the first chapter of Esther. Her courage to stand up to her husband dooms her, but opens up a way for Esther to assume her role in the story.

3

Predict what will happen to Queen Vashti if she does not obey her husband? She is exiled.

4

The author is writing in omniscient narration — a narrative technique that allows the author to tell what all the characters are thinking. What advantages does this offer the author? Omniscient narration allows the author to reveal to the reader all of the thoughts and motivations of the characters in the most precise, economical way.

5

This first chapter advances the action and introduces most of the principle characters. Is it effective? The reader knows all the principle characters and is prepared to enter the plot in earnest.

30

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 30

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Perfect Short Story

Types of Biblical Literature

CONCEPT BUILDER 3-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is this such a perfect short story?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 3-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Match the type of literature with the biblical example.

1. C 2. A 3. B

31

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 31

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Jewish Exile

Assignments •

 arm-up: When Nehemiah took his community home to Jerusalem, the majority of Jewish W people opted to stay in Persia. Why?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 3-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

32

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 32

11/14/12 3:13 PM

A

Characterization

The heroes/heroines are figures of great national importance, usually extraordinary persons in their culture.

B

Setting

The setting is vast in scope. The characters are shaped by and shape the culture in which they live.

C

Plot

There is always a serious crisis that the heroes/heroines solve.

D

Tone

Supernatural forces interest themselves in the action and intervene at times.

Esther is an important person in the court of Xerxes.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 3-C

The epic is a long, narrative poem on a somber, important subject, related in a grandiose style where the hero/heroine project superhuman qualities to solve a great crisis. Match the following components of an epic with the following diagram.

A

There is a very serious crisis and only Esther can solve the problem.

Esther

C

God intervenes through the epic heroine to save the exiled nation of Israel.

D

The people of Isarel are in a particularly vulnerable place because of the time and place in which they live.

B

33

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 33

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Egypt

The Plot

CONCEPT BUILDER 3-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is Egypt a lot more than a bunch of pyramids and mummies?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 3-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Match the type of literature with the biblical example.

1. C 2. B 3. A 4. D

34

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 34

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead Author Unknown Assignments •

Warm-up: Why do the Egyptians have such an obsession with death?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 3-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 3 test.

Comparison

The Book of the Dead

Psalm 8

Metaphors to describe the deity

Adoration of Osiris Wen-Nefer, the great god in Abydos, king of eternity, lord of infinity, passing through millions of years as his lifetime, first son of the womb of Nut, begotten of Geb, chief, great lord of the Double Crown of Egypt, exalting the White Crown of the South.

10. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Mankind is inexorably separated from his gods through time and space. He is not created in the image of the Egyptian gods.

4. what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7. all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8. the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Books of the Dead

CONCEPT BUILDER 3-E

Read the following passage of adoration of the god Osiris from the Book of the Dead, and compare and contrast it with Psalm 8 from the Bible.

Man’s relationship with the deity

35

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 35

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them’" (Esther 3:8). This passage exemplifies a theological principle of cause and effect. If a right choice is made, a person prospers. If a person makes a poor choice, he suffers. In a two-page cause/effect essay describe how the author of Esther develops this theme. SUMMARY: The student’s essays should examine how Esther develops from a reluctant heroine to a courageous woman of God. Watch Haman manipulate but eventually fail. Consider that the king may think he is in charge, but really Mordecai’s God is in control. B. Contrast the way the Egyptians characterize their gods with the way the Hebrews characterize their God (i.e., the one true God!) SUMMARY: Osiris and Osiris Un-Nefer are rulers; Osiris is ruler of the upper world of the living and Osiris Un-Nefer is ruler of the dead. The Hebrew God is Lord of everything, everywhere, all the time. The Hebrew God is omniscient and omnipresent, but the greatest difference is that there is not even a remotest hint that the Egyptian gods and goddesses love mankind or want to be in covenant with mankind, much less ever consider dying for mankind. The Hebrew God did all those things. C. In what way was Esther a picture of domestic life in a time of anarchy and trouble? Was the interest chiefly in plot or character? The Book of Esther is considered by many to be the quintessential short story. What elements do you find to support that argument? In chapter 3 we read that as soon as Haman came to wield power in a place of prominence just below the king, he was immediately antagonistic toward Mordecai. These two were instantly in direct conflict because Haman was “the enemy of the Jews.” Learning that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman vowed to eliminate him from the kingdom. Throughout this account we see again and again Haman’s motivating personality trait: he hated the Jews. Why did he hate the Jews? SUMMARY: Esther tried to remain anonymous until Mordecai encouraged her to take a stand. She brought stability and virtue to a household run by an Oriental monarch of dubious character. While the characters are memorable and important, the strength of Esther is its plot. From the rising action (chapters 1–3) to its climax (chapter 4) and to its denouement (resolution) (chapters 5–10), Esther is propelled forward by the plot. A good short story has one simple plot with a minimum of characters and progresses rapidly through its setting. Also, it normally has one compelling theme. Obviously, Haman was no fool. He recognized that his real competition to supremacy among the king’s advisors was the outspoken, intrepid Jewish exile Mordecai.

36

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 36

11/14/12 3:13 PM

CHAPTER 3 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Discussion Questions (100 Points) Place the following passages in the order in which they occur (Scripture is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible). Discuss how the author of Esther uses the incidents to develop the plot. 5. On the third day, Esther dressed up in her royal clothing and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing its entrance. As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she won his approval. The king extended the golden scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter. ANSWER: This is the climax (fifth passage). 1. “If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’ presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, so all women will honor their husbands, from the least to the greatest.” ANSWER: This occurs first in the text. It sets the scene and is part of the rising action. 2. During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs who guarded the [king’s] entrance, became infuriated and tried to assassinate King Ahasuerus. When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows. This event was recorded in the court records of daily events in the king’s presence. ANSWER: This occurs second in the text and foreshadows the final resolution. 6. King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?” Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman.” ANSWER: This is very close to the end. The conclusion or solution is in sight. 4. Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai. Mordecai told [the messenger] to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” ANSWER: Mordecai, the perfect foil, is urging the protagonist to take action. 3. Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, yet living in isolation. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, so that they defy the king’s laws. It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to the accountants for deposit in the royal treasury.” ANSWER: The antagonist makes his move. The crisis is growing.

37

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 37

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 4 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 1) First Thoughts Greece is the

southernmost region on the European continent. Its mild, almost tropical climate attests to this fact. Greece is a land full of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and populated with countless islands. The Aegean Sea and the many natural harbors along the coastlines allowed the Greeks to prosper in seafaring commerce and to develop an eclectic culture that drew contacts outside Greece. In other words, from the beginning, Greek culture and civilization had a cosmopolitan/international air. Greek culture, as we shall see, was ideally suited in this maritime setting, to spread throughout the Western world. The Greek world encompassed many settlements around the Mediterranean and Black Seas and, during the height of the Alexandrian Empire, reaching as far east as India.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the way Homer creates these characters: Achilleus, Agamemnon, Ajax, Diomedes, Odysseus, Hector, Helen, and Paris. 2. Give examples of how three motifs function throughout The Iliad. 3. Analyze how partisan Homer is 4. Evaluate Helen’s culpability in the Trojan Wars. 5. Analyze the values betrayed in this epic poem. 6. Discuss what role women play in The Iliad.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 274; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

38

Reading ahead: The Odyssey, Homer.

History connections: World History chapter 4, “Egypt.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 38

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Greece Assignments •

Warm-up: “In its ultimate analysis, the balance between the particular and the general is that between the spirit and the mind. All that the Greeks achieved was stamped by that balance.” — Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way (New York: W.W. Norton, 1993). Explain what Hamilton means.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 4-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 4.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 4-A

Read The Iliad (Book 22), “The Death of Hector” by Homer, then answer the following questions.

1

 hat sort of man is Achilles? How does Homer develop him? W Achilles is a brave, capable man, but very prideful and impetuous.

2

Why does Hector choose to fight Achilles?  This is a great mystery. Homer implies that Hector saw this task as his “fate.” He may have also wanted to save his people by killing Achilles. Or perhaps he did not wish to be labeled a coward. Perhaps, too, he thought he might win.

3

What metaphor does Homer use to describe Achilles’ pursuit of Hector? Why? A hound chasing a fawn. Clearly the fawn — Hector — is doomed.

4

Clearly, Achilles is not a perfect hero. What flaws does Homer manifest with the fight with Hector? He is wrathful, prideful, and arrogant. He defies man and god.

39

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 39

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Demise of Achilles Assignments •

Warm-up: Achilles is full of hubris. What does that mean?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 4-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays. Students will review all readings for chapter 4.

Characterization

CONCEPT BUILDER 4-B

Characters are created in many ways, but usually through plot adversity, interaction with other characters, and internal conflict. How does Homer use these two elements to create his memorable character Achilles?

Reaction to Characters Internal Flaws Achilles has a terrible temper and, generally, has a problem with pride.

Agememnon and Hector provoke Achilles to anger.

Plot Adversity The Trojans defy even Achilles’ skill by stopping the Greeks from capturing Troy.

Achilles

40

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 40

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

The Shield of Achilles

Epic Conventions

CONCEPT BUILDER 4-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: The following description of the shield of Achilles is probably the most famous section in The Iliad. What is its literary purpose?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 4-C.

•

Students should write rough drafts of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays. Students will review all readings for chapter 4.

Match the following epic conventions with textual examples from The Iliad.

1. A 2. C 3. B

41

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 41

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Achilles’ Shield Assignments •

Warm-up: Offer at least one critical suggestion to this young author.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 4-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copy of essay due tomorrow.

Compare/Contrast

CONCEPT BUILDER 4-D

Compare and contrast the human characteristics of Hector and Achilleus.

Human Characteristics

Hector

Achilles

Flaws

Impetuous

Prideful and arrogant

Strengths

Personal Life

Leadership Qualities

Hector is a capable soldier and valiant warrior.

Achilles is a capable soldier and valiant warrior.

Hector is happily married and has a family that adores him.

Achilles is single and does not have very many friends.

Hector is a compassionate, brave man, if somewhat impetuous.

Achilles is reckless and bold, but very capable as he kills all enemies.

42

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 42

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Critics Corner

Assignments •

Warm-up: Do you agree with Redfield’s unflattering assessment of Hector?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 4-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 4 test.

43

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 43

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Complete the chart.

CONCEPT BUILDER 4-E

Attitude Toward the Afterlife Greek View vs. Christian View

Greek View

The present life concerns the Greeks more than the afterlife.

The afterlife is gloomy and foreboding.

Therefore, the Greeks want to live life to the fullest here on earth.

The idea of a heaven that will requite them for good deeds, whether on or off the battlefield, is of less importance to them.

However, they generally do revere the gods of Olympus, who take sides in the war.

Thus, Christians live their lives to please God.

Therefore, the Christian wants to glorify and honor God with everything that he says and does.

Christian View

One’s relationship with God determines everything.

The afterlife is inevitable. The only question is where the person will spend eternity.

Therefore, the Christian must consider his moral actions and his relationship with God.

44

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 44

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Epic poems identify and celebrate the values of a culture. Based on The Iliad, what values does Greek culture extol? What personalities and plots would capture the cultural values of contemporary society? SUMMARY: One of the greatest problems today is confusion about individual responsibility. Perhaps the problem began with Freud who told us that feelings of guilt were a sign not of vice, but of virtue — that our problems stemmed from our mothers, not from our sin. Perhaps our problem began with Goethe, whose Faust escapes the consequences of his sin by sincerity and good naturedness, poor Gretchen aside. The Christian must be responsible before God. Everything must be done to His glory. B. There were several spin-off stories, as it were, that were written on the lives of The Iliad principles. One was by the Roman Virgil, The Aeneid. The protagonist in The Aeneid eventually founded Rome. The Greek playwright Euripides (485–440 B.C.) wrote a play called "Helen," based on the life of one of the characters in The Iliad. Read "Helen," by Euripides, and compare the characters in this Greek play with the characters in The Iliad. SUMMARY: The play is taken from a tradition established by a Greek historian/poet Stesichorus who argued that Paris had carried off to Troy a look-alike or phantom Helen. The real Helen was taken to Egypt by Hermes. This play is the story of the real Helen’s stay in Egypt. Written six centuries after Homer wrote The Iliad, this play, like so many future American television shows, is a spin-off from Homer’s epic. C. What role do women play in The Iliad? SUMMARY: While women do not participate in the battles, they assume a vital role. Helen is the cause of the war. As a character, only to be surpassed by Lady Macbeth, she is one of the most complicated characters in Western literature.

CHAPTER 4 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Discussion Questions (100 Points) A. Discuss the importance of the following passages: All these things are in my mind also, lady; yet I would feel deep shame before the Trojans, and the Trojan women with trailing garments, if like a coward I were to shrink aside from the fighting; and the spirit will not let me, since I have learned to be valiant and to fight always among the foremost ranks of the Trojans, winning for my own self great glory, and for my father. (Book VI) ANSWER: This is Hector’s statement to his wife about how duty is a stronger call than family or his own safety.

45

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 45

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Why ask of my generation? As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies. (Book VI) ANSWER: These lines by Glaukos to Diomedes are some of the best in The Iliad. Because it is futile for mortals to strive after immortality, it is important to die well. In any event, there is hope that a new generation will replace the old one even as it disappears. Thus, it is critical that each generation is true to itself and, more importantly, that it accepts fate (i.e., the often pernicious will of the gods). For Hector the huge will not sooner be stayed from his fighting until there stirs by the ships the swiftfooted son of Peleus on that day when they shall fight by the sterns of the beached ships in the narrow place of necessity over fallen Patroklos. (Book VIII) ANSWER: Zeus is speaking to Athena and Hera concerning the hero Hector. This is a foreshadowing of the entire narrative poem. If one is to win honour in battle, he must by all means/stand his ground strongly, whether he be struck or strike down another. (Book XI) ANSWER: Homer generally employs a third person objective narrative technique; however, in this passage, Odysseus’ short speech to himself is the closest Homer comes to actually presenting a character’s thoughts. Odysseus is literally thinking out loud. One bird sign is best in defense of our country (Book XII). ANSWER: Polydamas suggests to Hector that a bad omen suggests that future Trojan efforts may be compromised. Hector indignantly disregards Poulydamas’ warning. I myself know well it is destined for me to die here, far from my beloved father and mother. But for all that/I will not stop till the Trojans have had enough of my fighting. (Book XIX) ANSWER: Achilles announces that he will not allow man or god to stop him from doing his duty. B. Evaluate the following criticisms. Write your evaluation in essay form. Achilles’ greatness is a greatness of force and negation. He is different from other men by his greater capacity to deny, to refuse, to kill, and to face death.... Hector, by contrast, is a hero of illusions; he is finally trapped between a failed illusion and his own capacity for disillusionment. Hector is surely a figure less grand than Achilles, but it is Hektor’s story that gives Achilles’ story meaning; Hector affirms all that Achilles denies. (James Redfield, www.Barronsbooknotes.com) ANSWER: This critic claims that Hector was the true hero of this epic. Another opinion is that Achilles and even Agamemnon are more developed, and therefore more important than Hector. The notion, however, of seeing him as a tragic figure is well-founded. The Iliad traces almost clinically the stages of Achilles’ development. More than tragedy, epic makes real use of time; whereas Oedipus, for instance, reveals himself before our eyes, Achilles creates himself in the course of the poem. He progresses from young hopefulness, cheerfully accepting the possibility of early death with glory, through various phases of disillusion, horror, and violence, to a final detachment which is godlike indeed. Tragedy, especially that of Sophocles, slowly uncovers a character which is complete from start to finish, but Achilles is actually not complete until the poem is complete. He is learning all the time. (Cedric H. Whitman, www.Barronsbooknotes.com) ANSWER: This critic is comparing Achilles to Oedipus in Sophocles’ "Oedipus Rex." Such a comparison is contrived, to say the least. However, the answer will have to be an opinion.

46

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 46

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 5

(800 B.C.–300 B.C.)

Ancient Greece (Part 2) First Thoughts In The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Age (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994), Yale literary critic Harold Bloom examines the Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of 26 authors central to the canon. The “canon” to Bloom includes the most important classical works in Western civilization. This canon, as it were, establishes a literary tradition. A central component of that tradition is the Homeric epics, including The Odyssey. The importance of The Odyssey to the Western canon is without dispute. The problem is, as Bloom laments in his first chapter, “An Elegy for the Canon,” no one reads the classics! Or rather, people read any old thing they want and they call it “great literature.” “The Western Canon, despite the limitless idealism of those who would open it up, exists precisely in order to impose limits . . . by its very nature, the Western Canon will never close, but it cannot be forced open by our current cheerleaders.” What does it mean to live in a society and culture that does not read the classics? It means we have no way to talk to one another. We no longer have common metaphors and motifs from which to share consensus. We wonder from one existential moment to another. Bloom, and I, dread that eventuality. It is up to you, young people, to be such competent but godly writers that society cannot ignore you — and then you will resurrect the old and add to the expanding canon.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Identify each part of the plot. 2. Describe the writing style Homer employs in The Odyssey. 3. Examine the beginning and the ending of all sections. 4. Analyze Odysseus. 5. Discuss how Odysseus is an epic hero.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

47

Reading ahead: Histories by Herodotus. History connections: World History chapter 5, “Egyptian Life.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 47

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Homer Assignments •

Warm-up: Some scholars insist that Homer was a woman. Is that possible?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 5-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 5.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 5-A

Read The Odyssey (Book 1), by Homer, then answer the following questions.

1

What is a muse? Goddesses or spirits who inspire artists to draw and writers to write.

2

The Odyssey is a frame story, or a story within a story. What are the two stories that emerge in this classic? Penelope and Telemachus are waiting for Odysseus to return home. Meanwhile, Odysseus is journeying home.

3

What is the dilemma that Penelope faces?  She has no assurance that her husband Odysseus is alive and she needs a benefactor if he is dead.

4

Homer uses dialogue to develop his characters. How? Dialogue is effectively used to portray internal conflict and thoughts. It is a skillful way to advance the plot and to reveal character personality traits.

5

“Mother,” answered Telemachus, “let the bard sing what he has a mind to; bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Zeus, not they, who makes them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own good pleasure.” Based on this passage, what is Homer’s worldview?  While Homer, and Telemachus, have a rather negative view of the gods, and surely believe in deterministic fate, it still is a theistic worldview.

48

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 48

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Plot

Character Development

CONCEPT BUILDER 5-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a summary of the plot of The Odyssey. Next, write a précis of the book.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 5-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Match the developed character quality with the plot incident.

1. B 2. C 3. A

49

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 49

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Dramatic Irony Assignments •

Warm-up: Give an example of dramatic irony from your life or another literary work.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 5-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

Relate several incidents in your life and how they developed your character. See sample below. (Answers will vary)

SAMPLE

CONCEPT BUILDER 5-C

Character Development: My Life

Incident

Character Quality

I memorized all the books of the Bible.

This taught me that if I worked hard at a task that I would succeed.

1.

My parents took me to a revival where I committed my life to Christ.

I learned the importance of admitting my sins and accepting the Lord’s salvation.

2.

I left my bicycle unchained one night and it was stolen.

3.

Answers will vary

I learned to take responsibility for my possessions.

Answers will vary

50

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 50

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Critics Corner

Plot Structure

CONCEPT BUILDER 5-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: In what ways is Odysseus an untypical hero?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 5-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Match each plot structure with an event.

1. D 2. B 3. D 4. C

51

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 51

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Epic Simile

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a 10- to 12-line epic simile of an event or person who is significant to you.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 5-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 5 test.

The Plot

CONCEPT BUILDER 5-E

Complete this plot diagram.

Falling Action:

Exposition: All the principal characters are introduced.

Climax or Crisis: A crisis is averted, a problem solved, Odysseus almost and Odysseus Rising Action: loses hope, and inexorably moves In one episode his life, and then toward home. after another, returns for one Each time, he is a Odysseus more adventure, better person for experiences a moving ever the struggle. crisis that closer to home. helps him mature as a person.

Resolution: Eventually, Odysseus returns home and destroys all the suitors.

52

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 52

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Describe the writing style Homer employs in The Odyssey. SUMMARY: The Odyssey is narrative poetry. Homer uses an epic hero, Odysseus, to bring the reader home to a final resolution. He writes with powerful imagery and metaphor to accomplish his goal. B. Many scholars argue that the ends and beginnings of units of Homeric narratives are often constructed as follows: there is a sequence of events, then some type of climax, then a sequence of events that in some way mirrors the first sequence, and then a climax which contrasts with (is dual with) the earlier climax. This structure is observable in narrative units of all sizes, from brief episodes to large sections of the epics. Agree or disagree with this observation. Evidence your answer with several excerpts from the text. SUMMARY: One example: Odysseus resisted the song of the Sirens and sailed between the whirlpool and the cliff (first crisis). However, his men made the mistake of eating the forbidden cattle of the sun god, Helios. So Zeus wrecked Odysseus’ ship, drowning all his men (another crisis). Odysseus managed to survive Scylla and Charybdis again and washed up at Ogygia Island where he stayed eight years with Calypso. C. Odysseus is a man who indulges in his share of foolishness. He often is impulsive and vain — especially in the beginning of The Odyssey. As the book progresses, however, Odysseus develops into a mature, disciplined man. Trace this development as it unfolds in The Odyssey. SUMMARY: Students should reference the adventures that Odysseus experiences as he journeys home from Troy. Each adventure develops another character quality in Odysseus.

CHAPTER 5 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Discussion Questions (100 Points) A. Discuss Homer’s use of water to constantly cleanse his hero Odysseus. ANSWER: After virtually every adventure, Odysseus is shipwrecked or in some way cleansed by water before he begins his next adventure. B. Write a personal contemporary story similar in scope and sequence to The Odyssey. ANSWER: Answers will have to be opinions, but students should include a journey motif with multiple obstacles as they journey home.

53

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 53

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 6 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 3) First Thoughts Herodotus was

born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B.C. Very little is known of his life. We know that he traveled a great deal and that he died in 424 B.C. The story line of the history of Herodotus is the struggle between his community of Greeks and the barbarians, which he relates through the battle of Mycale in 479 B.C. He mainly gathered information from oral sources as he traveled through Asia Minor. He has wonderful digressions from time to time as he describes the country, the people, and their customs.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Paraphrase Herodotus’ version of the Trojan Wars. 2. Examine biblical parallels. 3. Evaluate Herodotus’ philosophy of history.

Notable among these descriptions is his account of Egypt. He tells of the strange ways of the crocodile and of that marvelous bird, the Phoenix; of the pyramids and the great labyrinth; and of Egypt’s pharaohs and queens. However, Herodotus is not merely a narrator of fantastic tales. He takes care to separate what he knows by his own observation, what he has merely inferred, and what he has been told. He is honest about acknowledging ignorance, and when versions differ he gives both.

54

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: "The Death of Socrates" by Plato.

History connections: World History chapter 6, “Greece.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 54

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Real Change Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare Herodotus’ Histories with 1 and 2 Kings.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 6-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 6.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 6-A

Read The Histories (Book 1), by Herodotus, then answer the following questions.

1

Compare this history book to other history books you have read.  Histories remind this reader of Plutarch’s Lives, a later, Roman work that includes fictionalized accounts of historical facts.

2

Herodotus is writing a narrative history, or a history of stories. He tells one story after another. What problem might this pose for historians?  At times it feels like “gossip.” Herodotus follows no known historical discipline and often employs a derivation of “stream of consciousness.”

3

Clearly, this is a history written in a way to put the Greeks in the best light. Offer two examples.  Every historical event is told from the Greek perspective, and while Herodotus is not afraid of criticizing his city-state (Athens), he nonetheless advances a pro-Greek (in particular, Athenian) historiography.

55

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 55

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Herodotus in Egypt

•

Warm-up: Summarize Herodotus’ description of the pyramids and how they were built.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 6-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Using the diagram below to show your history.

My History

CONCEPT BUILDER 6-B

Assignments

Answers will vary

56

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 56

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Biblical Parallels in The Histories Assignments •

Warm-up: List a few biblical parallels in The Histories.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 6-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Joseph was a selfish, spoiled young man.

Through adversity he becomes a mature, unselfish young man.

Divine History

CONCEPT BUILDER 6-C

God has a way of changing our history by using events in our lives to make us more like Him. Look at the analization of the history of the life of Joseph in Genesis, then analyze the life of Peter from the New Testament.



Peter was an impetuous disciple.

God changed him into a mature saint by letting Peter experience failure and then forgiveness.

57

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 57

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Herodotus’ Philosophy of History Assignments •

Warm-up: What is Herodotus’ philosophy of history?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 6-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

CONCEPT BUILDER 6-D

How God Changed My History

Analyze the way God has changed your life

God changed me by A problem I had.

challenging me through life circumstances.

58

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 58

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Father of History

CONCEPT BUILDER 6-E

The History of My Grandparents

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the primary purpose of Herodutus’ works?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 6-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 6 test.

A historian gathers facts and restates those facts in a history. Gather facts about your grandparents and write a short history of their lives.

Answers will vary.

59

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 59

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. In Histories, Greek historian Herodotus used the word “history” for the first time. “These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feuds.” (Histories, Herodotus) Herodotus was writing a history of the Greek wars with the Persians. On the way to this end, however, he writes a history of the entire known world. The following is one of the earliest secondary references to Homer’s The Iliad. SUMMARY: While it is a very pro-Greek version of the story, Herodotus tells a version very similar to Homer’s. No doubt Homer’s version — which Herodotus took as real history — influenced his version. B. What makes Herodotus most interesting to this reader is his obvious corroboration of biblical history. Herodotus confirms several biblical allusions. Here is one. When Joseph received his estranged brothers into his house, they were given water with which to wash their feet (Gen. 43:24). There is the record of an Egyptian ruler who had a golden foot-pan “in which his guests” were provided water to wash their feet (Histories, Book II). When you review Herodotus’ Histories, look for biblical parallels and analyze them in a one-page essay. SUMMARY: There are many. One particularly vivid parallel is Herodotus’ description of Egypt that closely resembles the Book of Exodus. C. A philosophy of history is the way historians decide if an event is important. Some historians, for instance, think that political events are most important. Others argue that economic events are most important. What is the philosophy of history that Herodotus employs? SUMMARY: This work supported the notion that Greek civilization was vastly superior to any other. Herodotus’ descriptions of great battles were obviously pro-Greek. Also, Herodotus has a strong sense of fate and a belief that the gods determined the outcome of history. They did so, furthermore, at their own whims.

CHAPTER 6 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Viewing Homer’s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey as history reveals that the gods and goddesses had a profound impact on the course of events. In that sense, these two books would be like any religious history. The author sees the gods as being a more important force than anything else in history. A higher power was an integral part of Homer’s history. Herodotus wrote with the intentions that he expressed in his opening sentence: “The double aim of preserving the renowned or remarkable deeds of both Greeks and non-Greeks, and of explaining the cause of the fighting between them.” For the first time in history, however, Herodotus discussed history as if the gods were absent — or at least not a major consideration in the course of events. In a two-page essay, give examples of this absence of the gods from the text and speculate upon what impact this absence will have on later historians. ANSWER: H  erodotus does indeed employ some historiographic (the study of theories surrounding history) principles — evaluating sources, researching evidence, etc., but this does not mean that he did not think the gods were active in human affairs. Thucydides, a contemporary, in his History of the Peloponnesian War, followed an approach similar to Herodotus’s.

60

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 60

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 7 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 4) First Thoughts Plato (429–347 B.C.E.) is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy. Charles Eliot, in the Harvard Classics, offers, “The philosophy of these dialogues has remained for over two thousand years one of the great intellectual influences of the civilized world; and they are as admirable from the point of view of literature as of philosophy. The style is not only beautiful in itself, but is adapted with great dramatic skill to the large variety of speakers; and the suggestion of situation and the drawing of character are the work of a great artist. The three dialogues here given are at once favorable examples of the literary skill of Plato and intimate pictures of the personality of his master” (www.bartleby. com).

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Examine Socrates’ view of holiness. 2. Analyze the way Socrates prepares for death and why he does not escape. 3. Analyze the charge that Socrates corrupted the youth. 4. Analyze the meaning of impiety in Plato’s writings. 5. Compare and contrast Socrates’ view of the afterlife with 1 Corinthians 15 and other New Testament passages. 6. Socrates proclaims to his fellow Athenians that their obsession with wealth and the material world must never take precedence over the care of the soul. Compare this view with the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings by Jesus Christ (Matt. chapters 5 and 6).

Reading ahead: The Republic by Plato.

History connections: World History chapter 7, “Life in Athens: Part One.”

61

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 61

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

The Death of Socrates

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 7-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Central to Plato’s thoughts was the notion that if people know the “good” they will do the good. Why is he wrong?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 7-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 7.

Read this excerpt from “The Death of Socrates” (the ending of Phaedo) by Plato, and respond to the following:

1

This book is essentially one dialogue after another. What advantage does a dialogue style offer Plato?  It makes the reader feel a part of the account; a personal element that connects directly to the material.

2

“So we remained behind, talking and thinking of the subject of discourse, and also of the greatness of our sorrow; he was like a father of whom we were being bereaved, and we were about to pass the rest of our lives as orphans.” Paraphrase this passage.  Socrates’s disciples feel as if they are being abandoned by their great teacher and good friend.

62

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 62

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Last Days of Socrates Assignments •

Warm-up: How would you describe wisdom?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 7-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

63

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 63

11/14/12 3:13 PM

The Setting

CONCEPT BUILDER 7-B

The setting is where the story occurs. Circle three places where Socrates might have worshipped his gods. Check where Socrates would have been tried in court. Box the place where he died.

Athens 5th Century BCE illustration: www.coh.arizona.edu/classes/christed/clas352/maps.html.

64

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 64

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Plato and Paul

Art vs. Real Life

CONCEPT BUILDER 7-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare and contrast the subject of love as presented by Plato and Paul.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 7-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Which artistic rendition seems more real to the actual event? Why?

Answers will vary. This reader prefers the first picture because Socrates seems more human.

65

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 65

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Despicable Sophists

Socrates’ Hades

CONCEPT BUILDER 7-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the form of function of the Socratic dialogues?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 7-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

One of the reasons that Socrates is not afraid of death is that he is going to hades (hell), a person and a place to the Greeks, which to Socrates, is not so bad a place. Going to hades (hell) is like falling asleep. However, this is not an accurate picture of hell. Draw a Christian view of hell.

Answers will vary.

66

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 66

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Sappho Assignments •

Warm-up: How do these short poem excerpts differ in form of function from other Greek writers (e.g., Plato, Homer, Aristotle).

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 7-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 7 test. The Greek poet Sappho wrote about ordinary, everyday subjects.

Sappho

CONCEPT BUILDER 7-E

Write a short poem about everyday subjects. For example: This morning I got up from bed, On the floor was my closed Bible. Oh Bible, why didn’t I read you last night? I will today. Now, write your own poem about an everyday subject: Students will write their own personal poems. Write a poem about your feelings: Students will write their own personal poems. Write a poem that offers wise counsel. Students will write their own personal poems.

67

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 67

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Why can’t Socrates come to a satisfactory definition of holiness? SUMMARY: As Euthyphro says, “Piety is doing as I am doing; that is to say, prosecuting any one who is guilty of murder, sacrilege, or of any similar crime — whether he be your father or mother, or whoever he may be — that makes no difference; and not to prosecute them is impiety. And please to consider, Socrates, what a notable proof I will give you of the truth of my words, a proof which I have already given to others: of the principle, I mean, that the impious, whoever he may be, ought not to go unpunished. For do not men regard Zeus as the best and most righteous of the gods? — and yet they admit that he bound his father (Cronus) because he wickedly devoured his sons, and that he too had punished his own father (Uranus) for a similar reason, in a nameless manner. And yet when I proceed against my father, they are angry with me. So inconsistent are they in their way of talking when the gods are concerned, and when I am concerned.” Socrates pushes his followers, but there is no true holiness unless one begins with a God who is perfect. Socrates knew no such god classics.mit.edu/Plato/euthyfro.html). B. Compare and contrast Socrates’ view of the afterlife with 1 Corinthians 15 and other New Testament passages. SUMMARY: To Socrates, the after-life was open to everyone, regardless of his mortal behavior. Apparently, heaven to Socrates (and by implication, Plato) was a place of eternal and profound dialogue with good friends. There is not a hint of a Resurrection (naturally since Greeks wanted nothing to do with a body once it died). The Christian worldview, however, argues for much more. The expired believer communes with God directly — a notion that never occurs to Socrates. Also, there is no concept of hell in Greek thought, at least not the way a Christian sees it. C. Socrates proclaims to his fellow Athenians that their obsession with wealth and the material world must never take precedence over the care of the soul. Compare this view with the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings by Jesus Christ (Matt. 5–6). SUMMARY: There are remarkable similarities. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God . . .” Jesus taught.

CHAPTER 7 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast the dialogues that Socrates has with his friends in Plato’s "The Death of Socrates" with the dialogues that Job has with his friends in the biblical Book of Job. ANSWER: Midway in the Book of Job, three friends approach Job and give him their insights on why Job is suffering so terribly. The three friends’ answers are all the same. They answer the question of Job’s problems with the clear contention that only one explanation is possible: he has committed some awful sin. They try to break down Job’s defenses with arguments. Each of them presents three arguments, nine arguments in all. To these men, the explanation is a simple matter of cause and effect and is quite logical. It is neat and tidy and explains everything, but their arguments totally miss God’s perspective and do not provide the comfort that Job needs or that friends might be expected to offer. In the Socratic dialogues, three friends also approach Socrates and reflect with him on the meaning of life and death.

68

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 68

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 8 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 5) First Thoughts “What would a perfect society look like?” This is an age-old question asked again by Plato through the persona of Socrates. Socrates and his friends, while enjoying a lengthy dinner, discuss such weighty issues as the best government and the best society that there could be. As the night grows longer and the wine flasks are emptied, the speculation grows more fanciful and radical. Nonetheless, this great work gives great insight into the Greek worldview specifically and into Western political thought in general. According to Plato, an ideal state would consist of three classes. The benevolent philosopher-kings would exercise power in the service of justice; the soldiers would protect the state, and the civilian population would provide for the material needs of society.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss Plato’s use of fictional dialogues with Socrates to present his views. 2. Identify Plato’s influence in the 21st century. 3. Analyze Plato’s rhetorical questions 4. Discuss a Christian perfect society. 5. Compare and contrast Plato’s understanding of the soul with Paul’s understanding of the soul. 6. Evaluate what will bring revival in America. 7. Analyze Plato’s argument from analogy.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Poetics by Aristotle.

69

History connections: World History chapter 8, “Life in Athens: Part Two.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 69

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

A Christian Angle on The Republic

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 8-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is “The Allegory of the Cave” a great story in a sermon? What text would the preacher use?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 8-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 8.

Read this excerpt from The Republic (Book 1) by Plato, and respond to the following:

1

The text is written in first person by Plato, who is speaking as Socrates. How does that work?  First person narrative is an exceptional way to make factual accounts seem like personal stories.

2

How would you describe Socrates? A mean old grouch? A joker? A friendly old man who is full of good questions? A friendly old man who is full of good questions.

70

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 70

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Aristotle vs. Plato Assignments •

Warm-up: How did Platonic thought affect Christianity?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 8-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Plato’s Vision of Society

CONCEPT BUILDER 8-B

Plato's ideal society consists of three types of people: producers, auxiliaries, and guardians. Identify who these people are.

Producers Guardians

Farmers, Merchants, Craftsmen

Rulers

Auxiliaries Warriors

Society

71

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 71

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

The Paradox: Philosophers Must Be Kings Assignments •

Warm-up: What is truth? What is beauty? What kind of society should we build?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 8-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Guardians, the rulers of the perfect state, are philosophers. Plato uses three analogies to illustrate his point. What do these analogies illustrate?

Guardians

CONCEPT BUILDER 8-C

The Sun The good is brighter than all other things. The Line The line, first of all, is broken into two equal halves: the visible realm (which we can grasp with our senses) and the intelligible realm (which we can only grasp with the mind). When the prisoner is in the cave he is in the visible realm. When he ascends into the daylight, he enters the discernable. The Cave The lowest rung on the cognitive line is imagination. In the cave, this is represented as the prisoner whose feet and head are bound, so that he can only see shadows. What he takes to be the most real things are not real at all; they are shadows, mere images. These shadows are meant to represent images from art. A man who is stuck in the imagination stage of development takes his truths from epic poetry and theater, or other fictions. He derives his conception of himself and his world from these art forms rather than from looking at the real world.

72

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 72

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

“The Allegory of the Cave” (Chapter XXV) Assignments •

Warm-up: Professor Cornford begins his translation of the The Republic with this statement: “The main question to be answered in the The Republic is what does Justice mean, and how can it be realized in human society?” What does the Bible say about justice?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 8-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

The Allegory of the Cave

CONCEPT BUILDER 8-D

The allegory of the cave is Plato’s vision of education. According to Plato, a person learns in stages (see "The Allegory of the Cave”).

Ascends to the Sun: Crossing the Line: Slaves in the caves first only see shadows from firelight.

Then the slaves escape into the sunlight, into rumination and revelation.

Bound Prisoners: Imagination

73

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 73

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Critics Corner Assignments •

Warm-up: The main question in the The Republic centers on what justice means and how can it be realized in human society. What does the Bible say about justice?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 8-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 8 test.

The Sophists

CONCEPT BUILDER 8-E

The Sophists were teachers-for-hire who educated the wealthy men of Athens in the fifth century B.C. Though they were a diverse group with diverse opinions, they tended to share a disregard for the notion of objective truth and knowledge. This disregard extended to the notion of objective moral truth, which means that they did not believe in such a things as “right” and “wrong.” In other words, they separated knowledge from ethics and morality. Plato abhorred this group! Why?

Knowledge

+

Knowledge

+

Ethics/ Morality

No Morality

=

Just Society

=

Facileness and Unjust Society

74

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 74

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Discuss Plato’s use of fictional dialogues with Socrates to present his views. What narrative advantage does this method offer Plato? SUMMARY: Plato was the second of the great trio of ancient Greeks — Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle — who laid the philosophical foundations of Western culture. Building on the life and thought of Socrates, Plato developed a profound and wide-ranging system of philosophy. His thought has logical, epistemological, and metaphysical aspects, but its underlying motivation is ethical. This is abundantly clear in The Republic. B. Compare and contrast Plato’s understanding of the soul with Paul’s understanding of the soul. SUMMARY: To Plato, no clear difference existed between politics (from polis, meaning “city”) and psychology (from psyche, meaning “soul”). Man was a social creature. The individual had a soul; many individuals or the community had a soul. In other words, the psychological constitution of the individual and the political constitution of a state were mutually interdependent. Thus, the philosopher, or the specialist of the soul, was the ideal ruler. Paul’s view of the soul was based partly on a Greek understanding of the body, soul (or mind), and the spirit. Plato did not accept the Jewish notion of a spirit. The body also, to the Greeks, was bad. To Paul, the body was redeemable. Thus, he looks forward to the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15). In summary, Paul, a highly educated Hellenistic Jew, clearly agreed with Plato’s understanding of the soul. He adds, however, a strong belief in the need for the soul to be “saved” by embracing the hegemony of Jesus Christ into the life of the person. C. In The Republic, Plato often uses Socrates to introduce into the text a technique called “argument from analogy.” In one instance he compares the usefulness of rulers to the usefulness of doctors, merchants, ship captains, and horse breeders. Plato relied heavily on such arguments throughout The Republic. Find other examples. SUMMARY: At the end of Book I, in the section called “Injustice is more profitable than justice,” Socrates discusses the question of whether justice is good or bad. In the three stands of the following argument, Socrates attempts to refute Thrasymachus’ claims that (1) being unjust is wise and good; (2) injustice is power; and (3) the unjust are happier than the just. Using argument from analogy, he compares the art of living well with the musician’s art. Again, later in his argument, Socrates uses analogies: the excellence of eyes is to see, of ears to hear. Excellence in these things, as in all others, means doing well in performing one’s function. People who do well are blessed and happy.

75

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 75

11/14/12 3:13 PM

CHAPTER 8 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) A. In a 300-word essay, compare and contrast Plato’s The Republic with the biblical understanding of government. ANSWER: While democracy is a fine government, the best of human inventions, there is no example of a viable democracy in the Bible. Biblical government is a benevolent dictatorship — God is the absolute monarch, in absolute control of everything. Even though the perfect society is governed by the poets and by consensus of the governed, by a ruling class, at the heart of The Republic are democratic notions that basically mankind is good and that the best government is the least government. The Word of God teaches that God Himself is the sovereign who rules over all. In the courts of man, however, The Republic, or something like it, might work. B. In a 150-word persuasive essay, evaluate the following statement: Plato’s modern readers, judging him by modern patterns of thought, used to spend much energy searching for his “system.” But at last they became content to realize that — whether for artistic or for critical motives — he refrained from constructing a fixed body of doctrine like other philosophers. He wanted to show knowledge in process of becoming (Werner Jaeger, Paideia; www.Barronsnotes.com. Republic). ANSWER: Jaeger correctly understands that modern people usually try to find a pattern or system that evidences the direction a writer is heading. This natural impulse is of people who are tied to empiricism and rationalism. To Plato, though, his Socratic dialogues are more spontaneous and less didactic. He was not writing a constitution for a modern society; he was writing a journal for curious travelers to enjoy.

76

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 76

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 9 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 6) First Thoughts Aristotle (350 B.C. –?), a disciple of Plato, wrote what is essentially a modification, a taming down, of Plato’s ideas. To Plato, knowledge and virtue were inseparable. To Aristotle, they were merely connected. Aristotle was not on a search for absolute truth; in fact, he was not certain it existed. Truth, beauty, and goodness were to be observed and quantified from human behavior and the senses. Goodness in particular was not an absolute. It was an average between two absolutes. Aristotle said that mankind should strike a balance between passion and temperance. He said that people should seek the “Golden Mean,” defined as a course of life that was never extreme. Finally, Plato argued that reality lay in knowledge of the gods. Aristotle argued that truth lay in empirical, measurable knowledge. Aristotle, then, was the father of modern science (Stobaugh, A Fire That Burns but Does Not Consume, p. 23–27).

Chapter Learning Objectives In chapter 9 we read two

books that one wished that Plato, with his laudable views of “the form” wrote. Aristotle, the empiricist, the pragmatist, ruminates on the virtues of poetry and rhetoric. As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss Aristotle’s views of poetry, tragedy, and the tragic hero. 2. Evaluate the dangers of Aristotlean thought. 3. Contrast views of Aristotle and Plato.

Having said that, Rhetoric and The Poetics are more handbooks of literary criticism than discussions of metaphysics. Most modern readers will be offended by Aristotle’s autocratic tone. He is no reticent literary critic tiptoeing around his reader’s literary feelings. He states succinctly what he believes good literature is.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles.

77

History connections: World History chapter 9, “Greek Wars.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 77

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

A Challenge from Plato

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 9-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why were Plato and Aristotle mortal enemies?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 9-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 9.

Read this excerpt from The Poetics (Book 5) by Aristotle, and respond to the following:

1

What are three things a plot must have?  Completeness, magnitude, and unity

2

What is beauty? Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or any whole composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts, but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on magnitude and order. Hence a very small animal organism cannot be beautiful, for the view of it is confused, the object being seen in an almost imperceptible moment of time.

78

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 78

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

“Poetics” Assignments •

Warm-up: Aristotle argues that poetry is representative of life. Plato argues that poetry is imitative of life. Who is right?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 9-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays. Fill in the boxes below with occupations that would fit under each category.

Aristotle vs. Plato

CONCEPT BUILDER 9-B

Plato

Aristotle

Pharisees

Sadduccees

Theologians

Scientists

Poets, Artists, Apologists

Engineers, Technicians

Lawyers

Accountants



79

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 79

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Rhetoric: Part One Assignments •

Warm-up: Why do we usually study rhetoric in philosophy class and not in English class?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 9-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

To Aristotle, rhetoric is defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. Discuss three ways that people use to persuade.

Rhetoric

CONCEPT BUILDER 9-C

Logic

Rhetoric

Facts

Persuasion

80

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 80

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Rhetoric: Part Two Assignments •

Warm-up: How does Aristotle define rhetoric?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 9-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Plato’s Vision of Society

CONCEPT BUILDER 9-D

The tragic hero is greater than life but not necessarily perfect. The tragic hero inherently possesses a flaw that ultimately will destroy him. Oedipus, in Sophocles’ "Oedipus Rex" is a perfect illustration of this tragic hero. Who are two biblical tragic heroes?

Extraordinarily Gifted

Pride or Hubris: Internal Flaw

Auxiliaries Samson Saul

81

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 81

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

The Neutrality of Rhetoric Assignments •

Warm-up: Should aesthetic value be automous from both morality and politics? Should Christians read whatever they want as long as the literary work has artistic value?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 9-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 9 test.

Worldview Evolution

CONCEPT BUILDER 9-E

The chief end of man, to Aristotle, was to know. To Aristotle, the world would have existed even if mankind had not been created, but it would have not been known to exist — and this knowledge is the quintessential fact of the universe. What worldviews evolved from Aristotelian thought? Complete the following charts:

Aristotle

Deism

Naturalism God is absent or reachable

Realism Truth is related to discernable, measurable reality



82

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 82

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. What warnings does Aristotle issue surrounding rhetoric? SUMMARY: “The orator must not only try to make the argument of his speech demonstrative and worthy of belief; he must also make his own character look right and put his hearers, who are to decide, into the right frame of mind.” Aristotle warns the reader that “in regards to each emotion we must consider the states of mind in which it is felt, the people towards it is felt, and the grounds on which it is felt.” (Rhys and Bywater, 8) B. The chief end of man, to Aristotle, was to know. To Aristotle, the world would have existed even if mankind had not been created, but it would have not been known to exist — and this knowledge is the quintessential fact of the universe. Why is this viewpoint so threatening to Christians? SUMMARY: Later worldviews, like romanticism, existentialism, and absurdism, embraced this position. They all opposed the truth in Scripture that reminds us that truth is outside people’s consciousness. We read in John 14 that the disciples, who wanted more Aristotelian-type knowledge, would have to live by faith in the Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. C. Aristotle begins this short book with an argument that all poetry, or what he calls art, is representative of life. Compare this view to Plato’s view of art in The Republic. SUMMARY: Art, to Plato, was imitative of life. His personae Socrates in The Republic urged that poets be banned from the ideal state because they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good! In that sense, Plato and Aristotle would agree. They also agree on this point: the idea of poetry as imitative was not a literal copying of physical objects in poetry, but it was a new version — perhaps a transcendent version of the object.

CHAPTER 9 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast the way Plato and Aristotle discuss the problem of man’s subjective knowledge of an objective world. ANSWER: Both Aristotle and Plato fought their war around basic definitions of reality. Plato held that universal concepts existed independently from the matter in which they were found, in the pure world of forms. Aristotle categorically disagreed with Plato and argued that things that were real had their reality ipso facto by their definitions, regardless of the disposition of the gods who created the things or the persons who experienced the things. Reality to Aristotle, then, was tied to time, place, and substance. To Plato, it was not.

83

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 83

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 10 (800 B.C.–300 B.C.):

Ancient Greece (Part 7) First Thoughts Sophocles ranks among the very best playwrights in Western literature. And, from among his hundred or so plays, "Oedipus Rex" (or "The King") is the best. What makes this play so powerful is its immutability — the struggles we see unfold are the same struggles we all experience. Sophocles was born in 496 B.C. and died in 406 B.C. (dates are approximate). Sophocles was one of the three great tragic dramatists of ancient Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Euripides.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Analyze the plot of "Oedipus Rex." 2. Compare the views of women with "Oedipus Rex" with those expressed in The Republic. 3. Contrast human free will and godly omniscience. 4. Analyze the theme of fate in "Oedipus Rex." 5. Analyze Edith Hamilton’s quote.

84

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: : The Aeneid by Virgil.

History connections: World History chapter 10, “Philosophers and World Views.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 84

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

“Oedipus Rex” Sophocles

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 10-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Summarize the storyline of "Oedipus Rex."

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 10-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 10.

Read this excerpt from "Oedipus Rex" by Sophicles, and respond to the following:

1

Paraphrase this passage.  Why do you grieve? What is its purpose?

2

There is a “blight upon the grazing flocks and herds.” It is caused, apparently, by some terrible “sin” in the kingdom. This scene is an example of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. This is the result of the reader having a greater knowledge than the characters themselves. What is ironical about this scene? Oedipus, of course, is the person who brought this scourge on his people.

85

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 85

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Metaphors Assignments •

Warm-up: Find other metaphors in "Oedipus Rex" and discuss why Sophocles used them.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 10-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Oedipus’ Demise

CONCEPT BUILDER 10-B

The plot is central to the development of "Oedipus Rex." One act leads naturally to another until Sophocles’ linked chain of events leads to a disastrous end.

To Laius, King of Thebes, an oracle foretold that the child born to him by his queen Jocasta would slay his father Laius and wed his own mother.

Oedipus journeys home and kills his father — without, of course, knowing that he killed his father, the king.

When in time a son was born, the infant’s feet were riveted together and he was left to die on Mount Cithaeron. A shepherd found the infant and delivered him to another shepherd, who took him to his master, King Polybus of Corinth. Polybus adopted the boy and named him Oedipus.

He marries his mother and watches his kingdom deteriorate.

Ultimately he finds out that he is responsible for killing his father and, indirectly, he caused the suicide of his mother.

86

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 86

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Aristotle and Sophocles Assignments •

Warm-up: Why do we usually study rhetoric in philosophy class and not in English class?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 10-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Metaphors

CONCEPT BUILDER 10-C

Find other metaphors in "Oedipus" and discuss why Sophocles used them.

The bitter irony is that neither Oedipus nor his citizens realize that he is both hunter and hunted, even after Tiresias bluntly tells them so in line 413: “I say you are the murderer you hunt!”

Whirl upon Death, that all the Undying hate!/ Come with blinding torches, come in joy! In this case, the gods are given human characteristics (personification).

Metaphors

Sophocles, translated by Bernard Knox, "Oedipus the King" (New York: Washington Square Press, 1959), p. 19.

87

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 87

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Critics Corner

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why would one who believes in fate never quite feel in control of his or her life?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 10-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

88

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 88

11/14/12 3:13 PM

A central theme of "Oedipus Rex" is fate. Fate is a view that a “nameless” and “malevolent” power is in control of the universe. Why is this view the opposite of the Christian view of providence? Christian View

Fate

CONCEPT BUILDER 10-D

Loving God

Purposes of God

Providence

What biblical verses support the Christian view of providence? (e.g., John 3:16) Providence literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35, 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence extends to the natural world (Ps. 104:14, 135:5–7; Acts 14:17), the brute creation (Ps. 104:21–29; Matt. 6:26. 10:29), and the affairs of men (1 Chron. 16:31; Ps. 47:7; Prov. 21:1; Job 12:23; Dan. 2:21, 4:25), and of individuals (1 Sam. 2:6; Ps. 18:30; Luke 1:53; James 4:13–15). It extends also to the free actions of men (Exod. 12:36; 1 Sam. 24:9–15; Ps. 33:14–15; Prov. 16:1, 19:21, 20:24, 21:1), and things sinful (2 Sam. 16:10, 24:1; Rom. 11:32; Acts 4:27–28), as well as to their good actions (Phil. 2:13, 4:13; 2 Cor. 12:9–10; Eph. 2:10; Gal. 5:22–25) (www.bible.org).

89

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 89

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay

The Play Begins

CONCEPT BUILDER 10-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Tell about a tragic modern story (e.g., Anne Frank).

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 10-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 10 test.

The beginning of a play must grab the readers’ attention and advance the plot, too. Which beginning did Sophocles choose and was it the best beginning?

A. S ophocles begins with Oedipus stepping out of the royal palace of Thebes and being greeted by a procession of priests, who are in turn surrounded by the sad and desperate citizens of Thebes.

90

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 90

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Based on "Oedipus Rex," what were Sophocles’ views of women? Compare these views with those expressed in The Republic. SUMMARY: Plato calls for women to join men in leadership — a scandalous, revolutionary view. Sophocles reverts to a view that women are fairly weak and unfocused. There is no Lady MacBeth, for instance, in Sophocles. B. The whole issue of fate is central to this play. Who is in control of our lives? How can human free will and godly omniscience co-exist at the same time? SUMMARY: This is the typical predestination question whose answer is that God is in absolute control of everything and has predestined that it will occur. However, the believer is forced to live his life without knowledge of how this all will play out. Thus, he should live his life in obedience to God (a free will choice). Note that there are volumes of books written on this subject. C. Compare Sophocles to the English Puritan John Milton. SUMMARY: Many believe that Sophocles and Milton are the best writers of their time and place. Unfortunately, they are rarely read. They both lived in a time of great change in their nations and are terribly disappointed in the regime’s conduct. Their poetry explored human experience in great depth. "Oedipus Rex," for instance, examines the consequences of sin and the power of fate. The Puritan Milton, in Paradise Lost, explores the same issues.

CHAPTER 10 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast Oedipus with the following biblical characters: Samson: Brought self-destruction on himself. Oedipus destroyed himself. King Ahab: Tried to defy God and play on both sides. Oedipus inadvertently offended his gods. Judas: Not much similarity except that, like Oedipus, he self-destructed. King Hezekiah: O  nly considered his own well-being rather than future generations. Oedipus was acutely aware of the effects of his bad choices on his nation and family. King Saul: Disobeyed God and self-destructed, like Oedipus. David: F  ought and ultimately lived to see his son Absalom die. Oedipus killed his birth father and lived to see his dynasty self-destruct.

91

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 91

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 11 (300 B.C.– A.D. 500):

Ancient Rome (Part 1) First Thoughts R.M. Ogilvie writes, “Aeneas is a hero in search of his soul. The Aeneid is very much a spiritual quest, which makes it unique in ancient literature. Only Virgil admits of the possibility that a character can change, grow and develop. Aeneas in the early books is unsure of himself, always seeking instructions from his father or from the gods before committing himself to any course of action. In the underworld he sees a panorama of the future history of Rome down to the time of Augustus, and that vision gives him the self-confidence to act on his own initiative” (Cambridge History of Classical Literature, histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol97 80521210430_CHOL9780521210430 A019&cited_by=1).

Chapter Learning Objectives In chapter 11, journey

with Aeneas to Rome and witness the founding of one the greatest civilizations in history. As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Analyze the plot in The Aeneid. 2. Evaluate the importance of the setting. 3. Evaluate themes in The Aeneid. 4. Describe the gods and goddesses in The Aeneid and what character qualities they represent. 5. Contrast Virgil’s view of fate with naturalism’s view. 6. Contrast Aeneas with Homer’s characters Achilles and Hector. 7. Analyze Aeneas’ character.

92

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

History connections: World History chapter 11, “Roman History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 92

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Roman History

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 11-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why was Rome the perfect place for Virgil to be born?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 11-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 11.

Read this excerpt from The Aeneid (Book 1) by Virgil, and respond to the following:

1

Paraphrase this passage. Aeneas is forced to overcome fate and an unkind god (Juno).

2

What is the motif of this epic narrative? A motif is a prevailing theme in the literary work. In this case, the journey motif is strong.

93

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 93

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Virgil

Legend

CONCEPT BUILDER 11-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Discuss the political situation in Rome when The Aeneid was written. In what ways was Virgil’s epic a political poem about Rome?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 11-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the narrative credibility. Most modern readers would agree that The Aeneid includes some exaggeration and even untrue facts; however, to Virgil’s audience, it was the absolute truth. Recall other legends that you have heard that may or may not be true.

George Washington cuts down a cherry tree and admits he did it. “I cannot tell a lie.”

King Arthur becomes king by pulling a sword from a stone.

A legend from my family history. A legend from The Aeneid

Aeneas, a refugee from Troy, founded Rome.

The author’s mother was afraid of snakes because of a snake, “Uncle Roy,” who lived behind her ice box.

94

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 94

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Perspectives: The Aeneid

The Climax

CONCEPT BUILDER 11-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Have you experienced great disappointment? How did you react?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 11-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

The Aeneid, like Homer’s The Odyssey, describes a quest, a journey. Identify the climax. The crisis or climax is the moment or event in the plot in which the conflict is most directly addressed: the main character “wins” or “loses”; the secret is revealed. After the climax, the falling action occurs.

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

On the Mediterranean Sea, Aeneas and his fellow Trojans flee from their home city of Troy, which has been destroyed by the Greeks. After much travail and adventure, Aeneas and his crew reach Rome (or what will someday be Rome) and fight a ferocious battle. The book ends with Aeneas in firm control of Italy and ready to continue his destiny to found Rome.

95

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 95

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Roman Contemporary Assignments •

Warm-up: Find Christian principles in this passage.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 11-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

The Setting

CONCEPT BUILDER 11-D

The setting is the place and time of the story, including the historical period, social milieu of the characters, geographical location, and descriptions of indoor and outdoor locales. Why is the setting so important to The Aeneid?

Setting The Historical Period

Social Milieu of the Characters (the internal temperament and agendas of each character)

Geographical Location

The time after the Greeks captured Troy.

Aeneas is conflicted by his desire to settle down (as with Dido) and the calling on his life by the gods to found Rome.

The central Mediterranean basin.

Importance

Importance

Importance

Virgil is able to develop the journey motif so popular among classicists.

Aeneas essentially traverses the known world in pursuit of the will of the gods.

Aeneas tries to reclaim the grandeur that was Troy.

96

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 96

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Critics Corner

The Theme

CONCEPT BUILDER 11-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Do you agree with Edith Hamilton that the real subject of The Aeneid is not Aeneas, but the glory of Rome?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 11-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 11 test.

The theme is the one-sentence major purpose of a literary piece, rarely stated but implied. The theme is not a moral that is a statement of the author’s didactic purpose of his literary piece. What are at least three themes of The Aeneid? Explain your answer.

Themes

The Aeneid is a national epic. In that sense, it is a story of heroes struggling to create a new nation.

The maturation theme — Like Odysseus, Aeneas matures as he journeys to Rome.

The power of fate — A person’s life depends on his fate, something even the gods cannot change. Fate isn’t fair — Dido and Turnus have tragic fates, even though they may not have done anything wrong.

97

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 97

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. The Aeneid, like Homer’s The Odyssey, describes a quest, a journey. Locate the places that are visited on a map. Then discuss the plot as it unfolds. Identify the climax. The crisis or climax is the moment or event in the plot in which the conflict is most directly addressed: the main character “wins” or “loses”; the secret is revealed. After the climax, the falling action occurs. SUMMARY: A band of Trojan soldiers escape from Troy before it is destroyed. They follow a promise to a new life in the West. When was the climax? The Aeneid is episodic, so there are multiple climaxes. Certainly one of the most exciting moments of the poem occurs when Aeneas challenges Turnus to fight him. The falling action? Virgil skillfully ties in the power of fate, which is a form of foreshadowing, with the action. So, by the end of the novel, the denouement flows quickly to a conclusion. B. The setting is the place(s) and time(s) of the story, including the historical period, social milieu of the characters, geographical location, and descriptions of indoor and outdoor locales. What is the setting so important to The Aeneid? SUMMARY: The setting occurs en route to Rome, “the promised land.” To Virgil’s audience this is terribly important. To an American reader, it would be like reading a story about the Pilgrims. C. While Hebrew characters (e.g., Esther) often change and develop over time, Aeneas is the first protagonist in Greek and Roman literature who changes and develops. His struggles help him gather wisdom and insights that change his life. Contrast Aeneas with Homer’s characters Achilles and Hector. SUMMARY: Both Achilleus and Hektor are static characters. Aeneas grows wiser and gentler as the book progresses.

CHAPTER 11 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) A. Create a contemporary epic journey that is similar in theme and plot to The Aeneid. ANSWER: Answers will vary. Students should develop the journey motif based on a vacation road trip or something similar. Or they may want to relate a new move they experienced when their family changed locations. B. Discuss the importance of the following scene in Book V (ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_ vergil_aeneid_v.htm). Meantime the Trojan cuts his wat’ry way,

The fate of Dido from the fire divin’d;

Fix’d on his voyage, thro’ the curling sea;

He knew the stormy souls of womankind,

Then, casting back his eyes, with dire amaze,

What secret springs their eager passions move,

Sees on the Punic shore the mounting blaze.

How capable of death for injur’d love.

The cause unknown; yet his presaging mind

Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw;

98

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 98

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.

And what collected night involves the skies!

Now seas and skies their prospect only bound;

Nor can our shaken vessels live at sea,

An empty space above, a floating field around.

Much less against the tempest force their way.

But soon the heav’ns with shadows were o’erspread;

It is fate diverts our course, and fate we must obey.

A swelling cloud hung hov’ring o’er their head:

Not far from hence, if I observed aright

Livid it look’d, the threat’ning of a storm:

The southing of the stars, and polar light,

Then night and horror ocean’s face deform.

Sicilia lies, whose hospitable shores

The pilot, Palinurus, cried aloud:

In safety we may reach with struggling oars.

“What gusts of weather from that gath’ring cloud

Aeneas then replied: “Too sure I find

My thoughts presage! Ere yet the tempest roars,

We strive in vain against the seas and wind:

Stand to your tackle, mates, and stretch your oars;

Now shift your sails; what place can please me more

Contract your swelling sails, and luff to wind.”

Than what you promise, the Sicilian shore,

The frighted crew perform the task assign’d.

Whose hallow’d earth Anchises’ bones contains,

Then, to his fearless chief: “Not Heav’n,”” said he,

And where a prince of Trojan lineage reigns?”

“Tho’ Jove himself should promise Italy,

The course resolv’d, before the western wind

Can stem the torrent of this raging sea.

They scud amain, and make the port assign’d.

Mark how the shifting winds from west arise, ANSWER: Aeneas sees the fire on the shore and knows that Dido has died. He appeals to fate. Dido and he are drawn to different fates. “What secret springs their eager passions move,/How capable of death for injur’d love./ Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw;/ Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.” “Too sure I find we strive in vain against the seas and wind.” It is wrong to fight against fate. “It is fate diverts our course, and fate we must obey.”

99

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 99

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 12 (300 B.C.– A.D. 500):

Ancient Rome (Part 2) First Thoughts Marcus Aurelius (full name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus) (A.D. 121–180) was a Roman emperor (A.D. 161–180) and Stoic philosopher. Stoicism became the most influential school of the Greco-Roman world, represented by Roman slave Epictetus and the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. The Stoics taught that one can achieve happiness only by rejecting material comforts and by dedicating oneself to a life of reason and virtue. Human reason was also considered part of the divine Logos, and therefore immortal. They also taught that each person was part of God and that all people form a universal family. Stoicism celebrated the human spirit, disciplined and controlled. It became the measuring rod against which all social and religious institutions were measured.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Analyze the two types of writing of Marcus Aurelius. 2. Define Stoicism and compare this philosophy to truth found in Scripture. 3. Discuss Aurelius’ view of the god’s impact on mankind. 4. Evaluate why Aurelius persecuted Christians.

Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161, and throughout his reign he was engaged in defensive wars on the northern and eastern frontiers of the empire. He greatly enlarged the Roman Empire and is generally considered to be one of the finest post-Augustinian emperors. As a philosopher he is remembered for his Meditations.

100

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Sermon on the Mount, The Didache (Lesson 14), writings by Clement and Justin Martyr, The Martyrdom of Polycarp (Lesson 15), Author Unknown. History connections: World History chapter 12, “Roman Life.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 100

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Marcus Aurelius Assignments •

Warm-up: Was Marcus Aurelius a good emperor?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 12-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 12.

101

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 101

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 12-A

Read this excerpt from Meditations (Book 1) by Marcus Aurelius, and respond to the following: What are three things for which Aurelius is thankful? 1. To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a disposition which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do something of this kind; but, through their favor, there never was such a concurrence of circumstances as put me to the trial.

1

2. Further, I am thankful to the gods that I am made the right choices as a youth; that I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like show; but that it is in such a man’s power to bring himself very near to the fashion of a private person, without being for this reason either meaner in thought, or more remiss in action, with respect to the things which must be done for the public interest in a manner that befits a ruler. 3. I thank the gods for giving me such a brother, who was able by his moral character to rouse me to vigilance over myself, and who, at the same time, pleased me by his respect and affection; that my children have not been stupid nor deformed in body; that I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other studies, in which I should perhaps have been completely engaged, if I had seen that I was making progress in them; that I made haste to place those who brought me up in the station of honor, which they seemed to desire, without putting them off with hope of my doing it sometime after.

2

What are three things for which you are thankful? Answers will vary.

102

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 102

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Stoicism Assignments •

Warm-up: Why was Stoicism so popular to Christians?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 12-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

CONCEPT BUILDER 12-B

Marcus Aurelius vs. Apostle Paul

Compare the writings of Marcus Aurelius and Romans 8 written by the Apostle Paul.

Marcus Aurelius

Christianity

Get rid of the judgment, get rid of the “I am hurt,” you are rid of the hurt itself.

Romans 8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life!

Romans 8:28–30

Or is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands.

Romans 8:31–35

Don’t worry. Be happy.

Romans 8:37–39

103

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 103

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Student Essay: Stoicism Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the thesis of this essay?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 12-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Aphorisms

CONCEPT BUILDER 12-C

An aphorism is an original thought written in a short and memorable form. An example of an aphorism from Marcus Aurelius is “Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it.” What do these contemporary aphorisms mean? Are they true?

Aphorism

Meaning

Is It true?

Be faithful in the little things and greater things will come your way.

Aurelius believes that being dutiful in the smaller details will translate into rewards in larger things.

This reader believes that it is true.

Fish or cut bait.

After careful deliberation, one should make a decision and stick with it.

Yes

You can have it your way!

If you want something bad enough, you can have it.

No

Seize the day!

Take advantage of every opportunity you have.

Yes

Live and let live.

Mind your own business and you will be left alone, too.

Not necessarily

104

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 104

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Persecuted Christians Assignments •

Warm-up: Even though Marcus Aurelius was an intelligent, benevolent man, he blamed the Christians for Roman woes. Why? Could the same thing happen today?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 12-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow. Describe characteristics of Aurelius’ father.

Characterization

CONCEPT BUILDER 12-D

. . . mildness of temper, and unchangeable resolution in the things which he had determined after due deliberation . . .

and undeviating firmness in giving to every man according to his deserts; and a knowledge derived from experience of the occasions for vigorous action and for remission

Marcus Aurelius’ Father

No vainglory in those things which men call honors; and a love of labour and perseverance

A readiness to listen to those who had anything to propose for the common weal

105

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 105

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Different Styles in Meditations

Character Profile

CONCEPT BUILDER 12-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: How convincing is Aurelius?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 12-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 12 test.

On the chart below, circle words on the following figure that describe Marcus Aurelius. Under what character heading (choleric, melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic) does he lie?

This reader would place Marcus Aurelius in the sanguine quadrant. It is informative that father and son have the same personality!

106

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 106

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. There are two styles of writing in this book. On one hand, Marcus Aurelius is offering some didactic, almost sermonic advice to his listeners. Then, at other times, he appears to be speaking to himself. There are profound spontaneous aphorisms and more polished literary portions. Find evidence of both and discuss what effect they have on the reader. SUMMARY: Marcus says, “Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts.” (Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations, classics.mit. edu/Antoninus/meditations.2.two.html.) This sagacious advice is both to himself and to others. There are many other examples. “Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him” (Ibid). What effect do these have on the reader? One effect is enjoyment of the more personal way that Marcus Aurelius presents his aphorisms. B. Define Stoicism and compare this philosophy to truth found in Scripture. SUMMARY: The Stoics had much truth: life should be lived simply and completely. However, the thing that gives life meaning is following the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone makes life worthwhile. Also, concerning evil, Marcus thinks that knowledge is the antidote to evil (a Platonic notion). Of course, the only true antidote to evil is Christ’s death on the Cross. C. Philosophically, Stoicism is a second cousin (in spirit, not in doctrine) to Christianity. Yet Marcus Aurelius instituted a fairly severe persecution against Christians. Why? SUMMARY: It was the general view among most Romans, including Marcus Aurelius, that the problems that Rome was experiencing at this time were partly due to the influence of Christians who were notorious in their independent spirits. The Christians, for instance, refused to honor the status quo Roman gods and goddesses and absolutely refused to worship the emperor. This was a small thing, perhaps, but Marcus was afraid that Christian discord would affect others and lead to a general revolt.

107

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 107

11/14/12 3:13 PM

CHAPTER 12 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essays (100 Points) A. Eat, drink, and be merry for one never knows what tomorrow will bring. Paul: One is “merry” if one knows he is saved. If he is “in Christ” or “saved” he has the assurance that everything is working for the good for those who are called according to His purposes (Romans 8). Marcus Aurelius: Tomorrow is an irrelevant category anyway. All we will ever have is the present. Thus, one would be a fool to make merry merely in fear of tomorrow. A better approach would be to accept one’s state whatever it might be and then be merry. B. I might as well not try to make an A on this test because it is impossible to do. Paul: Nothing is impossible with God’s help when He has willed and purposed it. Marcus Aurelius: Certainly that is a proper course of action if it is impossible for a person to make an A, but, in the larger scheme of things, who cares?

108

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 108

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 13 (A.D. 30–500):

Early Church History (Part 1) First Thoughts In the first five years after the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church He founded became the majority religion of the greatest empire the world has ever known. This cultural revolution was started by a man (wholly man and wholly God) with a three-year ministry, who wrote nothing, who created no organization, who owned no property.

Chapter Learning Objectives In chapter 13 we examine the most important corpus of writing in world history: the Bible and other sacred writing. As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the form and style of the Sermon on the Mount. 2. Analyze the authorship of the Book of Matthew. 3. Based on these teachings, speculate upon what life was like for the early Christian. 4. Women in particular flocked to the Christian faith. Using the Didache as evidence, speculate on why that was so. 5. Compare the Sermon on the Mount with “On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” by John Stuart Mills.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Writings by Clement and Justin Martyr, The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Author Unknown.

109

History connections: World History chapter 13, “Roman Thought and Decline.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 109

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

The Early Church Assignments •

Warm-up: Why does Christianity grow so quickly?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 13-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 13.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 13-A

Read Matthew 5:1–31 (The Sermon on the Mount), and respond to the following:

1

Where is the setting of the Sermon on the Mount? Upon a hill outside Jerusalem.

2

Is this significant? Yes. It is not in the temple or near a public place. People would have to come some distance to hear him.

3

To whom is he addressing? The disciples.

4

Is this significant? Perhaps. But what Jesus is saying has timeless application in multiple settings.

5

What is so radical about these teachings? They go beyond the teachings of Torah.

6

What does Jesus mean when he says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.” While this statement should not be taken literally, it shows the level extent of commitment that Jesus demanded from His followers.

110

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 110

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Gnosticism

•

Warm-up: What is Gnosticism and why was it such a great threat to Christians?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 13-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Early Church History: The Christian Life

CONCEPT BUILDER 13-B

Assignments

The Didache is a book full of instructions for the early church. Based on The Didache, speculate upon what life was like for the early Christian.

Church Life

There were no church buildings at the time The Didache was written (at the end of the first century). Believers worshiped and fellowshipped together in homes.

Occupations

Christianity crossed all ethnic, racial, and economic lines. However, it was particular popular among women and other disenfranchised individuals.

Family Life

Christians and Jews were the only faithful monogamous families in the Mediterranean world. This was one reason Christianity attracted women converts.

111

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 111

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Monasticism Assignments •

Warm-up: What commands of the Lord are the most difficult to obey? Write an argumentative essay.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 13-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Create a “didache” for your home.

A Modern Didache

CONCEPT BUILDER 13-C

Object or Task

Rule

Television watching

No television watching on school nights.

Chores

Answers will vary.

Soccer practice

Answers will vary.

Attending youth group

Answers will vary.

Spending the night with friends

Answers will vary.

Curfew

Answers will vary.

112

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 112

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

The Sermon on the Mount

Dialectic

CONCEPT BUILDER 13-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: What figures of speech are used in Matthew 5? Discuss how Jesus uses these figures of speech to make His point.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 13-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

The Didache begins, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways.” This statement, and the whole document, is a dialectic. Dialectic is a method of argument, which has been central to both Eastern and Western philosophy since ancient times. The word “dialectic” originates in ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato’s Socratic dialogues. Dialectic is based on a dialogue between two or more people who hold different ideas and wish to persuade each other. It can also be, as in The Didache, an exploration of two viewpoints, or lifestyles, and, in the process, both alternatives are evaluated. Discuss the two ways of The Didache.

The Way of Life

The Way of Death

First of all, thou shalt love the God that made thee; secondly, thy neighbour as thyself.

Living life selfishly will lead to heartache and unproductive living.

And all things whatsoever thou wouldest not have befall thyself neither do thou unto another.

On the other hand, if you treat others poorly, you should expect to be treated poorly.

Abstain thou from fleshly and bodily lusts.

Sins of the flesh will lead to destruction.

To every man that asketh of thee give, and ask not back.

If you merely treat people fairly, and do not go the extra mile, you will miss a great blessing.

My child, flee from every evil and everything that resembleth it.

If you flirt with evil, it will consume and destroy you.

www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html.

113

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 113

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

The Didache

CONCEPT BUILDER 13-E

The Teachings of the New Testament

Assignments •

Warm-up: Read carefully the The Didache. Compare and contrast it with the Bible.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 13-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 13 test.

The teachings of the New Testament profoundly impacted the first century church and continue to impact the world today. Note the specific principles, providing a definition, in your own words, and how Christians can demonstrate this in their lives.

Principle

Definition in Your Own Words

Daily Demonstration

Love

Mercy

Forgiveness

114

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 114

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Why do you think Jesus used a sermon instead of a parable to make His point in these passages? SUMMARY: Answers will vary. The nature of His message defied metaphor and demanded forthrightness and boldness that a sermon afforded. B. Based on these teachings, speculate upon what life was like for the early Christian. SUMMARY: Life was dangerous and exciting — both at the same time. The new lifestyle that biblical teachings and The Didache demanded was truly iconoclastic. C. Women in particular flocked to the Christian faith. Using The Didache as evidence, speculate upon why that was so. SUMMARY: Answers will vary. In no other religion are women so esteemed and valued as they are in Christianity.

CHAPTER 13 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Describe the early Christian monastic movement. SUMMARY: A  n early and strong movement was Monasticism. Renunciation of the world, or Monasticism, had in fact nourished the growth of Christianity from the start, and by A.D. 300, people who wished an ascetic life had many exemplars from which to choose. As young people had in the past pursued wisdom by going to the philosopher, so now Christian youth sought out Christian ascetics under whom they might learn the new Christian philosophy. In Egypt, the church leader Origen taught new converts about Christianity and encouraged them with his ascetic lifestyle, including sleeping on the floor, fasting, and abstaining completely from all alcohol. The following excerpts are from the translated preface of Origen’s De Principiis: 1. ALL who believe and are assured that grace and truth were obtained through Jesus Christ, and who know Christ to be the truth, agreeably to His own declaration, "I am the truth," derive the knowledge which incites men to a good and happy life from no other source than from the very words and teaching of Christ. And by the words of Christ we do not mean those only which He spake when He became man and tabernacled in the flesh; for before that time, Christ, the Word of God, was in Moses and the prophets. For without the Word of God, how could they have been able to prophesy of Christ? And were it not our purpose to confine the present treatise within the limits of all attainable brevity, it would not be difficult to show, in proof of this statement, out of the Holy Scriptures, how Moses or the prophets both spake and performed all they did through being filled with the Spirit of Christ. And therefore I think it sufficient to quote this one testimony of Paul from the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which he says: "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the Egyptians." Moreover, that after His ascension into heaven

115

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 115

11/14/12 3:13 PM

He spake in His apostles, is shown by Paul in these words: "Or do you seek a proof of Christ who speaketh in me?" 2. Since many, however, of those who profess to believe in Christ differ from each other, not only in small and trifling matters, but also on subjects of the highest importance, as, e.g., regarding God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit; and not only regarding these, but also regarding others which are created existences, viz., the powers and the holy virtues; it seems on that account necessary first of all to fix a definite limit and to lay down an unmistakable rule regarding each one of these, and then to pass to the investigation of other points. For as we ceased to seek for truth (notwithstanding the professions of many among Greeks and Barbarians to make it known) among all who claimed it for erroneous opinions, after we had come to believe that Christ was the Son of God, and were persuaded that we must learn it from Himself; so, seeing there are many who think they hold the opinions of Christ, and yet some of these think differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of the Church, transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles, and remaining in the Churches to the present day, is still preserved, that alone is to be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition. 3. Now it ought to be known that the holy apostles, in preaching the faith of Christ, delivered themselves with the utmost clearness on certain points which they believed to be necessary to every one, even to those who seemed somewhat dull in the investigation of divine knowledge; leaving, however, the grounds of their statements to be examined into by those who should deserve the excellent gifts of the Spirit, and who, especially by means of the Holy Spirit Himself, should obtain the gift of language, of wisdom, and of knowledge: while on other subjects they merely stated the fact that things were so, keeping silence as to the manner or origin of their existence; clearly in order that the more zealous of their successors, who should be lovers of wisdom, might have a subject of exercise on which to display the fruit of their talents, -- those persons, I mean, who should prepare themselves to be fit and worthy receivers of wisdom. 4. The particular points clearly delivered in the teaching of the apostles are as follow:- First, That there is one God, who created and arranged all things, and who, when nothing existed, called all things into being-God from the first creation and foundation of the world--the God of all just men, of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noe, Sere, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets; and that this God in the last days, as He had announced beforehand by His prophets, sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call in the first place Israel to Himself, and in the second place the Gentiles, after the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. This just and good God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself gave the law and the prophets, and the Gospels, being also the God of the apostles and of the Old and New Testaments. Secondly, That Jesus Christ Himself, who came (into the world), was born of the Father before all creatures; that, after He had been the servant of the Father in the creation of all things--"For by Him were all things made"--He in the last times, divesting Himself (of His glory), became a man, and was incarnate although God, and while made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a body like to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit: that this Jesus Christ was truly born, and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common (to man) in appearance only, but did truly die; that He did truly rise from the dead; and that after His resurrection He conversed with His disciples, and was taken up (into heaven). Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son. But in His case it is not clearly distinguished whether He is to be regarded as born or innate, or also as a Son of God or not: for these are points which have to be inquired into out of sacred Scripture according to the best of our ability, and which demand careful investigation. And that this Spirit inspired each one of the saints, whether prophets or apostles; and that there was not one Spirit in the men of the old dispensation, and another in those who were inspired at the advent of Christ, is most clearly taught throughout the Churches. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen121.html)

116

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 116

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 14 (A.D. 30–500):

Early Church History (Part 2) First Thoughts In the midst of

chaos and despair, the early Church was hopeful. We cannot live without hope. Walter Bruggemann, in his book Hope within History (Atlanta, GA: J. Knox Press, 1987) explores the meaning of apocalyptic hope in history. Using Jeremiah as background, Bruggemann argues that the true history makers are not those whom we expect — politicians, doctors, and lawyers. Real history makers, he argues, are those who can invest in a dream. In spite of pretty bleak conditions — Jeremiah’s nation was about to be conquered and taken in captivity — Jeremiah was able to still have great hope. He had apocalyptic (i.e., based in history) hope. He understood who really had power — those who had hope in spite of the circumstances they faced. God told Jeremiah to buy a piece of land. He did. Even though Jeremiah was never to enjoy this land, never to really own it, he invested in it anyway. Apocalyptic hope causes us to invest in dreams we may never see consummated. People with apocalyptic hope, assert the sovereign and omnipotent will of God in all circumstances no matter how bad things may be. They “have a bold conviction about alternative possibilities which go under the name of hope . . . they see clearly that things are deeply wrong, but they still have hope.” Modern,

existential hope of men like Viktor E. Frankl pales in the light of the apocalyptic hope of a committed Christian. “Was Du erleht, kann keine Macht der Welt Dir rauben” (What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you), Frankl writes (Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (New York: Pocket Books, 1963), p. 131).

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Agree or disagree with Justin Martyr’s views of civil disobedience. 2. Imagine that you are one of those opposing Christianity in Justin Martyr’s day. Write a two-page rebuttal to Martyr’s arguments. Make your essay as persuasive as you can using various references from the text. 3. Martyrdom literature has a certain “form” or style format in almost every piece. Identify the pattern advanced by the Polycarp martyrdom material.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Confessions by Augustine.

117

History connections: World History chapter 14, “Early Church History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 117

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Clement of Rome

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 14-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a précis of the piece by Clement.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 14-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 14.

This literary piece is a didactic sermon. In other words, Clement is using his personal reflections to teach his community something. Read this letter from Clement of Rome (Pope Clement I), and respond to the following questions:

1

What is Clement teaching? He is urging his brothers and sisters to exhibit Christian morality even in the midst of persecution. He is also advocating church order and discipline.

2

What problem can you infer is occurring in the Church? Clearly there is some disunity and rebellion in the Church.

118

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 118

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Justin Martyr Assignments •

Warm-up: Theology originally was written to persuade the outside world to convert to Christ. Today it seems most Christians simply talk to other Christians! Write your own apologetic of the faith being careful to identify deceptions of our age.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 14-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

119

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 119

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Sitz im Leben is a German phrase that means “setting in life.” What is the Sitz im Leben of the following texts?

Sitz Im Leben

CONCEPT BUILDER 14-B

Text

Sitz Im Leben

Letters from Clement

Clement is counted as the third bishop of Rome (after the Apostles). His predecessors are Linus and Cletus (or Anacletus, or Anencletus), about whom almost nothing is known. They are simply names on a list. Clement is a little more than this, chiefly because he wrote a letter to the Corinthians, which was highly valued by the early church, and has been preserved to the present day. The letter itself does not carry his name, but is merely addressed from the congregation at Rome to the congregation at Corinth. However, a letter from Corinth to Rome a few decades later refers to “the letter we received from your bishop Clement, which we still read regularly.” Other early writers are unanimous in attributing the letter to Clement. Perhaps because this letter made his name familiar, he has had an early anonymous sermon (commonly called II Clement) attributed to him, and is a character in some early religious romances (e.g., the Clementine Recognitions). One story about Clement is that he was put to death by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Accordingly, he is often depicted with an anchor, and many churches in port towns intended to minister chiefly to mariners are named for him.

Writings by Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr lived in a hostile, intellectual environment, mostly dominated by Greek scholars. Therefore, Martyr often used Greek philosophy to support Christian positions.

The Encyclical Epistle of the Church at Smyrna Concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp

Polycarp lived in a very stressful time in Church history when many saints were martyred.

120

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 120

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Apologetics

Martyrdom Literature

CONCEPT BUILDER 14-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Theology originally was written to persuade the outside world to convert to Christ. Today it seems most Christians simply talk to other Christians! Write your own apologetic of the faith being careful to identify deceptions of our age.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 14-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts. There were known to be ten waves of persecutions under the Roman emperors. Whole families died for their faith in horrible ways. Drowning, burning parts of the body, being torn in pieces, burnings at the stake, and being beheaded were commonplace. It is said for several weeks the countryside was lit up by Christians that were torched. But with all this being done, the Church increased. Martyrdom literature follows a certain pattern. Find examples from Polycarp’s martyrdom that fit that pattern. The civil authority reluctantly agrees to prosecute the martyr. The people demanded Polycarp’s death and the civil authorities reluctantly complied. The Christian martyr is accused. Ch. 3.

The martyr is betrayed by a friend (or enemy) and put on trial. Polycarp is betrayed by a friend.

The martyr is killed but takes advantage of the occasion to present a sermon.

Some supernatural event occurs as an affirmation of the martyrdom of the saint.

Polycarp indeed gives a sermon before he dies.

It took several attempts to finally kill Polycarp.

121

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 121

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Polycarp Assignments •

Warm-up: Are there modern martyrs?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 14-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

CONCEPT BUILDER 14-D

Martyrdom Literature Application

Apply the same form to a biblical character (e.g., Daniel).

The king of Babylon reluctantly condemns Daniel to death. The Christian martyr Daniel is accused.

Daniel is betrayed by other court rivals.

Daniel survives by God’s intervention.

God protects Daniel in the lion’s den. Later he is able to give a testimony to the king.

122

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 122

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Parousia Assignments •

Warm-up: Reflect on the meaning of the Parousia (Second Coming of Jesus Christ) to your life.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 14-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 14 test.

CONCEPT BUILDER 14-E

Theme: The Promise is in Danger

In martyrdom literature, there is great fear that the hero(ine) will die and that the promise is in jeopardy. Polycarp, for instance, does indeed die, but the cause of Christ is advanced. The reader, however, does not know the outcome and there is fear that the faith will be compromised — either by Polycarp recanting his faith or by the death of Polycarp himself. Of course, neither outcome occurs. What dangers to the promise occur in the following biblical stories?

Story

Danger to the Promise

The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac.

The reader supposes that the promise will end with the death of Isaac. God of course intervenes and Abraham does not sacrifice Isaac.

Joseph may languish in prison forever.

Joseph may very well never recover from this latest catastrophe.

The people of Israel are in bondage in Egypt.

The Chosen People are in bondage and subject to the will of a malevolent Pharaoh.

Daniel is in danger of dying for his faith.

Daniel may die in the lion’s den.

It appears that the nation of Israel is doomed until God intervenes through Esther.

Evil Hamaan has cooked up a plan to destroy the Jewish community in Babylon.

The death of Christ seems to end all hope that He is the Messiah.

To many, including the disciples, it appears that all is lost!

123

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 123

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Agree or disagree with Justin Martyr’s views of civil disobedience. SUMMARY: One opinion: The notion that martyrdom was not an aberration, but even an eventuality, is as true then as it is to some believers today. He calls on believers to be willing to die for their faith in a public arena so that the Lord might be glorified. He wishes for believers to obey all laws except those laws that violate God’s laws. When disobedience is necessary, then the believer must be willing to face the consequences. To Justin Martyr, the pleasure of God more than mitigates the sting of martyrdom. B. Imagine that you are one of those opposing Christianity in Justin Martyr’s day. Write a two-page rebuttal to Martyr’s arguments. Make your essay as persuasive as you can using various references from the text. SUMMARY: Answers will have to be opinions but intellectual attacks on Christians usually took these forms. For one, Christianity was a religion for poverty-stricken, weak-willed, uneducated men and women disloyal to the Roman Empire. C. Martyrdom literature has a certain “form” or style format in almost every piece. Identify the pattern advanced by the Polycarp martyrdom material. SUMMARY: The potential martyr begins with a faithful presentation (historical prologue). He is then endowed with almost super-human qualities. He is martyred. Finally, the reader is given ample evidence that the martyr did not die in vain.

CHAPTER 14 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Tertullian, an early Christian apologist, helped to establish Latin — rather than Greek, which was the most widely used language at that time — as a vehicle for Christian thought in the West. Because he was a pastor rather than a philosopher, he asked this famous question: “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Write a précis of the following passage from Tertullian (The Apology, XXX, XXXIII). For we offer prayer for the safety of our princes to the eternal, the true, the living God, whose favour, beyond all others, they must themselves desire. They know from whom they have obtained their power; they know, as they are men, from whom they have received life itself; they are convinced that He is God alone, on whose power alone they are entirely dependent, to whom they are second, after whom they occupy the highest places, before and above all the gods. Why not, since they are above all living men, and the living, as living, are superior to the dead? They reflect upon the extent of their power, and so they come to understand the highest; they acknowledge that they have all their might from Him against whom their might is nought. Let the emperor make war on heaven; let him lead heaven captive in his triumph; let him put guards on heaven; let him impose taxes on heaven! He cannot. Just because he is less than heaven, he is great. For he himself is His to whom heaven and every creature appertains. He gets his sceptre where he first got his humanity; his power where he

124

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 124

11/14/12 3:13 PM

got the breath of life. Thither we lift our eyes, with hands outstretched, because free from sin; with head uncovered, for we have nothing whereof to be ashamed; finally, without a monitor, because it is from the heart we supplicate. Without ceasing, for all our emperors we offer prayer. We pray for life prolonged; for security to the empire; for protection to the imperial house; for brave armies, a faithful senate, a virtuous people, the world at rest, whatever, as man, an emperor would wish. These things I cannot ask from any but the God from whom I know I shall obtain them, both because He alone bestows them and because I have claims upon Him for their gift, as being a servant of His, rendering homage to Him alone, persecuted for His doctrine, offering to Him, at His own requirement, that costly and noble sacrifice of prayer. But why dwell longer on the reverence and sacred respect of Christians to the emperor, whom we cannot but look up to as called by our Lord to his office? So that on valid grounds I might say Ceasar is more ours than yours, for our God has appointed him. Therefore, as having this propriety in him, I do more than you for his welfare, not merely because I ask it of Him who can give it, or because I ask it as one who deserves to get it, but also because, in keeping the majesty of Ceasar within due limits, and putting it under the Most High, and making it less than divine, I commend him the more to the favour of Deity, to whom I make him alone inferior. ANSWER: "Caesar is more ours than yours" is a remarkable statement of a Christian to a pagan. Remember that this passage is written to unbelievers; not to believers. Tertullian clearly perceived the Romans as a necessary ally. He openly invited believers to pray for their civil authorities. Tertullian is one of the first Christian writers to do so.

125

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 125

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 15 (A.D. 30–500):

Early Church History (Part 3) First Thoughts Augustinus,

Bishop of Hippo in Roman Africa from 396 to 430, and the dominant personality of the Western Church of his time, is generally recognized as having been the greatest thinker of Church history. As one theologian explained, “His mind was the crucible in which the religion of the New Testament was most completely fused with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy; and it was also the means by which the product of this fusion was transmitted to the Christendoms of medieval Roman Catholicism and Renaissance Protestantism” (Encyclopedia Britannica, “Augustine,” introduction, www.astrologos.su/Int_Ast_ Community/Personalities/A_R/Augustin_Saint. htm). All this would have been true even if Augustine had never written the famous Confessions, in which at the age of about 45 he told the story of his own life. Homeschooled in the Christian faith by his mother, Monica, he nonetheless rejected the Christian faith until he was much older. After Augustine received Christ, God used the theologian’s keen mind and interest in philosophy to propel the Christian faith forward into the Middle Ages.

126

Chapter Learning Objectives In chapter 15 we discuss one of the most influential literary works in world history: Augustine’s Confessions.

As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the narrative technique of Confessions and decide whether or not you think it works 2. Compare and contrast this piece to an epic narrative (e.g., The Aeneid by Virgil) 3. Discuss in some detail Augustine’s conversion 4. Augustine’s Confession is a testimony to a mother’s faith. “And thou sentest Thine hand from above, and drewest my soul out of that profound darkness, my mother . . .” (Book III). Give examples from Scripture of other great mothers. 5. One criticism of Confessions is that Augustine’s ending is anti-climatic, even superfluous. In other words, some critics claim that he does not know how to end his autobiography. Agree or disagree.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Japanese Ancient Literature: Poems by Ono no Komachi, Kakinomoto Hitomaro, and Minamoto no Toshiyori. History connections: World History chapter 15, “Christianity Spreads.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 126

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Man and God

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 15-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is necessary for mankind to have peace?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 15-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 15.

Read Confessions by Augustine, and respond to the following:

1

Why would Augustine choose to tell his life story in the form of a prayer? Augustine wanted his life to be a prayer offering to God. It was not unusual for authors to write their works to the gods — in this case, to the one true God.

2

What does Augustine mean when he says, “And how shall I call upon my God, my God and Lord, since, when I call for Him, I shall be calling Him to myself?” Augustine is one with God and, while he is not God, he sought to be more like Him every single day.

127

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 127

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Augustine’s Confessions vs. Virgil’s Aeneid Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the major thesis of this essay?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 15-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Style

CONCEPT BUILDER 15-B

Style is the distinctive, special way that an author writes his particular literary piece. Style refers not to what is said but how it is said. Among the many things that contribute to style are vocabulary, sentence structure, tone, figurative language, and dialogue. Identify the style of Augustine’s Confessions.

Vocabulary The vocabulary is quite advanced and full of theological terms. Dialogue

Sentence Structure

The entire Confessions is stream of consciousness.

The original manuscript was written in Latin and is full of adjectival constructions.

Style

Figurative Language Augustine avoids figurative language. While he writes with vigor and precision, he is not prone to exaggerate.

Tone It is written a very serious, somber tone.

128

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 128

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

How We Can Know God Assignments •

Warm-up: How can we know God?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 15-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts. In Confessions Augustine writes in a prayer form. In other words, he follows the same pattern. From Book I, give examples of how this form is exhibited. The passage begins with adoration and praise of God.

Style: Prayer Form

CONCEPT BUILDER 15-C

Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite.

Next, is a delineation of the awesome power of God. Do the heaven and earth then contain Thee, since Thou fillest them?

Mankind’s relative insignificance in relation to God’s importance. Yet suffer me to speak unto Thy mercy, me, dust and ashes.

Mankind is empowered by relationship with God. Thou, then, O Lord my God, who gavest life to this my infancy. . . .

129

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 129

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Augustine’s Legacy Assignments •

Warm-up: What legacy does Augustine have?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 15-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Augustine’s Conversion

CONCEPT BUILDER 15-D

Trace the conversion of Augustine. Give passages that evidence each stage.

Captured in Manichaeism

Prayers of his mother Monica Confessions, III, 4, 8

Augustine realizes that he is a sinner and needs help.

The conversion Confessions, VIII, 12, 30.

Confessions VIII, 12, 29

130

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 130

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Augustine’s Challenge for Today Assignments •

Warm-up: What does the author mean by this: “Who will be this change? Will I?”

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 15-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 15 test.

My Own Conversion

CONCEPT BUILDER 15-E

Chart the progress of your own conversion to Christ.

Life without Christ Answers will vary.

Introduction to the Gospel

Realization that I need help

My Conversion Answers will vary.

Answers will vary.

Answers will vary.

131

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 131

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Compare and contrast this piece to an epic narrative (e.g., The Aeneid by Virgil). SUMMARY: Both pieces are stories of the lives of great men. Both are poetic in style, but only The Aeneid is poetic in form. Augustine is, of course, a much different hero from the warrior Aeneas. Aeneas undergoes a conversion of sorts, but nothing like the salvation experience of Augustine. In short, both pieces have similarities, but the differences are much greater. B. Discuss in some detail Augustine’s conversion. SUMMARY: From a dysfunctional family, Augustine is a very intelligent, inquisitive young man, who is involved in the heretical Manichean movement that was popular among intellectuals. Eventually, the Holy Spirit drew him to God, and he committed his life to Christ. There was no spontaneous moment where his heart was “strangely warmed” as we see in the life of John Wesley. Augustine’s conversion was a long process of spiritual and intellectual struggle. C. Augustine’s Confession is a testimony to a mother’s faith. Give examples from Scripture of other great mothers. SUMMARY: Deborah and Hannah are notable examples. Both women gave their children an inheritance of intrepid faith. Deborah, in particular, taught her children songs of Zion. They were culture creators.

CHAPTER 15 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Write a letter to non-believers defending the faith. In your letter, discuss such issues as the lordship of Jesus Christ, the authority and inspiration of Scriptures, and so forth. ANSWER:  Answers will vary. Students should use language that is precise but not so religious that it is not understood by the unbeliever.

132

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 132

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 16 (500 B.C.–A.D. 100):

Japanese Literature First Thoughts Japanese literature is one of the oldest and richest national literatures. It may seem strange to Western literary tastes, but that in no way denigrates the literature. Japanese is new, refreshing and offers Western readers many important insights into this Far Eastern culture. Indigenous Japanese literature, such as the haiku verse, has had a substantial impact on literature in many parts of the world.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. All of the above Japanese poets were never merely observers of a scene but were participants in it and through their participation drew their readers into the events described in their poems. Evaluate this statement. 2. Hitomaro’s “I Love Her Like the Leaves” has naturalistic tendencies. Explain. 3. Japanese women produced more art than their Western counterparts. Why? 4. Read and compare The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagan, and The Tales of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, author unknown, Panchatantra, attributed to Bidpai.

133

History connections: World History chapter 16, “Japanese History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 133

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Japanese Literature Assignments •

Warm-up: Give an example of romanticism from Japanese poetry.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 16-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 16.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 16-A

Read ”I Loved Her Like the Leaves” by Hitomaro, and respond to the following:

1

A simile is a comparison with the words “like” or “as.” What is the simile? I loved her like the leaves.

2

What is the tone of this poem? How do you know? Apparently the young lady is deceased.

3

Identify other similes. Like birds that gather rice-heads in their beaks, I pick him up and clasp him in my arms.

4

Who is the speaker and what relationship does he have to the deceased? They were husband and wife.

134

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 134

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Ono no Komachi Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a tanka poem.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 16-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

The Japanese Haiku

CONCEPT BUILDER 16-B

The Japanese haiku is a three-lined poem that is divided into lines by syllable count. The syllabic pattern is 5-7-5. Winter-evening snow . . . The uncompleted bridge is all An arch of whiteness. Basho Also, every haiku has a reference to nature. Write two haikus. Haikus 1

Haikus 2

See the red berries. . . Fallen like little footprints On the garden snow. Shiki

Little silver fish Pointing upstream moving downstream In clear quick water

www.haikupoetshut.com/basho1.html.

135

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 135

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Assignments •

Warm-up: Was Hitomaro writing this poem for the public? How do you know?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 16-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Sequence of Thoughts

CONCEPT BUILDER 16-C

Japanese poets often described, in great detail, an object or event. Their images and thoughts were connected. Compose a poem with a sequence of associated thoughts. You must begin and end with an image of the same object. (See example below.)

Oh so small but you make my world so large.

My little hearing aids.

My little hearing aids.

Distant, muffled sounds become sharp, clear resonance.

You save my life — I hear the angry bus, I hear the vengeful train.

136

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 136

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Minamoto no Toshiyori

Description

CONCEPT BUILDER 16-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a haiku poem.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 16-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Japanese poets struggled to describe things that they could not explain in prose. Describe the following creature and give it a name, any name, even a nonsensical one.

Answers will vary.

137

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 137

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Japanese Authors

Descriptive Poetry vs. Art

CONCEPT BUILDER 16-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a poem that explores an unspoken feeling, such as joy, loneliness, or love.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 16-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 16 test.

Write a poem about and then draw a picture of an elephant lying down. Entitle each artistic rendition “An Elegant Repose.” A poem: An Elegant Repose Like a NY met ballerina, The elegant elephant, Reposed. Slowly, deliberately, With purposeful alacrity, The monster claimed terre haute.

138

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 138

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. The Japanese poets discussed in this chapter were never merely observers of a scene but were participants in it and through their participation drew their readers into the events described in their poems. Evaluate this statement. SUMMARY:  Skillfully juxtaposed next to and intermingled with images of nature are highly personal images of human life. B. Hitomaro’s “I Loved Her Like the Leaves” has naturalistic tendencies. Explain. SUMMARY: The use of nature metaphors in malevolent ways is a naturalistic tendency. “The daylight I pass lonely till the dusk,/ The black night I lie sighting till the dawn,/ I grieve, yet know no remedy,” (wepoplaski.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/poem-of-the-day-i-loved-her-like-the-leaves/) implies that death is final and there is no hope of an after life — both naturalistic views. Finally, no benevolent deity is watching over poor Hitomaro. “She soared like the morning bird/ Hidden from our world like the setting sun.” C. Japanese women produced more art than their Western counterparts. Why? SUMMARY: Japanese civilization, in many ways, was ahead of Western civilization, in general, at this time. Also, Japanese aristocratic women were encouraged to write poems to one another. Remember, poetry in Japanese culture was more a form of communication than an art form.

CHAPTER 16 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Analyze the poem by Minamoto no Toshiyori It moves me to see, Burning above the mooring poles, Fireflies For I could cry out loud At this world of ours. www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka1065.shtml

ANSWER:  This waka construction poem manifests typical Japanese themes: images of nature (“fireflies”) juxtaposed against everyday human life (“burning above the mooring pole”). Also, the poem is a highly personal statement drawing the reader into the poem (“For I could cry out loud/ At this world of ours”).

139

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 139

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 17

(1400 B.C.–A.D. 1900)

Indian Literature First Thoughts In India and other East Asian countries, religion and culture — especially literature — are more intertwined than they are in the West. Therefore, if one is to study East Asian literature, one is obligated to read religious texts. During the centuries in which Buddhism was establishing itself in the east of India, religious changes were occurring in the west that produced Hinduism, which is the dominant religion in India today. The main ancient sources of information with regard to these Hindu beliefs and practices are the two great epics, the Ramyana and the Mahabhrata. The former is based on legend and ascribed to one man, Valmki. The latter is a composite production, begun probably as early as the fourth or fifth century B.C. and completed by the end of A.D. 500. The Bhagavad-Gîtâ is merely an episode in the Mahabhrata. The poem is a dialogue between Prince Arjuna, the brother of King Yudhisthira, and Vishnu, the Supreme God, incarnated as Krishna, and wearing the disguise of a charioteer. The conversation takes place in a war-chariot, stationed between the armies of the Kauravas and Pndavas, who are about to engage in battle.

140

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Based on The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, describe the panoply of gods presented. Which ones exhibit Judeo-Christian characteristics? 2. Discuss the moral imperatives advanced in each fable in Panchatantra. 3. Create a fable to illustrate a biblical truth.

To the Western reader, much of the discussion seems disjointed and illogical. To East Asians these words are sacred and pregnant with spirituality. To insist upon logic and sequence would be sacrilegious. Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Rubaiyat by Omar Kyayyam, the Koran. History connections: World History chapter 17, “Indian (South Asian) History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 140

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

The Bhagavad-Gîtâ

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 17-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Contrast a Hindu hero with a Christian one.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 17-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 17.

The poem is a dialogue between Prince Arjuna, the brother of King Yudhisthira, and Vishnu, the Supreme God, incarnated as Krishna, and wearing the disguise of a charioteer. The conversation takes place in a war-chariot, stationed between the armies of the Kauravas and Pndavas, who are about to engage in battle. Read this excerpt from The Bhagavad-Gîtâ and respond to the following:

1

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds. Find two examples. fierce in fight, thyself the first

2

The author compares the sound of the conch shell to what? With blare to wake the blood, rolling around/Like to a lion’s roar, the trumpeter/Blew the great Conch.

141

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 141

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Panchatantra Bidpai Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare a fable from the Panchatantra with a fable from The Canterbury Tales.

•

Student should complete Concept Builder 17-B.

•

Student should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Student should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Hero

Views Toward The Gods

Achilles

Basically is unimpressed with the gods and makes no effort to please them.

Prideful to a fault.

Very brave and strong.

Oedipus

Recognizes and honors the gods, but has virtually no personal relationship with them

A very humble, sad man

Absolutely dedicated to a task and justice

Arjuna

Deferential to the gods

Prideful

Brave and courageous

A Family Member

Committed to Christ

Humble

Brave and courageous

Heroes

CONCEPT BUILDER 17-B

So far we have meet several different heroes. Compare three of them: Achilles, Oedipus, and Arjuna. When you finish, compare these heroes to a family member.

Personal Flaws

Personal Strengths

142

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 142

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Fables of India Assignments •

Warm-up: What lesson or moral is being advanced in these fables?

•

Student should complete Concept Builder 17-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

CONCEPT BUILDER 17-C

Comparison Of Hindu Gods/ Goddesses to Judeo-Christian God

Compare Hindu gods/goddesses to the Judeo-Christian God.

Judeo-Christian God

Hindu gods

Omniscient, omnipresent

Limited in power and authority

Personally involved in humankind

Distance and appeased only through sacrifices

143

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 143

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Mahadeviyakka Assignments •

Warm-up: Evidence the religious aspect of Mahadeviyakka’s poetry.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 17-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

The Foolish Friend

Moral Imperative

CONCEPT BUILDER 17-D

Discuss the moral imperatives advanced in each fable in The Panchatantra (an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose).

The Gold-Giving Snake

The Brahman’s Wife and the Mongoose

Moral Imperative

Moral Imperative

Moral Imperative

The reader is urged not to trust an untrustworthy, foolish friend in “The Foolish Friend.”

In “The Gold-Giving Snake” the reader is warned that greediness will bring ultimate destruction.

In “The Brahman’s Wife and the Mongoose” the moral is more complicated and full of irony. The reader is warned that precipitous behavior will bring disastrous results.

144

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 144

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Mirabai

A Fable

CONCEPT BUILDER 17-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Can you discern any difference between poetry written by men and poetry written by women?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 17-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 17 test.

A fable is a short story that uses animals to illustrate a moral point. Outline (do not write) a fable.

Answers will vary.

145

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 145

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Based on the The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, describe the panoply of gods presented. Which ones exhibit JudeoChristian characteristics? SUMMARY: Virtually none of them do. They are impersonal, distant gods who react with no apparent logic to their subjects. The poem is a dialogue between Prince Arjuna, the brother of King Yudhisthira, and Yishnu, the Supreme God, incarnated as Krishna, and wearing the disguise of a charioteer. The conversation takes place in a war-chariot, stationed between the armies of the Kauravas and Pndavas, who are about to engage in battle. B. Discuss the moral imperatives advanced in each fable in The Panchatantra. SUMMARY: The reader is urged not to trust an untrustworthy, foolish friend in “The Foolish Friend.” In “The Gold-Giving Snake,” the reader is warned that greediness will bring ultimate destruction. In “The Brahman’s Wife and the Mongoose,” the moral is more complicated and full of irony. The reader is warned that precipitous behavior will bring disastrous results. C. Create a fable to illustrate a biblical truth. SUMMARY: Answers will vary.

CHAPTER 17 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Why should a Christian believer bother to study Hinduism? SUMMARY: Within a very short, few years, the most populated nation on earth will be India. India remains primarily a Hindu nation. Understanding Hinduism will afford the Christian prayer insights and will also offer him avenues to share the gospel with this growing, vital religion. And Hinduism is growing in the United States, too. It is imperative that Christians learn how to converse with Hindus about the Christian faith if they are to engage in conversation.

146

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 146

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 18 (A.D. 600–1400):

Persian and Arabic Literature First Thoughts Omar Khayyam was a Persian author of one of the world’s best-known works of poetry. He was born in Iran. As astronomer to the royal court, he was engaged with several other scientists to reform the calendar; their work resulted in the adoption of a new era, called the Jalalian or the Seljuk. As a writer on algebra, geometry, and related subjects, Omar was one of the most notable mathematicians of his time. However, he is most famous as the author of the Rubáiyát. The Rubáiyát includes 1,000+ line stanzas of wise sayings (Omar Khayyam, Rubaiyat, translated by Edward Fitzgerald (New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1996).

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Analyze the iconoclastic aspects of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. 2. Contrast the earlier passage in the Koran with two biblical entries.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Poems by T’ao Ch’ien and The Sayings of Confucius by Confucius.

147

History connections: World History chapter 18, “Persian History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 147

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Rubaiyat Omar Khayyam

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 18-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the rhyme scheme of the first 12 lines this poem?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 18-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 18.

Read this excerpt from Rubaiyat by Omar Khayam and respond to the following:

1

This is a special metaphor called personification (when an inanimate object is described as if it is a person). Identify at least two examples of personification. Before the phantom of False morning died,/Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried and Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring/Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling.

2

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. One uses letters to indicate which lines rhyme. What is the rhyme scheme of each of these stanzas? a, b, a, b

148

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 148

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Koran Assignments •

Warm-up: Should a Christian read the Koran? Why or why not?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 18-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

149

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 149

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Given these passages, compare and contrast the Islamic view of Allah and the JudeoChristian view of God.

Comparison/Contrast: Islam

CONCEPT BUILDER 18-B

Subject

Islam

Christianity/ Judaism

View of God

View of Man

Allah is merciful but is not concerned with the human condition.

Man is subservient and completely separate from Allah.

Textual Evidence:

Textual Evidence:

Nay, surely, if he do not desist we will drag him by the forelock! — the lying sinful forelock! So let him call his counsel: we will call the guards of hell! Nay, obey him not, but adore and draw nigh!

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Read, in the name of thy Lord! Who created man from congealed blood!

God is a shepherd. While he is omnipotent, he condescends to dwell among His people.

Mankind is much esteemed and created in the image of God.

Textual Evidence:

Textual Evidence:

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life;

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in house of the LORD as long as I live.

150

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 150

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Rabi’a

Unorthodox Teachings

CONCEPT BUILDER 18-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Contrast this poetry to Christian poetry and song lyrics of equal intensity.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 18-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Omar Khayyam did not believe in the seminal Islamic belief of the resurrection of the body after death, and he suggested that drinking wine was better than worrying about religious theories and dogmas. In an instance that must have been particularly enraging for orthodox Muslims, he upturned the argument for future rewards in paradise by thinking it through to its logical end: They promise there will be Paradise and the houri-eyed, Where clear wine and honey will flow: Should we prefer wine and a lover, what’s the harm? Are not these the final recompense? Find one other example where Khayyam offered unorthodox notions. Khayyam is arguing a fairly naturalistic worldview: “And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,/ Whereunder crawling coop’d we live and die,/Lift not your hands to It for help — for It/As impotently moves as you or I.”

151

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 151

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Kassiane Assignments •

Warm-up: Research the Eastern Orthodox Church and compare it to the Roman Catholic Church.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 18-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

The tone or mood of a poem is the way authors feel about their subjects. In this poem the author begins with a complimentary tone and ends with a satirical tone.

Tone and Mood

CONCEPT BUILDER 18-D

The golden hair that Gulla wears Is hers: who would have thought it? She swears ‘tis hers, and true she wears, For I know where she bought it. Use textual examples from “In Love” and “Doorkeeper of the Heart” by Rabi’a to illustrate how the poet creates a mood and tone toward her subject.

Tone/Mood

Texual Passage

Reverence

My hope in my heart is the rarest treasure Your name on my tongue is the sweetest word My choicest hours Are the hours I spend with you.

Affection

In love, nothing exists between breast and breast, Speech is born out of longing. True description from the real taste. The one who tastes, knows; The one who explains, lies. How can you describe the true form of something In whose presence you are blotted out? And in whose being you still exist? And who lives as a sign for your journey?

Fear

O Allah, I cannot live in this world Without remembering you, How can I endure the next world Without seeing your face?

152

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 152

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Omar Khayyam: Non-Conformist Assignments •

Warm-up: How would you describe a non-conformist?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 18-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 18 test.

The Byzantine poet Kassiane in his poems “Hymn” and “Most Impartial Judge” highlights several attributes of God. What are they?

Attributes of God

CONCEPT BUILDER 18-E

Attributes

Texual Passage

God does miracles

For in you has come to dwell bodily/The fullness of the Godhead.

God is full of good will toward His people

For in you has come to dwell bodily The fullness of the Godhead, By the good will of the everlasting Father And with the joint cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Hail, you who are favored The Lord is with you.”

God is a fair, impartial judge

Most Impartial Judge Most impartial judge

God is merciful

When you weigh Our deeds, Don’t judge with reason, But let your goodness prevail; And add weight to the scale, Lord, When the evil deeds tip it the other way.

God is a deliverer

We pray, O Deliverer, That you mix the terrible cup Of unmixed drink in your hand With gentleness, And save those of your servants Whom you have already taken from the earth, From this sediment, and place them In the land of the meek, Merciful One, To praise and bless you forever.

153

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 153

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Omar Khayyam did not believe in the seminal Islamic belief of the resurrection of the body after death, and he suggested that drinking wine was better than worrying about religious theories and dogmas. In an instance that must have been particularly enraging for orthodox Muslims, he upturned the argument for future rewards in paradise by thinking it through to its logical end: They promise there will be Paradise and the houri-eyed, Where clear wine and honey will flow: Should we prefer wine and a lover, what’s the harm? Are not these the final recompense? Find other examples where Khayyam offered unorthodox notions. SUMMARY: Khayyam is arguing a fairly naturalistic worldview: “And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,/ Whereunder crawling coop’d we live and die,/ Lift not your hands to It for help—for It/ As impotently moves as you or I.” B. Contrast the earlier passage in the Koran with Psalm 23 (HCSB): SUMMARY: There is no sense of intimacy with God in the Koran as there is in the Bible. The metaphor of a deity who is a “shepherd” is completely foreign to the Islamic notion of a warrior-Allah. Allah did not send his only begotten son to die for his followers as the Christian God did. C. How can you connect the love of God and the grace of Christ to Muslims you might know? SUMMARY: Answers will vary.

CHAPTER 18 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Discussion Question (75 Points) A. Analyze the following poem in a 75 to 150-word essay. In your essay discuss the theme, setting, rhyme scheme, literary techniques (e.g., alliteration, metaphor), and other literary elements (e.g., symbolism). ANSWER: On the surface, this poem offers the reader an image of leaves falling and blowing in the wind. It is both beautiful and sad. The image reminds the old man that his life is ending, too. The poem has an underlying current of death. There is also an agnostic conclusion — the speaker does not know what is in store for him after death. B. Compare with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The Snow Storm. ANSWER: The romantic Emerson expresses nothing but positive things about nature. The naturalist Robinson is less generous with nature. In fact, nature is malevolent.

154

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 154

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 19 (1400 B.C.–A.D. 1890):

Chinese Literature First Thoughts Chinese literature is one of the oldest forms of literature that exists in world cultures. Two distinct traditions exist in Chinese literature: the literary traditions and the colloquial, often oral traditions. The latter can be traced back more than a thousand years before Christ and has existed in one form or another continuously until modern times. This form of literature — colloquial — appears normally in folk ballads written in everyday language. Folk literature was long considered beneath the upper classes, who more or less determined the standards of literary taste. Highly stylized writings set the standards for the orthodox literary tradition that began about the same time as colloquial literary appeared. However, not until the 20th century did colloquial literature gain the support of the intellectual class.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Evaluate Confucius’ thought. 2. Contrast Buddhism and Christianity. 3. Discuss if there are any contemporary equivalents to Confucius.

Chinese literature may be divided into three major historical periods that roughly correspond to those of Western literary history: the classical period, the medieval period, and the modern period. This survey course, unfortunately, will only be able to look at a few classical offerings.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Divine Comedy (The Inferno Only) by Dante Alighieri.

155

History connections: World History chapter 19, “Chinese History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 155

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

T’ao Ch’ien

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 19-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What type of metaphor does T’ao Ch’ien prefer?

•

Student should complete Concept Builder 19-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 19.

Read the poems of T’ao Ch’ien and respond to the following:

1

What is the poet describing? List several specific images he uses. Insects stir from secret places, and grasses, trees, and brush spread green.

2

The descriptions that the poet uses in the first stanza is merely preparation for the main theme of the poem. What is the theme? Separation and grief.

3

Describe the narrator of “Without All That Racket.” He/she thinks deeply about his world. All this means something,/something absolute. Whenever I start/explaining it, I’ve forgotten the words.

156

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 156

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Peach Blossom Spring Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is T’ao Ch’ien called the “colloquial poet?”

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 19-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Imagery in Chinese Poetry

CONCEPT BUILDER 19-B

Imagery is figurative language, especially metaphors and similes, used in poetry, plays, and other literary works. Find examples of imagery in poems by Wang Wei.

Poem

Poem

Deer Forest Hermitage

The central image is a forest in early evening, with the “slanting sunlight.” In the background the reader sees “no glimpse of man in this lonely mountain” but hears “faint voices drift in the air.” The reader sees and feels the loneliness that the poet is portraying.

Through the deep wood, the slanting sunlight Casts motley patterns on the jade-green mosses. No glimpse of man in this lonely mountain, Yet faint voices drift in the air. Magnolia Hermitage The autumn hills hoard scarlet from the setting sun. Flying birds chase their mates. Now and then patches of blue sky break clear Tonight the evening mists find nowhere to gather.

There are numerous examples of personification in this passage. The autumn hills hoard scarlet from the setting sun./Flying birds chase their mates.

On Parting with Spring Day after day we can’t help growing older. Year after year spring can’t help seeming younger. Come let’s enjoy our winecup today, Not pity the flowers fallen! www.chinese-poems.com/wang.html.

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 157

There is a “seize the day” theme. Come let’s enjoy our winecup today,/Not pity the flowers fallen!

157

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Wang Wei and Pan Zhao Assignments •

Warm-up: In what way are Wang Wei’s poems landscape poems?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 19-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Imagery is figurative language, especially metaphors and similes, used in poetry, plays, and other literary works. Find examples of imagery in poems by Wang Wei.

Peach

Imagery

CONCEPT BUILDER 19-C

Object

Dandelion

Anger

Imagery Poem Round and smooth My peach is true. It is fuzzy and smooth. Like a lazy afternoon at the pool. No waves. No schedule. No obligations. Round and smooth, my peach. Fuzzy Prolific Weedy Everywhere! Hot and terrible. Like a midday sun. Something that is deadly. Cannot be recalled.

158

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 158

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Li Po Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is Li Po drinking alone with the moon?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 19-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Epigrams

CONCEPT BUILDER 19-D

Confucius normally wrote in epigrams, or tersely phrased statements of a truth or opinion. Offer a few epigrams and discuss what they mean.

Epigram

Meaning

Whatever you sow, that will you reap.

One’s actions will have a consequence.

Aim for nothing and you will always reach it.

It is important that people have goals.

Treat others as you would have them treat you.

This is the Golden Rule.

Unforgiveness is like holding a rattlesnake by the tail.

If one holds a snake by the tail, he will be bitten.

A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step.

One must start a project before it can be finished.

159

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 159

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

The Sayings of Confucius Confucius •

Warm-up: It is one thing to venerate Confucius as a wise man. It is quite another thing to call him “god.” The latter is quite dangerous. Explain.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 19-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 19 test.

Given these passages, compare and contrast the Islamic view of Allah and the JudeoChristian view of God.

Drinking Alone With the Moon

Archetype

CONCEPT BUILDER 19-E

Assignments

Mr. Flood’s Party

Both poems present a lonely person, isolated from friends and foe alike.

160

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 160

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. The Sayings of Confucius in form normally includes a question with an epigram as an answer. What is an epigram? Compare it in form, structure, and function to Proverbs in the Bible. SUMMARY: An epigram is a terse, sage, or witty and often paradoxical saying. It was a very popular form of teaching among ancient thinkers and philosophers — East and West. B. Buddhism is at the core of ancient Chinese poetry and prose. Buddhism teaches four basic arguments: (1) life is suffering, (2) all suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality, (3) suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment, and (4) suffering is ended in the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. From a Christian perspective, respond to these four “truths.” SUMMARY: Life is indeed hard, but Christians know that God is in control of everything and has planned everything to their good (Romans 8). Some suffering is caused by sin of the individual or by the sin of another individual, not by ignorance. This viewpoint betrays a perspective popular among followers of Plato — that if mankind had enough knowledge, he would not do bad things. Suffering is only ended when the Christian goes to heaven, although the state of mind of the believer has a great impact on his perception of suffering on the earth. C. Many critics observe that Eastern poetry emphasizes the empathic whereas Western poetry has committed itself to an excessive use of reason and a worship of mere rationality and the scientific method. Evaluate that argument through evidence in the above poetry selections and The Sayings of Confucius. SUMMARY: The Western tradition, birthed in Greek civilization, has a great emphasis on rationalism. Chinese philosophy is far more subjective and empathic.

CHAPTER 19 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14). The Word of God is inspired and inerrant and is without equal in authority to our lives. Evaluate why one should or should not still read other philosophers like Confucius. ANSWER: Answers will vary. Many find that reading Confucius is beneficial because it is a good representation of valuable Chinese literature. People in the West and East can read it as philosophy without giving it any special authority.

161

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 161

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 20 (A.D. 500–1500):

Middle Ages (Part 1) First Thoughts Dante Alighieri lived during the end of the Middle Ages. When we think of the Middle Ages we think of knights in shining armor, Robin Hood, dragons, lavish banquets, kings, queens, wandering minstrels, and magnificent sword fights. The fact is, though, life in the Middle Ages was anything but glamorous. Life generally was harsh, tentative, and downright dangerous. People did not live very long and those who made it to “old” age usually died before age 40. In the midst of this anachronism emerged some of the best literature in world history.

162

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the narrative technique Dante employs. 2. Analyze Dante’s journey. 3. Evaluate when violence in literary works is necessary and unnecessary.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Poem of the Cid, Author Unknown (Lesson 22).

History connections: World History chapter 20, “The Middle Ages.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 162

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Middle Ages

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 20-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Some Protestants are critical of Dante’s theology, but Dante merely expressed the orthodox views of his generation. Describe one.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 20-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 20.

Read this excerpt from Dante’s Inferno (Canto 1), and respond to the following:

1

What is the central motif or theme of Canto I? Dante begins his journey to hell.

2

This epic poem employs first-person narration. What advantage does first-person narration offer Dante? The reader can experience the horror of hell in the same instance as the narrator.

163

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 163

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Divine Comedy: Inferno Dante Alighieri Assignments •

Warm-up: Who would be a contemporary equivalent to Dante?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 20-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

164

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 164

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Several hundred years after Dante wrote The Divine Comedy a German poet, Goethe, presents a much different view of hell. In this version of hell, Faust, who has sold his soul to the devil escapes eternal damnation by “repenting of his bad choices on the way to hell.” In French writer Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, three damned souls are brought to the same room in hell by a mysterious valet. They had all expected to burn for eternity, but instead find a plain room furnished comfortably. Then, for all of eternity, through conversation, they make each other miserable. Sartre concludes, “Hell is other people.” It is not necessary for you to read Sartre or Goethe to answer this question. Merely, based on the above descriptions, analyze each view.

Different Views of Hell

CONCEPT BUILDER 20-B

Contrast this contemporary view of hell with Dante’s view of hell.

Component of Hell

Dante

Goethe

Sartre

God loves the world so much He sent His only begotten son. If people accept that Savior as Lord of their lives, they will avoid hell.

Human behavior is secondary to human intention.

God is basically absent from Sartre’s understanding of hell.

Mankind can choose to be saved, and go to heaven, or not.

Human striving, human intention, is vital, even if fate seems to mean that the individual will fail.

Man is the central player in Sartre’s world.

Notion of judgment

Mankind will spend eternity in heaven or in hell.

There is judgment, but it is based upon human effort, not on an extraneous spiritual source.

It is an irrelevant question — reality is limited to human choice.

Longevity of punishment

Judgment is eternal and irrevocable.

If there is a heaven, or hell, it is eternal.

This is an irrelevant category.

God’s participation

Man’s participation

165

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 165

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Style

•

Warm-up: From your reading of Canto III, identify some of this graphic imagery and explain how it enhances the effect of Dante’s work.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 20-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

An allegory is a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbol. There is allegory in The Divine Comedy. What does each character represent?

Allegory

CONCEPT BUILDER 20-C

Assignments

Character

Allegory

Virgil

Reason

Beatrice

Faith

Francesca

Lust

Farinata

Heresy

166

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 166

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Critics Corner Assignments •

Warm-up: Which critic do you find most persuasive?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 20-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Dante’s Nine Levels of Hell

CONCEPT BUILDER 20-D

Label’s Dante’s nine levels of hell.

Purgatory Lust Gluttony Hoarding Anger Heresy Violence Fraudulence Satan

167

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 167

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Allegory in The Divine Comedy

Form

CONCEPT BUILDER 20-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: What does the author say about Psalm 139?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 20-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 20 test.

The form of a literary work is the internal and external structure that an author employs to communicate his topic. Match each form with the label.

1. B 2. A 3. C

168

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 168

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. What sort of advantages does the first-person narrative technique offer Dante? SUMMARY: The reader feels more comfortable with a sinner who is talking about sin. Dante functions as a tour guide of the universal. This draws the reader into the maelstrom and encourages the reader to trust his narrator. B. Dante places himself in the story, an effective narrative technique for the storyline. At the same time, Dante meets several guides who lead him through his rendition of hell. Who are they, and why does Dante choose to tell his story this way? SUMMARY: One of the notable guides is the Roman writer Virgil. Virgil is the rationalist, the empiricist who guides Dante through hell. Another guide is the famous Beatrice. In Florence, Beatrice was a member of the Portinari family, a family wealthier and more socially prominent than Dante’s. Dante loved her, but she married someone else. Her marriage, to a man older and richer than Dante, was arranged for her. She died at age 24 in 1290. Dante tells the story of his Beatrice in an earlier poem, the “Vita Nuova.” When she reappears in The Divine Comedy, she is mother, maiden, muse, and saint. It is Beatrice who sends Virgil to help Dante find his way to heaven and to her. She doesn’t appear directly in the Inferno but will be his guide through heaven (in his later work Paradise) and to God. What Beatrice becomes for Dante is the inspiring saint of the church, the ideal of body and soul. The reader must not forget, though, that Beatrice is in hell. C. What would Dante have thought of the violence in our movies and television shows? Dante is graphically violent, but for the purpose of showing how repulsive man can become. Can we so clearly justify the extent of the violence in our entertainment? What purpose can we use to justify television violence? Write a persuasive essay arguing the position with which you disagree. SUMMARY: One opinion is that violence in current media is unnecessary and very harmful. There is no justification for its realistic depiction and for its extreme frequency in the media. Many studies have shown the far-reaching harm resulting from continued watching of such gratuitous violence.

CHAPTER 20 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Is The Divine Comedy an epic on the same scale as The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid? Or is it a theological treatise in the same vein as Confessions, by Augustine? ANSWER: The Divine Comedy is actually both. Virgil is on a pilgrimage, a quest (similar to Odysseus and Aenas), but he is also watching a great epic struggle (similar to Agamemnon in The Iliad). On the other hand, it is a decidedly theological statement about the universe and humanity’s place in it. It uses the backdrop of a journey motif to discuss sin and salvation.

169

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 169

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 21 (A.D. 500–1500):

Middle Ages (Part 2) First Thoughts Literary critic Erich Auerbach writes, “The Comedy, among other things, is a didactic poem of encyclopedic dimensions, in which the physico-cosmological, the ethical, the historical political order of the universe is collectively presented; it is, further, a literary work which imitates reality and in which all imaginable spheres of reality appear: past and present, sublime grandeur and vile vulgarity, history and legend, tragic and comic occurrences, man and nature; finally, it is the story of Dante’s — i.e., one single individual’s — life and salvation, and thus a figure of the story of mankind’s salvation in general."

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Write a definition paragraph on what hell is to Dante. Compare this view of hell to contemporary understandings of hell (e.g., "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre). 2. Contrast Dante’s cosmology with Scripture. 3. Evaluate the prayer lives of Hildegard von Bingen and Catherine of Siena. 4. Give examples of polarity in Dante’s writing. 5. Explain why New Age mystics find Hildegard von Bingen and Catherine of Siena so appealing.

170

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Poem of the Cid, Author Unknown, “May Heaven Serve as Plate for the Engraving” and “Yet if, for Singing your Praise” by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. History connections: World History chapter 21, “The Crusades.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 170

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Styles and Symbols

Polarities

CONCEPT BUILDER 21-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is your favorite symbol; an element or image that conveys meaning to you?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 21-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 21.

One feature of Dante’s vision of the universe is the concept of polarities: the universe is two extreme opposites, between which people were pulled (Barron's Notes, unpublished Aol.com). Match the polarities. 1. B 2. A 3. C 4. D

171

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 171

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Dante’s Hell

The Road to Heaven

CONCEPT BUILDER 21-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Draw your own version of hell.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 21-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Dante saw himself on a journey, a road to heaven. Nonetheless many do not follow the path to eternal life. Why?

1. The allure of sin.

2. Bad choices.

3. Satanic intervention.

172

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 172

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Hildegard von Bingen

Dante’s Satan

CONCEPT BUILDER 21-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: Describe a godly person who inspires you by his/her prayer life.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 21-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

In Dante’s Inferno, Satan is portrayed as a giant beast, frozen mid-breast in ice at the center of hell. Satan has three heads, and affixed under each chin are pairs of bat-like wings. As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that continues to freeze the ice surrounding him, and the other sinners in the Ninth Circle. The winds he creates are felt throughout the other circles of hell. Each of his three mouths chew on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. Draw a picture of Dante’s Satan.

Images will vary.

173

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 173

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Catherine of Siena

Understanding Allusions

CONCEPT BUILDER 21-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: Describe your prayer life.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 21-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Dante writes an entire literary piece that assumes a certain biblical knowledge base. Dante assumes his readers bring certain presumptions to their reading of his Inferno. Assuming an audience has certain knowledge is a form of allusion. This often happens in literature. Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America,” refers to another poem, written 50 years before, “I Hear America Singing,” by Walt Whitman.

Hughes

Whitman

Title

I, too, Sing America.

I Hear America Singing

Form

Poetry

A longer poem

Topic

African-American people

American people

Mood

Sad and tentative but somewhat hopeful.

Hopeful

I hear America singing

I hear America singing

Repetition

174

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 174

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Dante’s World Assignments •

Warm-up: Summarize this essay in 50 words.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 21-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 21 test.

Dante’s Guides

CONCEPT BUILDER 21-E

What does each guide represent?

Virgil

Beatrice

Rationality

Virtue

Scholarship

Revelation

175

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 175

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Both these women were intensely committed to prayer and its affect on the world. Hildegard von Bingen was taught theology by an anchor (a recluse who devotes himself/herself entirely to worshiping God). Catherine of Siena spent weeks at a time alone and in constant prayer to God. However, in spite of their fervency they were criticized by some Christians. Speculate upon what the criticisms might have been. SUMMARY: They were accused of being “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” Critics said that the ladies were too busy contemplating on God to do anything with what they learned. Yet, both von Bingen and Catherine were great humanitarians — Catherine was in the Dominican order and ministered to the poor. There is always a tension in the Christian life between contemplation and praxis. Healthy Christians practice both. B. One feature of Dante’s vision of the universe was the concept of polarities: two extreme opposites between which people were pulled. For example, Dante saw mankind living in a monumental dualistic struggle between God and Satan. In an explanatory essay, give other examples of polarity in Dante’s writing. SUMMARY: There was a power struggle between the church and state, represented by the pope and the German emperor, part of the political struggles occurring in Dante’s Italy. There was also a struggle for intellectual authority between theology (the study of religion and the Bible) and philosophy (which included science and mathematics). This struggle continues today. C. Both Hildegard von Bingen and Catherine of Siena are very popular among New Age mystics/exitentialists today. Why is this ironical? And why do New Age mystics/existentialists find these two women so appealing? SUMMARY: Both women had intensely personal and vital relationships with God. This is very appealing to people who are seeking a “higher power.” Ironically, both women were orthodox (meaning confessionally mainstream). Roman Catholic Christians would be horrified that New Age mystics/existentialists are attracted to the poetry/writings of these two women.

CHAPTER 21 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points)

In a three-page essay, write a contemporary version of The Divine Comedy (Inferno). ANSWER: Answers will vary, but certainly the student should employ a journey motif.

176

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 176

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 22

(A.D. 500–1500)

Middle Ages (Part 3) First Thoughts The Poema del Cid (Hero’s Song) was written by an unknown Castilian Spaniard around A.D. 1140. It is the only great medieval epic surviving in its original form and is considered Spain’s great national epic. It tells the exploits of Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, who was named the Cid (hero) by both his followers and his enemies. Invincible in battle, the Cid checked and then drove out the Moors (Islamic peoples) who invaded Spanish shores. The Cid embodied the best of Spanish culture: valor, self-control, dignity, piety, patriotism, magnanimity, and honor. He was a man of relatively humble origins; he triumphed over the Moors and the arrogant members of the Spanish nobility by force and by law. In advance of his time, the Cid conceived of a nation where warring principalities would be brought together in tolerance and unity.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Identify the structure Poema del Cid (Song of the Cid) employs. 2. State the purposes of the villains Fernando Gonzalez and Gonzlo Ansurez. 3. Identify the themes of “Yet if, for Singing your Praise” and “May Heaven Serve as Plate for the Engraving” by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz. 4. Evaluate if Roland’s death is necessary to the overall purpose of the epic poem. 5. Analyze the necessity of “holy wars.” 6. Contrast this most heroic of Spanish heroes, the Cid, with Homer’s Agamemnon. 7. Read Don Quixote and compare and contrast it with Poema del Cid.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

177

Reading ahead: Faust (I ) by Goethe. History connections: World History chapter 22, “Age of Discovery.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 177

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Poema del Cid Author Unknown

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 22-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: What role does valor and honor play in Poema del Cid?

•

Student should complete Concept Builder 22-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 22.

Read this excerpt from The Lay of the Cid (Canto 1) “The Banishment of the Cid,” and respond to the following:

1

In his moment of grief, to whom does the Cid turn? The Cid is a religious, honorable knight. Knights turn to their God to vindicate them. There is no hint of rancor or malfeasance.

2

Why is the Cid still hopeful? He believes that he will yet be vindicated.

3

What is the purpose of the townsmen? In medieval romances, the townsmen or town people are a way for the author to evoke sympathy from his readers.

178

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 178

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz

Structure

CONCEPT BUILDER 22-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Write a poem glorifying God.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 22-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

What structure does the author of Poema del Cid (Song of the Cid) employ? In your answer, give a one-sentence summary of what is in each canto.

There are 3,735 lines of uneven length in three cantos (or divisions) which relate in succession the biographical sketch of the Cid’s life. Canto I is called Cantar del Destierro (Song of Exile) and it relates the story from the exile of Cid until the conquest of Valencia. Canto II is Cantar de las Bodas (Song of the Weddings) that recounts the weddings of his daughters with the princes of Carrion. La afrenta de corpes (The Offence of the Bodies) that recounts the humiliation of his daughters at the hands of their husbands, and Cid´s subsequent revenge.

179

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 179

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

The Song of Roland Turoldus (?)

Structure

CONCEPT BUILDER 22-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: How does Oliver function in this poem?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 22-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

El Cid is developed by at least two antagonists (villains). Who?

Gonzalez and Ansurez — they are classic antagonists used by the author to develop his hero.

180

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 180

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruzs Assignments •

Warm-up: Was de la Cruzs a feminist or an intensely religious poet or both?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 22-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Epic Hero

CONCEPT BUILDER 22-D

In what way is Samson an epic hero, too?

Samson is born under unique, extraordinary conditions.

Vindicates himself at the end of his life

Samson Epic Hero

The hero encounters women as temptresses who threaten his completion of his task

Succumbs to temptation and is apparently made helpless

181

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 181

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay:

The Song of Roland Assignments •

Warm-up: Why must Roland die?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 22-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 22 test.

Themes

CONCEPT BUILDER 22-E

What are the themes of “May Heaven Serve as Plate for the Engraving” and “Yet if, for Singing Your Praise,” by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz? One theme is provided. Offer two more (there are several possible answers).

Reality vs. Illusion

Art and Religion

Humanism vs. Spiritual Man

Themes

http://www.latin-american.cam.ac.uk/SorJuana/SorJuana4.htm/. http://www.latin-american.cam.ac.uk/SorJuana/SorJuana3.htm.

182

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 182

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Identify the themes of “Yet if, for Singing Your Praise” and “May Heaven Serve as Plate for the Engraving” by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz. SUMMARY: A central thematic concern of much of Sor Juana’s poetry concerns the role of art in exploring the boundaries between illusion and reality, dream and waking. Often the reader senses that the poet is speaking to no one in particular, but to everyone in general. “Lysis” probably comes from Plato’s essay "Lysis," which concerns friendship. Through the rich use of metaphors, her poetry pushes the boundary between illusion and reality. In “Yet if, for Singing Your Praise” the poet is celebrating and giving God the credit for the spoken and written word. B. Contrast this most heroic of Spanish heroes, the Cid, with Homer’s Agamemnon. SUMMARY: The Cid is far more concerned about honor and his reputation than Agamemnon, who was a great warrior but certainly unscrupulous. The chivalric Spanish culture demanded such a hero — and this hero exhibited not only great passion in war but also in loss and in love. “Tears stood in the eyes of the Cid as he looked at his pillaged castle. The coffers were empty, even the falcons were gone from their perches. ‘Cruel wrong do I suffer from mine enemy!’ He exclaimed as they rode into Burgos. ‘Alvar Fanez, of a truth we are banished men’ ” (The Song of the Cid). Can the reader imagine Agamemnon weeping (except in anger)? C. Cervantes, in his book Don Quixote, writing several hundred years after Poema del Cid, criticizes the Cid hero-type. Read Don Quixote and compare and contrast it with Poema del Cid . SUMMARY: Don Quixote was a worn-out, older Spanish gentleman who set off on a great imagined quest to win honor and glory in the name of his imaginary damsel in distress, Dulcinea. Don Quixote represented Cervantes’ satire of the 16th-century Spanish aristocracy. Don Quixote longed for a world that did not exist — a world of beauty and achievement. He naively sought to bring order into this Renaissance world by Middle Age chivalry. However, Quixote, nearly blind figuratively and literally, despite his best intentions harmed everyone around him. As the novel progresses, Don Quixote, with the help of his modern, loyal squire Sancho, who is able to see things as they are, slowly distinguishes between reality and the pictures in his head. Even though he ceases to attack windmills, he never loses his conviction that fair Dulcinea is his salvation from all heartache.

CHAPTER 22 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points)

What American epic stories (perhaps poems) exist that capture our own national pride? Compare them to the Poema del Cid and other epics you have read. ANSWER: There are many. The story of Washington crossing the Delaware and the fall of the Alamo are two. The stories may be apocryphal (i.e., have truth and fiction) but that is irrelevant. What is more important is the values represented by these stories. The American hero is generally a lonely, moral, energetic figure fighting against overwhelming odds.

183

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 183

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 23 (1800–1890):

Romanticism (Part 1) First Thoughts Faust is a very

learned professor who is dissatisfied with human knowledge, which by its nature is limited. Using magic, he conjures up the Earth Spirit in his darkened study. Regarding himself as more than mortal, he tries to claim the Earth Spirit as a colleague, but the Spirit rejects him scornfully and disappears. Despairing, Faust contemplates suicide. He is saved by the sound of the bells welcoming Easter morning. He and his research assistant, Wagner, go out into the sunlight and enjoy the greetings of the crowd, which remembers the medical attention given to the people by Faust and his father. Faust is still depressed, denying the value of medicine and feeling torn between the two souls in him, one longing for earthly pleasures, the other seeking the highest spiritual knowledge. A dog follows Faust and Wagner home. The dog, of course, is Mephistopheles! The overall theme of this work is the struggle mankind undertakes to overcome evil and to discriminate between good and evil.

184

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss in detail the characters whom Goethe introduces in his work. 2. Two disturbing themes of Goethe’s Faust are that salvation comes intuitively in the natural world and that God is, after all, a weak reflection of the deity. Discuss how Goethe develops these themes and why they are biblically inaccurate. 3. Write a report on the rise of romanticism and its effect on Western literature.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Faust (II) by Goethe.

History connections: World History chapter 21, “The Crusades.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 184

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Assignments •

Warm-up: Discuss the impact of Goethe’s early life on his later romanticism.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 23-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 23.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 23-A

Read this excerpt from Faust (part 1) by Goethe, and respond to the following:

1

What are the academic disciplines that have failed Faust? The university and the church.

2

What does this statement mean? Goethe is cynically proclaiming that scholarship will not provide real knowledge.

3

Apparently Dr. Faust has abandoned Judeo-Christian morality as a legitimate frame of reference. Explain. Clearly, Faust does not fear God — clear evidence that he has abandoned his faith.

4

Where, then, will Faust find his fulfillment? In the human will, in human striving.

185

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 185

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Faust Legend Assignments •

Warm-up: Goethe’s God has complete confidence in Faust’s good sense and gives His permission for Mephistopheles to tempt Faust in order to keep Faust on his toes. Goethe obviously did not write a Christian cautionary tale. What, then, is it?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 23-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

186

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 186

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Romanticism

CONCEPT BUILDER 23-B

Romanticism, the worldview, captured a generation of Western thinkers, authors, and artists. These included Emerson, Thoreau, Wordsworth, Beethoven, and, of course, Goethe. Find examples of romanticism in Faust.

Characteristic

Example from Faust

The Imagination was elevated to a position as the supreme faculty of the mind. This contrasted distinctly with the traditional arguments for the supremacy of reason. The romantics tended to define and to present the imagination as our ultimate “shaping” or creative power, the approximate human equivalent of the creative powers of nature or even deity. It is dynamic, an active rather than passive power, with many functions. Imagination is the primary faculty for creating all art.

Early in the poem, Faust rejects theology, education, and other objective evidences of reality. He embraces the imagination as the primary faculty for creating all art. . .

Nature meant many things to the romantics. It was often presented as itself a work of art, constructed by a divine imagination, in emblematic language. Romantic nature poetry is essentially a poetry of meditation.

A good man in his darkling aspiration Remembers the right road throughout his quest.

Symbolism and myth were given great prominence in the romantic conception of art. In the romantic view, symbols were the human aesthetic correlatives of nature’s emblematic language. They were valued too because they could simultaneously suggest many things, and were thus thought superior to the one-to-one communications of allegory (as one finds in Dante’s Divine Comedy).

What is unspeakable: To yield oneself entirely and feel A rapture which must be eternal. Eternal! For its end would be despair. No, no end! No end! (lines 118–122)

Intuition and subjectivity: The imagination was accompanied by greater emphasis on the importance of intuition, instincts, and feelings, and romantics generally called for greater attention to the emotions as a necessary supplement to purely logical reason.

Two souls, alas, are dwelling in my breast, And one is striving to forsake its brother. Unto the world in grossly loving zest, With clinging tendrils, one adheres; The other rises forcibly in quest Of rarefied ancestral spheres. (lines 305–310)

Individualism: The Romantic Hero The romantics asserted the importance of the individual, the unique, even the eccentric.

If ever I recline, calmed, on a bed of sloth, You may destroy me then and there, If ever flattering you should wile me That in myself I find delight, If with enjoyment you beguile me, Then break on me, eternal night! This bet I offer. (lines 162–168).

187

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 187

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Romanticism Assignments •

Warm-up: The music of Beethoven sought to capture the humanism of Goethe. Listen to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, explore the life and work of Beethoven, and analyze his music in light of the contemporary Goethe’s works. What vision are they advancing?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 23-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

188

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 188

11/14/12 3:13 PM

A Cautionary Tale

CONCEPT BUILDER 23-C

A cautionary tale is a warning to its hearer of a danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, there is a warning; some act is said to be dangerous. Then, the protagonist ignores the warning and performs the forbidden act. Finally, the violator comes to an unpleasant fate. This pattern, however, is broken in Goethe’s Faust. How?

Faust’s ending: The warning is ignored

Faust is allowed to go to Heaven

A warning

189

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 189

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Sturm und Drang Assignments •

Warm-up: Subjectivity is well and good, but what happens when one builds an ethical system on feelings and subjectivity?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 23-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow. Discuss the following foils in Faust and show how Goethe uses them to develop his main character.

Epic Hero

CONCEPT BUILDER 23-D

God To Goethe, God is a weak, whimsical, almost comical character.

Gretchen represents tired, hypcritical religion

Faust

Mephistopheles The Devil entices Faust to sin

Helen represents corrupted knowledge and antiquated classical thought

190

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 190

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: The Faust Legend Assignments •

Warm-up: What temptations do you see leading people away from God?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 23-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 23 test.

The Conclusion

CONCEPT BUILDER 23-E

Create a Christian ending to Faust.

Celebration of the emotions

Celebration of the self

Beauty defined separate from God

Morality separate from faith

Leads to eternal damnation (without faith in Christ)

191

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 191

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Discuss in detail the characters whom Goethe introduces in his work. SUMMARY: Faust: While Faust has clearly recognizable human characteristics, he is larger than life. He represents the best and the worst in man, and in many ways he is a symbol of all humanity — at least the way Goethe sees him. Faust is the vehicle that the romantic Goethe uses to create his theory of human will and ethics. Mephistopheles: One critic argues that Mephistopheles, the devil, is more human than Faust. Mephistopheles is a cynic and is profane. He calls God an “old gent.” He is the rationalist, the intellectual — the avowed enemy of romanticism. It is a sad commentary on Christianity that it was not perceived as great a risk as rationalism! Gretchen: Margarete, or Gretchen, is an innocent, modest girl, who lives at home and helps her mother. She is a typical romantic character — the reader sees a character like her in every romantic novel. She knows right from wrong and has an innocent religious faith of the kind ridiculed by romantic writers. She represents the naive, simple, faithful Christian servant we all hope we are. Wagner: Wagner is called Faust’s “famulus,” a combination of servant and research assistant who lives and studies close to Faust, his mentor. He is the quintessential foil. B. Two disturbing themes of Goethe’s Faust are that salvation comes intuitively in the natural world and that God is, after all, a weak reflection of the deity. Discuss how Goethe develops these themes and why they are biblically inaccurate. SUMMARY: Goethe believes that one can escape the consequences of sin by intuition — not by a commitment to Christ as Savior. This is an ominous beginning to a post-Reformation turn of events that contributed to the anti-biblical, anti-Christianity trouble we have today. C. Write a report on the rise of romanticism and its effect on Western literature. SUMMARY: Romanticism is an attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late-18th to the mid-19th century. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified classicism in general and late-18th century neoclassicism in particular. It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.

CHAPTER 23 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points)

Create a Christian ending to Faust. ANSWER: Since Faust never repents of his sins nor commits his life to Christ, Faust would spend eternity in hell.

192

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 192

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 24

(1800–1890)

Romanticism (Part 2) First Thoughts Where is Dante

when we need him? Faust is indeed a tragedy, but neither Goethe or Faust know it. The tragedy is that this romantic tale lacks a tragic ending. We Christians earnestly, fervently hope that it does. The notion that there is no moral universe with no consequences, no cause and effect, invites inevitable chaos and nihilism that is so much a part of our postmodern world. Faust’s yearning for experience and knowledge created a type for the modern (1900–1990) and postmodern (1990–present) ages still known as the Faustian hero, though in reality Goethe’s Faust is more a villain than a hero; and the purported villain — Mephistopheles — is one of the most likable characters in the play. His yearnings draw him toward the heavens, yet he is also powerfully attracted to the physical world. Ultimately, the tragedy of Goethe’s tragedy, is that mankind cannot have his cake and eat it, too: we cannot reject Christ as Savior and suppose that we will spend eternity in his presence. The fact that Goethe thinks otherwise is remarkable in its presumptuousness.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Write an analysis of the plot and identify the climax of Faust. 2. Rosetti is poking fun at a famous American romantic poem. What poem is it and discuss how she attacks its central theme. 3. Compare and contrast Faust with the Book of Job. 4. Discuss how the following themes are developed: life is both comic and tragic in romanticism.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

193

Reading ahead: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. History connections: World History chapter 24, “The Reformation.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 193

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Student Essay Assignments •

Warm-up: What was the thesis of this essay?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 24-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 24. Compare and contrast the biblical Book of Job to Goethe’s Faust.

Comparison/Contrast

CONCEPT BUILDER 24-A

Job

Faust

Role of God — Uncompromising

Role of God — Weak

Job submits to God

Faust whines and connives his way out of trouble

Christian theism

Romanticism



194

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 194

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Poetry Goethe Assignments •

Warm-up: What evidences of romanticism do you see in Goethe’s poetry?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 24-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay. A theme is a precise statement of the meaning of a literary work. There are at least three themes in Faust. Discuss how they are developed.

Fate

Themes

CONCEPT BUILDER 24-B

Faust defies fate by taking his future into his own hands. This could not happen in a Homeric epic.

Themes

Volition Human will is inviolate. Nothing is more important.

Justice Justice is related to human motivation and intent; it is not something extraneous to human experience.

195

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 195

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Student Essay: Plot Analysis of Faust Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the climax in Faust?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 24-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft. Analyze the plot.

Denouement

Climax

The climax occurs late in the second book when Faust dies

Plot

CONCEPT BUILDER 24-C

Faust is allowed to go to heaven

Rising Action Faust makes an agreement with the devil. He betrays Gretchen and journeys to the underworld to see Helen.

196

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 196

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Faust & Job Assignments •

Warm-up: How do you prepare your heart and mind to overcome temptation?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 24-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

CONCEPT BUILDER 24-D

The Faustian Spirit vs. Christian Salvation

The Faustian spirit refers to the restless striving for knowledge and power. It cannot stop. It is human to strive ever upward and, unfortunately, often to make mistakes in the process. The problem is, Faust goes too far. One cannot find ultimate fulfillment in human action, however laudable. Something else must happen. Contrast this with the Christian view of salvation.

The Faustian life: one strives for meaning. In the “struggle” there is salvation.

Christian salvation Salvation is a free gift from God.

197

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 197

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Christina Georgina Rosetti

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is modern about Rosetti’s writings?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 24-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 24 test.

198

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 198

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Christina Rosetti (1830–1894) was one of the most gifted and certainly most modern poets in substance and style of the Victorian Age. An English woman, Rosetti nevertheless defied all literary conventions embraced by the Victorian Age. For one thing, she poked fun at the romantics (e.g., Goethe). Below is a poem by Rosetti where she is poking fun at Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Draw lines between the similar sections.

CONCEPT BUILDER 24-E

Making Fun of the Romantics

The Raven (excerpts) Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door — Only this, and nothing more.” “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore — Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.” “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked upstarting — “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.” And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted — nevermore! http://www.poetry-archive.com/r/rossetti_christina.html. www.poestories.com.

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 199

There Is a Budding Morrow in the Midnight

A robin said A rosebush said Never stir Never stir Half Moon Ocean Springtime came Red Robin built And thrilled Rose Moon Ocean Thirsted Evermore. It came to pass Upon that day When May was young Ah pleasant May! All Sweet things pass away Leave me cold And old and gray Alas! You love me better cold Like frozen pyramids of old Unyieldingly?

199

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Write an analysis of the plot and identify the climax of the work. SUMMARY: Faust is a verse drama in two parts. Part I has 3 preliminary sections (Dedication, Prelude in the Theater, and Prologue in Heaven) and 25 scenes, each with a name, usually describing the setting. Part II, like many conventional plays, is divided into five acts, and each act contains scenes with descriptive names. The total length of Faust I and II is 12,110 lines of poetry. It would take some 20 hours for the uncut play to be performed. Because the play does not have the usual act and scene structure throughout, the lines are numbered consecutively from beginning to end, like those in a poem. Notice the climax when Faust escapes the consequences of his sin and escapes to heaven — in reality it certainly does not work that way. B. Rosetti is poking fun at a famous American romantic poem. What poem is it and discuss how she attacks its central theme? SUMMARY: Rossetti is satirizing “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. In “The Raven,” Poe is quite melancholy as he considers the death of his wife. “It came upon a midnight dreary.” Rossetti, though, says “It came to pass/ Upon that day/ When May was young/ Ah pleasant May!” Her motif is stronger and is saying, “What is your point? Stop whining.” “All Sweet things pass away/ Leave me cold and old and gray/ Alas! You love me better cold/ Like frozen pyramids of old/ Unyieldingly?” Poe says, “Nevermore, Nevermore” as a recurring refrain. Rosetti retorts, “A rosebud said/ never stir/ never stir.” Rossetti can be quite vitriolic in her poetry. In “O Lady Moon,” she writes, “Why must the sea moan evermore?/ Because you loved me,dear/ You turn your back on me./ Have you forgotten one Summer night?/ Have you forgotten how you praised both light?/ But what? Have you forgotten all?/ Ah how is it then/ I forget nothing/ Cobwebs Unbroken miles No ripple/ No shift Stagnant space/ Loveless land Loveless sea/ Evermore.” Again, in this poem, Rossetti uses romantic (in the literary sense) imagery to develop profound thoughts — usually bitter thoughts. In this case she is attacking her unfaithful suitor. C. Compare and contrast Faust with the Book of Job. SUMMARY: God does permit the devil to test Job, but Job overcomes the wily devil by humble faith — not by his cleverness.

CHAPTER 24 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points)

Write a modern Faustian story based upon a contemporary figure. ANSWER: Answers will vary.

200

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 200

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 25

(1800–1890)

Realism (Part 1) First Thoughts Count Leo (Lev)

Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born to an aristocratic Russian family on September 9, 1828. At the age of 23, Tolstoy joined the Russian Army and fought in the Crimean War. Tolstoy returned to his family’s estate in 1861 and married in 1862. He devoted the next 15 years to managing the estate and writing his two major works, War and Peace (1865) and Anna Karenina (1875). During his later years, Tolstoy grew increasingly disenchanted with the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church and gradually formulated for himself a new Christian ideal, the central creed of which involved non-resistance to evil. His new faith was a sort of Pentecostal Holiness. Many think that it was during this period in Tolstoy’s life that he committed his life to Christ. He continued to write voluminously, including the novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) and the novels The Kreutzer Sonata (1891) and Resurrection (1899). In 1910, still unable to reconcile his life as an aristocrat with the simpler existence he craved, he abandoned his estate. He soon fell ill and was found dead on a cot in a railway station. He was buried on his estate at Yasnaya Pulyana.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss distinctive elements and decide how War and Peace measures up in each category. 2. Describe how the following characters change: Prince Andrew, Pierre, Natasha, and Nicholas. 3. Analyze the modern literary techniques developed by the Russian poet Tsvetaeva. 4. Discuss biblical parallels (e.g., the Prodigal Son). 5. Explore the history surrounding Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and compare and contrast British, American, and Russian impressions of this important era. 6. Evaluate if Leo Tolstoy was a born-again Christian or not.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

201

Reading ahead: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. History connections: World History chapter 25, “The French Revolution.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 201

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

War and Peace Leo Tolstoy

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 25-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Discuss Prince Andrew’s spiritual journey in War and Peace and speculate as to whether or not he ever commits his life to Jesus Christ.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 25-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 25.

Read this excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and respond to the following:

1

Tolstoy uses dialogue to develop characters. How? As the characters discuss the political situation facing Russia in the first part of the 19th century, readers understand the earnest challenge ahead of Russia.

2

Tolstoy is poking fun at the wealthy of St. Petersburg. How? Clearly Tolstoy considers them to be shallow.

3

What sort of person is Anna Pavlovna? A surprisingly intelligent, if scatterbrained, woman.

202

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 202

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Anarchy Assignments •

Warm-up: In what ways does anarchy violate Scripture?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 25-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Character Development

CONCEPT BUILDER 25-B

Describe how the following characters change: Prince Andrew, Pierre, Natasha, and Nicholas.

Prince Andrew

Natasha

Pierre

Nicholas

Narcissist

Awkward

Spoiled

Shy

Selfish & Forgiving

Confident

Mature

Confident

How have my family members changed? Answers will vary.

203

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 203

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy Assignments •

Warm-up: What vision of life and death does Tolstoy present in the following short story?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 25-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

Natasha

Prodigal

Theme

CONCEPT BUILDER 25-C

A central theme of War and Peace is the forgiveness that Prince Andrew expresses to Natasha. Yet this hardly compensates for the heartache that Natasha brings on her family and friends. Discuss biblical parallels (e.g., the prodigal son).

Makes bad choices.

Leaves home and squanders his inheritance

Repents and is forgiven

Repents and is forgiven

204

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 204

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Marina Ivanova Tsvetaeva

Christian Theism

CONCEPT BUILDER 25-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: Tsvetaeva found herself in a world that did not appreciate poetry (e.g., Bolshevik Russia). How do you suppose this affected Tsvetaeva and her desire to write?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 25-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Leo Tolstoy advances a Christian theistic vision. A Christian theist argues that the Bible is the only reliable and inerrant revelation of who God is and how mankind should relate to this God. In that sense, Christian theism insists that salvation for mankind must come through a faithful and sincere commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In Goethe’s Faust the main character is saved via a more existential experience. Compare and contrast the worldviews of Tolstoy and Goethe.

Goethe

Tolstoy

Self-centered, driven by feelings

Characters take responsibility for their actions

205

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 205

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay

•

Warm-up: What is the thesis of this essay?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 25-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 25 test. Some scholars feel that both Pierre and Prince Andrew represent Leo Tolstoy himself. If that is so, then Prince Andrew’s spiritual journey represents Tolstoy’s own journey. As Prince Andrew struggles with his war wound, he says, “There is nothing certain, nothing at all except the unimportance of everything I understand, and the greatness of something incomprehensible but all-important” (Book Three, chapter 13). What is Prince Andrew’s spiritual journey in War and Peace? There are several acceptable answers. Does he ever commit his life to Jesus Christ?

CONCEPT BUILDER 25-E

Prince Andrew’s Spiritual Journey

Assignments

Forgiveness Not Defensive

Unconditional Love

Salvation?

206

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 206

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. A successful work of literature usually requires a highly credible plot, a well-developed set of characters, a believable setting, and at least one significant theme. Evaluate War and Peace using these criteria. SUMMARY: The characters are well-developed and credible. The setting is completely appropriate and well-presented. There are several themes: forgiveness, the growth of a metaphysical vision, perseverance of the righteous. B. A central theme of War and Peace is the forgiveness that Prince Andrew expresses to Natasha. Yet this hardly compensates for the heartache that Natasha brings on her family and friends. Discuss biblical parallels (e.g., the prodigal son). SUMMARY: Like the young man who runs away only to understand the foolishness of his actions, Natasha returns to her community and to her God. In a sense, through Pierre, she returns to the man she loves and who loves her. At the end of his life, Andrew graciously forgives her. C. At its core War and Peace is historical fiction. It is about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Tolstoy had strong, mostly negative, feelings about Napoleon that were not shared by many European or American writers/historians. Explore the history surrounding Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and compare and contrast British, American, and Russian impressions of this important era. SUMMARY: Most Americans and many British historians embraced the romanticism of Napoleon. They celebrated the French Revolution and its ideas about liberty, equality, and fraternity. Napoleon was admired for his innovative military tactics and his courageous stand against European aristocracies. Tolstoy, on the other hand, had no problems with the Russian aristocracy and did not wish to make any social statement along that line. He was struggling with the Eastern Orthodox Church, however. Napoleon was understood as a military conqueror and despot in his own right. Also, the romanticism and revolutionary ideas of Napoleon — that were so warmly embraced by the German Goethe — are a real threat to Tolstoy’s Christian theism.

CHAPTER 25 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) It is difficult to ascertain the main theme of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. At the end of his life, he said that he only meant to amuse his readers. Earlier in his life, Tolstoy said that his book was about the wanderings of people. Present your thoughts and deductions on what the theme(s) is/are. ANSWER: The novel’s primary characters are Natasha and Pierre — both of whom experience redemption and forgivingness. One opinion is that this is the primary theme of the novel.

207

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 207

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 26

(1800–1890)

Realism (Part 2) First Thoughts Fyodor Dostoevsky was a brilliant 19th-century Russian novelist. Rejecting the impulses of romanticism and naturalism, Dostoevsky tenaciously held to a theistic worldview. As the protagonist Raskolnikov discovers, no one is above the law of God. Man may escape man’s law, but he cannot escape God’s law. Dostoevsky is one of the most personable writers who ever lived. He invites the reader into the most personal and empathic parts of our existence.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . .

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, a poor, desperate St. Petersburg college student plans the perfect murder of an old, hateful pawnbroker whom no one will miss. He plans and then executes the perfect murder. However, it turns out not to be so simple. The young man’s conscience will not let him go. His conscience, coupled with a profound conversion experience, forces this young man to face evil squarely in the face. On the surface, Crime and Punishment takes the reader on a path into the dark criminal mind of a man who is possessed by both good and evil.

208

1. Discuss how Dostoevsky develops him and how he shows Raskolnikov growth as a character. 2. Discuss how Dostoevsky uses dreams in Crime and Punishment. 3. Discuss the narrative point of view in Crime and Punishment. 4. Discuss why it is ironic that Marmeladov — not Sonya — introduces the Christian faith to this novel. 5. Find biblical themes in Crime and Punishment and discuss how Dostoevsky develops them. 6. Delineate what biblical characters were effective for the Kingdom in the midst of their suffering and weakness.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Read short stories by Anton Chekhov. History connections: World History chapter 26, “Nationalism.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 208

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare and contrast the events as they unfold in Crime and Punishment with Dostoevsky’s own life.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 26-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 26.

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 26-A

Read this excerpt from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and respond to the following:

1

The author avoids telling the reader the name of his protagonist until well into the story. Why? Dostoevsky frequently uses stream of consciousness and dreams to reveal the state of mind of his characters as well as to advance the plot of his books.

2

The author employs limited omniscient narration where he tells the story from one perspective. What advantages and disadvantages does this offer the author? This allows the reader to identify with one character. This is an advantage in this novel, where the story is primarily about the spiritual, mental journey of one particular character. It is a disadvantage in novels where there are multiple episodes with multiple characters to develop.

3

What is the setting and does that have an important impact on the plot? The setting is important as it affects the characters. In this case, the setting makes Raskolnikov feel trapped and is important. The novel, though, is very much about the interior life of one man. It feels as if it moves from one stream of consciousness passage to another.

209

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 209

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Friedrich Nietzsche

Character Development

CONCEPT BUILDER 26-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Respond to Nietzsche’s view of Christianity as presented in Human, all too Human.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 26-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Raskolnikov is a remarkable character in Western literature. Circle the words that describe him at the beginning of the novel and check the words that describe him at the end of the novel.

Beginning: CHOLERIC; Ending: SANGUINE.

210

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 210

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Hegel’s Superman

•

 arm-up: Dostoevsky attacks the Hegelian idea of a superman. Give a report on the W philosopher Hegel and tell why Dostoevsky finds Hegel’s views so objectionable.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 26-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

Discuss the important foil Sonya Marmeladov. Why is Raskolnikov attracted to her? How does she change him? New Raskolnikov

Sonya

CONCEPT BUILDER 26-C

Assignments

Strong. Vigorous. Peaceful. (Is this the answer to all three?)

211

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 211

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Dostoevsky and Hegel

Svidrigailov

CONCEPT BUILDER 26-D

Assignments •

Warm-up: Contrast the relationship of Svidrigailov / Dunya and Raskolnikov / Sonya.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 26-D.

•

Student will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Does Svidrigailov change? Circle the words that describe him at the beginning of the novel and check the words that describe him at the end of the novel.

Beginning: MELANCHOLIC/CHOLERIC; Ending: PHLEGMATIC.

212

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 212

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Sonya

Petrovich

CONCEPT BUILDER 26-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Discuss the important foil Sonya Marmeladov. Why is Raskolnikov attracted to her?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 26-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 26 test.

Does Petrovich change? Circle the words that describe him at the beginning of the novel and check the words that describe him at the end of the novel.

Beginning: SANGUINE; Ending: PHLEGMATIC.

213

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 213

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Discuss the narrative point of view in Crime and Punishment. SUMMARY: Dostoevsky uses an omniscient narrator, a nameless voice who truthfully reports to the reader everything that the characters do and say and also what they think. Most of the time the narrator keeps his opinions to himself, simply revealing the thoughts and actions of Raskolnikov and the others. There’s a lot of dialogue (when two or more characters talk together) and interior monologue (when a character’s thoughts are expressed as if they were spoken). The narrator makes no comment about these ideas either. B. Find biblical themes in Crime and Punishment and discuss how Dostoevsky develops them. Hint: forgiveness, judgment, confession, etc. SUMMARY: Sonya leads Raskolnikov to forgiveness. Raskolnikov’s conscience leads him to repentance. Confession is the key to both. C. While virtually no theistic novel was written in America after Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, during the same period, theistic literature was dominating Russian literature. Why? SUMMARY: By the middle of the 19th century, naturalism and realism had won cultural hegemony in America. Literary giants like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky kept theism alive in Russia.

CHAPTER 26 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Discuss why Svidrigailov commits suicide. ANSWER: Svidrigailov is a pitiful figure. On one hand, he cannot maintain the brutishness he wanted to maintain and, on the other hand, he cannot embrace the wholeness and life that Raskolnikov found. Therefore, he found life to be intolerable. Svidrigailov is manifestly the “lukewarm” believer who is neither hot nor cold. He cannot be really bad or really good, so he self-destructs. Using a secular paradigm, he would be the cold realist, modernist, who cannot accept that people are changed by anything other than the environment. So Raskolnikov’s change in heart “does not compute” and this causes him to go mad. Question: Evaluate the following assessment of Dostoevsky: Dostoevsky is a unique writer in many ways. One way he is unique is that he writes in a realistic form with a Christian theistic worldview. ANSWER: Readers should observe that both the protagonist in this novel and the foil Sonia are Christian theists. They are the most admired characters in the novel.

214

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 214

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 27 (1800–1890):

Realism (Part 3) First Thoughts Anton Pavlovich

Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian physician and a writer of short stories and plays. Only the American Edgar Allan Poe could rival Chekhov’s ability to write short stories. We will be reading some of his best. At the same time, Chekhov was a great playwright. Most of his great plays are still performed, such as “The Sea Gull” (1896), “The Three Sisters” (1901), and “The Cherry Orchard” (1904). Chekhov died July 2, 1904, in Germany, of pulmonary tuberculosis. The great Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov wrote, “What really attracted the Russian reader was that in Chekhov’s heroes he recognized . . . the Russian idealist . . . a man who combined the deepest human decency of which man is capable with an almost ridiculous inability to put his ideals and principles into action; a man devoted to moral beauty, the welfare of his people, the welfare of the universe, but unable in his private life to do anything useful; frittering away his provincial existence in a haze of utopian dreams; knowing exactly what is good, what is worthwhile living for, but at the same time sinking lower and lower in the mud of a humdrum existence, unhappy in love, hopelessly inefficient in everything — a good man who cannot make good. This is the character that passes — in the

guise of a doctor, a student, a village teacher, many other professional people — all through Chekhov’s stories” (Vladimir Nabokov, “Vladimir Nabokov on Chekhov,” Atlantic Magazine, August 1981).

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Read the following short stories very carefully and complete a short story checkup (appendices) after each story. 2. Read and complete a checkup sheet (appendices) on one of Chekhov’s plays.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen.

215

History connections: World History chapter 27, “The Russian Revolution.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 215

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

“Easter Eve” Anton Chekhov

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 27-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Most readers have a hard time taking a read on Chekhov’s faith journey. What do you think?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 27-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 27.

Read this excerpt from Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet,” and respond to the following:

1

The story is a frame story — a story within a story. The entire story, in other words, is a flashback to events 15 years ago. Eventually the story will return to the present. Why would the author begin the short story this way? The use of a frame story increases suspense.

2

What is the purpose of having individuals in the party discuss the death sentence? This is a way for the author to inform the reader that the lawyer was part of a larger discussion of a weighty issue.

216

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 216

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

“The Bet” Anton Chekhov

The Young Lawyer

CONCEPT BUILDER 27-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the bet?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 27-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Does the lawyer change? Circle the words that describe him at the beginning of the novel and check the words that describe him at the end of the novel.

Beginning: CHOLERIC; Ending: PHLEGMATIC.

217

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 217

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Critics Corner Assignments •

Warm-up: What stands out to you about Chekhov’s writing style?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 27-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Character Change

CONCEPT BUILDER 27-C

Does the lawyer change? Rate the lawyer’s views on a subject before his voluntary incarceration and his attitude toward the same subjects after incarceration. Rate each subject from 1 to 5: 1 means “values not at all,” 5 means “values very much.”

Subject

Before Incarceration

Money

Money was somewhat important to him but he was more idealistic than anything else.

He cared nothing about money.

Prestige

Moderately important

Less important

Friendship

Somewhat important

Not important

Less important

More important

Solitude

Moderately important

Extremely important

Education

Moderately important

Extremely important

Faith in God

Moderately important

Moderately important

Family

After Incarceration

What do you value? What do your parents value? What do your friends value? Rate each subject from 1 to 5: 1 means “values not at all,” 5 means “values very much.” Answers will vary.

218

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 218

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Short Story Review

•

Warm-up: Do you like Chekhov’s short stories? Why? Why not?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 27-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Detailed descriptions are vitally important to both of Chekhov’s short stories. Write down ten things in your bedroom that you do not think your family has seen. Now ask your family if they have noticed these things. The ability to find and to describe details that others miss makes a short story much better.

Details

CONCEPT BUILDER 27-D

Assignments

Answers will vary.

219

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 219

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

The Ending of “The Bet” Assignments •

Warm-up: Why does the protagonist leave before the end of the bet?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 27-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 27 test.

Setting is the time and place in which a story occurs. It is used by the author to develop the characters and to advance the plot. Analyze the setting of “Easter Eve.”

Physical Features

Setting

CONCEPT BUILDER 27-E

Setting of "Easter Eve" The author toys with light and dark imagery to great effect. We see that the narrator is surrounded by “impenetrable darkness,” which offsets the shimmering explosion of fireworks.

Time

Despite the religious overtones of Chekhov’s tale — it is set on Easter day, and our attention is drawn to the joyous celebrations at the church — we see that the author delights in shifting the boundaries between reality and unreality.

Geographical Location

The action occurs outside of town where the narrator is drawn between the sights and sounds of the city with the beauty and sobriety of nature.

Activities of the Characters

Chekhov’s characters are notoriously static (unchanging).

220

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 220

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Identify Anton Chekhov’s worldview in the short story “Easter Eve.” How do you know the worldview? What did the characters do or say to lead you to that conclusion? SUMMARY: Chekhov is a theistic writer who writes in realism. His characters tend to manifest JudeoChristian morality, but Chekhov writes in a realistic manner (ordinary characters in ordinary settings.) B. What is the theme (meaning/purpose) of the short story “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov? SUMMARY: Life has meaning that transcends freedom and money — it is intuitive meaning to be discovered in solitude. C. Identify Chekhov’s worldview in “The Bet,” and what led you to this conclusion. SUMMARY: I see a great deal of romanticism in this worldview. The prisoner finds his worldview lodged in intuition and subjectivity.

CHAPTER 27 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) The introduction to Anton Chekhov’s Selected Stories (London: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1997, introduction) says: Chekhov’s originality lies in his unique combination of tragedy, comedy, and pathos, and above all in his peculiar technique which relies on the sensitivity and intelligence of his readers. Chekhov’s stories, like his plays are essentially concerned with the incommunicable, and have been criticized by the uninitiated for their lack of action . . . the climax is often untold. Evaluate this statement in a two-page essay and argue your position. ANSWER: Answers will vary; however, students should use examples from the enclosed short stories to support their arguments. It is fair to say that Chekhov writes psychological dramas that normally do not have a great deal of action.

221

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 221

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 28 (1800–1890):

Realism (Part 4) First Thoughts Henrik Ibsen

(1828–1906) was a man who did not belong to his time but did advance the thinking of his time. He introduced a rare character — an assertive woman, some would say a thinking woman. Ibsen was a major Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century who introduced to the European stage a new sort of moral analysis that was uncommon in plays. He was the first modern European playwright. His plays were full of action, penetrating dialogue, and rigorous thought.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Analyze the role the doctor performs in this play. 2. Describe setting in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.” What makes it unusual? 3. Define and discuss Ibsen’s use of dramatic irony to advance the plot. 4. Search Scripture for all the references to marriage and the role of men and women in the marriage relationship. 5. Speculate on the end of the play. Do you think Nora will return? Why or why not?

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

222

Reading ahead: “I Am Not Alone” and “Tiny Feet” by Gabriela Mistral, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel García Márquez.

History connections: World History chapter 28, “German History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 222

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

“A Doll’s House” Henrik Ibsen

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 28-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Compare Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” to controversial plays like “Hair” or “Jesus Christ Superstar.” When does a dramatist move from aesthetics to vulgarity or to blasphemy?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 28-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 28.

Read this excerpt from Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” (Act One), and respond to the following:

1

What is extraordinary about the setting is the ordinariness of the entire scene. Why is this an important element of the setting? Ibsen clearly wants the reader to relate with Nora. It is important, therefore, that she be an ordinary woman living in an ordinary setting.

2

From this dialogue, what can you infer about the relationship between Helmer and his wife, Nora? This reader likes the style.

223

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 223

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Realism

•

Warm-up: Realism is only real if it is real. Let me explain. Hollywood depicts most of its characters as being lonely, separated, divorced nihilistic heathens. Sex outside of marriage is offered as normal and healthy. But the reality is that the “normal” life is the biblical life. Explain.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 28-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

“A Doll’s House” is part of a new movement in literature, called realism. Realism was much like naturalism, except realism went beyond agnosticism — realism argued that if people were honest they would admit that God was not present at all. Realism entered the cosmic arena and let the chips fall where they may. Artistically, realism celebrated the “ordinary.” The painting below is an early example of realism. Why?

Realism

CONCEPT BUILDER 28-B

Assignments

It is a scene of ordinary people in an ordinary setting.

224

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 224

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Critics Corner “A Doll’s House” Assignments •

Warm-up: Did you like this play? Why or why not?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 28-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Nora

CONCEPT BUILDER 28-C

Nora is not only the most remarkable character in this play, some think she is without equal in Western literature. Trace her development as a character.

A helpless, dependent female

An independent, modern woman

Discovery by her husband creates disssonance that greatly changes her

She experiences a financial crisis

Asserting some independence, she solves it on her own

225

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 225

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Themes in “A Doll’s House” Assignments •

Warm-up: Develop two or three themes of this play.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 28-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Doctor Rank

CONCEPT BUILDER 28-D

Doctor Rank is an important foil in this play. What role does he play?

He is Nora’s sounding board. In some ways, he is Nora’s surrogate husband, because her husband does not speak to her in any mature, intimate way.

The doctor is sick and dying — just like Nora’s marriage

Nora

226

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 226

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Nora Assignments •

Warm-up: Nora is not only the most remarkable character in this play, many think she is without equal in Western literature. Trace her development as a character.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 28-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 28 test.

Effects of Lying

Maturation

Theme

CONCEPT BUILDER 28-E

What are two themes in this play?

Themes

227

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 227

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Describe setting in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.” What makes it unusual? SUMMARY: Essentially, the setting includes a middle-class, European family. This play does not explore the unusual or spectacular — in that sense it is a modern play (closer to Tennessee Williams than to Richard Sheridan). B. Define and discuss Ibsen’s use of dramatic irony to advance the plot. SUMMARY: Dramatic irony occurs when the reader has more information than the characters do, and this information adds more meaning to the lines than the characters realize. A prime example is Torvald’s entrance line: “Rank had me expecting some grand masquerade.” He’s disappointed not to find Nora dressed up in her party costume, but you know he’s watching a real masquerade. C. Search Scripture for all the references to marriage and the role of men and women in the marriage relationship. SUMMARY: Answers will vary. Students should follow the proper form for introducing their topic, providing a thesis statement, developing the argument with scriptural supports, concluding their arguments, and providing transitions between each major point.

CHAPTER 28 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” was quite revolutionary. The “hero” is not a prince or a king — or even a member of the aristocracy. Instead, she is a middle-class, average woman who consciously rebels against her male-dominated and intimidating surroundings. A play that questioned a woman’s place in society and asserted that a woman’s self was important in her role as wife and mother was quite iconoclastic and threatening to some. Ibsen was openly castigated by contemporary critics and educators. Some government and church officials were incensed. Were their positions well-founded? Is Ibsen’s view of a woman’s place threatening? Compare his view (or the interpretations of his view) with scriptural references, including Proverbs 31. Take a position of the presence of Christians in the women’s liberation movement over the centuries. ANSWER: It is true that women are fulfilled, as men are, wherever God calls them to be. It is also true that there are both benefits and excesses in the women’s movement over the centuries. However, Ibsen’s play is tame when compared to some contemporary plays. Since Nora shows very little initiative until the end of the play, she is certainly not a Proverbs 31 woman in that respect. At first Nora is a scatterbrained, flighty, superficial, manipulative character. Whether or not she develops into an assertive woman of principle and character or was this way all along provides interesting debates. Her lack of spiritual leadership could be another hotly debated issue depending on perspectives in Scripture interpretation. Christians are divided on this issue, as well as whether or not Christians should be involved in the marketplace, including anything to do with women’s liberation. Students could consider the lack of freedom for women educationally and subsequently in the field of writing when they present their arguments. Some may even want to explore “women’s rights” alongside “slave rights” issues.

228

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 228

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 29 (1890–Present):

Modern Age (Part 1) First Thoughts Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) is one of Chile’s most beloved writers. After the tragic death of a person very close to her, Mistral basically lived a life of self-imposed isolation. Mistral often spoke out for social justice for the disenfranchised poor.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Gabriela Mistral is always yearning for, but never experiencing motherhood. She turned her heartbreak into stunning poetry which offers encouragement to others struggling in hopelessness. Find evidence of this in these poems and in at least one other poem by Mistral. 2. Discuss what the tiny feet represent in “Tiny Feet.” 3. Analyze the narrative technique Márquez employs. 4. Give examples of magic realism in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which appeared in his 1972 Gabriel García Márquez’s Leaf Storm and Other Stories. 5. As a young law student, García Márquez read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It greatly influenced his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Compare these two literary pieces.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Löwenskölds Ring by Selma Lovisa Lagerlöf.

229

History connections: World History chapter 29, “Central and South American History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 229

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Gabriela Mistral Assignments •

Warm-up: What does “The sky, it is deserted/ for the moon falls to the sea./ But I, the one who holds you,/ I am not alone ! “ mean?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 29-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 29.

230

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 230

11/14/12 3:13 PM

The following poems by Gabriela Mistral are modern poems. Modern literature manifests the following characteristics: first, human emotion and kindness are primary, God’s participation is secondary. Next, characters are often isolated and depressed. In what ways are the following poems “modern”?

The Modern Poem

CONCEPT BUILDER 29-A

I Am Not Alone

The night, it is deserted from the mountains to the sea. But I, the one who rocks you, I am not alone! The sky, it is deserted for the moon falls to the sea. But I, the one who holds you, I am not alone! The world, it is deserted. All flesh is sad you see. But I, the one who hugs you, I am not alone!

I am not alone — on the contrary — this author feels very much alone! She has her feelings, nature, and other people, but noticeably absent is a loving God.

Tiny Feet A child’s tiny feet, Blue, blue with cold, How can they see and not protect you? Oh, my God! Tiny wounded feet, Bruised all over by pebbles, Abused by snow and soil! Man, being blind, ignores that where you step, you leave A blossom of bright light, that where you have placed your bleeding little soles a redolent tuberose grows. Since, however, you walk through the streets so straight, you are courageous, without fault. Child’s tiny feet, Two suffering little gems, How can the people pass, unseeing. God is present but in an ineffectual way. A child’s tiny feet, Blue, blue with cold, How can they see and not protect you? Oh, my God! The subject is all alone. How can the people pass, unseeing?

231

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 231

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

“A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”

Gabriel García Márquez Assignments •

Warm-up: What would you do if an angel suddenly appeared in your chicken coup?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 29-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Making Inferences

CONCEPT BUILDER 29-B

Written material, even a poem, provides the reader with much information. The reader then uses this information to make inferences. What do these images infer? The night, it is deserted from the mountains to the sea.

The speaker is alone.

But I, the one who hugs you,

There is no one else to hug the child.

A child’s tiny feet, Blue, blue with cold, How can they see and not protect you? Oh, my God!

The world, indeed God Himself, is uncaring.

Man, being blind, ignores that where you step, you leave A blossom of bright light, that where you have placed your bleeding little soles

Poverty is the result of human greed and indifference.

How can the people pass, unseeing.

The world just doesn’t care!

232

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 232

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Magical Realism

Descriptive Poetry vs. Art

CONCEPT BUILDER 29-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: What contemporary movie exhibits magic realism?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 29-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

An ode is a sad poem/song of remembrance to honor a loved one. Read “An Ode To a Cricket” by Jim Stobaugh, then write your ode to a beloved cricket. It must be at least ten lines long.

Answers will vary.

233

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 233

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay Assignments •

Warm-up: To what extent is Mistral making political statements with her poetry?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 29-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

CONCEPT BUILDER 29-D

Analyzing Descriptive Details

Mistral offers very effective descriptive details. Identify several of these and state their purpose.

The sky, it is deserted for the moon falls to the sea

A child’s tiny feet, Blue, blue with cold, How can they see and not protect you?

Poems by Mistral

Tiny wounded feet, Bruised all over by pebbles, Abused by snow and soil! Man, being blind, ignores that where you step, you leave A blossom of bright light,

Oh, my God! that where you have placed your bleeding little soles a redolent tuberose grows.

234

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 234

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay

Keen Observers

CONCEPT BUILDER 29-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: To what effect does Marquez use magic realism?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 29-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 29 test.

Mistral is a keen observer of her surroundings. She is always on the lookout for things, images that connect with an idea. By giving these images — tiny feet — she communicates a ton of information. Remember two seemingly insignificant events that changed your life.

Answers will vary.

235

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 235

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Mistral was always yearning for, but never experiencing, motherhood. She turned her heartbreak into stunning poetry which offers encouragement to others struggling in hopelessness. Find evidence of this in these poems and in at least one other poem by Mistral. SUMMARY: Mistral always is embracing people who are not physically present. She is advancing a theme of unrequited (or unfulfilled love). “But I, the one who hugs you,/ I am not alone!” Also, the children in “Tiny Feet” need to be nurtured and loved. B. Give examples of magic realism in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which appeared in Márquez’s 1972 Leaf Storm and Other Stories. SUMMARY: At the end of a rainstorm, the protagonist Pelayo discovered a very old man with enormous wings lying face down in the mud. He and his wife examined the bald, ugly man who appeared both harmless and pathetic. The very essence of the angel was ordinary — which was what made him extraordinary. Magic realism — a perfect example of postmodernism — suggested that there was magic in everyday, ordinary events in life. And this angel was remarkable! Everyone expected him to be something other than what he was. No one could communicate with the angel, which represents another theme in magic realism: mankind is frustrated by the supernatural. In other words, mankind was looking for God but could not seem to find Him. Pelayo put the poor, docile creature into a chicken coop. People visited the angel. They first mocked him, and then they teased the fragile creature. Finally, they sought to have miracles. After all, they remembered, the primary vocation of angels was miracles. Again this is a theme of magic realism. In the midst of mundane life, there is a flash of the extraordinary — even if it is an angel in a chicken coop. A weird group of people and things (ranging from an ordinary parish priest to an enchanted tarantula woman) visit. The reader never knows who to expect next. C. As a young law student, García Márquez read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It greatly influenced his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Compare these two literary pieces. SUMMARY: In the German Franz Kafka’s existential work The Metamorphosis, a young man wakes up one morning transformed into an insect-type creature who is still essentially the same person but is perceived as a threat by all around him. First published in 1915, The Metamorphosis is the story of Gregor Samsa, who lives with and financially supports his family. One morning he wakes up to discover that during the night he has been transformed into an insect. At first he is preoccupied with practical, everyday concerns: how to get out of bed and walk with his numerous legs. Later he begins to act like an insect. Understandably, his family is alarmed. Ultimately, Samsa dies (instead of flying away like the angel does). Both the insect and the angel are outside the experience of their community, and ultimately both are rejected.

CHAPTER 29 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) Describe magical realism and how it relates to fiction writing. ANSWER: Answer should address that magic realism is a genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. Within the story itself, fantasy and reality interact until fantasy seems reality, and reality fantasy.

236

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 236

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 30 (1890–Present):

Modern Age (Part 2) First Thoughts Selma Ottiliana Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858–1940) was born in Marbacka, Sweden, in 1858. She had been writing poetry ever since she was a child, but she did not publish anything until 1890, when a Swedish newspaper gave her the first prize in a literary competition and published excerpts from her first novel, Gösta Berlings Saga. After several minor works she published Jerusalem, but it was with The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, a book for children, that she became recognized worldwide. The Löwenskölds Ring, one of her best psychological novels, was written in 1925. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the narrative technique in The Löwenskölds Ring. 2. Analyze the purpose of General Löwenskölds’ ring. 3. List the themes in the novel. 4. Generational sin is a popular subject. Give at least one other example and draw parallels between the two works. 5. Discuss Marit Eriksdotter and her purpose in the novel.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: The Stranger by Albert Camus.

237

History connections: World History chapter 30, “Scandinavian History.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 237

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Student Essay: Themes in The Löwenskölds Ring Assignments •

Warm-up: Do you believe in generational curses?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 30-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 30. Discuss the narrative technique in The Löwensköld Ring and why the author employs it.

Narration

CONCEPT BUILDER 30-A

Omniscient Narration At the end of the novel, omniscient narration allows the author to summarize his story and to offer some thematic insights.

First Person First person allows the author to personalize the tale and thereby quickly involve the reader in the story

238

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 238

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Selma Lagerlöf Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the lesson Lagerlof is teaching in “The Elf?”

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 30-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Marit Eriksdotter

CONCEPT BUILDER 30-B

Who is Marit Eriksdotter and what is her purpose in the novel?

The power of love

Marit

Unforgiveness

239

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 239

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Edith Södergran Assignments •

Warm-up: From these two poems, what is Södergran’s favorite subject matter?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 30-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Themes

CONCEPT BUILDER 30-C

What two themes clash in this novel?

Greed

Love

240

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 240

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Redemptive Theme Assignments •

Warm-up: In what way does this book have a hint of redemption?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 30-D.

•

Student will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Frame Story

CONCEPT BUILDER 30-D

What is the purpose of General Löwenskölds’ ring?

He suffers

His son Jonathan suffers and dies

Frame for the story

241

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 241

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Generational Sin Assignments •

Warm-up: What is generational sin and is it real?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 30-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 30 test.

Generational Sin

CONCEPT BUILDER 30-E

Generational sin is a theme where the sins of the fathers are visited on subsequent generations. Give a biblical example that shares this theme.

He suffers

His son Jonathan suffers and dies

Saul disobeys the Lord

242

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 242

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Discuss the narrative technique in The Löwensköld Ring. SUMMARY: The narration is very unusual. It is first person. “Oh, I know very well . . .” the novel begins. However, the narrator quickly reverts to omniscient narration — the reader is able to see into the thoughts of all characters. B. Generational sin is a popular topic for discussion and debate. Give at least one other example and draw parallels between the two works. SUMMARY: The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an excellent example. The sin of a New England family follows subsequent members for two generations until a young lady (i.e., Phoebe) breaks the curse. C. Who is Marit Eriksdotter and what is her purpose in the novel? SUMMARY: Her story is tragic. Her fiancé is executed for a crime he did not commit. Her purity, innocence, and character very nearly — but not quite — break the curse of the ring. Ultimately, Marit was destroyed too — because of unforgiveness.

CHAPTER 30 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points) What is the role of the pastor? ANSWER: He tries, perhaps unsuccessfully, to contextualize this naturalist world into theistic terms. However, “Old Bard Bardsson lay still, listening to the parson’s speech without protest. Yet it didn’t appear to convince him. He had been through too many horrors to believe that they were all the work of the Lord.”

243

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 243

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 31

(1890–Present)

Modern Age (Part 3) First Thoughts Albert Camus

(1913–1960) was one of the earliest members of an artistic movement called “absurdism.” Absurdism mainly centered on the idea that awareness of the certainty and finality of death makes life meaningless. The post-World War II mood of disillusionment and skepticism was expressed in peculiar terms by a number of artists, most of whom lived in France. Camus was a member of this group. Although they did not consider themselves as belonging to a formal movement, they shared a belief that human life was essentially without meaning, purpose, and absolute morality. They felt the human community had sunk to a state of absurdity (the term was coined by Albert Camus). Camus was also an existentialist. Absurdism is a literary movement. Existentialism is a philosophical movement. Existentialism rejects epistemology or the attempt to validate human knowledge as a basis for reality — a fundamental change in direction in Western philosophy. To Plato, ethical behavior was very closely tied to knowledge. Plato argued that if one knew the right thing to do, one would do it. Existentialism argued that that was not so. People made decisions based on need and function rather than knowledge. People were quite capable

244

of making an evil decision if it suited their purposes. Human beings were not solely or even primarily people who made decisions from a basis of knowledge; they merely desired, manipulated, and, above all, chose and acted on their own selfish behalf.

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Identify two or three themes exhibited in these passages. 2. Analyze the chaplain. 3. Analyze the plot.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. History connections: World History chapter 31, “World War I: A World Tragedy.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 244

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Existentialism

Active Reading

CONCEPT BUILDER 31-A

Assignments •

Warm-up: Discuss how these passages reflect Camus’ existential worldview.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 31-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 30.

Read this excerpt from Albert Camus’ The Stranger (chapter 1), then respond to the following:

1

What is the narrative point of view? First person.

2

Given the opening comments, what sort of man is Mersault? A modern, insensitive man who is inexorably committed to honesty.

245

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 245

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Modernism

Existentialism

CONCEPT BUILDER 31-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: I am fond of saying that the best symbol for modernism is the ferris wheel invented during early modernism: phenomenal technology, entertaining, but it takes the participant nowhere but in circles. What do I mean?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 31-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Existentialism is a worldview that advances the following components:

1. C 2. B 3. A

246

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 246

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Student Essay: Camus’s Existential Worldview

Mersault: The Anti-Hero

CONCEPT BUILDER 31-C

Assignments •

Warm-up: What evidence of existentialism do you find in The Stranger?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 31-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

Which heroes do you find more appealing? Why?

Answers will vary. This reader prefers Aeneas, a noble man with a purpose.

247

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 247

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Gentle Indifference of the World Assignments •

Warm-up: What is the “gentle indifference of the World?”

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 31-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Marie vs. Gretchen

CONCEPT BUILDER 31-D

Two important foils, Marie (The Stranger) and Gretchen (Faust), are treated poorly by their male friends. Compare these two women.

Issue

Marie

Gretchen

View of ultimate reality

Marie is an existentialist, an atheist

Gretchen is a Christian theist

Relationship with their friends

Marie, like Mersault, lives alone

Gretchen loves, and is loved by, her mother

Purpose in the written work

To show Mersault’s indifference to intangible things

To show Faust’s ability to overcome facile religion

How she fares in the written work

She disappears from the story

Gretchen commits suicide but reappears at Faust’s death

248

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 248

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Jean-Paul Sartre

Quotes

CONCEPT BUILDER 31-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is someone like Jean-Paul Sartre such a great threat to the 21st-century Christian? At what points does his worldview clash with Christianity? Discuss why Sartre’s worldview would be so appealing to a naturalist.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 31-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 31 test.

Match each quote with its context.

1. D 2. C 3. A 4. B

249

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 249

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Identify two or three themes exhibited in these passages. SUMMARY: Alienation and despair B. The chaplain is one of the most interesting characters in The Stranger. What is Camus trying to say to the reader through this weak character? SUMMARY: The chaplain is weak, pathetic. In fact, he is not a bumbling idiot like we see in the absurdist drama M*A*S*H, but he is a hypocritical medicine man promoting harmful ideas — ideas that invite people into unreality (the existentialist hell). C. The plot of this small novel is not very complicated. The story concerns Meursault, a man who is rather passive, who does not make judgments about the quality of actions. He is the quintessential modern man. He does not see patterns in the past or foresee consequences in the future. To act or not to act is one. He seems to care deeply only about the sensations of the ubiquitous moment. He drifts into relationships and out of relationships, into actions and out of actions, and one of these changes his life. It puts him into conflict with the moral ideas of the society around him. Society then destroys him. In order to show how hypocritical society is, Camus’ prosecutor does not even examine the incidents around the killing. He continues to tie the “murder” to Meursault’s reaction to his mother’s death. Offer evidence from the book to support, or to deny, this statement. SUMMARY: The relationship with Meursault’s girlfriend and his mother — both relationships manifest Meursault’s indifference.

CHAPTER 31 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 Points)

Some existentialists contemplate life and then commit suicide. Why not? If there is no meaning to life, why live? Meursault is not the first literary figure to struggle with this dilemma. Witness the famous soliloquy by Hamlet — himself becoming unhinged from his theistic moorings (www.artofeurope.com/shakespeare/sha8. htm: To be, or not to be: that is the question.

Devoutly to be wish’d. To die; to sleep;

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

To sleep? perchance to dream! Ay, there’s the rub;

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

When we have shuffl’d off this mortal coil,

And by opposing, end them. To die: to sleep;

Must give us pause. There’s the respect

No more; and, by a sleep to say we end

That makes calamity of so long life.

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

That flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely

250

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 250

11/14/12 3:13 PM

The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,

Than fly to others that we know not of?

The insolence of office, and the spurns

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

And thus the native hue of resolution

When he himself might his quietus make

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

With this regard their currents turn awry,

But that the dread of something after death,

And lose the name of action. — Soft you now!

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

Be all my sins remember’d.

And make us rather bear those ills we have Evaluate the reasoning reflected in both Meursault and Hamlet and offer a Christian alternative. ANSWER: While it is a gross oversimplification to say so, Hamlet is struggling with a typical existential dilemma: do I embrace forgivingness — a Christian concept — or revenge or suicide — existential solution. Justice is so tied up with human sensory agendas that it is impossible to embrace a wholesome course of human forgivingness.

251

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 251

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 32 (1890–Present):

Modern Age (Part 4) First Thoughts All Quiet on the

Western Front is still one of the greatest European bestsellers of the 20th century. It is also one of the greatest, if not the greatest, anti-war novel ever written. The story of Paul Baumer is the story of a generation of disillusioned Europeans. “We had taken no root and the war swept us away. . . .”

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss what the boots of Paul’s dead comrade represents. 2. Explore the way Remarque employs naturalism in his novel. 3. Please obtain and read works by Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), Nobel Prize winner in Literature. 4. Analyze why Remarque thinks that this generation is lost.

252

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya. History connections: World History chapter 32, “The Jazz Age.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 252

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

World War I

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is this an ironical statement: “World War I was the war to end all wars.”

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 32-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 32.

Symbolism

CONCEPT BUILDER 32-A

Paul and his friends steal a pair of boots from a dead Englishman. What do the boots come to symbolize?

Boots are more valuable than friends because they last longer.

253

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 253

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Critics Corner

Paul Baumer

CONCEPT BUILDER 32-B

Assignments •

Warm-up: Why does Paul despise the schoolmaster and the training sergeant?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 32-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Does Paul Baumer change? Circle the words that describe him at the beginning of the novel and check the words that describe him at the end of the novel.

Beginning: SANGUINE, Ending: CHOLERIC.

254

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 254

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

A Band of Brothers Assignments •

Warm-up: Why were the friendships between most of these men so enduring?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 32-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

How does the author develop his main character?

The Setting

Character Development

CONCEPT BUILDER 32-C

World War I

Paul Bremer

Plot One by one all his friends die

Foils Friends in the trenches

255

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 255

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Naturalism Assignments •

Warm-up: Based on Paul’s description of the front, what part of the experience do you think would be the hardest to bear? What could provide consolation?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 32-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

What are the themes in All Quiet on the Western Front?

Themes

CONCEPT BUILDER 32-D

Alienation and Despair

Themes

Courage

Comradeship

256

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 256

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Lost in Time Assignments •

Warm-up: What images from the novel linger in your mind? Explain why these images made an impression on you.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 32-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 32 test.

Situational Irony

CONCEPT BUILDER 32-E

Situational irony is an unexpected event that occurs in spite of other circumstances. When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, all of his shots initially missed the president; however, a bullet ricocheted off the bullet-proof presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest. Thus, a vehicle made to protect the president from gunfire was partially responsible for his being shot. Why is the ending of All Quiet on the Western Front an example of situational irony?

Bremer has survived to the end

Only to be killed on a quiet day in October

Situational Irony Paul Bremer Dies

257

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 257

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Paul and his friends steal a pair of boots from a dead Englishman. What do the boots come to symbolize? SUMMARY: Boots are necessary for combat, and evidently last longer than the soldiers; therefore, they are more valuable than mortal people. B. Explore the way Remarque employs naturalism in his novel. SUMMARY: There is no rhyme nor reason to death, or for that matter, life. Life starts and ends without any apparent purpose and reason. C. Why does Remarque think that this generation is lost? SUMMARY: As inexperienced 19-year-olds they could not stay in the old world but because of World War I they would never fit into the new world.

CHAPTER 32 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 points) The agnostic Whitehead believed in God — if a decidedly anemic God. Opposing existentialists and naturalists, Whitehead preferred to work within society’s institutions. The difficulty with Whitehead’s philosophy is that he appealed to direct experience. Like other romantics, he saw harmony in nature and in human experience. Like some of the empiricists, Whitehead leaned toward rationalism. He abandoned the notion, strong in Western philosophy since Plato, that what is most unchanging is most real. Instead, he conceived the structure of reality in dynamic terms. Reality was not based on Platonic forms but on fluid experience. The emphasis was on becoming, on development in time, rather than on static being, and by implication, absolute truth. Whitehead embraced the modernist notion of process thought. The central metaphor for process thought is that of organism rather than of machine. The formation of each event is a function of the nature of the entities involved. Whitehead’s agnosticism was most evident in his understanding of suffering. God “the fellow-sufferer who understands,” who does not coerce but merely seeks to persuade other beings in the direction of love, is omnipotent God, because only a wimpish God would allow six million people to die. A. Discuss the heretical notions of process thought. ANSWER: The idea that God is a creation of human experience is both arrogantly absurd and insultingly shortsighted to Bible-believing Christians who trust the infallibility of God’s Word and His involvement in His total creation. The notion of a limited, wimpish God drives modern writers to despair. (Consider the writings of Elie Wiesel and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) B. Identify some evidences of process thought in modernism. ANSWER: The idea that reality, and therefore, morality, is fluid — always changing — is incredibly appealing to post-modernism. If reality and morality are fluid, then post-moderns do not have to accept biblically based, God-originated absolute truth.

258

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 258

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 33

(1890–Present)

Modern Age (Part 5) First Thoughts Kamala Purnaiya

Taylor, who often writes under the name Kamala Markandaya, was born in Bangalore, India, in 1924. Her family was Brahmin, the highest caste in Hindu society. Markandaya made an effort to know not just the city in which she lived, but also the rural areas. She was educated at the University of Madras in Chennai, India, and worked briefly for a weekly newspaper before emigrating to England in 1948. There she met her husband, with whom she lived in London until her death in 2004. They have one daughter. Markandaya has made England her home, but she has made many visits to India over the years, returning to stay in touch with her culture and to find inspiration and information for her fiction. As a writer, Markandaya is respected for her accessible writing style and the range of experience expressed in her novels. Critics generally commend her portrayals of personal relationships, social consciousness, and the desire for independence.

Chapter Learning Objectives In chapter 33 we visit a South Asian village and recall again the most basic of human needs and potential in great adversity. As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the central theme of this novel and how it is related to the protagonist. 2. Discuss the style that is employed in this novel. 3. State the central theme of this novel and how it is related to the protagonist. 4. Analyze the character Biswas.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter. Reading ahead: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.

259

History connections: World History chapter 33, “World War II and Beyond.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 259

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Kamala Markandaya Assignments •

Warm-up: The author uses a flashback technique. The novel begins with Rukmani as an old woman remembering her life. Why did the author use this technique?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 33-A.

•

Students should review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

 eachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with T shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 33.

Characterization

CONCEPT BUILDER 33-A

What struggles does Rukmani face that help shape and strengthen her character?

Other Characters’ Actions (foils):

Actions, Words, Feelings: The author tells the story from the mind of Rukmani

Other characters, good or bad, develop Rukmani

Physical Description: The fact that Rukmani is a starved, tiny woman adds to thematic issues

Direct Comments:

Rukmani

In the beginning and end the author gives thoughtful insights

260

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 260

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

The Family Emauddin Hoosain Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is the family so important to Rukmani?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 33-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from next chapter.

•

Students should outline essays due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as the formal essay.

Character Analysis

CONCEPT BUILDER 33-B

Choose from the options at left to best define these three characters from the novel.

Character

Rukmani

Nathan

Biswas

Protagonist Antagonist

Protagonist

Foil

Foil, confidant

Dynamic

Dynamic

Static

Internal and external conflict

Internal and external conflict

None

Foil Dynamic (Changes) Static (Does not change) Internal Conflict External Conflict

261

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 261

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Student Essay: Why Christians Should Learn about Hinduism

Details

CONCEPT BUILDER 33-C

Assignments •

 arm-up: What can a Christian say to a Hindu that would encourage him/her to commit his/ W her life to Jesus?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 33-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough draft.

How does Hinduism affect Rukmani?

1. Rukmani works hard and has hope that someday she may be reincarnated into a better life. 2. She accepts her station in life. 3. She is quick to forgive.

262

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 262

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Rukmani: Complex Character Assignments •

Warm-up: Give a character sketch of Rukmani.

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 33-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Making Generalizations

CONCEPT BUILDER 33-D

Generalizations are broad statements about a particular subject that are consistent with facts and observations. Support the following generalization with facts and observations.

Fact: In the midst of great turmoil and hardship, Rukmani stands firm.

Fact: Rukmani intensely loves her children.

Rukmani was a very strong, capable woman.

263

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 263

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Change in Nectar in a Sieve

Sequencing

CONCEPT BUILDER 33-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Do you enjoy change?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 33-E.

•

Essay is due. Students should take the chapter 33 test.

Nectar in a Sieve, like most fictional novels, follows a chronological pattern. Place the events in the correct order as they occur. 1

A

The older Rukmani thinks back over her life.

5

B Rukmani and Nathan search out Murugan in the city.

3

C Kenny has raised money to construct a hospital, and says he will train Selvam to assist him.

2 D At the age of 12, Rukmani and Nathan marry. 4

E

Rukmani gives up her savings to provide for her family after heavy rains destroy their crops.

264

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 264

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Discuss the central theme of Nectar in a Sieve and how it is related to the protagonist. SUMMARY: Rukmani, the main character works hard and is devoted to her gentle husband. She endures blow after blow from life: poverty, famine, the divorce of her barren daughter, the deaths of her sons, her daughter’s prostitution, and finally her husband’s death. B. Discuss the writing style that is used in this novel. SUMMARY: The author uses a variety of literary devices to bring her story to life. Her inclusion of insightful similes and rich imagery enables unfamiliar readers to understand. When Rukmani recalls running through her garden when she was pregnant, she says, “I realized I must have looked like a water buffalo, running in such a frenzy.” These devices also help the reader to connect with the events of the book through the universality of experiences and images. C. Analyze the character Biswas. SUMMARY: Biswas is a classic antagonist made richer and more complicated — perhaps more evil — because he is not all bad. He is the moneylender. He is untrustworthy and unpleasant because of his flippant manner of speaking and his insensitive attitude.

CHAPTER 33 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 points) Kamala Markandaya took the title of her book from the poem “Work without Hope” by British romantic 19th-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Samuel_Coleridge/233). Why? How are the themes similar?

Work without Hope All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair —

Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.

The bees are stirring — birds are on the wing —

Bloom, O ye Amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,

And winter slumbering in the open air,

For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:

And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,

And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,

Yet well I ken the banks where Amaranths blow,

And hope without an object cannot live.

ANSWER: Coleridge offers an image of an amaranth flower as an example of the mutability of mankind in the immutability of nature. Spring is here again, and there is hope for the blooming flowers, but “Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,/ And hope without an object cannot live.” Markandaya is no doubt putting a positive twist on the hardships that were so much a part of her life as a protagonist.

265

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 265

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 34 (1890–Present):

Modern Age (Part 6) First Thoughts Our brief journey through world literature fortunately ends on a note of hopefulness. Cry, the Beloved Country is a story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. Without a doubt it is one of the most moving and hopeful novels written. Alan Paton, caught in the injustice of Apartheid South Africa, writes a story that invites the reader to examine his own heart and to find a way to forgive anyone who has wronged or damaged him.

266

Chapter Learning Objectives As a result of this chapter study you will be able to . . . 1. Discuss the point of view that Paton uses. 2. Identify one or two themes in Cry, the Beloved Country. 3. Discuss Paton’s development of protagonist Reverend Stephen Kumalo.

Weekly Essay Options: Begin on page 273; answer summaries available at the end of each chapter.

History connections: World History chapter 34, “South Africa.”

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 266

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 1

Theme: Forgiveness Assignments •

Warm-up: Has anyone wronged you and you felt that you could not forgive him/her?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 34-A.

•

Students review the required reading(s) before the assigned chapter begins.

•

Teachers may want to discuss assigned reading(s) with students.

•

Teachers shall assign the required essay. The rest of the essays can be outlined, answered with shorter answers, discussed, or skipped.

•

Students will review all readings for chapter 34.

Character Analysis

CONCEPT BUILDER 34-A

Choose from the options at left to best define these three characters from the novel.

Character

Reverend Stephen Kumalo

James Jarvis

John Kumalo

Protagonist Antagonist

Protagonist

Foil

Antagonist

Dynamic

Dynamic

Static

Internal

Internal

Internal

Foil Dynamic (Changes) Static (Does not change) Internal Conflict External Conflict

267

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 267

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 2

Critics Corner Assignments •

Warm-up: Why is Cry the Beloved Country a great book?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 34-B.

•

Students should review reading(s) from the next chapter.

•

Students should outline essay due at the end of the week.

•

Per teacher instructions, students may answer orally, in a group setting, some of the essays that are not assigned as formal essays.

Plot

CONCEPT BUILDER 34-B

Identify different components of the plot.

Rising Action: Finds Gertrude Rising Action: Kumalo goes to Johannesburg to get his sister.

Rising Action: Discovers that his son is a murderer

Climax: His son is executed

Resolution (denouement): Reconciliation between himself and Jarvis

268

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 268

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 3

Point of View Assignments •

Warm-up: Why does Paton use two different types of point of view?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 34-C.

•

Students should write rough draft of assigned essay.

•

The teacher may correct rough drafts.

Themes

CONCEPT BUILDER 34-C

There are several opposing themes that are warring for the souls of men in this book.

Decay — Kulrimulo’s homeland is deteriorating Hopelessness





New life as children are born

Hope — Though Absalom will be executed there is hope that someday justice will prevail

Death — Absalom dies



But the beloved country lives

269

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 269

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 4

Student Essay: Change in Characters Assignments •

Warm-up: Is there someone you need to forgive?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 34-D.

•

Students will re-write corrected copies of essay due tomorrow.

Setting

CONCEPT BUILDER 34-D

Identify three components of the setting. There are multiple answers.

South Africa apartheid

1946

Setting

270

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 270

11/14/12 3:13 PM

LESSON 5

Student Essay: Fear and Forgiveness

Narration

CONCEPT BUILDER 34-E

Assignments •

Warm-up: Would if matter if all the principle characters were women?

•

Students should complete Concept Builder 34-E.

•

Essays are due. Students should take the chapter 34 test.

Match the different kinds of narration.

1. A 2. B What is your favorite quote in this novel? I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating (p. 94).

271

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 271

11/14/12 3:13 PM

ESSAY OPTIONS A, B & C WITH ANSWER SUMMARIES (50 points, Grading Option A / 40 points, Grading Option B - See pages 7 & 8) A. Identify one or two themes in Cry the Beloved Country. SUMMARY: Rukmani, the main character works hard and is devoted to her gentle husband. She endures blow after blow from life: poverty, famine, the divorce of her barren daughter, the deaths of her sons, her daughter’s prostitution, and finally her husband’s death. B. In Cry the Beloved Country, the protagonist Stephen undergoes a great deal of change in this novel. Indeed, many characters change — going from a place of anger to forgiveness, hopelessness to hope. They change as they experience and overcome internal conflict. Identify the internal conflicts several characters experience. SUMMARY: Stephen Kumalo is a quiet, humble man, with a strong faith in God and a clear sense of right and wrong. He is larger than life, but he also gives and receives forgiveness. In an effort to understand his son better, James Jarvis reads Arthur’s writings about the injustices he perceives in South Africa, and he is moved by his son’s language and ideas. He also gives and receives forgiveness. Msimangu is a warm, generous, and humble young minister in Sophiatown. He is the perfect foil. He helps develop Kumalo, but he himself also grows in empathy and love toward his white neighbors. Ruth is without hope and without inheritance, but she finds new life in relationship with God. C. Discuss Paton’s development of protagonist Reverend Stephen Kumalo. SUMMARY: Kumalo, pastor father, has peace in his heart thanks to Jesus Christ. Contrast this pastor with the chaplain in Camus.

CHAPTER 34 TEST ANSWERS Divide score by 2 (Option A) / Divide score by 2.5 (Option B)

Essay (100 points) Examine the ten best sellers this week and speculate on which direction(s) literature is heading. ANSWER: Answers will vary. Many of the books that attract Americans in the early 21st century have a spiritual component — not always a Christian component (e.g., Brown’s DaVinci Code, John Grisham, John Maxwell, Rick Warren).

272

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 272

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Essay Options

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 273

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 1: Essay Options A. Throughout this course you will write several different types of essays. During this lesson you will write a process essay. A process essay is an academic essay that explains how a process works or how to make or do something. Write a process essay that speculates on how the Gilgamesh epic moved from an oral to a written form. B. Compare and contrast the Gilgamesh flood narrative with the biblical Flood story (Genesis 8). C. In a court of law a man may be convicted if two independent, unprejudiced witnesses testify in the same way about the same event. Besides the Gilgamesh epic, the Genesis creation story parallels the Enuma Elish story (Babylonian). In other words, two independent, unprejudiced sources recorded the same event at different parts of the world. Genesis is not only theologically accurate, it is most certainly historically accurate and should be understood accordingly. Compare and contrast the Enuma Elish (translated by N.K. Sanders) with Genesis 1 and 2.

Chapter 2: Essay Options A. Note the worldview in the following passage. Humans who bestow superior value on the lives of all human beings solely because they are members of our own species are judging along lines strikingly similar to those used by white racists who bestow superior value on the lives of other whites, merely because they are members of their own race. — P. Sanger B. Discuss the worldview of C. S. Lewis from his following statement. For mere improvement is not redemption. . . . God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. — C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity C. Write a worldview for yourself using the following questions to guide you. What is the priority of the spiritual world? Authority — Is the Bible important to you? Do you obey God and other authority — your parents — even when it is uncomfortable to do so? Pleasure — what do you really enjoy doing? Does it please God? What is the essential uniqueness of man?

274

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 274

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 3: Essay Options A. “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them’ " (Esther 3:8). This passage exemplifies a theological principle of cause and effect. If a right choice is made, a person prospers. If a person makes a poor choice, he suffers. In a two-page cause/effect essay describe how the author of Esther develops this theme. B. Contrast the way the Egyptians characterize their gods with the way the Hebrews characterize their God (i.e., the one true God!). C. In what way was Esther a picture of domestic life in a time of anarchy and trouble? Was the interest chiefly in plot or character? The Book of Esther is considered by many to be the quintessential short story. What elements do you find to support that argument? In chapter 3 we read that as soon as Haman came to wield power in a place of prominence just below the king, he was immediately antagonistic toward Mordecai. These two were instantly in direct conflict because Haman was “the enemy of the Jews.” Learning that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman vowed to eliminate him from the kingdom. Throughout this account we see again and again Haman’s motivating personality trait: he hated the Jews. Why did he hate the Jews?

Chapter 4: Essay Options A. Epic poems identify and celebrate the values of a culture. Based on The Iliad, what values does Greek culture extol? What personalities and plots would capture the cultural values of contemporary society? B. There were several spin-off stories, as it were, that were written on the lives of The Iliad principles. One was by the Roman Virgil, The Aeneid. The protagonist in The Aeneid eventually founded Rome. The Greek playwright Euripides (485–440 B.C.) wrote a play called “Helen," based on the life of one of the characters in The Iliad. Read “Helen," by Euripides, and compare the characters in this Greek play with the characters in The Iliad. C. What role do women play in The Iliad?

275

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 275

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 5: Essay Options A. Describe the writing style Homer employs in The Odyssey. B. Many scholars argue that the ends and beginnings of units of Homeric narratives are often constructed as follows: there is a sequence of events, then some type of climax, then a sequence of events that in some way mirrors the first sequence, and then a climax which contrasts with (is dual with) the earlier climax. This structure is observable in narrative units of all sizes, from brief episodes to large sections of the epics. Agree or disagree with this observation. Evidence your answer with several excerpts from the text. C. Odysseus is a man who indulges in his share of foolishness. He often is impulsive and vain — especially in the beginning of The Odyssey. As the book progresses, however, Odysseus develops into a mature, disciplined man. Trace this development as it unfolds in The Odyssey.

Chapter 6: Essay Options A. In Histories, Greek historian Herodotus used the word “history” for the first time. “These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feuds.” (Histories, Herodotus) Herodotus was writing a history of the Greek wars with the Persians. On the way to this end, however, he writes a history of the entire known world. The following is one of the earliest secondary references to Homer’s The Iliad. B. What makes Herodotus most interesting to this reader is his obvious corroboration of biblical history. Herodotus confirms several biblical allusions. Here is one. When Joseph received his estranged brothers into his house, they were given water with which to wash their feet (Gen. 43:24). There is the record of an Egyptian ruler who had a golden foot-pan “in which his guests” were provided water to wash their feet (Histories, Book II). When you review Herodotus’ Histories, look for biblical parallels and analyze them in a one-page essay. C. A philosophy of history is the way historians decide if an event is important. Some historians, for instance, think that political events are most important. Others argue that economic events are most important. What is the philosophy of history that Herodotus employs?

276

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 276

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 7: Essay Options A. Why can’t Socrates come to a satisfactory definition of holiness? B. Compare and contrast Socrates’ view of the afterlife with 1 Corinthian 15 and other New Testament passages. C. Socrates proclaims to his fellow Athenians that their obsession with wealth and the material world must never take precedence over the care of the soul. Compare this view with the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings by Jesus Christ (Matt. 5–6).

Chapter 8: Essay Options A. Discuss Plato’s use of fictional dialogues with Socrates to present his views. What narrative advantage does this method offer Plato? B. Compare and contrast Plato’s understanding of the soul with Paul’s understanding of the soul. C. In The Republic, Plato often uses Socrates to introduce into the text a technique called “argument from analogy.” In one instance he compares the usefulness of rulers to the usefulness of doctors, merchants, ship captains, and horse breeders. Plato relied heavily on such arguments throughout The Republic. Find other examples.

Chapter 9: Essay Options A. What warnings does Aristotle issue surrounding rhetoric? B. The chief end of man, to Aristotle, was to know. To Aristotle, the world would have existed even if mankind had not been created, but it would have not been known to exist — and this knowledge is the quintessential fact of the universe. Why is this viewpoint so threatening to Christians? C. Aristotle begins this short book with an argument that all poetry, or what he calls art, is representative of life. Compare this view to Plato’s view of art in The Republic.

277

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 277

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 10: Essay Options A. Based on "Oedipus Rex," what were Sophocles’ views of women? Compare these views with those expressed in The Republic. B. The whole issue of fate is central to this play. Who is in control of our lives? How can human free will and godly omniscience co-exist at the same time? C. Compare Sophocles to the English Puritan John Milton.

Chapter 11: Essay Options A. The Aeneid, like Homer’s The Odyssey, describes a quest, a journey. Locate the places that are visited on a map. Then discuss the plot as it unfolds. Identify the climax. The crisis or climax is the moment or event in the plot in which the conflict is most directly addressed: the main character “wins” or “loses”; the secret is revealed. After the climax, the falling action occurs. B. The setting is the place(s) and time(s) of the story, including the historical period, social milieu of the characters, geographical location, and descriptions of indoor and outdoor locales. What is the setting so important to The Aeneid? C. While Hebrew characters (e.g., Esther) often change and develop over time, Aeneas is the first protagonist in Greek and Roman literature who changes and develops. His struggles help him gather wisdom and insights that change his life. Contrast Aeneas with Homer’s characters Achilles and Hector.

Chapter 12: Essay Options A. There are two styles of writing in this book. On one hand, Marcus Aurelius is offering some didactic, almost sermonic advice to his listeners. Then, at other times, he appears to be speaking to himself. There are profound spontaneous aphorisms and more polished literary portions. Find evidence of both and discuss what effect they have on the reader. B. Define Stoicism and compare this philosophy to truth found in Scripture. C. Philosophically, stoicism is a second cousin (in spirit, not in doctrine) to Christianity. Yet Marcus Aurelius instituted a fairly severe persecution against Christians. Why?

278

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 278

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 13: Essay Options A. Why do you think Jesus used a sermon instead of a parable to make His point in these passages? B. Based on these teachings, speculate upon what life was like for the early Christian. C. Women in particular flocked to the Christian faith. Using The Didache as evidence, speculate upon why that was so.

Chapter 14: Essay Options A. Agree or disagree with Justin Martyr’s views of civil disobedience. B. Imagine that you are one of those opposing Christianity in Justin Martyr’s day. Write a two-page rebuttal to Martyr’s arguments. Make your essay as persuasive as you can using various references from the text. C. Martyrdom literature has a certain “form” or style format in almost every piece. Identify the pattern advanced by the Polycarp martyrdom material.?

Chapter 15: Essay Options A. Compare and contrast this piece to an epic narrative (e.g., The Aeneid by Virgil). B. Discuss in some detail Augustine’s conversion. C. Augustine’s Confession is a testimony to a mother’s faith. Give examples from Scripture of other great mothers.

Chapter 16: Essay Options A. The Japanese poets discussed in this chapter were never merely observers of a scene but were participants in it and through their participation drew their readers into the events described in their poems. Evaluate this statement. B. Hitomaro’s “I Loved Her Like the Leaves” has naturalistic tendencies. Explain. C. Japanese women produced more art than their Western counterparts. Why?

279

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 279

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 17: Essay Options A. Based on the The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, describe the panoply of gods presented. Which ones exhibit JudeoChristian characteristics? B. Discuss the moral imperatives advanced in each fable in Panchatantra. C. Create a fable to illustrate a biblical truth.

Chapter 18: Essay Options A. Omar Khayyam did not believe in the seminal Islamic belief of the resurrection of the body after death, and he suggested that drinking wine was better than worrying about religious theories and dogmas. In an instance that must have been particularly enraging for orthodox Muslims, he upturned the argument for future rewards in paradise by thinking it through to its logical end: They promise there will be Paradise and the houri-eyed, Where clear wine and honey will flow: Should we prefer wine and a lover, what’s the harm? Are not these the final recompense? Find other examples where Khayyam offered unorthodox notions. B. Contrast the earlier passage in the Koran with Psalm 23 (HCSB):

Psalm 23 A psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

Your rod and Your staff — they comfort me.

He lets me lie down in green pastures;

You prepare a table before me

He leads me beside quiet waters.

in the presence of my enemies;

He renews my life;

You anoint my head with oil;

He leads me along the right paths

my cup overflows.

for His name’s sake.

Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me

Even when I go through the darkest valley,

all the days of my life,

I fear no danger,

and I will dwell in house of the LORD

for You are with me;

as long as I live.

C. How can you connect the love of God and the grace of Christ to Muslims you might know?

280

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 280

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 19: Essay Options A. The Sayings of Confucius in form normally includes a question with an epigram as an answer. What is an epigram? Compare it in form, structure, and function to Proverbs in the Bible. B. Buddhism is at the core of ancient Chinese poetry and prose. Buddhism teaches four basic arguments: (1) life is suffering, (2) all suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality, (3) suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment, and (4) suffering is ended in the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. From a Christian perspective, respond to these four “truths.” C. Many critics observe that Eastern poetry emphasizes the empathic whereas Western poetry has committed itself to an excessive use of reason and a worship of mere rationality and the scientific method. Evaluate that argument through evidence in the above poetry selections and The Sayings of Confucius.

Chapter 20: Essay Options A. What sort of advantages does the first-person narrative technique offer Dante? B. Dante places himself in the story, an effective narrative technique for the storyline. At the same time, Dante meets several guides who lead him through his rendition of hell. Who are they, and why does Dante choose to tell his story this way? C. What would Dante have thought of the violence in our movies and television shows? Dante is graphically violent, but for the purpose of showing how repulsive man can become. Can we so clearly justify the extent of the violence in our entertainment? What purpose can we use to justify television violence? Write a persuasive essay arguing the position with which you disagree.

Chapter 21: Essay Options A. Both these women were intensely committed to prayer and its affect on the world. Hildegard von Bingen was taught theology by an anchor (a recluse who devotes himself/herself entirely to worshiping God). Catherine of Siena spent weeks at a time alone and in constant prayer to God. However, in spite of their fervency they were criticized by some Christians. Speculate upon what the criticisms might have been. B. One feature of Dante’s vision of the universe was the concept of polarities: two extreme opposites between which people were pulled. For example, Dante saw mankind living in a monumental dualistic struggle between God and Satan. In an explanatory essay, give other examples of polarity in Dante’s writing. C. Both Hildegard von Bingen and Catherine of Siena are very popular among New Age mystics/exitentialists today. Why is this ironical? And why do New Age mystics/existentialists find these two women so appealing?

281

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 281

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 22: Essay Options A. Identify the themes of “Yet if, for Singing your Praise” and “May Heaven Serve as Plate for the Engraving”by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz. B. Contrast this most heroic of Spanish heroes, the Cid, with Homer’s Agamemnon. C. Cervantes, in his book Don Quixote, writing several hundred years after Poema del Cid, criticizes the Cid hero-type. Read Don Quixote and compare and contrast it with Poem of the Cid.

Chapter 23: Essay Options A. Discuss in detail the characters whom Goethe introduces in his work. B. Two disturbing themes of Goethe’s Faust are that salvation comes intuitively in the natural world and that God is, after all, a weak reflection of the deity. Discuss how Goethe develops these themes and why they are biblically inaccurate. C. Write a report on the rise of romanticism and its effect on Western literature.

Chapter 24: Essay Options A. Write an analysis of the plot and identify the climax of the work. B. Rosetti is poking fun at a famous American romantic poem. What poem is it and discuss how she attacks its central theme? C. Compare and contrast Faust with the Book of Job.

Chapter 25: Essay Options A. A successful work of literature usually requires a highly credible plot, a well-developed set of characters, a believable setting, and at least one significant theme. Evaluate War and Peace using these criteria. B. A central theme of War and Peace is the forgiveness that Prince Andrew expresses to Natasha. Yet this hardly compensates for the heartache that Natasha brings on her family and friends. Discuss biblical parallels (e.g., the prodigal son). C. At its core War and Peace is historical fiction. It is about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Tolstoy had strong, mostly negative, feelings about Napoleon that were not shared by many European or American writers/historians. Explore the history surrounding Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and compare and contrast British, American, and Russian impressions of this important era.

282

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 282

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 26: Essay Options A. Discuss the narrative point of view in Crime and Punishment. B. Find biblical themes in Crime and Punishment and discuss how Dostoevsky develops them. Hint: forgiveness, judgment, confession, etc. C. While virtually no theistic novel was written in America after Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, during the same period, theistic literature was dominating Russian literature. Why?

Chapter 27: Essay Options A. Identify Anton Chekhov’s worldview in the short story “Easter Eve.” How do you know the worldview? What did the characters do or say to lead you to that conclusion?. B. What is the theme (meaning/purpose) of the short story “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov? C. Identify Chekhov’s worldview in “The Bet,” and what led you to this conclusion.

Chapter 28: Essay Options A. Describe the setting in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.” What makes it unusual? B. Define and discuss Ibsen’s use of dramatic irony to advance the plot. C. Search Scripture for all the references to marriage and the role of men and women in the marriage relationship.

Chapter 29: Essay Options A. Mistral was always yearning for, but never experiencing, motherhood. She turned her heartbreak into stunning poetry which offers encouragement to others struggling in hopelessness. Find evidence of this in these poems and in at least one other poem by Mistral. B. Give examples of magic realism in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which appeared in Márquez’s 1972 Leaf Storm and Other Stories. C. As a young law student, García Márquez read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It greatly influenced his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Compare these two literary pieces.

Chapter 30: Essay Options A. Discuss the narrative technique in The Löwensköld Ring. B. Generational sin is a popular topic for discussion and debate. Give at least one other example and draw parallels between the two works.

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 283

283

11/14/12 3:13 PM

C. Who is Marit Eriksdotter and what is her purpose in the novel?

Chapter 31: Essay Options A. Identify two or three themes exhibited in these passages. B. The chaplain is one of the most interesting characters in The Stranger. What is Camus trying to say to the reader through this weak character? C. The plot of this small novel is not very complicated. The story concerns Meursault, a man who is rather passive, who does not make judgments about the quality of actions. He is the quintessential modern man. He does not see patterns in the past or foresee consequences in the future. To act or not to act is one. He seems to care deeply only about the sensations of the ubiquitous moment. He drifts into relationships and out of relationships, into actions and out of actions, and one of these changes his life. It puts him into conflict with the moral ideas of the society around him. Society then destroys him. In order to show how hypocritical society is, Camus’ prosecutor does not even examine the incidents around the killing. He continues to tie the “murder” to Meursault’s reaction to his mother’s death. Offer evidence from the book to support, or to deny, this statement.

Chapter 32: Essay Options A. Paul and his friends steal a pair of boots from a dead Englishman. What do the boots come to symbolize? B. Explore the way Remarque employs naturalism in his novel. C. Why does Remarque think that this generation is lost?

Chapter 33: Essay Options A. Discuss the central theme of Nectar in a Sieve and how it is related to the protagonist. B. Discuss the writing style that is used in this novel. C. Analyze the character Biswas.

Chapter 34: Essay Options A. Identify one or two themes in Cry, the Beloved Country. B. In Cry, the Beloved Country, the protagonist Stephen undergoes a great deal of change in this novel. Indeed, many characters change — going from a place of anger to forgiveness, hopelessness to hope. They change as they experience and overcome internal conflict. Identify the internal conflicts several characters experience. C. Discuss Paton’s development of protagonist Reverend Stephen Kumalo.

284

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 284

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter Tests

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 285

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 286

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 1: Test Essays (100 Points) A. The following creation story is from Japan. Compare and contrast this creation story to Genesis 1–2. After the creation of Heaven and earth, Divine Beings were produced between them. Hence it is said that when the world began to be created, the soil of which lands were composed floated about in a manner which might be compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water. At this time a certain thing was produced between Heaven and Earth. It was in form like a reedshoot. Now this was transformed into a God, and was called Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, and next Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, in all three deities. These were pure males spontaneously developed by the operation of the principle of Heaven. The next Deities who came into being were Uhiji-ni no Mikoto and Suhiji-ni no Mikoto, also called Uhiji-ne no Mikoto and Suhiji-ne no Mikoto. The next Deities which came into being were Oho-to nochi no Mikoto and Oho-to mahe no Mikoto. The next Deities which came into being were Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto. These make eight Deities in all. Being formed by the mutual action of the Heavenly and Earthly principles, they were made male and female. From Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto to Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto are called the seven generations of the age of the Gods (portfolio.richard-hooker.com/sites/worldcultures/ANCJAPAN/CREAT2.HTM).

B. Give the historical background to Daniel 5. In your discussion, compare the Hebrew hero Daniel to the Sumerian/Babylonian hero Gilgamesh.

287

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 287

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 288

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 2: Test Essay (100 Points) A. What is a worldview?

B. What was William Bradford’s worldview?

289

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 289

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 290

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 3: Test Discussion Questions (100 Points) Place the following passages in the order in which they occur (Scripture is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible). Discuss how the author of Esther uses the incidents to develop the plot. On the third day, Esther dressed up in her royal clothing and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing its entrance. As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she won his approval. The king extended the golden scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter. “If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’ presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, so all women will honor their husbands, from the least to the greatest.” During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs who guarded the [king’s] entrance, became infuriated and tried to assassinate King Ahasuerus. When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows. This event was recorded in the court records of daily events in the king’s presence. King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?” Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman.” Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai. Mordecai told [the messenger] to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” . Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, yet living in isolation. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, so that they defy the king’s laws. It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to the accountants for deposit in the royal treasury.”

291

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 291

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 292

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 4: Test Discussion Questions (100 Points) A. Discuss the importance of the following passages: All these things are in my mind also, lady; yet I would feel deep shame before the Trojans, and the Trojan women with trailing garments, if like a coward I were to shrink aside from the fighting; and the spirit will not let me, since I have learned to be valiant and to fight always among the foremost ranks of the Trojans, winning for my own self great glory, and for my father. (Book VI) Why ask of my generation? As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies. (Book VI) For Hector the huge will not sooner be stayed from his fighting until there stirs by the ships the swiftfooted son of Peleus on that day when they shall fight by the sterns of the beached ships in the narrow place of necessity over fallen Patroklos. (Book VIII) If one is to win honour in battle, he must by all means/stand his ground strongly, whether he be struck or strike down another. (Book XI) One bird sign is best in defense of our country (Book XII). I myself know well it is destined for me to die here, far from my beloved father and mother. But for all that/I will not stop till the Trojans have had enough of my fighting. (Book XIX) B. Evaluate the following criticisms. Write your evaluation in essay form. Achilles’ greatness is a greatness of force and negation. He is different from other men by his greater capacity to deny, to refuse, to kill, and to face death.... Hektor, by contrast, is a hero of illusions; he is finally trapped between a failed illusion and his own capacity for disillusionment. Hektor is surely a figure less grand than Achilles, but it is Hektor’s story that gives Achilles’ story meaning; Hektor affirms all that Achilles denies. (James Redfield, www.Barronsbooknotes.com) The Iliad traces almost clinically the stages of Achilles’ development. More than tragedy, epic makes real use of time; whereas Oedipus, for instance, reveals himself before our eyes, Achilles creates himself in the course of the poem. He progresses from young hopefulness, cheerfully accepting the possibility of early death with glory, through various phases of disillusion, horror, and violence, to a final detachment which is godlike indeed. Tragedy, especially that of Sophocles, slowly uncovers a character which is complete from start to finish, but Achilles is actually not complete until the poem is complete. He is learning all the time. (Cedric H. Whitman, www.Barronsbooknotes.com)

293

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 293

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 294

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 5: Test Discussion Questions (100 Points) A. Discuss Homer’s use of water to constantly cleanse his hero Odysseus.

B. Write a personal contemporary story similar in scope and sequence to The Odyssey.

295

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 295

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 296

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 6: Test Essay (100 Points) Viewing Homer’s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey as history reveals that the gods and goddesses had a profound impact on the course of events. In that sense, these two books would be like any religious history. The author sees the gods as being a more important force than anything else in history. A higher power was an integral part of Homer’s history. Herodotus wrote with the intentions that he expressed in his opening sentence: “The double aim of preserving the renowned or remarkable deeds of both Greeks and non-Greeks, and of explaining the cause of the fighting between them.” For the first time in history, however, Herodotus discussed history as if the gods were absent — or at least not a major consideration in the course of events. In a two-page essay, Give examples of this absence of the gods from the text and speculate upon what impact this absence will have on later historians.

297

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 297

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 298

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 7: Test Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast the dialogues that Socrates has with his friends in Plato’s The Death of Socrates with the dialogues that Job has with his friends in the biblical Book of Job.

299

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 299

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 300

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 8: Test Discussion Questions (50 Points) A. In a 300-word essay, compare and contrast Plato’s The Republic with the biblical understanding of government.

B. In a 150-word persuasive essay, evaluate the following statement: Plato’s modern readers, judging him by modern patterns of thought, used to spend much energy searching for his “system.” But at last they became content to realize that — whether for artistic or for critical motives — he refrained from constructing a fixed body of doctrine like other philosophers. He wanted to show knowledge in process of becoming (Werner Jaeger, Paideia; www. Barronsnotes.com. Republic).

301

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 301

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 302

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 9: Test Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast the way Plato and Aristotle discuss the problem of man’s subjective knowledge of an objective world.

303

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 303

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 304

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 10: Test Essay (100 Points) Compare and contrast Oedipus with the following biblical characters: Samson

King Ahab

Judas

King Hezekiah

King Saul

David

305

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 305

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 306

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 11: Test Essay (100 Points) A. Create a contemporary epic journey that is similar in theme and plot to The Aeneid.

B. Discuss the importance of the following scene in Book V (ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_ vergil_aeneid_v.htm). Meantime the Trojan cuts his wat’ry way,

The frighted crew perform the task assign’d.

Fix’d on his voyage, thro’ the curling sea;

Then, to his fearless chief: “Not Heav’n,”” said he,

Then, casting back his eyes, with dire amaze,

“Tho’ Jove himself should promise Italy,

Sees on the Punic shore the mounting blaze.

Can stem the torrent of this raging sea.

The cause unknown; yet his presaging mind

Mark how the shifting winds from west arise,

The fate of Dido from the fire divin’d;

And what collected night involves the skies!

He knew the stormy souls of womankind,

Nor can our shaken vessels live at sea,

What secret springs their eager passions move,

Much less against the tempest force their way.

How capable of death for injur’d love.

It is fate diverts our course, and fate we must obey.

Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw;

Not far from hence, if I observed aright

Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.

The southing of the stars, and polar light,

Now seas and skies their prospect only bound;

Sicilia lies, whose hospitable shores

An empty space above, a floating field around.

In safety we may reach with struggling oars.

But soon the heav’ns with shadows were o’erspread;

Aeneas then replied: “Too sure I find

A swelling cloud hung hov’ring o’er their head:

We strive in vain against the seas and wind:

Livid it look’d, the threat’ning of a storm:

Now shift your sails; what place can please me more

Then night and horror ocean’s face deform.

Than what you promise, the Sicilian shore,

The pilot, Palinurus, cried aloud:

Whose hallow’d earth Anchises’ bones contains,

“What gusts of weather from that gath’ring cloud

And where a prince of Trojan lineage reigns?”

My thoughts presage! Ere yet the tempest roars,

The course resolv’d, before the western wind

Stand to your tackle, mates, and stretch your oars;

They scud amain, and make the port assign’d.

Contract your swelling sails, and luff to wind.”

307

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 307

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 308

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 12: Test Essays (100 Points) Give the response of the Apostle Paul and Marcus Aurelius to these comments: A. Eat, drink, and be merry for one never knows what tomorrow will bring. Paul:



Marcus Aurelius:

B. I might as well not try to make an A on this test because it is impossible to do. Paul:



Marcus Aurelius:

309

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 309

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 310

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 13: Test Essay (100 Points) Describe the early Christian monastic movement.

311

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 311

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 312

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 14: Test Essay (100 Points) Tertullian, an early Christian apologist, helped to establish Latin — rather than Greek, which was the most widely used language at that time — as a vehicle for Christian thought in the West. Because he was a pastor rather than a philosopher, he asked this famous question: “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Write a précis of the following passage from Tertullian (The Apology, XXX, XXXIII). For we offer prayer for the safety of our princes to the eternal, the true, the living God, whose favour, beyond all others, they must themselves desire. They know from whom they have obtained their power; they know, as they are men, from whom they have received life itself; they are convinced that He is God alone, on whose power alone they are entirely dependent, to whom they are second, after whom they occupy the highest places, before and above all the gods. Why not, since they are above all living men, and the living, as living, are superior to the dead? They reflect upon the extent of their power, and so they come to understand the highest; they acknowledge that they have all their might from Him against whom their might is nought. Let the emperor make war on heaven; let him lead heaven captive in his triumph; let him put guards on heaven; let him impose taxes on heaven! He cannot. Just because he is less than heaven, he is great. For he himself is His to whom heaven and every creature appertains. He gets his sceptre where he first got his humanity; his power where he got the breath of life. Thither we lift our eyes, with hands outstretched, because free from sin; with head uncovered, for we have nothing whereof to be ashamed; finally, without a monitor, because it is from the heart we supplicate. Without ceasing, for all our emperors we offer prayer. We pray for life prolonged; for security to the empire; for protection to the imperial house; for brave armies, a faithful senate, a virtuous people, the world at rest, whatever, as man, an emperor would wish. These things I cannot ask from any but the God from whom I know I shall obtain them, both because He alone bestows them and because I have claims upon Him for their gift, as being a servant of His, rendering homage to Him alone, persecuted for His doctrine, offering to Him, at His own requirement, that costly and noble sacrifice of prayer. But why dwell longer on the reverence and sacred respect of Christians to the emperor, whom we cannot but look up to as called by our Lord to his office? So that on valid grounds I might say Ceasar is more ours than yours, for our God has appointed him. Therefore, as having this propriety in him, I do more than you for his welfare, not merely because I ask it of Him who can give it, or because I ask it as one who deserves to get it, but also because, in keeping the majesty of Ceasar within due limits, and putting it under the Most High, and making it less than divine, I commend him the more to the favour of Deity, to whom I make him alone inferior (godrules.net/library/ecf/anf03.iv.iii.xxx.htm).

313

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 313

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 314

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 15: Test Essay (100 Points) Write a letter to non-believers defending the faith. In your letter, discuss such issues as the lordship of Jesus Christ, the authority and inspiration of Scriptures, and so forth.

315

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 315

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 316

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 16: Test Essay (100 Points) Analyze the poem by Minamoto no Toshiyori It moves me to see, Burning above the mooring poles, Fireflies For I could cry out loud At this world of ours. www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka1065.shtml.

317

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 317

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 318

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 17: Test Essay (100 Points) Why should a Christian believer bother to study Hinduism?

319

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 319

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 320

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 18: Test Essay (100 Points) In spite of their love for their God, Rabi’a and Kassaine were mortal enemies. The Islam armies eventually destroyed Kassaine’s city and conquered her people. Still, their poems evidence some similarities. What are they?

321

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 321

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 322

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 19: Test Essay (100 Points) Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14). The Word of God is inspired and inerrant and is without equal in authority to our lives. Evaluate why one should or should not still read other philosophers like Confucius.

323

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 323

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 324

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 20: Test Essay (100 Points) Is The Divine Comedy an epic on the same scale as The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid? Or is it a theological treatise in the same vein as Confessions, by Augustine?

325

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 325

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 326

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 21: Test Essay (100 Points) In a three-page essay, write a contemporary version of The Divine Comedy (Inferno).

327

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 327

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 328

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 22: Test Essay (100 Points) What American epic stories (perhaps poems) exist that capture our own national pride? Compare them to the Poema del Cid and other epics you have read.

329

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 329

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 330

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 23: Test Essay (100 Points) Create a Christian ending to Faust.

331

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 331

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 332

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 24: Test Essay (100 Points) Write a modern Faustian story based upon a contemporary figure.

333

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 333

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 334

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 25: Test Essay (100 Points) It is difficult to ascertain the main theme of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. At the end of his life, he said that he only meant to amuse his readers. Earlier in his life, Tolstoy said that his book was about the wanderings of people. Present your thoughts and deductions on what the theme(s) is/are.

335

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 335

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 336

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 26: Test Essay (100 Points) Discuss why Svidrigailov commits suicide.

337

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 337

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 338

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 27: Test Essay (100 Points) The introduction to Anton Chekhov’s Selected Stories says: Chekhov’s originality lies in his unique combination of tragedy, comedy, and pathos, and above all in his peculiar technique which relies on the sensitivity and intelligence of his readers. Chekhov’s stories, like his plays are essentially concerned with the incommunicable, and have been criticized by the uninitiated for their lack of action . . . the climax is often untold. Evaluate this statement in a two-page essay and argue your position.

339

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 339

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 340

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 28: Test Essay (100 Points) Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” was quite revolutionary. The “hero” is not a prince or a king — or even a member of the aristocracy. Instead, she is a middle-class, average woman, who consciously rebels against her maledominated and intimidating surroundings. A play that questioned a woman’s place in society and asserted that a woman’s self was important in her role as wife and mother was quite iconoclastic and threatening to some. Ibsen was openly castigated by contemporary critics and educators. Some government and church officials were incensed. Were their positions well-founded? Is Ibsen’s view of a woman’s place threatening? Compare his view (or the interpretations of his view) with scriptural references, including Proverbs 31. Take a position of the presence of Christians in the women’s liberation movement over the centuries.

341

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 341

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 342

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 29: Test Essay (100 Points) Describe magical realism and how it relates to fiction writing.

343

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 343

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 344

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 30: Test Essay (100 Points) What is the role of the pastor?

345

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 345

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 346

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 31: Test Essay (100 Points) Some existentialists contemplate life and then commit suicide. Why not? If there is no meaning to life, why live? Meursault is not the first literary figure to struggle with this dilemma. Witness the famous soliloquy by Hamlet — himself becoming unhinged from his theistic moorings (www.artofeurope.com/shakespeare/sha8. htm): To be, or not to be: that is the question.

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

When he himself might his quietus make

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

And by opposing, end them. To die: to sleep;

But that the dread of something after death,

No more; and, by a sleep to say we end

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

That flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation

And make us rather bear those ills we have

Devoutly to be wish’d. To die; to sleep;

Than fly to others that we know not of?

To sleep? perchance to dream! Ay, there’s the rub;

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

And thus the native hue of resolution

When we have shuffl’d off this mortal coil,

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

Must give us pause. There’s the respect

And enterprises of great pith and moment

That makes calamity of so long life.

With this regard their currents turn awry,

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

And lose the name of action. — Soft you now!

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,

Be all my sins remember’d.

The insolence of office, and the spurns Evaluate the reasoning reflected in both Meursault and Hamlet and offer a Christian alternative.

347

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 347

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 348

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 32: Test Essay (100 points) The agnostic Whitehead believed in God — if a decidedly anemic God. Opposing existentialists and naturalists, Whitehead preferred to work within society’s institutions. The difficulty with Whitehead’s philosophy is that he appealed to direct experience. Like other romantics, he saw harmony in nature and in human experience. Like some of the empiricists, Whitehead leaned toward rationalism. He abandoned the notion, strong in Western philosophy since Plato, that what is most unchanging is most real. Instead, he conceived the structure of reality in dynamic terms. Reality was not based on Platonic forms but on fluid experience. The emphasis was on becoming, on development in time, rather than on static being, and by implication, absolute truth. Whitehead embraced the modernist notion of process thought. The central metaphor for process thought is that of organism rather than of machine. The formation of each event is a function of the nature of the entities involved. Whitehead’s agnosticism was most evident in his understanding of suffering. God “the fellow-sufferer who understands,” who does not coerce but merely seeks to persuade other beings in the direction of love, is omnipotent God, because only a wimpish God would allow six million people to die. A. Discuss the heretical notions of process thought.

B. What does modernism offer as evidence for process thought?

349

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 349

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 350

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 33: Test Essay (100 Points) Kamala Markandaya took the title of her book from the poem “Work without Hope” by British romantic 19th-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Samuel_Coleridge/233). Why? How are the themes similar?

Work without Hope All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair —

Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.

The bees are stirring — birds are on the wing —

Bloom, O ye Amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,

And winter slumbering in the open air,

For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:

And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,

And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,

Yet well I ken the banks where Amaranths blow,

And hope without an object cannot live.

351

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 351

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 352

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Chapter 34: Test Essay (100 Points) Examine the ten best sellers this week and speculate on which direction(s) literature is heading.

353

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 353

11/14/12 3:13 PM

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 354

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Integrate

3 Years of

High School Literature with History

2 Hours a Day Yields 9 Course Credits

Teacher | 978-0-89051-672-0 Student | 978-0-89051-671-3

Teacher | 978-0-89051-674-4 Student | 978-0-89051-673-7

Teacher | 978-0-89051-676-8 Student | 978-0-89051-675-1

Teacher | 978-0-89051-643-0 Student | 978-0-89051-644-7

Teacher | 978-0-89051-645-4 Student | 978-0-89051-646-1

Teacher | 978-0-89051-647-8 Student | 978-0-89051-648-5

Coursework designed by Dr. James Stobaugh: ordained pastor, certified secondary teacher, SAT coach, recognized homeschool leader and author.

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 355

11/14/12 3:13 PM

Daily lessons for a 34-week intensive study! The vital resource for grading all assignments from the World Literature course, including options to help personalize the coursework for the individual student to develop:

 Essay writing skills

 Solid worldviews



 Higher ACT/SAT scores

 Strong vocabulary

Students are immersed into some of the greatest world literature ever written in this well-crafted presentation of whole-book or whole-work selections from classic prose, poetry, and drama. Literary content and writers covered in this volume include: the Gilgamesh Epic, Homer, Plato, “The Sermon on the Mount” by Matthew, Augustine of Hippo, Henrik Ibsen, Albert Camus, as well as readings from Japan, India, China, Russia, Spain, and many more selections of the finest in world literature. Additional readings not included within this text can be found at local libraries or widely available as free online downloads.

5

Each weekly chapter has daily lessons with clear objectives, concept-building exercises, warm-up questions, and guided readings. These equip students to think critically about philosophy and trends in culture, while articulating their worldview through writing.



Approximately one hour per lesson, Monday through Friday

Dr. James P. Stobaugh is an ordained pastor, a

Includes answer keys for concept builders and test

was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard and holds degrees

Weekly essay choices and summary answers Daily concept-builders to build a deeper understanding of material Weekly tests to help assess student learning

certified secondary teacher, and a SAT coach. He from Vanderbilt and Rutgers universities, as well as Princeton and Gordon-Conwell seminaries. An experienced teacher, he is a recognized leader in homeschooling and has published numerous books for students and teachers. He and his wife, Karen, have four homeschooled adult children.

EARN AN ADDITIONAL CREDIT! Use the American, British, and World Literature series side-by-side with the American, British, and World History series for a powerfully integrated study for three course credits!

World Literature Teacher wCB.indd 356

ISBN-13: 978-0-89051-676-8

®

EAN

Also available: American Literature and British Literature

RELIGION/Christian Education/Children & Youth LITERARY CRITICISM/General $19.99 U.S.

11/14/12 3:13 PM