A few thousand years ago the Roman literary critic Horace said that the purpose of a work of literature is to “delight and instruct” its readers. In other words, a work of great literature should bring you pleasure and at the same time teach you something you didn’t know before (or perhaps help you think about something in a new way).
Assignment
Look back on all the works of literature we’ve read this semester, and discuss at least five of these works that you have enjoyed and that you have learned from (for example, the work may have taught you something that you think is useful to know or remember, or it may have caused you to think about something important, or it may have reinforced an old lesson—while helping you see it in a new way). Explain what made each of those works enjoyable for you and what you learned from each of them; for most students, the best way to organize the essay is by talking about the works one by one, focusing your discussion on both “delight and instruct.” Be specific in writing your essay, both in explaining why the work delighted you and how the work instructed you. Your discussion must show that you have a reasonable interpretation of each work you discuss; you should support your discussion of the work by quoting specific passages.
Your essay should be at least 1,200 words long.
Elements
Be imaginative in opening the essay—write a lead that grabs the reader’s attention. It should also effectively set up the content of the essay.
Your essay must have quoted passages in it that support and explain your points; these should be documented correctly using MLA style. We’ll talk about this briefly during class on either Nov. 30 or Dec. 2.
Your discussion of the work must provide a reasonable interpretation analysis/interpretation of the work (or portion of the work on which you focus).
In your discussion, show that you have learned some literary terminology by using the literary terms we have studied this semester.
Your essay should demonstrate knowledge of a work’s original historical or cultural context.
Write a conclusion that not only brings the essay to its completion but that also shows some insight
Style:
It is acceptable (and probably necessary) to use the pronoun “I” (and other first person pronouns, like “me, “my, “we,” “us,” and “our”).