Prompt: 1974. Choose a work of literature written before 1900. Write an essay in which you present arguments for and against the work's relevance for a person in 1974. Your own position should emerge in the course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written after 1900 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.
In every English class taken, it seems as if majority of the focus is on pieces of work that seem ancient to us. Readings from the 1500's to Shakespeare to the 1800's, the difficulty of the language seems to lead readers to the question, "Why do I have to read this?". The point of reading literature from hundreds of years ago seems to get past most of the readers. How is it that works such as Beowulf and Pride and Prejudice still are necessary to read now? In reality, works from before the 1900's are more beneficial for us to read today that work of our own time because the provide a historical context that we can not find anywhere else.
Beowulf, written around 1000 a.d., is still commonly read in literature classes today. Though through translation it is not a difficult read, many still question why we would read this poem. The story line is relatively simple and isn't anything that you couldn't find in a novel more modern. But yet, Beowulf is one of the most important pieces of work found from the Anglo-Saxon time and still bears great importance today. Having read Beowulf the reader is exposed to many different aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture and life. Without the accurate recording of history, Beowulf provides us with a glimpse into the beliefs and customs of those who lived in the Anglo-Saxon time that we would not get without the this poem or from any work found in the 1900's.
Pride and Prejudice is possibly one of the most read novels of all time. Written by Jane Austen in the 1800's, Pride and Prejudice is still commonly read today. The question still remains though, "Why should I read this?". Austen's satire provides the reader with a look into the lives of families that lived during the 19th century. The focus on marriage and courtship shows the reader the importance of marriage customs of the time and how they were not necessarily perfect. Throughout the story Jane Austen seems to undermine the ideas of her time and shows the readers the flaws found in her own time. Without reading this novel, modern readers would not understand the dark side of relationships found in that time. This is not something that we can find in modern day pieces of work. Austen offers a first hand account of what life was really like and how relationships were created and flourished,
Whether is be from the 1000's to the 1800's, work before the 1900's still bears great importance on readers in our time. These works provide us with a look into the opinions of authors, historical reference, and a look into many different cultures that seem almost foreign to us. Without reading works such as Pride and Prejudice and Beowulf modern day readers would miss out on learning, not just what happens in the work, but about another culture as well.
Your opening paragraph sufficiently introduces the topic however it is a bit redundant. For example when you say, "The point of reading literature from hundreds of years ago seems to get past most of the readers. How is it that works such as Beowulf and Pride and Prejudice still are necessary to read now? To most, it seems as if there is no point to reading pieces of work that were written before the 1900's," you address your two topics of discussion (Pride and Prejudice and Beowulf) which is good but it is sandwiched between two practically identical sentences. Also, I think your thesis is too vague. We understand the point you are making but I think it would be more meaningful if you said specifically WHY works from before the 1900's are more beneficial. I like your examples from Beowulf and Pride and Prejudice and here you do specify why each piece of literature has value. Using these two examples you did a good job in the last paragraph tying it to a universal reason as to why literature before the 1900's is important. Your last sentence is great and I think what you said about learning about our past culture is something you should put in your thesis in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alison, I think you should have included the historical context part in your thesis. In fact, I think the prompt was actually fishing for an answer like that. The prompt asks you to prove the relevance of /one/ pre-1900 piece, by comparing the world at the time of writing with the world now. That's how I read it, anyway. As for your actual paper, I agree with Alison there as well. You do a good job of explaining the importance of individual works, but what makes them /more/ beneficial than contemporary literature?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alison, I also thought that your introduction was repetitive and your thesis was vague; but I like how you tell the value of the pieces of literature. However, I would give examples to support your claim that Beowulf tells us about the Anglo-Saxons life and culture, and I would give examples, too, of the flaws in the marriage customs from Austen's time. For example, you could mention how Charlotte has to marry a man she does not love because she is approaching an age where being single is not thought of well. I really like your concluding paragraph and I think that you have some very good points in it. For instance when you mention how we can learn about other cultures and how we get to look at the opinions of the authors.
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