World Literature

Please choose one of the following three prompts and craft a well-developed, well-supported, researched essay of no fewer than four (4) pages based on your chosen prompt. You must type this in proper MLA format (1” margins, double-spaced, 10-12 pt. font, a right-justified header with page numbers, your identifying information in the upper left corner, and your title centered 1/6 of the way down the page).You are to use at least three selections from the readings assigned out of the texts AND at least two outside sources to support your claims or observations.

PROMPTS:

1. The literary traditions of pre-Renaissance Europe were by no means derived from ancient Greek and Roman traditions alone. Rather, they were influenced by Arabic and Persian traditions as well. The fact of this cultural mixing stands in contrast to common misconceptions of a pure European heritage derived just from Western literary and philosophical traditions. Please explain this dichotomy through the writings of this unit.
2. Please illustrate and explain how the concept of poetics—i.e., the study of aesthetics through reflection on theories of art and its aims—and the concept of the experience of pure emotion and the idea of mythology characterized the writings of the Persian, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese authors.
3. Explain how the rise of the "vernacular" in literature echoed the growing globalization and cosmopolitan intersection of cultures during this time period.