Term Paper on "Portfolio Studying Literature Is an Eye Opening Experience"

Term Paper 5 pages (1842 words) Sources: 0 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Eye Opening Experience

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Depiction of Satan

Thomas Pynchon's Concept of Hyper-Reality Novel: The Crying of Lot 49

Diotima's Speech in Plato's Symposium

Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

The range of options and prospects that literature presents to scholars makes it one of the most attractive forms of art. It prepares scholars adequately to face the challenges of life. In particular, the copious possibilities have opened my mind to fresh ideas alongside techniques for evaluating and reviewing works of literature. I also realized that the modern techniques have a bearing on scholars' discernment and perception of modern literature in comparison to the ancient or traditional literary works. However, my three-year study in Saudi Arabia could not allow me survey the richness and opulence of literature. The conservative nature of Saudi Arabian culture hampered my aptitude and propensity to explore English literature. The most popular language in Saudi Arabia is Arabic. Most institutions of higher learning embrace Arabic in teaching various courses and disregard foreign languages such as English, Portuguese, and French among others. I could not effectively approach certain fundamental concepts of English literature such as sexuality, philosophy, religion. The culture of the people of Saudi Arabia gave little attention or gratitude to the ideas of English literature as cultural authorities and education stakeholders considered them as against the ethics and moral standards of the people of Saudi Arabia and Muslim society in general.<br />

Such restrictions to exploration of different forms of literature and dialects do not seem to dominate culture and traditions of people living in Paris. The French Capital city (Paris) acknowledges diversity of culture in addition to presence of people from different races, ethnicity, and social backgrounds. Hence, my stay in Paris provided the much-needed opportunity to study literature further. In particular, I have deep passion for the literary works. The romanticists together with their poems have enthralled me too. Apparently, the study of comparative literature has given me the chance to study other literary works more. It also informed my decision to base my research on Romanticism and intend to uncover additional information on the same. Some of my favorite writers of the Romantic era include William Blake, Words worth, Coleridge, John Keats, and P.B Shelley. Besides, I enjoy learning short poems.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The poem (written between 1797 and 1798) is a bizarre account of a mariner's expedition at the sea. I believe the voyage is comparable to the kind of redemption people go through whenever they practice religion such as Christianity. The essence of shooting the Albatross is to demonstrate that the Mariner had to singlehandedly shoulder and endue the hardships of the trip. The killing of Albatross signals the beginning of persecution. His retelling of the story to the youngest guest at the wedding ceremony is part of redemption process previously preceded by persecution and seeking repentance. Many people in the society make mistakes that cost them trials and tribulations. The lesson learnt would make an individual to think twice before repeating the same mistake. The poem makes an interesting account of an incident in wedding celebration pitting an old sailor and a wedding guest. The old sailor attempts to stop the guest from entering the venue to join in the celebrations. The presence of various literary devices and the drama that ensue make the poem interesting and an influential piece of English literature. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an area I have chose for my EN 1010 class. The Romantic poetry class in King Saud's University first introduced me to this poem during my second year. I found Romantic poets and their methods quite fascinating. I wanted to go in the depths of this poem that is why I chose it as a topic for my research paper for that class; I wanted to know more about it.

The poem would leave many scholars wondering why the poet used an old-fashioned voice or even why the poem sound so corny. Some readers would feel some element of injustice when controversially Mariner survives even after committing such a horrible act. A number of scholars would be wondering if Coleridge thought was simply a big joke. It beat logic when Mariner shoot albatross that at some given point brought good luck to his ship. Among all other issues in the poem that raise eyebrows, the shooting act is the most self-defeating and irrational act. He does not explain the reason behind committing such a heinous act on someone who at some given point brought good luck to his ship. The Mariner would immediately lose the wind with all his crewmates blaming him for the situation that befallen them. All the sailors on the Mariner's ship died. Only the mariner survives whose ship ended up in the port again after a speedy journey. Upon getting on shore, the Mariner is impatient and desperate to narrate his ordeal to the hermit -- the guy who was on the rescue boat. He confirms his agonizing need to tell the story on the wedding occasion that made him stop the Guest. In the end, the Mariner leaves. The disillusionment and humiliation that ensued during the brief scuffle with the Wedding Guest leave the Guest not interested in the Wedding. Thus, he did not enter but instead went straight to his home dejected. The poem illustrates the reciprocate nature of love.

The Depiction of Satan

Depiction of Satan intends to illustrate the inevitable forms of suffering and tribulations that those going to hell must face. This limited Kingdom is awash with sinners who live in anguish and distress contrary to those joining Heaven who live in harmony and ecstasy. The image of Satan has undergone successive transformations since the first representations in the 6th Century when Satan was human-like creature. However, the pain and anguish of people living in his kingdom has been the order of the day for all centuries. The monstrous illustrations of Satan in the 10th and 11th Centuries followed thereby rendering the scary and fierce image of Evil. The frightening and daunting image of Satan/Evil would scare believers into repenting their sins. The evolution of religious thought and contemplation during the advent of Renaissance influenced change of image once again to resemble human. The analysis of such transformation takes two forms represented by the exponential medieval works.

The medieval works include Dante's Inferno by Codex Gigas and Paradise Lost by Milton. Each of the two works provides images of Satan corresponding to the religious concepts as depicted by different social as well as cultural context. The Medieval society was greatly concerned about the concept of Satan because it influenced their visions and fears concerning Death and Afterlife. The concept of Devil occupied lives of Christians of the period. Strength of Christianity and spirituality of believers also dominated the cultural representation of the era. Dante's inferno depicts hell as consisting of nine circles of suffering. The ninth circle consists of four rings with boundaries of the rings marked by the extent or depth to which the sinners immersed in the ice.

Milton's Lost Paradise challenges the universal notion that Satan is purely evil. Instead, it attempts to view Satan as creature that continues to wage war with Heaven the anguish of his circumstances notwithstanding. Milton went ahead to analyze the inner struggle between Hell and Heaven in Satan. Satan's inward and independent thought has partly contributed to his suffering in Hell and rebellious nature. In general, medieval artists recognized the ability of Satan to acquire a massive following of fallen angels. They however attempted to portray Satan as having more animal and less human features. Apparently, animals fall below humans according to the scale of existence.

Thomas Pynchon's Concept of Hyper-reality Novel: The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49 has helped in the illustration of the concept of Hyper-reality. Hyper-reality is a representation of the postmodern period. The book is non-existent conspiracy with limited moral implications. Oedipa Maas receives letter from a law firm stating that Pierce Inverarity (her ex-boyfriend) has died and named her the executor of his expansive estate. However, it later dawns on her that she does not have real friends and the estate was just a big joke Pierce played on her. The novel ends as Oedipa sits in the room waiting for the Crying of Lot 49, perhaps to eventually find out the mystery bidder's identity.

Diotima's Speech in Plato's Symposium

The Plato's Symposium describes the process by which individuals accomplish final visions of their mysteries. One ascends through various stages- loving particular beauty before ultimately loving the beauty itself. It all begins with loving particular body, then bodies in general, minds to minds in general, to knowledge, and finally acquiring the knowledge of the Form of Beauty. Diotima is a persuasive and influential woman from Mantinea that Socrates claims to have met. She taught… READ MORE

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