ENGL 100 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Odyssey, Odysseus, Ithaca
12 Oct 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
ENGL 100
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
ENGL 100 - 002
Introduction
What is literature?
Literature is not necessarily something purely fictional or imaginative; literature can be lyric
poetry (which is often based off of real events) or autobiographies, or other non-fiction. Bottom
line, literature is not synonymous with fiction.
Literature is subject to taste, which is determined by the consumer. It can aesthetically be good or
bad, or use simple or complex language.
Literature is determined by the overall opinion of a pieces artistic merit. Overall, literature is what
we (in the academic field) decide it is.
It is not clear what literature is; there is no one clear and concise definition. In fact, most literary
terms are hard to define (safe for technical words, such as those that describe meter)
In terms of this class: literature is a vacuum cleaner; it sucks you in and down a rabbit hole, in
which we (like Alice), have to wander around and try to figure it out. It is always strange and
different
Literature is not about you, but once you are in it, it has to be about you.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
ENGL 100 – 002
Epic Genre
Background on The Odyssey
The Odyssey is the oldest ancient Greek piece of writing, and is essentially a very long narrative
epic poem. It details many legends and events (like the War of Troy), which took place long
before it was written. There are three time frames to think about when reading The Odyssey;
o 1250 BCE; when the events in the story actually took place
o 850-750 BCE; the time it was written (when the Greek alphabet was just starting to be
used)
o 500-100 BCE; when it found significance in Athenian culture
Athenian culture, hundreds of years after it was written, make the Odyssey (500-100 BCE) a very
important part of their culture and classical Greek culture, and from there it fed into European
literary tradition. This is essentially how it became an important text outside of Greek literature.
o We know virtually nothing about Homer
What is a Genre of Literature?
Genre = a distinct kind or category of literature, whether a kind of form (e.g. the novel, the
sonnet) or a kind of subject matter (e.g. science fiction, or lyric poetry)
Often genre refers more specifically to a conventional combination of form and content (e.g.
detective novel, love sonnet). We usually only use form, not genre, to refer to big categories that
can have any content, like narrative, verse, drama, and prose.
What is the Epic Genre?
Epic = a long narrative poem of exalted actions and style (increasingly used to refer to novels and
other narrative forms). Often focused on a "culture hero" protagonist who founds or restores the
principles of a community (but this could be a collective protagonist).
o There are not many epic poems. Examples of them are The Odyssey and Paradise Lost, but
there are not that many literary significant epics, but the Epic genre is still quite important.
Other genres to which the Odyssey belongs are Heroic Poetry (about a simpler (idealized) past
society, primitivist, defined by a warrior code) and Romance (narrative of a magical or
exaggerated reality, often involving a quest).
What is a Narrative?
Narrative = a sequence of meaningfully related events. More specifically, a story (chronology)
crafted into a plot (the way the story is unfolded to the reader) that is meaningful to the characters
(personified figures with a perspective and a stake in the story).
o Narratives tells a story, but almost never do it perfectly chronologically.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Literature is not necessarily something purely fictional or imaginative; literature can be lyric poetry (which is often based off of real events) or autobiographies, or other non-fiction. Bottom line, literature is not synonymous with fiction. Literature is subject to taste, which is determined by the consumer. It can aesthetically be good or bad, or use simple or complex language. Literature is determined by the overall opinion of a pieces artistic merit. Overall, literature is what we (in the academic field) decide it is. It is not clear what literature is; there is no one clear and concise definition. In fact, most literary terms are hard to define (safe for technical words, such as those that describe meter) In terms of this class: literature is a vacuum cleaner; it sucks you in and down a rabbit hole, in which we (like alice), have to wander around and try to figure it out.
