Assignment task: Read & Respond: Analyzing Literature
Prepare for this activity by reading Netland, "Beauty, Meaning, and Power." from Faith and Learning.
Next, watch/listen to the following lectures on the importance of literature:
The Ecology of Literature (Continued)
Geoffrey Reiter on the Importance of Literature
After reading the above, respond to the following prompts:
What do you think is the purpose of human imagination? Is it "frivolous and largely concerned with idle daydreams"? Or does it lead us to the truth?
Choose 1 of the following poems or short stories below and analyze it. Describe the space that the author has created for the piece (fictional or historic time/place, or an economy of words and rhythms that communicate joy, harmony, dissonance, or pain). How does the space which the artist creates convey a certain meaning, belief, or worldview?
Poems or short stories to choose from:
- Milosz, "Veni Creator"
- Hughes, "Harlem"
- Arnold, "Dover Beach"
- Van Dyke, "A Handful of Clay"
- Hardy, "Hap"
- Hopkins, "God's Grandeur"