Week one

OK…so much for week one. Sorry for the lack of blogs -this should not happen again.

By now, you should understand the purpose and expectations of the course. You have read and signed the Procedures and have a copy of the syllabus.

We discussed the purpose of literature and how some define literature. Literature is written art. It is any piece of writing that can claim that is has “artistic beauty.” The big issue, as we discussed, is who defines what is artistic and what is beauty. That is where you come in – you need to be able to apply standard concepts to define what is artistic and beautiful.

We also read a brief history of writing. Early works were not written but part of the ‘oral’ tradition – they were composed and presented orally. Then the best works were stamped in clay tablets. Cultures evolved and Papyrus became common, them paper arrived, and then Gutenberg perfected movable type and the world was off and running with reading, writing and democracy. We discussed if television was the next great frontier, and what effect will the Internet have on literature. It’s all very exciting and unfolding before us.