World Literature • Shawn Smith • Spring 2018
This course provided an overview of key pieces of writing from various points in time. We looked at how they reflected the culture of each area and time, from religion to race relations to gender roles. I enjoyed the opportunity to delve into the well-known pieces I always heard about, but had yet to read. Dante’s Inferno, The Illiad, and The Bhagavad Gita are just a few of the pieces we studied during the duration of this course. I appreciated delving into the beliefs of each author’s culture, connecting it to portrayals in each piece. The class met twice a week, but Dr. Smith incorporated an online portion through Canvas that allowed us to study various aspects of the culture related to the novel. Below is one of two essays required during the course, in which I took a look at divine intervention in The Illiad and The Aeneid. I enjoyed making direct comparisons between these two epics, encouraging a deeper look at just how similar or different the surrounding mythologies could be.