World Literature Final Review

Final Exam Review

World Literature

The Epic of Gilgamesh

• About a Sumerian king who lived between 2700 and 2500 B.C.

• A major theme is that humans will always seek immortality.

• An archetype is a recurring theme or pattern in literature.

Genesis - Creation & Flood Stories

• Snakes, trees, and gardens are archetypes

• The Creation and the Fall story explains how human suffering originated

• The description of the four rivers in the creation story gives a historical context

• The Flood story relates god's covenant with mankind.

Rustam & Suhrab

• The theme is the potentially tragic outcome of a lack of communication

• The irony is clear when Suhrab unknowingly tells Rustam (his father) that he came to find his father but hasn't seen him

The Thousand and One Nights (The Fisherman and the Jinnee)

• A major theme of The Fisherman and the Jinnee is that Allah punishes those who repay kindness with evil

• The Thousand and One Nights are stories within stories which reinforce an important point from the one before it

The Mystery of Braham

• To understand Braham, one must first understand what it is not (food, life, mind, and reason)

• Braham is everyone's source and destination

• Bhrigu moves from a physical notion to a spiritual one as he searches for Brahman

Sibi (The Mahabharata)

• The theme is that great rewards await those who do their duty despite hardship

• Sibi feels he must protect the dove because it sought his protection

Oedipus the King

• A central issue of this story is the acceptance of one's destiny

• It is ironic that Oedipus says that he will never come near his parents because he kills his dad and marries his mom

The Aeneid, Book II

• The fall of Troy is mostly due to the Trojan's naivete

• Suspense is created by letting the reader know soldiers were hidden inside the wooden horse