Meeting:
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
3:15-5:15 SOTA Library
Facilitators: Janice Kriegel and Dolly Parker
Summer Reading
by
by
Discussion Questions
1. In The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt is essentially making the argument that a poem changed the world. Do you agree that the written word can carry this kind of power? And do you think a literary rediscovery could potentially initiate a new “swerve” today?
2. Lucretius’s "On the Nature of Things" appealed to readers in part because it spoke from a lost world. People are still fascinated with the classical past. Why do humans have this nostalgia for the past, and how can this type of preoccupation help us move forward?
3. How were the intolerable ideas in Lucretius tolerated, or at least allowed to pass, after the text was copied and circulated?
4. Discuss Greenblatt’s ability to bring Poggio Bracciolini and his contemporaries to life for us, despite the very great distance in time—six hundred years—between their world and ours. How does Greenblatt handle the unfamiliarity of their world and its assumptions?
5. Greenblatt suggests that book hunting kept Bracciolini from succumbing entirely to the corrosive cynicism of his world. Why should an obsession with uncovering ancient books from a pagan past have meant so much to him?
6. What do you make of the fact that Bracciolini didn’t really grasp the importance of his discovery? Was his discovery of Lucretius’s poem just a fortunate accident?
7. What parallels do you notice between the world that suppressed Lucretius’s poem and the world in which we live today? What differences?
8. How does Greenblatt’s discussion of the loss of books to bookworms and the destruction of libraries (both willful and accidental) speak to current debates over printed versus digital books?
9. Did it surprise you that monasteries became havens for—and even producers of—forgotten books at a time when people were censoring books and burning libraries for religious reasons? Discuss the complicated relationship between the church and literary/scientific endeavors over the years.
10. "On the Nature of Things" could be thought of as a poem that “went viral.” How has the dissemination of ideas changed since the Renaissance? Can you think of another book or piece of literature that gained popularity and swayed popular thought in a similar way? Do you think literature is more likely to have a world changing impact, or can music, film, or art generate the same effect?
11. Lucretius claimed that the ideas in his work should liberate humans from fear of death, but his contemporary Cicero said that these ideas only made matters worse, since total extinction—a return to atoms colliding in an infinite universe—was more frightening than any punishment in the afterlife. Where do you stand on this debate?
12. It seems the term “Epicureanism” still conveys rash, indulgent pleasure seeking. Did Greenblatt’s exploration of the true nature of Epicurus and his followers change how you think about our collective pursuit of pleasure?
13. What is the significance of the fact that Lucretius conveyed his scientific ideas in the form of a poem? What are the consequences in our own age of the extreme separation of poetry and science?
14. How do the atomic “swerves” described in Lucretius’s poem mirror the larger “swerve” initiated by the poem itself? What might Lucretius have thought of Greenblatt’s “co-opting” his term to describe human events much larger than invisible atoms?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
3:15-5:15 SOTA Library
Facilitators: Janice Kriegel and Dolly Parker
Summer Readingby
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
by
Discussion Questions
1. In The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt is essentially making the argument that a poem changed the world. Do you agree that the written word can carry this kind of power? And do you think a literary rediscovery could potentially initiate a new “swerve” today?
2. Lucretius’s "On the Nature of Things" appealed to readers in part because it spoke from a lost world. People are still fascinated with the classical past. Why do humans have this nostalgia for the past, and how can this type of preoccupation help us move forward?
3. How were the intolerable ideas in Lucretius tolerated, or at least allowed to pass, after the text was copied and circulated?
4. Discuss Greenblatt’s ability to bring Poggio Bracciolini and his contemporaries to life for us, despite the very great distance in time—six hundred years—between their world and ours. How does Greenblatt handle the unfamiliarity of their world and its assumptions?
5. Greenblatt suggests that book hunting kept Bracciolini from succumbing entirely to the corrosive cynicism of his world. Why should an obsession with uncovering ancient books from a pagan past have meant so much to him?
6. What do you make of the fact that Bracciolini didn’t really grasp the importance of his discovery? Was his discovery of Lucretius’s poem just a fortunate accident?
7. What parallels do you notice between the world that suppressed Lucretius’s poem and the world in which we live today? What differences?
8. How does Greenblatt’s discussion of the loss of books to bookworms and the destruction of libraries (both willful and accidental) speak to current debates over printed versus digital books?
9. Did it surprise you that monasteries became havens for—and even producers of—forgotten books at a time when people were censoring books and burning libraries for religious reasons? Discuss the complicated relationship between the church and literary/scientific endeavors over the years.
10. "On the Nature of Things" could be thought of as a poem that “went viral.” How has the dissemination of ideas changed since the Renaissance? Can you think of another book or piece of literature that gained popularity and swayed popular thought in a similar way? Do you think literature is more likely to have a world changing impact, or can music, film, or art generate the same effect?
11. Lucretius claimed that the ideas in his work should liberate humans from fear of death, but his contemporary Cicero said that these ideas only made matters worse, since total extinction—a return to atoms colliding in an infinite universe—was more frightening than any punishment in the afterlife. Where do you stand on this debate?
12. It seems the term “Epicureanism” still conveys rash, indulgent pleasure seeking. Did Greenblatt’s exploration of the true nature of Epicurus and his followers change how you think about our collective pursuit of pleasure?
13. What is the significance of the fact that Lucretius conveyed his scientific ideas in the form of a poem? What are the consequences in our own age of the extreme separation of poetry and science?
14. How do the atomic “swerves” described in Lucretius’s poem mirror the larger “swerve” initiated by the poem itself? What might Lucretius have thought of Greenblatt’s “co-opting” his term to describe human events much larger than invisible atoms?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
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ReplyDelete1. In The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt is essentially making the argument that a poem changed the world. Do you agree that the written word can carry this kind of power? And do you think a literary rediscovery could potentially initiate a new “swerve” today?
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to comment a bit on this question, because I have to believe that literature does have a strong impact on the world and that the written work does carry enormous power. Stephen Greenblatt is also the author of Will in the World which also shows how William Shakespeare had (and still does have) such a powerful presence in the cultural identity of the West.
Could a literary rediscovery initiate a new "swerve" today? Why not? In rare book rooms of libraries around the world scholars continue to make literary rediscoveries of the words of famous historical figures and authors.
Marcy, I definitely agree with everything you have said here. This idea of "moving forward" and influence in our society has so much to do with literature and the arts. Artists and scholars are so much a part of how we cause changes to happen - we think of people "following" a certain author, or believing in a written word (such as the Bible). The power that it holds is unlike any other. Once you have published something, it's out there for the world to see and to discover on their own.
Delete1. In The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt is essentially making the argument that a poem changed the world. Do you agree that the written word can carry this kind of power? And do you think a literary rediscovery could potentially initiate a new “swerve” today?
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of the power of the written word. I absolutely think literature has a way of creating a new "swerve" in our society. There is always new information and theories coming out of the woodwork, but I believe that it creates and paves a way for the future of new and upcoming literature... while still hanging onto the old. We are always finding new information, and I think that is the basis on which our society thrives and expands on.
2. Lucretius’s "On the Nature of Things" appealed to readers in part because it spoke from a lost world. People are still fascinated with the classical past. Why do humans have this nostalgia for the past, and how can this type of preoccupation help us move forward?
I think it's amazing how fascinated we are with events of the past. History has a way of repeating itself, and I believe that rings true in many aspects of our daily lives. We are constantly learning from one another, and from our history. To understand where we came from, we need to take a look backwards and reflect on it. Society moves forward based on the events that came before it. Time passes quickly... and we need to constantly be on the lookout for the future, while still reminiscing and learning from our past.