World Literature Reading and Writing Workshop

Reading and Writing Workshop: Classical and Medieval Literature
Focus: This workshop will enhance students’ reading comprehension, literary analysis, and writing skills through public domain texts. Students will engage with Antigone by Sophocles, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, and Beowulf while developing critical thinking and research skills.
Essential Questions

1. How do historical and cultural contexts influence literature?
2. How do themes of justice, fate, and morality develop across classical and medieval texts?
3. How does literature shape and reflect societal values?
4. How can we use writing to analyze and compare different literary works?

Common Core Standards

• RL.9-10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text.
• RL.9-10.6: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States.
• W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Workshop Structure
Week 1: Introduction to Classical and Medieval Literature
Reading Activities:

• Read excerpts from Aristotle’s Poetics (public domain) to understand Greek tragedy.
• Analyze historical and cultural background readings on Ancient Greece, Medieval Europe, and Anglo-Saxon England.
• Use AI-generated summaries of historical events to compare with traditional sources.

Writing Activities:

• Quick Write: What do you already know about classical and medieval literature?
• Research Reflection: Write a short response on how historical context affects literature.

Weeks 2-3: Antigone by Sophocles
Reading Activities:

• Read Antigone (public domain) and annotate passages discussing law, morality, and fate.
• Compare Antigone’s dilemma to Plato’s Crito (public domain), where Socrates debates obeying unjust laws.

Writing Activities:

• Argumentative Essay: Should Antigone have obeyed Creon’s law or followed her moral duty? Use textual evidence.
• AI Revision Exercise: Use AI to suggest counterarguments and refine thesis statements.
• Creative Writing: Rewrite a scene from Antigone in a modern setting.

Weeks 4-5: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Reading Activities:

• Read Inferno (public domain), focusing on Dante’s depiction of justice.
• Compare Dante’s allegories with excerpts from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (public domain).

Writing Activities:

• Thematic Essay: How does Dante’s view of justice compare to modern views?
• AI Inferno Project: Ask AI to categorize a modern issue into a fictional Inferno circle, then critique AI’s reasoning.
• Poetry Analysis: Analyze Dante’s use of symbolism and write a reflection on one canto.

Weeks 6-7: Beowulf
Reading Activities:

• Read Beowulf (public domain), analyzing heroism and fate.
• Compare Beowulf’s values with those in The Song of Roland (public domain).

Writing Activities:

• Comparative Essay: How does Beowulf’s sense of duty compare to Antigone’s moral responsibility?
• Hero Analysis: Use AI to compare Beowulf with a modern hero and refine AI’s response into a structured essay.
• Creative Writing: Write a modern-day heroic tale in the style of Beowulf, using kennings and alliteration.

Week 8: Synthesis and Final Writing Project
​Reading Activities:

• Revisit key passages from all three texts to identify recurring themes.
• Compare themes of justice, fate, and morality across the works.

Writing Activities:

• Final Essay: How do Antigone, The Divine Comedy, and Beowulf reflect their historical and cultural contexts?
• Socratic Seminar Prep: Use AI-generated discussion questions to refine final essay ideas.
• Reflection Journal: What lessons from these texts are still relevant today?