Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative
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Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative
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Narrated by:
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Arnold Weinstein
About this listen
The major texts of Western culture are a gateway to wisdom that can widen your views on self and society in enduring ways. The extraordinary body of literature given us by writers from antiquity to the present day, as Professor Weinstein notes, "is potent stuff, serving not only as transcription of history but also as a verbal Pandora's box, capable of shedding light on those transactions which remain in the dark for many of us: love, death, fear, desire. We are talking about more than artful language; we are talking about the life of the past and the life of the world."
It is truly a monumental legacy. And now you can examine its most important works - whether drama, poetry, or narrative - in this series of 64 penetrating lectures that reveal astonishing common ground. You'll see how this award-winning teacher uses several different analytical perspectives, including Feminism, Marxism, Freudianism, Deconstruction, Postmodernism, and New Historicism, to give us fresh insight into persisting human themes like rites of passage; the "fit" or "misfit" between self and society; the creation of an identity; and the play, weight, and presence of the past in understanding our present.
You learn how drama makes visible the conflicts and wars of culture in ways other forms cannot manage. How poetry can go to the heart of human existence with a purity and power akin to surgery, bidding us to challenge and change the way we usually do business. And how narrative can tell life stories in ways that enable a possession of that life that is hardly imaginable any other way.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©1995 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1995 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Farniboy
- 21-04-15
Interesting, Informative English Literature course
A great, if sometimes heavy listen. The issue for me was that I'm not particularly well read (one of the reasons I listen to The Great Courses!) so I hadn't heard of some of the poets and playwright's discussed here. T Weinstein's strength his he gets across the information in an easy listening way. Like all the Great Courses that I've listened to, well worth a listen!
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pamela
- 17-02-21
Fantastic Coverage of Plays, Poetry & Prose
Arnold Weinstein communicates his love and knowledge of literature.. And brings fresh insights and thoughts not only about literature but in wider applications. Some of his choices are perhaps unusual or less well known to the average person, but this made it more exciting to have new writers opened before me. In truth I would have welcomed perhaps a few more familiar references :, however, I understand the journey he takes to illustrate the course of literature.
Absolutely recommend.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chris N.
- 23-06-19
Would have been five without the music!
Excruciating music. Excellent course. Incredibly good value. Professor is very good.The repeating introductory music is painfull.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jess Hoare
- 01-12-14
A great intoduction
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This is a great and wide sweeping introduction. Professor Arnold Weinstein is engaging and interesting.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative?
This book has expanded my understanding greatly.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tofpy
- 13-12-16
Really great lectures but poor sound quality.
What did you like most about Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative?
The lessons are great and show a great insight.
Great scope too, though some authors can be said missing.
How could the performance have been better?
By improving the recording!
The sound is really poor, it's like listening to radio on AM bandwaves. Any small local independent radio or studio can have a better recording quality. It's really a shame because because the lessons are really interesting.
Also, I'm not a native English speaker but I'm still able to get most Great Lectures series without a problem - and I sometimes find that the professor doesn't articulate enough, or mumbles a bit- which added to the poor sound quality, makes him hard to understand.
Which has never been the case for someone like Elisabeth Vandiver for instance.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Magdalena
- 01-04-16
Very enjoyable narrative to listen
Prof. Weinstein's way of presentation is engaging and interesting. The lectures are chronologically structured and different literary genres are introduced. I would definitely recommend the course.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Michael J Birdsall
- 27-01-18
An example of what is wrong with education.
This a course of a professor picking and choosing facts, embellishing, and simply making things up. For the example, that neither law or literature about humans existed before the Greeks.
It is logically inconsistent and proceeds like a con man slowly trying to convince you that you can only understand literature through a university professor.
The professor uses spurious correlation as evidence.
It is everything that is wrong with modern education.
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5 people found this helpful