Symposium: the Great Books Symposium Journal
A Wright College Publication for Community College Students
Allen Loomis The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13), written by the Jacobean playwright John Webster, depicts a struggle between good and evil at an Italian court during the early 1500s. On one side, there is the […]
Sandra Cruz Jonathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travels, depicts a negative image of women. However, following Swift’s life from the beginning, it is easier to understand why he views women as he does. Life’s circumstances have […]
Professor Bruce Gans One of the most common misconceptions students and faculty who do not read the Great Books have is that because these works were written in the past—often in the very distant past, […]
Professor Daniel Borzutzky Honored Members of the Academy! You have done me the honor of inviting me to give a report on the individual and the community, and to do so, I would like to […]
Professor Michael Petersen One of the greatest discrepancies between the work of Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson’s criticism of that work concerns the idea of “nature” and its operation in relation to that which is “moral” and […]
Anthony Trujillo William Faulkner’s novel, The Hamlet, is the tragic tale of a world filled with melancholy, self-destruction, and man’s ability to endure. Faulkner’s characters fall victim to the harsh, cruel earth and the gloomy […]
Roxanne A. Domingo Many characters in The Hamlet are reminiscent of various gods and goddesses in Greek mythology. Some references are overt, referring directly to the god or goddess by name, whereas others subtly assume […]
Marika Malkerson Elizabeth is a strong willed, intelligent young woman in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth’s community of friends and family are obsessed with the idea of marriage. It is her mother’s greatest wish […]
Crystal Dynia Jane Austen argues in Pride and Prejudice that true happiness can be achieved but not as society defines it. Austen argues furthermore that instead an individual can only find happiness independent of society. […]
Jacqueline Barrett During the early nineteenth century most of Europe experienced a dramatic transformation. Accompanying the greater emphasis on reason during the Enlightenment was a zealous exploration of human nature. Several Europeans, such as Rousseau, […]