Some Keys for Spotting Classics

So what is a classic novel?  We had that discussion today in the honors class and came up with some pretty good ideas.  They included:

-it should have social significance
-it should have a universal theme
-it should be timeless
-it should be original

In addition to these ideas we looked at an amalgam of ideas from a variety of resources including Princeton University and Italo Calvino.  Here is what they had to say.

• A classic usually expresses some artistic quality--an expression of life, truth, and beauty.

• It’s original.

• A classic stands the test of time. The work is usually considered to be a representation of the period in which it was written; and the work merits lasting recognition.  In other words, if the book was published in the recent past, the work is not a classic.

• A classic has a certain universal appeal. Great works of literature touch us to our very core beings--partly because they integrate ideas that are understood by readers from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of experience. Thematic ideas  of love, hate, death, life, and faith touch upon some of our most basic emotional responses.

• A classic makes connections. You can study a classic and discover influences from other writers and other great works of literature. Of course, this is partly related to the universal appeal of a classic. But, the classic also is informed by the history of ideas and literature--whether unconsciously or specifically worked into the plot of the text.

• The classic book has the ability to be reinterpreted, to seemingly be renewed in the interests of generations of readers succeeding its creation.

• Ancient books are classics not because they are old but because they are powerful, fresh and healthy.

• A classic is a work which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud of critical discourse around it, but which always shakes the particles off.

• A true classic has an author who has enriched the human mind, increased its treasure, and caused it to advance a step; who has discovered some moral and not equivocal truth, or revealed some eternal passion in that heart where all seemed known and discovered; who has expressed his thought, observation, or invention, in no matter what form, only provided it be broad and great, refined and sensible, sane and beautiful in itself; who has spoken to all in his own peculiar style, a style which is found to be also that of the whole world, a style new without neologism, new and old, easily contemporary with all time.

• 'Your' classic is a book to which you cannot remain indifferent, and which helps you define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it.

• A classic is a work which persists as a background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.

These are the ideas you will need to be considering when you are reading your classic novel and preparing your presentation. You will definitely need to be taking notes as you read. Remember that you will also need to have information from an expert outside source, someone who has done some critical writing on your novel. 

I want you to look deeply into the topic and offer insightful reasons as to why your novel should or should not be considered a classic.

For homework tonight, you need to be finalizing a classic selection. You should also write two pages (minimum) of one of your theme essays. This is a dog draft but should be written with a lead, S.P.A.T. and a conclusion. Don't forget to offer context and use paragraphs.

In the standard class you and your partner discussed the thematic ideas and themes you came up with last night.  You pointed out some holes and identified other possible pieces of evidence your partner might use.  Tonight you are to go home and re-read the story, being sure to annotate it for all of your possible themes as you read.  Reading the story a second time with your themes in mind should enable you to see some things that you missed the first time.  Be alert!  And have those highlighters and pens close by.

Until next time...

So,+