ENGL 497Senior Seminar
Prof. G. Steinberg
Horace isn't as logical or as focused as Plato and Aristotle. The tone of The Art of Poetry is much more relaxed. After all, it's supposedly a letter written to two young men who are aspiring to be poets, giving them advice about how to become successful writers.
So, to understand Horace's thoughts on literature, we have to extrapolate a lot. We have to generalize from what Horace says. What are his emphases? What does he seem to value about literature? What does he seem to think is important? To what ideas does he return again and again?
What purpose does Horace seem to think literature has? When someone writes, what should that person be trying to do?
How does a writer accomplish the goals and purpose of literature, according to Horace?
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