Humanities Writing Assignment
Please answer two of the following reading explorations in a paragraph for each question (12-point type, double-spaced). Be sure to support your answers from the readings.
Textbook screenshots attached! Please answer questions based off of those.
1. Read the excerpt from Aristotle’s Poetics (Reading 4.4; pp. 99-100). Answer the questions at the end of the reading on p. 100.
2. Read the excerpt from Cicero’s On Duty (Reading 6.3; pp. 145-146). Answer the questions at the end of the reading on p. 146.
A minimum of one full paragraph per question is required.
Solution Preview
Reading 4.4
According to Aristotle, the length of the play must be equivalent to the length of the plot in real life as poetry is a form of imitative action whereby one action must be represented as a whole. This highlights that the several incidents in the imitative action must be accurately represented and closely connected so that withdrawal of one of them would dislocate and disjoin the whole action (Halliwell, 1987). Notably, Aristotle emphasis is on the arrangement of incidents on the stage. As such, the plot should be comprised of visibly defined problems for the characters to solve with a chronological detailing of the events occurring on and off stage (Halliwell, 1987).
(436 words)