Masterworks in World Literature

b. Firdausi: The Shah-nama

c. Khayyam: The Rubaiyat
d. The Fisherman and the Jinne
e. Tagore: The Gitanjali
Ponder on this:
“Clouds come floating into
my life, no longer to carry
rain or usher storm, but to
add color to my sunset sky.
b. Firdausi: The Shah-nama

• Firdausi Tusi
• Book of Kings
• 3 stages:
- mythical
- heroic or legendary
- historic
b. Firdausi: The Shah-nama

• Language
• Oral Tradition
b. Firdausi: The Shah-nama

• The Characters
Garshasp
Nariman
Sam
Zal
Rustam
Sohrab
Barzu
c. Khayyam: The Rubaiyat
• Persia poet, astronomer, astrologer,
physician, philosopher and mathematician
• Rubaiyat means quatrains
c. Khayyam: The Rubaiyat
• nature of reality and the eternal
• impermanence and uncertainty of life
• man’s relationship to God
• doubts on the existence of divine
providence and the afterlife
• derision on religious certainty
• man’s frailty and ignorance.
c. A Thousand and One Nights

• The Arabian Nights

• Frame story
• India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, and
possibly Greece
d. Tagore: Gitanjali

• Song Offerings
• Nobel Prize for literature in 1913
• Relationship between human being and
the divine
d. Tagore: Gitanjali

• Relationship between human being and

the divine
 Analysing Literary Pieces:

Poetry Short Story/Epic Poem

• Characters
• Persona • Setting
• Addressee • Brief Summary
• Basic situation • Analysis (Literary Devices &
• Literary Devices Theme)
• Theme
*Significant Lines/Quotable Statements