I believe a literary masterpiece is a piece of literary work that holds true for humanity throughout the ages. As discussed in Week One of class, The Iliad , Odyssey and Aeneid are all literary masterpieces. We can still learn from Homer and Virgil about hubris, a bad heel and the foibles of the gods, also known as, humanity. I do not believe there is a specific way a literary masterpiece is written. I believe it can be an epic poem, a Greek tragedy, a novella, a novel or anything in between. It just has to be timeless.

Who do I think determines whether a piece of literature is a masterpiece? To be honest, I expect it to be a bunch of old men in business suits smoking Cuban cigars and drinking $200 a bottle bourbon in crystal glasses sitting around a table with a plethora of books suggested to masterpiece. Then again, this is also what I think Congress is like. I believe the group effort aspect to this scenario to be correct. Also, I believe the group consists of top scholars in their chosen genre. Although, for all I know, literary masterpieces could be the most popular book of its time. Then again, this would include the "Twilight" series, in which case, I would no longer be studying English.

I do not expect early literary masterpieces to be fun. I do believe most are dull and sometimes painful to read. The reason I believe this is because I rarely find enjoyment in books that are considered literary masterpieces. For instance, Odyssey, The Aeneid and Iliad  are not the most interesting read for me. I find difficulty keeping my attention on what I am reading. I have found that if the literary masterpieces are written similar to 20th/2l51 century novels, then I do not have any issue.  Hence my love for later literary masterpieces. The context in which I have encountered literary masterpieces have always been in a classroom environment. The form and format in which I encountered the literary masterpieces was in the typical classroom book. There were the epic poems, novellas and short stories. This provided a negative affect to my appreciation of them. However, since the information provided was the same with each experience, I have learned to understand them.

It can be said that a great many literary masterpieces are centered on love, war, the love of war or love begotten during time of war. Homer's Iliad tells us of the Trojan War which was started because of one man's desire to take another man's wif e and her husband's desire to win back her love. William Shakespeare mostly writes about the wrongs of love. Then there is the fear of the future which is seen in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Lord of the F lies provides the f ear of the unknown and Animal Farm gives us political satire and cause self -reflection. I guess what I'm trying to say is that f ear, love, politics and war are usually the characteristics found in literary masterpieces.

I believe literary masterpieces are very important as they provide an insight to our past and a moral to our future. The point of view the literary masterpiece is written in is very important as it gives us an idea as to the mentality of the gender of the times. It is a bit of fictitious history. As to the morality of our future, it is interesting how great minds think our future shall be. Brave New World, written in 1932, gives us a utopian future where we'll be cloned and on SOMA; the peace-making drug which is similar to Xanax. Fahrenheit 451, written in 1953, gives us a dystopian future where books are burned because people complained about the difference in opinions. Both of these literary masterpieces were far ahead of their time. The scary part is, we are living in something similar to Brave New World and are getting close to Fahrenheit 451. I'm not saying all literary masterpieces will provide as insight into a future. I am saying they are masterpieces for a reason.

Literary masterpieces have a huge influence on modern society's media, home decor, toys, video games etc. Modern society is hugely affected art by literary masterpieces.