What can literature tell us about the world around us? Or about how we are to live in it? The literary arts have been part of the transmission of knowledge and culture from their inception. This class will examine literature that was purposefully meant to transmit culture, convey information, or otherwise provide knowledge or wisdom. Much of what we call “myth†was for others, much more literal as it often sought to explain natural events in the world as well as provide instruction on how to live a virtuous and meaningful life. This class will read various texts from around the world, including those from ancient mythology as well as the wisdom literature and mysticism of the near and far east, e.g., excerpts from Proverbs, the works of Rumi, The Tao Te Ching, and The JÄtaka Tales (Buddhist instructional stories). We will also read fables including tales from One Thousand and One Nights, The Brothers Grimm, and some Norwegian folktales. Students will also investigate the Morality Plays from the Medieval era (and will have the opportunity to write their own). Finally, the class will look at American “Sage” writers such as Henry David Thoreau and John Muir in addition to realism and Modernist authors who often thought that literature could provide greater “truths” than science, or other objective disciplines.