Forms of Western Narrative
MIT's literature course traces major genres of Western storytelling through key examples: Homer's Odyssey for epic, Arthurian romance for the chivalric tradition, and Cervantes's Don Quixote for the emerging novel form. Lessons examine why cultures keep telling stories, how narrative techniques shift across historical periods, and what cultural and technological forces (from oral performance to print) reshape the way tales get told. As a CI-H and HASS-D subject, the course puts heavy emphasis on student writing and discussion, pairing close reading with regular papers rather than passive lecture-watching. Materials available through MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus, reading list, and assignment sequence, free to access under a Creative Commons license with no certificate offered. It suits anyone wanting a structured introduction to comparative narrative form across three foundational genres.