27 pages 54 minutes read

Horace

Ars Poetica

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1991

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Essay Topics

1.

Recent conversations question the value of a humanities education in a national workplace that increasingly favors STEM and business. How might Horace respond to these debates based on what you read about his ideas on education in this poem?

2.

Horace wrote in a time when poetry and drama were the primary forms of entertainment. Consider the current intersection of visual, aural, and narrative storytelling in mediums like film, television, and social media. Given the views expressed in Ars Poetica, how might Horace advise writers in these mediums?

3.

Horace’s verse epistle makes little mention of religion, aside from some references to mythology. Why might Horace have omitted discussion of religious works of art, like scripture and myth?