Essay Assignment

Dr. M. Diane Krantz

Assignment: You are to write a paper on one of the topics given below. I will expect the paper to include critical sources (at least two, NOT including your text or a reference work such as an encyclopedia), to show the analytic ability of an upper division major, and to be relatively free of problems of form (poor organization, immature prose, incorrect spelling, punctuation, etc). Consult the grading sheet I distribute to ascertain the base level of writing that will be expected for a given grade. Feel free to consult with me especially about the analysis to see if you are on the right track. The paper should take at least two weeks of significant work to be in its polished form. I will show a sample paper to the class to give some idea of the level of work I believe you can do.

Due Dates: Friday, November 2. Draft to be discussed at mandatory draft workshop. This should be the full length, typed, and show considerable development.

Monday, November 5. Final Draft accompanied by first draft and draft workshop sheet.

1. Using explication for small parts of a work, interpret a particular aspect of one of the long poems or romances we have read (theme, imagery, character, structure, etc.) in terms of the overall meaning of the work. Like the other questions, this one includes using at least two critical sources to support your thesis. The paper may contain endnotes and must contain a bibliography.

2A. In light of the literary continuity we have claimed from the Anglo-Saxon period to the high Middle Ages in England, as well as from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth centuries, compare and contrast two works in the same genre (two poems, two romances, two plays, etc) but from different periods to find evidence of such continuity or debate the continuity in terms of the differences in the works.
OR
2B. Consider the role of the hero in an Anglo-Saxon work, in a Fourteenth Century work, and in a Sixteenth- Century work. Do these heroes have anything in common with each other? Do they have anything in common with our ideas about what makes a hero today?

3. Medieval literature often opposes--and sometimes reconciles--apparent opposites: the secular and the divine; Eve and Mary; satanic villains and perfect heroes; men and women; warriors and peace-weavers, etc. Choose such an opposition in one work we have read, and analyze the relationship between the two elements of one such pair. You might want to consider structure, imagery, setting, and characterization.

4. Analyze a text with respect to how it reflects or refutes a particular cultural, historical, scientific, or religious idea that we have studied. A story with a married couple might reflect medieval or renaissance ideas on the role of women. Differing characters in a single work might represent differences in the Medieval Theory of Humors. A hero might show what was expected of the ruling estate in the Middle Ages or in the Early Renaissance.