Essay Topics

For each of the assigned essays, a list of topic choices is provided, largely taken from or based on the "Writing Suggestions" sections of the textbook. Your essay must be on one of the assigned topics for that assignment or developed in consultation with the instructor. All essays must be submitted on or before the due date, by the beginning of the class period; late work will not be accepted. Be sure to read Part 1, "A Guide to Writing about Literature" (1-69), especially the model student papers "'The Secret Lion': Everything Changes," "Digging for Memories," and "Desperate Measures: Acts of Defiance in Trifles", before beginning your essay, and please refer to Writing a Literature Paper and Getting an A on an English Paper as well as the Revising and Editing Checklist for additional assistance.

For each of the essays, select one of the topics to discuss in a well-developed, coherent, and thoughtful essay of at least five to seven (5-7) pages; essays must be typed (12-point Times New Roman font), double-spaced, with a cover page and Works Cited page (cover page and Works Cited do not count toward the five-page requirement), and be stapled when submitted. Essays should be grammatically correct, free of errors in mechanics, grammar, usage, spelling, and documentation, and will be evaluated according to the Model for Evaluation of Student Writing. In addition, essays must use a minimum of three authoritative sources, including at least one primary source (the text or texts discussed) and at least two reputable critical or scholarly secondary sources. Essays must contain quotations from or other references to your sources, and these references should be used to support your assertions about the text and be properly documented (utilizing MLA-Style Citations for documentation).

Be sure to focus carefully on the topic: formulate a strong, objectively worded thesis, and avoid plot summary. Remember that these are formal essays: they must have an appropriate, original title; contain an introduction, body, and conclusion; have a clear, explicit, assertive, objectively worded thesis statement; and avoid use of "I" or "you" throughout.

Please feel free to communicate any concerns or questions to me before the essays are due; I will be available to meet with any student who needs assistance or additional instruction. Please speak to me before or after class or e-mail me to set up an appointment during my office hours.

Essay One--Short Fiction: Due Session 9 (Friday, 16 February/Wednesday, 21 February)
Choose one of the following topics:

 Like Emily in "A Rose for Emily" (113-121), the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" (372-384) is a privileged, protected woman driven to the edge of madness by events she cannot control. Despite similarities in the two women's situations, however, their tragic stories are resolved in very different ways. What factors account for the two stories' different outcomes?

 Both "Young Goodman Brown" (302-312) and "The Cask of Amontillado" (113-121) are about characters who encounter evil and are forever changed by the experience. Compare these two characters: In what ways are their responses to evil similar, and in what ways are they different? In the end, which character learns the most from his experience?

Write an analysis of Faulkner's use of a non-linear plot structure in "A Rose for Emily" (113-121). What is the effect of this narrative structure? What is its purpose, and how does it function in the story?

Write an analysis of the symbolism used in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" (203-209) or in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" (273-281). What specific symbols occur in the story, and how do they function in the story?

Write an analysis of the characterization of the narrator in Updike's "A & P" (128-134) or Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (372-384). How is he or she developed or revealed? What do we learn about him or her, and how? Focus on the author's use of narration, description, and dialogue to reveal character.

Discuss the theme of Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (673-685); what is the central idea, thesis, or message of the story, and how is it revealed or developed?

Discuss the setting(s) in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" (273-281) or Updike's "A & P" (128-134); what is the effect of the setting, what is its purpose, and how does it function in the story?

Essay Two--Poetry: Due Session 19 (Section 01: Monday, 2 April; Section 13: Wednesday, 11 April)
Poems for any of the following topics should be selected from the textbook but not be listed on the syllabus. If the textbook does not have sufficient selections for you, try one or more of the following useful sites:

BP: British Poetry 1780-1910: A Hypertext Archive
CP: A Compendium of Poetry
ME: Modern English Collection, E-Text Center (U VA)
PA: Poetry Archives @ eMule.com
PB: Project Bartleby
PL: Poetry Archive at Plagiarist.com
PO: Poetry Online
RPO: Representative Poets Online

Choose one of the following topics:

 Select two poems written or published at least twenty-five years apart, that are both about the same subject matter: Nature, Art, Love, Sex, Age, Death or Mourning, War, Race, Gender. Compare and contrast the way the two treat the same theme. Your analysis should establish a clear connection between the two poems, beyond merely "They both discuss love" or "both refer to death"; rather, the connection should be based on similarities in situation, structure, language, imagery, theme, et cetera. Your essay should explore the poems'  tone, speaker, language (including figurative language or imagery, diction, and allusions) and structure (including meter and rhyme scheme, or the lack of them), and explain how these are interrelated and how they shape or influence meaning.

 Select a poem and a short story (not one read or discussed in class) that treat the same subject matter: Nature, Art, Love, Sex, Age, Death or Mourning, War, Race, Gender. Compare and contrast the way the two treat the same theme. As above, your analysis should establish a clear connection between the two works, beyond merely "They both discuss love" or "both refer to death"; rather, the connection should be based on similarities in situation, structure, language, imagery, et cetera.

 Select a poem (or poems) and analyze how it challenges or calls into question our culture's beliefs or myths about "Art" or poetry, love, marriage or relationships between men and women, death, the nature of religious experience, the nature and causes of war, race and culture, or gender roles.

Essay Three--Drama: Due Session 28 (Friday, 4 May/Wednesday, 2 May) Monday, 7 May (Section 01)/Wednesday, 9 May (Section13)
Choose one of the following topics:

 Compare/contrast Susan Glaspell's play Trifles (770-783) with her short story, "A Jury of Her Peers" (not in textbook—available here or here). While the "story" (the plot or action) remains essentially unchanged, how does the prose fiction version differ from the dramatic version, and why? What necessary and significant differences between the two versions reflect the requirements of the different genres?

 In Glaspell's Trifles, a division between male and female spheres arises and deepens as the play progresses. Explain how staging is essential to reflecting and revealing this division. Be sure to discuss set, stage directions, and placement of characters onstage.

 In Sophocles'  Oedipus the King (1047-1089), after he blinds himself, Oedipus states,

It was Apollo there, Apollo, friends,

who brought my sorrows, vile sorrows to their perfection,

these evils that were done to me.

But the one who struck them with his hand,

that one was none but I, in wretchedness. (ll. 1337-1341)

Or, in David Grene's translation,

It was Apollo, friends, Apollo,

that brought this bitter bitterness, my sorrows to completion.

But the hand that struck me

was none but my own. (ll. 1399-1402)

How does this statement refer not just to Oedipus’ blinding himself, but also to the entire tragedy?

 Discuss the role of the Chorus in Oedipus the King. Does the Chorus present a consistent point of view differing from that of the other characters, and if so, why? What role does the Chorus play in the action, and how do the choral odes relate to or comment upon the action of the play?

 Compare/contrast two different screen versions of Hamlet and their treatment or adaptation of the play. How does each adapt, change, or edit the play? What is changed or left out, and why? Good versions for this assignment include Laurence Olivier's 1948 version, Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film starring Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film, and Michael Almereyda's 2000 version starring Ethan Hawke.

 Each of Hamlet's major characters has one or more character flaws that influence plot development. Choose one of the following characters—Ophelia, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes, Claudius, or Hamlet himself—and explain what specific weaknesses are demonstrated by the character. Through what words or actions is his or her weakness revealed, and how does the character's weakness contribute to the play's actions?