ENGLISH 2220 Paper Topics

ENGLISH 2220: British Literature I
Longer Essay Description and Topic Suggestions

This essay assignment is intended to get you more deeply into a topic about early British literature of your own choosing. The idea behind any topic choice is to see connections or patterns in what we have read. Select a topic that shows reflection on an issue or an idea that crosses boundaries of authors or works or both and discuss this in detail. The final paper should be in the range of three to five pages (excluding the cover page and the Works Cited page).

In your essay, you will argue for a particular interpretation, so you must support your claims with specific examples from the text. Please remember that in addition to citing specific lines or passages of text, you must explain those passages or lines to your readers. Never assume that the text speaks for itself. For this assignment, because it has depth, I'm asking that you use at least two outside (secondary) sources in your analysis. We will use MLA guidelines for documenting, so please cite any secondary source properly in your paper.

There are certain expectations readers have for literary analysis papers. One is that the ideas discussed show originality but depend heavily on the text. They don't depend on lengthy biographical reporting or plot summarizing (except as it helps illustrate a point in your analysis). To help you with this assignment, and to provide you with a complete overview of the analysis process, I've linked here a nice website of information from my old graduate school's Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For our assignment, assume that all primary texts that you cite come from our anthology. Therefore, you only need to provide line numbers or act and scene numbers. For example, if you're quoting from Beowulf, you might cite an example like this: "Roused to a fury, each antagonist struck terror in the other" (ll. 2564 - 5). Or if you're quoting from King Lear, use act, scene, and line numbers: "Come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold? I am cold myself" (III. ii. 68 - 9). And for Paradise Lost, book and line numbers will suffice: "And justify the ways of God to man" (I. 26). Everything else: just use the page number (if prose) or line number (if poetry).

If you use primary texts outside of our anthology, provide enough information about where the borrowing occurs and then use the same type of designation as described above: "Constant at Church, and Change; his gains were sure/His givings rare, save farthings to the poor" (Poems of Alexander Pope, "Moral Essays: Epistle to Bathurst" ll. 347 - 8). In this case, you would then include a Works Cited entry for this title so that editor, publisher, and edition might be included as well.

Specific Criteria:

In grading your essays, I will consider all of the following:

1. Quality of the argument: Is it arguable and interesting? Is it clear? Is it fully developed?

2. Organization: Are thoughts organized clearly and effectively? Is there a thesis and/or blueprint? Are paragraphs well constructed and transitions employed?

3. Use of examples: Do you choose appropriate examples? Do you use them effectively? Are there enough?

4. Quality of the prose: Do you write clearly? Gracefully? Effectively? Do you make frequent mechanical (grammar, spelling, punctuation) errors? What is the quality of the diction and syntax?

5. Presentation: Did you number your pages? Is the Works Cited page formatted correctly? Are the in-text citations correctly documented? Do you have a cover page? Is the text double-spaced and is the paper single-sided printed?

Here are some topic possibilities:

1. In some of the earliest texts we read in the history of English literature, we encountered varying definitions of what constitutes a hero. Compare and contrast, say, Beowulf, "Sir Gawain," and Morte D'Arthur, to produce a definition of heroism and perhaps how heroism has changed over that time. Or use other heroes as examples (Lear in Shakespeare or Satan in Milton).

2. Choose two writers and discuss their portrayal of men and women in their work. How do they view the roles of men and women in society? In marriage? Do their writings address sexual issues directly or do they make their point in less direct ways (satire? humor? irony?)? Does the fact that a male writer presents these issues matter in your assessment of how accurate you think they are? A couple of comparisons would include Chaucer (the Wife of Bath, for example), Sir Thomas Wyatt, Shakespeare (sonnets and King Lear), Milton, Andrew Marvell, the Gawain poet, and others.

3. The role of religion has played a part in almost everything we've read--including Beowulf. Select two or more works and show us how religion affected those works: does the writer expect the reader to learn about faith from the literature? Is there a change in attitude about theology from one era to the next? Compare the Renaissance to the medieval era or the Renaissance to the Enlightenment to show us the change (perhaps from a faith-centered reality to a reason-centered reality), and what that looks like. Or discuss the role God plays in the lives of the characters from several works: Beowulf, King Lear, and Paradise Lost are three great examples.

4. Many of the early works frequently dove-tail with politics and could serve as a useful theme for discussing a definition of (and examples of) leadership: Malory, Gawain poet, Shakespeare, Beowulf come to mind. What does "kingship" mean and how is that reflected in some of these (or other) works? How is good leadership best defined, given some of the leaders we've met in our readings?

5. Choose two or more authors to compare and contrast their understanding of one of the following roles:

        lover or spouse
        gentleman (knight or courtier)
        Christian
        soldier/warrior
        friend

Some of these roles obviously overlap. Focus on one, but go ahead and explore how it might have implications for other roles. Refer to whatever works by or about these figures that are appropriate to your discussion, but don't feel obligated to refer to all--some will be more obviously relevant than others--and concentrate on just a few to serve your purpose.

6. Consider the anti-hero: the villain or antagonist. What sort of qualities do writers use to describe and define their villains? Some obvious works might include Beowulf, Morte D'Arthur, Milton's Paradise Lost, Shakespeare's King Lear. How does each one differ from the others? What evil strategies did they employ? What was their function and purpose in the story? Their success or failure? Was a lesson to be learned by their behaviors, or were they merely foils for the heroes?

7. Discuss the impact one major author from our syllabus had on some characteristic of English literature, history or culture. Candidate writers include Chaucer, Tyndale, Shakespeare, Milton, or Pope. In discussing the author's impact, address issues associated with at least one major work and its relevance to British literature (or even the idea of being English) as a whole. In fact, you could establish a definition of what it means to be English, and use works you find that best illustrate this as the definition and discussion of true "English-ness."

8. Discuss one significant social change (rise of the middle class, introduction of the printing press, the Reformation, global travel and influences, rise of wealth, imperialism, demise of the monarchy, etc.) and how this change was reflected in the literature. For example, perhaps what passed for the "average" English citizen in Chaucer's time illustrated feudalism, while in Shakespeare's day, commoners were rising higher in social classes by acquiring wealth and status. How is each reflected in the works of the writers who spoke for their time? Or the whole idea of the divine right of kings: how did this perception change over our semester (think of Hrothgar and Beowulf vs. Arthur vs. King Lear).

9. You could tackle a technical issue: discuss poetic forms and how they shape content. For example, how did writers use the sonnet from Wyatt through Shakespeare to Donne? Or analyze how Shakespeare used the ancient Grecian idea of tragedy for his own purposes in King Lear. What can we learn about the content and purpose of a work of literature by examining the form it takes? Does the classicism of the 18th century depend on a form that cannot bend? Does it matter that Shakespeare used iambic pentameter (but blank verse) to tell his story of King Lear? How does the form help us see the story better?

10. Or develop a theme that you believe is explored in many (and perhaps unusual) ways within one author. Perhaps it's the notion of the religious person in the poetry of John Donne; or the role of servitude in George Herbert or John Donne; or the idea of pride as destructive (Beowulf, Lear, Lancelot in Malory, Chaucer pilgrims, Milton's Satan), or what honor or promise means in Gawain, Malory, or Beowulf. If you have questions about any theme (and what examples might apply), please talk with me before you embark on the reading and writing.

Other topics may be eligible and useful as well, but I'd ask that you contact me to be sure your time will be well-spent. Use email to keep me posted or ask questions. Please be aware of our due date so you won't be late! (Late papers lose a half-grade per day late. No papers are accepted one week after the paper is due.)