English 205:
Writing Assignments

Choose one of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words).

This assignment is due Friday, March 20th.

1. Choose two of the works we have discussed and compare their treatment of the images of light and darkness. How are references to "light" and "darkness" symbolic? What do they represent? Be sure to use actual references to light and dark, black and white, to support your points.

2. The desire for fame (and the consequences of that desire) is a recurring theme throughout medieval literature. Choose two of the works we have discussed and compare their treatment of this theme. (Beowulf, for example, assumes without question that fame is a good thing to seek; do all of the other characters we have seen agree with him?)

3. All of the male characters in the old Germanic tales aspire to the "heroic ideal." Do the male characters in the later works have the same values? Explain and illustrate. (You may compare two characters--Beowulf and Sir Gawain, for example--or you may do a general survey of the evolution in values, using specific examples to illustrate your points.)

4. In Beowulf, women are hardly mentioned; does this state of affairs persist throughout the rest of the works we have read? How does the role of women, and the attitude toward women, change as we progress through these literary works?

5. In the Old English works we have read, the characters are really just flat "types." In Chaucer, by contrast, the characters are more fully drawn, more individualized. Choose any two of the works we have discussed and compare their use of characterization.

6. In Chaucer, we see a theme which is to recur again in many works of literature: appearances can be deceptive. Many of the works we have discussed explore this theme. Choose one of them and examine the way it handles this concept.

7. Choose your own topic; clear it with me first.

Choose one of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words).

This assignment is due Friday, April 17th.

1. The danger of the sin of pride is a recurring theme throughout sixteenth century literature. Choose two of the works we have discussed and compare their treatment of this theme.

2. In Beowulf, women are hardly mentioned. By the sixteenth century, however, women characters have come to play a major role in literature. Choose one of the sixteenth century authors we have discussed and analyze his treatment of women characters. (You may, if you wish, compare a medieval author with a sixteenth century author.)

3. Do any elements of the medieval "heroic ideal" persist into the sixteenth century? Choose one element and discuss its use in a sixteenth century work.

4. As we know from reading about the Wife of Bath, appearances can be very deceptive; this truth is a recurring theme in sixteenth century literature. Choose one sixteenth century work we have discussed and analyze its treatment of this theme.

5. Choose your own topic; clear it with me first.

Choose one of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words).

This assignment is due Friday, May 15th.

1. During the seventeenth century, attitudes toward God and religion changed dramatically. Choose one of the seventeenth century works we have read and discuss the way in which it does or does not reflect these changes. (Be sure to discuss explicitly the specific religious changes you see. To make this clearer, you may compare a 17th century work to an earlier work, if you like.)

2. From your readings in seventeenth century literature, what would you say was the prevailing British attitude toward women and their role(s) in society? Explain, using examples from the works for support.

3. How do the ideas and techniques of the Metaphysical poets compare to those of earlier poets we have read? Give plenty of specific examples and direct quotes from the Metaphysical poets, and from earlier poems, to illustrate your ideas.

4. Daniel Defoe's character, Roxana, like Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Bath, has questionable moral values and standards. Compare and contrast the two of them.

5. Webster's The Duchess of Malfi and Shakespeare's King Lear share similar themes. How is Webster's view of life different from or similar to Shakespeare's, as portrayed in these two plays?

6. Choose your own topic; clear it with me first.

Of the works we have read this semester, which one have you liked the best? Explain. Which one did you like the least? Explain. Which did you think was the best written? Explain. Suggested length: 1-3 pages. (Maximum possible points: 100.)

This assignment is due Tuesday, June 2nd by midnight.
NO LATE FINALS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!!

How to submit your work

Your essays will be submitted to me via e-mail. Write your assignments in your word processing program. PLEASE SAVE YOUR FILE AS EITHER A WORD FILE OR AN RTF FILE. Then attach that file to your e-mail message. When sending assignments, your e-mail message should include your name, the class number (English 102), and the name of the assignment which is attached.

Use correct MLA format for the appearance of your essay and your documentation.

Eliminate spelling, grammar, and other mechanical errors from your writing.