Read these instructions carefully before
proceeding, and check them again before submitting your essay.
Essay 1 must be no less than 1500 words in length, double-spaced,
and in Times New Roman 11 pt. font. Avoid unnecessary white space (including between
paragraphs) and/or padding. There is no need to begin with your name or mine, the
course name/number, the date, etc. Begin simply with a title, followed immediately
by your opening paragraph. Failure to adhere to these length and formatting
requirements will result automatically in a grade of zero for the assignment. No
exceptions. The essay is due by the date and time specified in the course Schedule. No
exceptions. Submit the essay as an attachment using EduCat. The file name should consist
simply of your last name followed by the number 1, all lower case letters and no
spaces. For example, if your name is Letitia Hildegard Smith, the file should be
simply smith1.docx.
How does the conclusion of Beloved expand our understanding of one or
more of the novel’s characters?
Discuss the ways in which Sethe’s relationship with another character changes over time, and why the change(s) matter in terms of our understanding of one or both of those characters.
Compare any Brenda (“Five Points”) Almeda (“Meneseteung”) Daughter-narrator (“Friend of My
Youth”) Jarvis Poulter
(“Meneseteung”) Maria (“Five Points”) Flora (“Friend of My Youth”) Narrator’s mother (“Friend of My
Youth”)two of the following characters from Alice
Munro’s story collection, Friend of My
Youth. Do not choose two
characters from the same story.
Do not focus on obvious differences (because they’re obvious and
therefore not especially interesting). Rather, aim to establish similarities (precisely because they’re not obvious, and therefore are more
interesting).
How might we best describe
Chaucer’s Pardoner—performer, cynic, con artist, wounded
and suffering, some combination of these, or something else? Be
creative, but do not argue that he is
merely a hypocrite, for that is both obvious and an oversimplification.
Be sure to articulate your thesis clearly, and to follow with an
argument supported by evidence from The
Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale and, if you wish, the General Prologue.
In what ways does the Wife of Bath’s tale (the story she tells about the knight and the riddle) complement her Prologue (the story she tells about herself)?
Formulate some other topic or problem, based either on something from the class discussions, or something addressed neither there nor in any of the prompts above. Another option is to alter one of the prompts. In other words, feel free to be creative, to write about any aspect of the reading(s) that you find compelling.