Category: Literature

What should my topic be? For your research paper, you want to choose one text from each area (short story, poem, and Hamlet) and then you could use the setting, a character, an idea, something from the chosen works to inspire you, but you want to connect it to a unifying theme across the semester. You are trying to think of something unifying that multiple things you read and studied have in common. You need to have an example from a short story, poem, and from Hamlet. What does that show you about what it means to be human? How did each one your selected texts (at least three, one of each) handle it? How are they different and the same? etc. Devise a clearly focused thesis in which you find a common thread among these works. Alternatively, you may choose a subject inspired by one or more of the works we are examining this semester. This may include works we have not covered yet. For instance, if you wanted to research the functions of a specific tradition and how participants use or misuse it. This is a topic inspired by “The Lottery.” In your introduction, be sure to establish the work and author serving as your starting point and what topic you have decided to explore. be sure to develop a thesis for this avenue as well. Be specific, focused, and keep in mind the connection to the work you are inspired by and how the themes illustrated relate to the topic you are examining. Where do I start? Follow these steps to create your project proposal: Find at least five (5) peer-reviewed articles about your subject. You can look at jstor.org or scholar.google.com (as long as you can access the article). Provide and MLA citation of all five (5) articles in your proposal. Read all five (5) of the articles and take careful notes as you read. Select the best three (3) articles to use in your research. These will be included in a Works Cited page attached to the end of your proposal. Provide a summary of each of the articles you use for research on your topic. Each summary should be at least one (1) paragraph long of at least five complete sentences. Provide a description of your proposed project that includes design and relevance. Your description should be at least 300 words long. Relevance: Explain how your project will analyze one specific theme connected to these texts. Consider: How will your project prove your argument? Comparison or Contrast across texts. Coherence throughout your project How does the topic inspired by the works relate to a specific theme from one of the works? What else do I need to know? When you’re writing your project proposal, keep in mind to maintain perfect MLA format and MLA citation format.

: Read “The Importance of Being Earnest” (pg. 1147) and Chapter 42 in The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. What does it mean to “be earnest” based on the play? Answer that question in no less than five sentences. Then, based on your answer, construct a thesis that would set up an argument for a paper on what the play tells us about the idea of being an earnest person. Your thesis should include a main argumentative point and two or three justifications for the main argumentative point.

PLEASE HAVE 2 page DRAFT DONE BY 2/25. Close reading is a practice that developed in twentieth-century literary criticism aimed at

analyzing in microscopic detail how and why an author uses specific language. Close

reading is not concerned with summarizing the text (explaining what happens from one

moment to the next). Instead, it zooms in on the finer details, such as a unique image or

metaphor, to explain how those details shed light on the story.

For this assignment, you will zero in on a particular theme or idea you find significant in

one of our readings (Dream of the Rood, Beowulf, Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green

Knight ) and analyze it vigorously.

A successful paper will identify a specific focus (the more specific, the better), explain

why it is important to our understanding of the text, and support your explanation by

interpreting evidence in the form of quotes. Each supporting paragraph should have a

topic sentence related to your theme, relevant citations, and an analysis that shows

your reader what you see in the text and how it supports your interpretation.

Requirements: four double-spaced pages with a 12-point font. Do not use AI to

generate your essay. Please do not use outside sources.

YKL 200 Poetry Close Reading Assignment

Objective: To conduct a meticulous close reading of a primary text, focusing on how formal elements (meter, imagery, and syntax) construct philosophical meaning.

The Task

Select one of the following poems and write a 4 page (double spaced) formal analysis:

1. “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
2. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats

1. “London” by William Blake

Your goal is not to summarize the poem, but to argue how its specific linguistic choices reflect a core Romantic tensionsuch as the power of nature over man, the immortality of art, or the corruption of the industrial soul.

To succeed in a close reading, you must look “under the hood” of the poem. Consider the following:

• The Architecture of the Line: How does the poet use enjambment (lines running over) or caesura (breaks in the middle of a line) to control the reader’s “breath”?
• The Sensory Palette: Identify the dominant imagery. Is it organic and fluid, or cold and static? How does this imagery shift from the beginning to the end?
• The Speakers Stance: Is the narrator a detached observer, an impassioned participant, or a prophetic voice?
• Acoustics: Look for internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance. How do these sounds reinforce the emotional tone (e.g., harsh “k” sounds vs. soft “s” sounds)?

Thesis: Presents a non-obvious, debatable claim about the poem’s meaning.

Evidence: Integrates specific quotes seamlessly into the prose.

Analysis: Goes beyond “what” the poem says to “how” the language creates that effect.

Cite from the text by quoting and indicating line reference embedded in the text. Ex. (L. 12-14)

Pro-Tip for Success

Avoid the “Message” Trap: Don’t just tell me the poem is about “nature being pretty.” The Romantics were often grappling with intense anxiety, political upheaval, and the limits of human perception. Look for the “friction” in the textwhere the language feels difficult or contradictory

For this assignment, you will evaluate characters from The Shahnameh, Sundiata, and The Popul Vuh and then write an essay with a minimum of 1000 words (see specific topic below) arguing for and supporting your conclusions. This assignment will build your writing, analytical, and evaluative skills.

You may be able to further develop ideas you have already submitted in our discussions. However, be careful not to plagiarize your classmates’ submissions. You are encouraged to use the material in the course to further develop your own original interpretations and arguments; researching other secondary sources is not required for this assignment, and plagiarism of other sources and AI use will not be tolerated. If you use sources beyond the primary texts (the epics), be sure to include citations for those secondary sources along with your citations for the epics. Both MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page are required for this assignment.

All semester, we have discussed the ways in which epics enable a community to share and reinforce strongly held cultural values. Heroes, in particular, are models of ethics and behavior, yet heroes are not static characters; they grow and develop during their journeys, shaped by the people they encounter and their experiences.

For this assignment, pretend that the heroes of our last three epics–Rustem, Sundiata, and the Hero Twins have the ability and desire to read about each other in The Shahnameh, Sundiata, and The Popul Vuh. Explain the most significant lesson each character would learn from each of the other two epics (that is, two lessons total for each character) and how that might shape their growth as heroes and leaders. For the sake of this assignment, consider the Hero Twins together, not as two separate characters.

Strong assignments will demonstrate awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of each hero, as well as the potential lessons to be drawn from the other two texts each hero will be reading. As always, support your arguments with detailed and specific evidence, particularly quotations. Use MLA format for in-text citations and the Works Cited.

Write an essay of about eight paragraphs presenting your argument. Be sure to include quotations from the texts as well as additional details that illustrate and enhance the points you are making. Use the following outline:

1. Your first paragraph should be an engaging introduction with a clear thesis that brings all three epics and epic heroes together. Structure your essay as you choose, but the writing should be organized. Perhaps focus on one character at a time, or focus on one text at a time. Be sure your thesis provides a strong argument and forecasts the structure you will be using in the essay.
2. Give specific examples and quotes from the texts to support your analyses. Use in-text citations in MLA format for the quotations, and be sure to include page numbers from the texts included in this course.
3. The last paragraph should be your conclusion. What do these three heroes (and, more broadly, these cultures) have to learn from each other? What have you learned from this creative exercise? Answer the question, “So what?” What should you and your reader do with the information and claims you’ve provided?
4. Your final page should be your Works Cited page, in MLA format. It should include the three literary texts (our epics), as well as any content pages from the course material to which you may have referred.

Please professionally respond to the following questions: 1. The origins and discovery of the story itself? 2. Insights deduced from the story about Sumerian culture. Include observations about how it was similar/different to Egyptian culture. 3. Insights deduced from the story about Sumerian culture. Include observations about how it was similar/different to Greek culture. 4. What is the moral lesson of the tale? 5. Gilgamesh established the epic as a defining Western literary trait. What is an epic and what other heroic epics are there in the Western literary tradition? Total points value: 150 pts (5 answers x 30 pts)

Write an essay of three to five pages that traces the development of one of thethemes below in the literature we have read. the changing roles of women how authors are affected by their environment being non-white in America Refer to at least three texts we have read; do not refer to texts we have not read. Use at least two direct quotations from each text you write about, to support or explain your thoughts. Make sure quotations are accurate. Essays without quotations or with inaccurate quotations will earn grades of 60%. Write about literature in the present tense. Type your essay in MLAformat. Makeyour essay as meaningful as you can.