Final paper topics

Final paper topics

As a final assignment for this class, I’m asking you to write a 5-page paper. Sorry—it couldn’t be avoided. Five pages means double-spaced, 1-inch margins, and a conventional font like Times; going over or under by about a half page is fine.

I think you’ll learn more, and it may be more interesting, if you read some classmates’ papers and give each other comments for improvement. So:

·     The paper is due in class on March 1, and you need to bring three printouts.

·     After exchanging papers with classmates on March 1, you’ll write comments for them and bring your comments to class on March 8.

·     Your really final paper is due on Friday of finals week, or March 16.

Assuming that you’ll only spend about an hour or two making revisions for the really final version, this assignment shouldn’t interfere too much with your other finals.
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To pass this assignment, your paper needs to do four things:

Make an argument. (In the case of these topics, that basically means to answer the question.)

Have a discernible outline. (Not only should the reader be able to recognize the different sections of the paper, each section should present some part of your argument.)

Quote passages and explain them. (When you quote, you need to supply an observation and an explanation, as in your commentary assignment. If a significant number of your quotations are lacking these, I’ll ask you to rewrite.)

Paraphrase passages that it’s not important to quote and explain. (If you’re not going to give an observation and explanation, don’t quote.)

....See the handout "Quotation and Paraphrase" to remind yourself about these techniques.

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Please write your paper on one of the following three topics. They are pretty much guaranteed to work, assuming you’ve read the poems you mean to discuss.

A.   Rochester: Nasty

What makes the Earl of Rochester’s poems funny? You can discuss the poems we read for class and/or any others in the book.

   (Notice that for this topic, it will be your job to think up not only an answer or answers, but also a good outline. Also, it will take some judgment to figure out which passages you want to quote and explain and which passages you want to paraphrase as simple evidence.)

   B.   Herbert: When metaphors attack

How well does it work if we take seriously Herbert’s “Jordan (II)” (p. 371) as a statement about the way Herbert changed his poetic style over time—from “curling with metaphors a plain intention” (5) to transcribing a divine “sweetness ready penned” (17)?

Based on two or three of Herbert’s poems besides “Jordan (II),” what were some of the different ways in which Herbert used metaphor? Which of those ways of using metaphor might count as good or bad according to the poetic standards explained in “Jordan (II)?” Can you propose an order in which your two or three poems were written? And do you find there is any limit to how helpful “Jordan (II)” is as you try to classify the poems?

You can choose any two or three poems to look at in the light of “Jordan (II)”; I might suggest “Prayer (I)” (p. 365), “The Windows” (p. 367), and “Life” (p. 371).

(Notice that for this topic, the structure of your paper will be easy to figure out, since you’ll want to start by explaining what you think the point of “Jordan (II)” is, then go on to discuss your poems in some order. But to turn that structure into an outline, you should start the discussion of each poem with a clear statement about how you think that poem is using metaphors.)

   C.   Milton: Revisionist history

One of the biggest changes Milton makes in Samson Agonistes, as compared to the history of Samson in the Book of Judges, is to put Samson’s father, Manoa, into the action. (In Judges 16, it certainly sounds like Manoa is already dead by the time Samson is imprisoned: Samson’s relatives bury his body “in the tomb of Manoah his father.” In any case, Manoa is never mentioned during the prison episode.)

Why do you think Milton inserted Manoa in his version of the Samson story? How does this character add to the story and the way we experience the story as readers? For starters, what is Manoa like, and what seems to be his relationship with his problematic son?

(An easy way to structure this paper would be according to the plot of Samson Agonistes: you would explain what happens in the drama in the scenes with Manoa, and maybe you would also consider what happens in scenes where he’s absent.)

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