Choose one of the following topics and write an essay (at least four full pages) which is thoughtful and supported with several specific examples from the work(s) you are analyzing. Be sure to use standard MLA format (if you choose the third topic, use the format sililar to that used in the play). Your essay will be evaluated primarily on content (your ideas), but try to eliminate as many errors as possible. Good Luck!
"Things are not always what they seem"--nowhere is this more true than in Pushkin's "Queen of Spades," where he is encouraging us to see things in new, imaginative ways. Trace ways in which he sets up the reader's expectations only to pull the rug out again and again. Consider the many unexpected plot twists and the ironic (non-fairy tale) ending. Discuss why he's toying with us this way. How does the form of the story (these unexpected reversals) actually reveal the Romantic idea of seeing the world in fresh, unconventional ways?
Be sure you discuss how he shows differences between appearance and reality in his treatment of the various characters in the story (certainly this applies to the Countess' putting on a respectable facade, to Lisaveta's appearance of being wholly virtuous, to the reader's belief that Hermann will rescue Lisaveta, etc.).
Some critics suggest that "A Simple Heart" can be read as a life of a saint (it was actually published with two stories Flaubert wrote about Roman Catholic saints). Support this interpretaton including qualities of Felicite's life, her trials, her attitude through it all, maybe even her name. You will have to deal with the idea that Felicete really is very simple, ignorant, filled with misconceptions (her confusing the dead parrot for the holy spirit, for example, would most likely border on blasphemy). Could this be part of Flaubert's intent? Is he commenting, perhaps, on what it would take to be a saint in the modern world?
You will want to use some outside source (be sure to have a Works Cited page) that refers to various qualities associated with lives of saints for this analysis.
"Woyzeck" was never completed. What might have been included had Buchner not died before completing the play? Your job is to continue the play in the style of the original (you'll want several very short scenes, and try to include some of the different elements--street songs, bizarrely symbolic moments, religious references, social/political satire--that give the original its unique, erratic feel).
Note: the historical Woyzeck was sentenced to death after he was pronounced psychologically fit to stand trial. You do not, however, have to make the end of the play match the historical facts. You could end with the trial, with the coroner, with Woyzeck in a jail cell, etc.
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Write an analysis of any literary work (from the 19th century) from a country either not represented or under-represented in our text. Consider works from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, perhaps even Oceania. DO NOT select work from North America or Europe for this category.
For this analysis you will concentrate on theme or style or some issue or idea that is suggested by the work, or you may want to explore how the work is characteristic of the area from which it comes or characteristic of a specific literary movement from that country. Develop your essay with your observations which are supported with several documented quotations from the text. Feel free to include secondary source material (reference material from the library, etc.) to add even more support to your analysis (if you do use reference sources, be sure they are properly documented as well). Since the work will not be from our textbook, you will also want to have a Works Cited page including bibliographic information for the literary work you've chosen and for any research material you may use (this does not count as a page of the body of your essay).
Note: you may want to get the work and your thesis approved by me before you go ahead and write the essay.
For some tips on writing about literature, go to
