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Some New Suggestions for Paper Topics: Below are some ideas for developing a paper; they are only suggestions and I may add to the number as we move through our reading list. The paper topic must be about an author on our syllabus. Please be sure you read the instructions page.

Beowulf. Explore any differences in emphasis between the first part of the epic (in which Beowulf fights with Grendel and his mother) and the second part (in which Beowulf returns home, reigns, and battles a dragon): if the concept of heroism remains the same, what accounts for the differences you find? At what points, and in what way, does the narrator intervene to shape our view of the poem’s heroic events and characters?

Chaucer. Explore the Wife of Bath’s strategy in her prologue for opposing the Church authorities who have written to women’s detriment about marriage and sexuality. Which, if any, arguments does Chaucer allow the most credibility (whether he would ultimately agree with them or not), and how can you tell with respect to the text’s formal presentation of the Wife and her story? How does the Wife's Tale affect the claims she makes in her prologue? (Something you might reflect upon in your conclusion: it’s been said that Chaucer simply couldn’t imagine a good woman—not even in his Legends of Good Women. Does that ring true, in your opinion? Why or why not?)

More. Raphael Hythloday condemns the economy and politics of Western Europe, based on his favorable experience with Utopia's practices. It isn’t clear that our narrator “More” (not necessarily Thomas More the real-life author) agrees with all that he has heard. What defense of European ways does “More” offer, and to what extent do other parts of the text get in the way of our sharing Raphael’s enthusiasm without reservation? This topic allows you to weigh in on where, if anywhere, the text itself “comes down” respecting Raphael’s arguments—for, against, or somewhere in between.

Wyatt and Donne. Explore the two authors’ difference in attitude and emphasis in handling the relationship between erotic/spiritual love and the demands of the court or the world at large. What assertions do they make about the possibility of finding and keeping true love, and how convincingly do they make them?

Wyatt and Marie de France’s Lanval. How do Wyatt and Marie describe the relationship between love and courtly politics? What assumptions do they apparently share about both areas of life? What differences can you find between them? One thing to consider is the way both authors represent the woman’s role or position in erotic and courtly matters—some interesting insights should emerge from that comparison.

Herbert and Donne. Both of these authors are classed among the Metaphysical Poets, but they’re not to be reduced to sameness. So choose a poem or two by each and explore their differences in terms of how they develop “metaphysical conceits” (complex and extended metaphors), the speaker’s spiritual dilemmas, and the relative closeness or union of passion and intellect in their utterances. If you prefer one poet over the other, that might be something to reflect upon in the paper, and it might help you with the essay’s structure, so long as you avoid dismissing the other poet.

Shakespeare. Treat Henry V as an exploration (at least in part) of monarchy and war. The play has sometimes been read as Tudor propaganda and jingoism, and sometimes as anti-war and anti-monarchist, but both interpretations probably say more about the people who make them than about the play. Try to demonstrate a balance in this play between those two extremes—in what sense does the play validate Henry’s reign and his war against France, and in what sense does it criticize the abuses and omissions of monarchs and the troubling spectacle of organized violence?

Shakespeare. Some critics have either read The Merchant of Venice as a vile piece of anti-Semitism or as a critique of such views. But try to show a balance in this play between those two extremes—to what extent does the play accept the era’s prevailing anti-Jewish sentiment, and to what extent does it seem that Shakespeare isn’t simply serving up what the public may want to hear about Shylock? Something to consider in building your thesis and in the middle part of your essay: how does the play’s representation of the Christian characters and their conduct affect your view of what Shylock does and says?

Milton . Focus on the difficulties faced by the narrator of Paradise Lost—how, in his invocations (at the beginning of Books 1, 3, 7, 9), does he deal with the need to establish his authority to tell so grand and complex a story as human history in its relation to the eternal goings-on in heaven? What are the risks of such an endeavor? At what points does his own frailty come into play, and even work to his advantage?

Milton . Blake and Shelley, along with many other interpreters of Paradise Lost, have insisted that Milton , as a “true poet,” just couldn’t help giving Satan the dramatic edge. That reading rings somewhat true since otherwise the poem would lack dramatic interest. But with respect to the books we are reading, how does Milton bring out the flawed quality of Satan as an epic hero? How does he manipulate epic conventions and manage comparisons between characters to undercut the reader’s sympathy with Satan? How do Satan’s logic and his rhetoric turn back on him and damage his case against God and for dominion over hell and earth?