Paper 2 Formal Prompt: Choose a text by one author on our syllabus and write a 5-page essay that is clear in its thesis, structure, and language. You may also write a comparative paper on two authors / texts, though that structure might entail a paper somewhat longer than the suggested 5-page length. Mechanics are important: observe MLA conventions about quotation format, works cited page, etc. and proofread carefully.

Some Topics you may follow as-is or reshape to suit your interests:

1. Selectively examine Dickens' Hard Times as an industrial novel that aims to educate Victorian middle-class sensibilities about problems such as poverty and the Utilitarians' rejection of an "organic" conception of human nature. Discuss the strengths and limitations of Dickens' approach as a social critic.

2. In his Autobiography, J.S. Mill deals with the influence of Benthamite principles on the formation of his character early in life. Explore the way in which Mill analyzes the inadequacies in his education and early utilitarian reformist goals, and how he explains the transformation wrought in him by his mental breakdown and recovery.

3. Tennyson's In Memoriam traces the speaker's attempt to deal with grief over the early death of a friend. Explore the poetic strategies of interest to you. A few prominent ones would be the speaker's dramatization of his struggle to generate language adequate to his emotional states, and his rhetorical strategies in conveying a movement from near despair towards optimism and faith.

4. Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde explores the supposed duality of human nature--the capacity of even the noblest human beings for both good and evil. Explore the role of Victorian ideas about morality and social class in Stevenson's account of the transformation that takes place in the main character.

5. Explore one or more poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins in light of romantic poetics (expressive theory, the significance of nature, etc.). To what extent would you argue that Hopkins is, as some critics have called him, a "late romantic"? To what extent would you characterize him differently, and why?

6. Examine Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest as a criticism of late-Victorian "bourgeois" (middle-class) values: explore the strategies Wilde employs to "send up" Victorian ideals concerning such things as sincerity, social class, wealth, education, and relations between men and women.

Informal Suggestions: Email me or come to an office hour with some ideas about your author/text. I will respond with ideas and questions to help you make progress on the paper.

Due Date: I do not require that you turn in a rough draft before the final draft is due, though I suggest that you do so I can comment and return it in time to help for the final draft. The final draft will be due along with your in-class final exam, Friday, May 30, 9:30-11:20 a.m. It is also acceptable to send your paper as an MS Word attachment, but please remember that it's vital to get confirmation from me that I received the attachment and was able to open it. If you don't receive such confirmation within approximately 24 hours, please call 714-434-1612.

Please look over some of the materials on writing available via hyperlinks on the "Syllabus" page. "Deductive Essays" is particularly recommended because in it I comment on the basics about structure and purpose in college papers. Another set of handouts deals with how to introduce and cite a literary text properly -- that is certainly something every writer needs to know.