Second Essay Assignment

Write an essay based on one of the subjects below. The essay should be about five pages in length. Essays that are shorter than four pages or longer than six pages might be returned unread or with a failing grade. The page count does not include the Works Cited page. The essay is due on June 7th. See the course outline for lateness penalties.

All essays must be submitted to Turnitin.com and also submitted (in hard copy) to the instructor. No essay will be graded until it has been submitted to the web site and the instructor. Contact the instructor for the class ID and password.

It is strongly recommended that you stay away from the Internet to write this essay. It is your own analysis that is important: I do not want to grade someone else’s ideas other than your own. As always, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Document all sources (of ideas and of quotations), including all web sources (whether an author is identifiable or not).

Essays should conform to MLA guidelines. Essays should have double-spaced lineation. Printed essays should use a 12-point, serif font and should not have a justified right margin. Please use one-inch margins on all sides. Please do not submit the essay in a binder or folder. I am not fond of title pages.

Your essay should have a clear thesis. The essay should be an argumentative essay: all paragraphs of the essay contribute to the support of the thesis. Your audience is the course instructor, who knows the texts well: spend no time summarizing or introducing the texts unless absolutely necessary for the support of your thesis. You may wish to consult the “Essay Writing Tips” available on the course web site.

1. Compare the mock-heroic battles depicted in Chaucer’s “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” and Pope’s The Rape of the Lock.
2. Compare the use of epic similes in Chaucer’s “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” and Pope’s The Rape of the Lock.
3. Analyse in detail the significance of two or three epic similes in book 1 of Milton’s Paradise Lost.
4. Both Marvell’s “The Garden” and Swift’s “The Lady’s Dressing Room” illustrate a retreat (or implied retreat) from society. Compare the treatment of this retreat in the two texts.
5. Write a detailed analysis of Shakespeare’s sonnet 20 or sonnet 55 (from Sonnets) or Sidney’s sonnet 71 (from Astrophil and Stella). Focus on the use of language and imagery in the sonnet you choose, showing particularly how the imagery contributes to our understanding of the sonnet.
6. Write a detailed analysis of Donne’s “The Bait.” Focus on the use of language and imagery. You may compare Donne’s poem to Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” if you wish.