First Paper Assignment
REVISED DUE DATE: Tuesday, February 9 at the beginning of classEssay Length: approx. 4 pages (1200-1500 words)
Getting Started
1. Read through all of the paper topics and spend some time planning a response to more than one. In other words, “try the topic on” to see how it fits. What text would you focus on? How does this text fit the topic? What are some of the complications that might arise from the use of this text, bearing in mind that complications can often be a source of the greatest interest for writer and reader?2. Once you have selected a topic and the text that will be your focus, spend some time with the text. Reread it with the new perspective of the paper you plan to write. Be careful, though, not to simply reread it to find evidence to support your position. Instead be open to the possibility that you might find both confirming and contradictory evidence. Don’t dismiss the contradictory evidence. Keep track of it.
3. Look through your notes on the topic and the text and develop a preliminary thesis.
4. Write a draft (or drafts) of your paper. Find someone in class willing to look at your essay (offer to look at his or her in return). Be careful about relying on friends—you want good feedback that will help you revise your paper and make it better; you don’t want friendly comments like “It looks pretty good to me.” You can also visit the Writing Center at any stage of the process—when you are trying to find a topic, when you are developing possible responses to the topic, when you are developing a preliminary thesis, when you are drafting.
5. Be sure to proofread your essays carefully, and consider giving your paper to a friend or classmate for proofreading. Also read your paper out loud to yourself before completing a final draft—make sure it sounds like spoken English and not like paper-ese. Try for an easy, graceful, but not overly casual writing style; assume a reader who knows the text, but has not memorized every detail.
Some Resources to Consider for the First Three Topics
Definitions of "dramatic monologue"A brief definition of the "dramatic monologue" from George Landow (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/dm1.html)
Glenn Everett's more detailed discussion (linked also on Landow's page (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/dm4.html)
M. H. Abrams definition (quoted on Dino Felluga's course page) (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/guide337.html#dramatic)
The Lady at her loom (Elizabeth Siddal)
"I am half-sick of shadows" (John William Waterhouse)
The Lady looks at Lancelot (Waterhouse)
"The mirror cracked from side to side"
William Holman Hunt (painting)
Hunt (engraving)
"Like some bold seer in a trance" (Waterhouse)
"Singing in her song she died"
John Atkinson Grimshaw
Arthur Hughes
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Suggested Paper Topics
1. “The Lady of Shalott” was a popular subject for Victorian painters, among them William Holman Hunt and John William Waterhouse. A small black-and-white version of Hunt’s painting is reproduced alongside the poem in the Longman Anthology, and the Waterhouse painting is reproduced in the color plates section. There are several others of interest and both Hunt’s and Waterhouse’s are available online in larger formats and with greater detail. Find one of the “Lady of Shalott” paintings online and write an essay that explains how the painter has interpreted the poem. You will want to consider the choices the painter has made—what has been added or omitted? what has been highlighted or downplayed? Regardless of your strategy, you need to explore the details of both the painting and the poem and not merely list similarities and differences; instead use similarities and differences to make an argument about how the painter has chosen to represent (i.e. interpret) the scene from the poem and by extension the poem as a whole.2. Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues invite us to piece together a “character” based on what the speaker says and on what has been “unsaid.” For instance, we can infer many details of the Duke of Ferrara’s character through his monologue and at times we might recognize that what the Duke tells us is misleading, deceptive, delusional, or maybe strategic. For this topic, study carefully one of the following Browning dramatic monologues: “The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church,” “Fra Lippo Lippi,” or “Andrea del Sarto.” Then write an essay that unravels the main character’s motivations and personality. What does this character want us to think about him, and what do we actually think?
3. In class we have discussed the qualities of a dramatic monologue with special attention to Browning’s use of this form. Consider Tennyson’s “Ulysses” to be a dramatic monologue in the style of Browning and write an essay in which you make an argument about the character of Ulysses that Tennyson reveals in that poem. What is the Ulysses of Tennyson’s poem like? Do we learn anything about him beyond what he tells us explicitly? How are we to react to him, and why?
4. Victorian poets were concerned with the problems of connection and communication between individuals. Focus on one poem and argue what position this poem takes on the importance and the possibility of connection.
5. Discuss the ways in which one of the authors we have read explores the function of art in the Victorian Era. What does the author in question define as “art”? What should it do? What should an artist do? Does (s)he have any moral imperatives? Any responsibilities to his or her public? How are these responsibilities shaped by (what the author defines as) uniquely Victorian issues? In other words, how does the author define art and its role in his or her era?
Notes
- You do not need to do any research for this assignment.
- Use MLA in-text (parenthetical) citation form. If you use editions besides the Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume 2B, please include a “Works Cited” page in MLA format.
- For formatting information, see the course syllabus.
