English 10LC

Paper #2

Due Date: February 14, 2008

Topics for Paper #2

Write a paper answering ONE of the following questions. Papers should be 8-10 pages long, double-spaced, and with 1” margins. The paper should approach its topic by closely examining one or more of the works that we have covered in this class (use the handout on close-reading as a guide). Papers should not merely summarize, describe, or paraphrase the text, but rather, papers should exhibit a complex, critical analysis of the text using the paper prompts as a starting off point. Papers should have a clear thesis statement supported by each body paragraph. Each paper should also have a title that speaks to the subject matter of the paper’s content. Be sure to include citations for each of your texts in a bibliography at the end of the paper (instruction on how to properly cite internet sources will take place during the first week in February). For my policy on Wikipedia, please visit Professor Alan Liu’s page on the subject.

1)         It is clear that writing styles change according to the period in which each author is writing. Do these differences also hold true in the way in which the masculine gender is presented in the various texts that we have seen this quarter? Consider this question by comparing and contrasting the main speaker (or main character) in “The Wanderer,” Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.” Do they display any common characteristics, either physical, emotional, or spiritual? Is there an ideal which all three might find in common? Or do the differing periods in which they were written distinguish them completely? Be sure to examine key words and phrases, specific imagery, and figures of speech that may support your argument.

2)         Assess the gender dynamics in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by considering the agency of at least three characters in the text. How and why does the Gawain-poet choose to depict the Green Knight/Lord Bertilak as hypermasculine? Why is the lady so aggressive, and why is Gawain so passive? What is the effect of such depictions? For example, do these depictions challenge traditional male/female binary oppositions? How does the depiction of courtly love within the text complicate these oppositions? Feel free to discuss additional characters such as Arthur or Morgan la Fay as they might pertain to your argument.