ENGL 204 Paper Assignment

Paper Assignment for ENGL 204 Online

There are 4 questions to choose from but you only have to choose 1.
Choose one of topics below upon which to write a 4 page paper (1000-1250 words).
(Note: I do not mind reading a slightly longer paper.) This should be a work of your
own literary analysis, with no secondary sources consulted or used. I’m interested in
your thoughts in this paper—in the comparisons and contrasts you make between the
works in question. (Note the due dates for the paper are on the course schedule of
due dates.)
Your paper should follow all the good practice of essay construction—effective
introduction, clear thesis statement, clear organization, good support for your points with
examples from the works in question, and a good conclusion (perhaps one that does more
than summarize your points and invites the reader to consider follow-on questions or
issues where appropriate.) It goes without saying that writing style, grammar, and
punctuation count in such a formal paper. I have tried to hold you to reasonable
standards of correctness in weekly postings, but in a formal essay, attention to the details
of writing is even more important. Remember to use the 3rd person point of view in
writing your paper (keeping the “I” out of it) and use the literary present tense as we have
been for postings, pointing out that “Daisy Miller is (not “was”) not merely a flirt,” for
example.
Since this is a formal paper, make sure that you follow proper MLA format for
documenting references to works discussed and that you include a Works Cited list at the
end of your paper. See your optional text or the link to MLA Documentation online for
the format of in-text citations, individual works cited entries, and the overall format for
the Works Cited page (most evident in sample essays provided in the text or online).
You may question the convention of using a Works Cited list for a paper discussing only
primary works, where no secondary works of criticism are consulted or used. Literary
works exist in many different editions and anthologies, however. It is important to
provide the Works Cited list so that your reader may refer to the appropriate edition in
looking up the page nos. for your in-text references. In works taken from an anthology
such as ours, you need a separate works cited entry for each work discussed. Here are
two samples (of a poem and of a play/novel ) of the format for such entries, which would
of course be presented in alphabetical order by author on the Works Cited List:
Dove, Rita. “Silos.” Contemporary American Poetry. 6th ed. Ed. A. Poulin, Jr. Boston
Houghton, 1996. 113. Print.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Heath Guide to Literature. 3rd ed. Ed.
David Bergman and Daniel Mark Epstein. Boston: Heath, 1992. 1369-1426.
Print.

Important Note: Included as links on the Essay Assignment page are the two checklists
from the inside back cover of your optional text—one a checklist on the process of
writing a literary analysis essay and another a checklist for MLA documentation. Make
sure you consult them as you write, rewrite, and proof your paper for final submission.
Your formal essay should be submitted by the due date (see schedule of weekly
assignments and due dates) through the formal paper icon in the formal paper module in
the course, as a file upload (either .rtf, .doc, or .docx are acceptable file formats.)
For many students, a formal paper is a scary thought! It doesn’t have to be. The secret is
to get started ahead of time, don’t procrastinate in the process, and get questions
answered by me as soon as possible in the process (or meet with me, if you want, to
discuss any questions or problems you have). The paper is worth 100 points and will
count as 20 percent of your grade.
Finally, the specific assignments!
Choose one of the options below. (NOTE: Most involve a comparison and contrast
essay. If you have not written many comparison/contrast essays, the conventional
approaches are either a point-by-point comparison, discussing all works in regards to
each point of comparison or contrast or a discussion of the works one by one, making
all points of comparison and contrast about that work as you discuss it.)
A. You have read two lengthy novels this semester, Wuthering Heights and The
Mayor of Casterbridge. The two authors certainly have different outlooks, but
both are masters of point of view, setting, and characterization (the use of
round or flat characters, static or dynamic characters, realizing characters by
telling us or by showing us characters’ actions and letting us hear their words).
Write a comparison/contrast essay on at least one and not more than two of these
three literary elements, pointing out where the two are similar and different in
their use of the literary element to develop the main ideas or themes of the novels.
B. Keats’ “Eve of St. Agnes” and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights can both be
seen as products of the Romantic period. Compare and contrast these works,
considering the themes of the works as well as use of characteristics of
romanticism. (Review the online study guide on Romanticism and Neoclassicism
if you want).
C. Consider The Importance of Being Earnest and The Mayor of Casterbridge as late
19th century works. Compare and contrast the works as representatives of the late
Victorian period. What do they have in common, where do they differ in ideas
and in approach (other than the fact that one is drama and one is a novel!)?
D. By now you should be familiar with the dramatic monologue so fully developed
by Robert Browning, including its portrayal of a dramatic situation, development

of a persona, and the gradual unveiling of the mind of the character created. Read
the following dramatic monologue by Browning that was not assigned in class
and consider how it fulfills the requirements for the dramatic monologue. In
addition, consider how it compares to the six dramatic monologues we have read
by Browning (“Porphyria’s,” “Soliloquoy,” “The Bishop Orders,” “My Last
Duchess,” “Fra Lippo Lippi,” and “Andrea del Sarto.” ) Your paper should not
only use specifics from this new monologue to exemplify the characteristics of
this genre but should provide specific comparisons to three or four of the six
Browning dramatic monologues we read during the semester. Make sure that you
clearly set up the definition of the genre and use specifics from the poems as
support.
The Laboratory
By Robert Browing
Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely,
As thou pliest thy trade in this devil’s-smithy—
Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?
He is with her, and they know that I know
Where they are, what they do; they believe my tears flow
While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear
Empty church, to pray God in, for them!—I am here
Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
Pound at they powder—I am not in haste!
Better sit thus, and observe they strange things,
Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s
That in the mortar—you call it a gum?
Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
Sure to taste sweetly—is that poison too?
Had I but all of them, thee, and they treasures,
What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!
Soon, at the King’s, a mere lozenge to give,
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!
Quick—is it finished? The color’s too grim!

Why not soft like the phial’s, enticing and dim?
Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir,
And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer!
What a drop! She’s not little, no minion like me!
That’s why she ensnared him; this never will free
The soul from those masculine eyes---say “no!”
To that pulse’s magnificent come-and-go.
For only last night, as they whispered, I brought
My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought
Could I keep them one half minute fixed, she would fall
Shriveled; she fell not; yet this does it all!
Not that I bid you spare her the pain;
Let death be felt and the proof remain;
Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—
He is sure to remember her dying face!
Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose;
It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet, my whole fortune’s fee!
If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?
Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!
But brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings
Ere I know it---next moment I dance at the King’s!