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Why did Roland wait to blow his horn? Look closely at the three horn blowing discussions and explain what their purpose is in the poem. Use specific examples from the poem to support your discussion.

Roland is a hero; Charlemagne is a king. Compare/contrast their characters and roles. Could Roland fit into some ancient epic such as the  Odyssey  or  Gilgamesh ? What about Charlemagne? Is he like any other king you have read about? Support your discussion with examples from  Roland  and from some other ancient epic.

Look through  Roland  to find examples of Saracens (Muslims) represented as evil, deceitful and demonic. Do you think this was a normal way to write about strangers at that time and in that place? What do you think motivated such hostility? Discuss this issue using plenty of specific examples from the poem to support your ideas.

Compare the expression of monotheistic faith in Sura 1, "The Exordium," from the  Koran  (to the descriptions of the pagan, idol worshipping infidels in Roland. Do you think the  Roland poet was genuinely ignorant of Muslim religion, or that he had his own agenda and reasons for presenting the Saracens as demonic heathens?

Sura 5, "The Table," from the  Koran  talks at some length about Christians and Jews, and their relation to Islam.  The Koran  accepted both Christians and Jews as "people of the book," but asserted that the  Koran was a correction to errors that had crept into these earlier monotheistic religions. Discuss the attitudes towards Christians and Jews that you find in "The Table" and compare it to the attitudes towards Muslims that you find in  Roland. What are the significant differences? Do you find any interesting similarities? Be specific in your responses and refer to examples from the texts you are analyzing.

Roland  is one of a group of early French epics, or "chansons de geste" which have been compared to American Western movies: fighting men, horses, buddies, no women, good versus evil, etc. Do you agree? If so, select a particular Western movie and compare it to  Roland  in some detail. Be sure to support your ideas with plenty of specific supporting examples from  Roland  and the film, and be sure to explain "so what."

Compare the relationship of two sets of buddies: Roland and Oliver and Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Do you see any relevant similarities? Any interesting differences? And, so what? Be sure to go into plenty of specific examples from both texts to support your ideas.

Compare the roles of Charlemagne in  Roland  and Aeneas in the  Aeneid . Both are in charge of world class empires, or at least their beginnings, and both fight "holy" wars of a sort, Aeneas to fulfill Roman destiny, and Charlemagne to free Europe of the pagan infidels. Both seem to suffer a lot and neither has a good time. Compare them in some detail, using specific examples from both text to support your ideas.

Read about the life of Charlemagne in any good encyclopedia or history of Europe, or look at Einhard's brief, readable  Life of Charlemagne  (Links to an external site.) , written in the ninth century, and compare what you find out to the presentation of Charlemagne in  Roland . Why do you think there are so many differences? Do you think the  Roland  poet was aware of how he was changing Charlemagne into a Christian saint, or do you think this had already happened in the centuries since Charlemagne's death? Explain your position referring to specific information you have read about Charlemagne and specific examples from the poem.

Do you think the Roland poet knew the "Sermon on the Mount" from  The New Testament ? If so, how do you think he interpreted it? Was this the key to his idea of being a good Christian? If not, what was? Explain in some detail, using specific examples from both texts, and be sure to develop an interesting point (e.g. SO WHAT?)

Some critics have suggested that epic poems such as  Roland were composed in monasteries along pilgrimage routes, to help drum up tourist traffic. Would this help to explain the god-like quality of Charlemagne and the warrior-saint nature of Roland? Or is this too cynical a view of a great poem? Give your opinion, but support it with specific details from the poem, and, ideally, a few facts from an encyclopedia or some such (be sure to cite the source of your information).

For all its extremist religious politics,  Roland  presents a picture of surprisingly democratic interaction between the peers and the emperor. Look closely at the way decisions are made, both at Charlemagne's court and in the field, and describe in some detail the process of debate and consensus that guides the nobles in their actions. Can you think of any other story you have read in this course that involves such democratic processes? Or is democratic even the right word for this struggle for consensus among the aristocracy? Comment and support your ideas using specific examples from the story. If you deal in lots of comparative detail with a second story too, this can be worth double credit.

Explore  The Military Martyrs  (Links to an external site.)  and discuss in detail how this concept of the fighting saint may help to explain Roland's role in the battle and his final ascent to heaven. Be sure to give specific examples from the Military Martyrs pages and from Roland  to support your ideas. 

When Roland finally does blow the horn, he bursts a blood vessel in his head, and this causes his death.  Why do you think this is how he dies? Hints: Can you explain its link to the horn-blowing episodes? Can you explain its connection to the absolute superiority of Roland to the "pagans?" Can you connect Roland's means of death to the angel coming to receive his glove (his fealty). Use specific examples from the poem to support your ideas.

Women in the  Nights . Look closely at the character and role of Shahrazad in the main story frame. She is a hero, because she saves her own life and the life of many of her people, yet she lives in a culture where men buy and sell women and cut off their heads when they are displeased. Compare/contrast her to a female character in a story you have read earlier in the semester. Be sure to use plenty of specific detailed examples from both texts to support your ideas, and don't forget to make some interesting points.

Speaking of "off with their heads," look at the way kings behave in the  Nights . They are able to make a poor man rich or a rich man dead on an instant whim. What kind of government do you see operating in the  Nights ? Describe it in as much detail as you can find in the stories you have read. Are there any good points to this kind of government? Any serious problems? Would you want to live there?

Select two or three interesting demons (or jinnis) or other monsters in the Nights  and compare them to monsters you've met earlier in the course. Can you think of any ways in which they are similar? How are they different? Can you think of any reasons why? Be sure to use plenty of specific examples from the texts to support your ideas.

Compare the attitudes toward that which is foreign, strange and amazing in the  Nights  to the attitudes towards foreigners and differences in  Roland . Which side of the Pyrenees (mountains dividing France from Spain) would you prefer to have lived on in the twelfth century? Why? Please support your choice of location with plenty of specific examples from the two texts.

In the world of the  Nights , there are good, pious demons, and bad, impious demons, but all demons seem to obey certain rules or laws. Explain exactly what kinds of laws/rules demons do seem to obey. Do you have any idea why this is so? Support your position with examples from the stories.

If you are very ambitious, you might want to read or reread "Gawain and the Green Knight," which is in online at  Sir Gawain  (Links to an external site.) , and compare it to "The Story of the Merchant and the Demon" in the  Nights . Both are tales of keeping faith to meet with a magical fellow on New Year's Day who intends to cut off one's head. If you choose this one, I'll leave you to pose your own question and figure out how to answer it in less than a book. 

Several stories in the  Nights give examples of why it is better to be just than to be unjust. Find at least three such examples and explain what is the nature of justice in the  Nights  as you understand it. Give examples, of course, and try to find the point to it all.

Stories in the  Nights  range from the pious to the bawdy. Select one of each and try to see how they belong in the same collection, or do they? Explain and support your position using examples from the stories, not from your own opinions.

Destiny, or fate, or predestination is an important thread running through the stories of the  Nights . This expresses, at least in part, the ideal of a good Muslim, which is to submit to God's will. Select two or three stories that express this idea, compare/ contrast them to one another, and see what conclusions you can draw about the role of destiny in the  Nights . Use specific examples from the stories to support your response.

Compare the idea of destiny in the  Aeneid to the frequent references to predestination and fate in two or three stories of the  Nights . Do you see any interesting similarities or differences? Explain your insights using a number of specific examples from each text to support your ideas. I suggest starting with reading a good dictionary definition of "destiny." You may copy and cite it in your essay.

The  Nights  is a collection of tales that are organized by means of the frame story of Shahrazad, who is telling stories to save the lives of the other maidens in her country.  The  Odyssey  also uses a frame when Odysseus tells the stories of his wanderings to Nausicaa's folks to persuade them to send him home at last. The  Odyssey , like the  Nights , was told orally for many centuries in one form or another before being finally written down. Compare/contrast the frames in the  Odyssey  and the  Nights.  How does each function? And, so what? Use specific examples from both texts to support your ideas.

Read the selection from the  Koran , Sura 4, "Women," (see the link to the  Koran  on the Course Materials Table on the Course Home Page) and discuss any connections, similarities or differences you see between its precepts and the roles of women as depicted in the Nights. Note: the stance of the Koran toward women was actually quite enlightened for its time. Women, for example, were allowed some property rights, while in the general society of that time, they had none.

There are fascinating parallels between the story of Sharazad and the story of the Biblical  Esther (Links to an external site.) . Both are clever, beautiful women who live in the courts of oriental despots and must use their wits to save the lives of others. Do a careful, detailed compare/contrast of these two heroines, using plenty of specific details from both stories to support your ideas.

Read  Crescent: a novel  by Diana Abu-Jaber (Norton, 2003). It is a delightful double tale, partly about Iraqi exiles who work and eat at Nadia's Cafe in West Los Angeles--their food, their loves and their longing for their homeland--and partly a magical tale in the spirit of the  Arabian Nights, but ending up in Hollywood. After enjoying the book, explain in some detail why you think the author included the magical  Arabian Nights tale along with the more realistic story of Nadia's Cafe in West Los Angeles. What is she drawing from the  Nights and how does she use it to illuminate what she calls at times the "Arab soul?" Use plenty of specific examples, both from  Crescent  and from the  Nights  to support your ideas.

According to  D. L. Ashliman (Links to an external site.) , "One of India's most influential contributions to world literature, the Panchatantra ... consists of five books of animal fables and magic tales (some 87 stories in all) that were compiled, in their current form, between the third and fifth centuries AD. It is believed that even then the stories were already ancient. The tales' self-proclaimed purpose is to educate the sons of royalty." Read a few of these stories and compare them to stories in the  Nights  that are told to heal a mad king. Here is a link to a selection from the  Panchatantra  (Links to an external site.) .

Robert Irwin has written a fascinating riff on the  Arabian Nights  called  The Arabian Nightmare . It tells of a 12th c. English scholar-wanderer who ends up in Cairo under the influence of The Father of Cats who is a corrupt teacher of dreams and sleep. There are many interwoven stories and wonders, including of course talking apes and virgins locked in enclosed gardens. If this interests you, read Irwin's book (I don't know if it is in print, but used copies are easily found on Amazon Marketplace) after reading the selections from the assigned sections of the  Nights.  Then, compare the two sets of stories in some interesting way.

Make up an interesting question of your own that deals with some aspect of the  Nights , and then answer it in fully developed detail. Please run the question by me for a quick response before you go on to write about it. I will not accept such a question unless I have approved it in advance.