essay proposal
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EAS380HSampleFormatforEssayProposal.pdf
Writing Women in Premodern China EAS 380H
Sample Format for Essay Proposal 1. Name: ________ Student ID: ________ 2. Topic (copied from handout; this example is from a different course) [1pt]
Scholars have identified the lyric (ci 詞) form as one devoted to expressing emotions or feelings (qing 情). Choose one to three lyrics and discuss what different techniques they use to portray emotions. How would you describe the emotions being expressed? What sort of emotional resolution or conclusion is reached by the end of the lyrics? 3. Primary Texts (from assigned readings) [1pt]
to “Note after Note” (Sheng-sheng man)”, by Li Qingzhao (Owen, 581) to “The Charms of Nian-nu” (Nian-nü jiao): Meditation on the Past at Red Cliff”, by Su Shi (Owen, 579-80) 4. Thesis (your answer to the question/s in one or two sentences) [2pts]
Li Qingzhao and Su Shi use different techniques to express their emotions in their lyrics (including natural imagery, direct description, and historical imagination), but they both come to a similar conclusion of incompleteness. 5. Outline (three points supporting your thesis) [3pts]
A. Li Qingzhao’s lyric expresses emotions of longing and sadness through descriptions of nature and her state of mind.
B. Su Shi uses his lyric to paint a grand vision of a historical hero to express his feelings of admiration.
C. Both lyrics end with a sense of incompleteness, of not being able to reach the other person or to express one’s emotions fully.
6. Two other sources (other than the texbook, with a brief description) [3pts]
Egan, Ronald. The Burden of Female Talent—The Poet Li Qingzhao and Her History in China. (Book) [This books gives important background information for Li’s lyrics.] Hegel, Robert E. “The Sights and Sounds of Red Cliffs: On Reading Su Shi.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 20 (Dec., 1998), pp. 11-30. [This article gives other examples of Su Shi writing about historical imagination and Red Cliff.]
