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ENG2l36A Essay Topics

Select one of the following topics and write a 2,000 word essay about it.

The essay must argue an interpretation of one or more of the assigned readings, supporting the argument by analysing details from the story.

No research is necessary, but if you wish you may research any CONTEXT vital to the topic you select. Consult authoritative, scholarly sources of information. Avoid reading actual interpretations of the assigned readings.

Due date: See course outline and calendar.

Length: Approx. 2,000 words (give or take 15%)

Format: MLA

Additional information to be posted separately on Brightspace.

1. In adventure fiction, the hero slays the monster, affirming the triumph of good over evil. In horror fiction, the main character may become or discover himself to be the monster. Analyse and interpret the characterization of one such protagonist in one of the stories studied this term.

2. In horror fiction, even the home can become an unsettling, dangerous place. Analyse and interpret the way in which the home is transformed into a nightmare space in one of the stories studied this term.

3. In horror fiction, intimate personal relationships become twisted beyond recognition into something physically and/or psychologically destructive. Select one type of relationship: parent/child, friendship, courtship, marriage, sibling, etc., and analyse and interpret what one of the stories studied this term suggests about society and/or human nature by twisting it.

4. The monster, especially when supernatural, figuratively expresses literal fears. Monsters have been described as “meaning machines,” i.e., multivalent, open to multiple interpretations. As such, they raise multiple troubling questions about important matters we often prefer to take for granted, like social traditions and institutions, politics and history, human nature or identity, and more. Select, analyse and interpret the multiple implications of a monster in one of the stories studied this term.

5. Much horror fiction emphasizes our mortality, reminding us of the many and varied physical threats to our lives. Some horror fiction goes further, speculating about the extinction of humanity as a species and even suggesting that we ourselves will be the authors of our own destruction. Select, analyse and interpret what one of the stories studied this term has to say about mortality.

6. The monsters in some horror fiction call attention to the human capacity to dehumanize

other human beings and the disastrous consequences thereof. Analyse and interpret the depiction of the process of dehumanization in one of the stories studied this term.

7. In horror fiction, human characters unwisely make a deal with the devil or invite evil in, and usually come to regret it (not always). Analyse and interpret what one of the stories studied this term suggests about the reasons for and/or consequences of such choices.

Important Tip

Do not assume that the more ideas covered by an essay the better. Rather focus on exploring the ideas that you consider most important as thoroughly as

possible. Being selective and exclusive leads to greater originality. Start by narrowing whichever of the topics you choose.