British Literature Medieval Essay Topic Assignment | British Literature
British Literature Medieval Essay Topics
Write an essay that deals with ONE of the questions below. Your essay should have a strong thesis statement, topic sentences for each body paragraph, evidence from the text (quotes citing line # only), and your own analysis.
A good undergraduate literature paper should be concerned primarily with a careful and detailed analysis of a particular character, theme, or passage in a particular work or works. Your paper should pose some kind of argument about your topic, in the sense that it should advance an idea that someone might disagree with. You are not required to use secondary literature for this paper. Your primary aim should be to construct a meaningful reading of some aspect of a work that stays close to the text as it develops. You should support your claims with quotations, but you should also carefully analyze those quotations. Don’t assume that the meaning is transparent. Explain why the quotation supports your claim.
Please refer to the MLA Style Manual or OWL.purdue.edu for proper citation forms and other formatting issues. If you decide to use secondary literature, do not use it as a replacement for your own analysis. Secondary literature is best used as a point-of-departure for amplifying a particular point, or for introducing an idea that you plan to argue against.
Topics for paper #1:
Compare the Beowulf poet’s treatment of Grendel and the dragon. How do these monsters contribute to our understanding of the ethical or social values of Anglo-Saxon society?
Use MLA Style, 1” margins, Double-spaced, Arial, or TimesNewRoman 12 pt font.
Due Date: Tuesday, 29 June 2020
Length: 4 pages