Paper 1 topics

This essay should be a concise, cogent literary analysis. You are not expected to use any sources aside from your class texts; if you do use them, they must be cited correctly and put to good use (not just plugged in to fill space or make your paper look more impressive). You may choose from the following paper topics. You may write on any topic, regardless of whether you have written a response paper about that text. We will be having a draft workshop on 10/25 in class; bring your completed rough draft on that day. Print it out and bring a hard copy—don’t just bring your laptop. Most of these questions are comparative questions, asking you to discuss two texts.

1. Compare the depiction of family life and the role of the family in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. Is the family important? Why or why not?

2. Compare Rebecca West’s portrait of shell-shock in The Return of the Soldier with Pat Barker’s depiction of shell-shock in Regeneration. What do these two texts say about mental health and the definition of wellness? What do they share and what is different?

3. Discuss the role of male friendship in The Third Man. What does Greene suggest about the importance of male/male relationships?

4. Compare the representations of marriage in Rebecca and The Secret Agent. What do these writers say about marriage?

5. Compare the narrative voices of “Funeral Blues” and “This Be the Verse.” What are the differences between these two poems? How are they similar?

I might add a topic or two between now and the due date of the paper; if so, they will be posted on the course blog.