Literature

Length: 1200 words minimum

Thesis and topic sentences with sufficient evidence and analysis.

Required: You must use information from at least TWO scholarly journal articles that you find in a library database. YOU MUST UPLOAD YOUR ARTICLES TO THE ASSIGNMENT LINK I PROVIDE. Your citations must indicate the library databases and not google or any other source. If you read instructions for formatting citation in MLA style, you will notice that the citation on the Works Cited page must include the name of the library database in which you found the article.

Format& Thesis:
MLA-formatted; 12-font, Times New Roman or Calibri, 1-inch margins, proper citations; plagiarism, intentional or unintentional earns an automatic zero, so please review MLA format and what information needs to be cited at the Purdue Online Writing Lab at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/Even if you remember nothing from your Composition I class about proper citation in MLA format, the Purdue Online Writing Lab has all of the information there as long as you take the time to read. You must have both in-text citations and a Works Cited page, and if you are missing either one of these or both, you will earn an automatic zero.

Instructions:
Choose one of the questions listed below, and develop your answer into an essay of at least1200 words. Alternatively, you may explore your own idea or question about any of the three works listed below. If you decide not to use these questions and to explore your own idea, please email me for approval of your topic.

Please remember that you must use evidence (quotations and paraphrases) from the reading to prove your ideas, and you must analyze that evidence to explain how it proves your ideas. If you do not provide evidence and analyze it, you will earn a low grade.

Also, please consider some of the broader questions as springboards into your own ideas. You will need to choose a thesis statement that narrows the topic of the question so that you can discuss it reasonably in a 1200 word essay. Keep in mind that a narrow and focused argument about one aspect of a literary work is much more likely to create a strong essay than a broad general statement that tries to encompass the entire story.Some of the questions contain a list of questions. You may not need to answer all of the questions in the list to write an effective thesis statement. Narrow it down to a point that can be well-supported in the length of essay.

If your body paragraphs are telling us the plot of the story or poem and nothing more, you have written a weak essay that will earn below a 60.

If you write fewer than 1200 words (even 1199 words), you will earn a 59 on the essay.

Beowulf:

- What is the role of revenge in the poem, Beowulf, and how is it important to finding meaning in the poem? Remember that you can narrow the topic. Do not attempt to cover every part of this very long poem.

- What is the role of wyrd (fate) in the poem? How is it important, and how does it affect our understanding of the poem and its characters? Do not try to write about every character or all parts of the poem. Narrow the topic in any way possible so that you are able to write a strong essay.

- Decide which is stronger in Beowulf: pagan or Christian elements. What is important about that for understanding the poem, a part of the poem, or the character(s)? Again, do not write broadly. It is better to write in a detailed manner about a specific part of the poem than to try to prove an idea that encompasses everything in the poem.

- Trace the giving of gifts throughout Beowulf. How is it important in shaping the poem's events? What kinds of bonds does the gift-giving culture create in the poem, and how are they important? Be specific instead of broad.

- Discuss the role of any one of the female characters in the story (that includes Grendel's mother). How does this particular female character shape the events of the poem? How does she reinforce the warrior code, or how does she challenge the warrior code?

- Discuss the role of monsters in the poem. Some possible questions to address: How do the monsters help to create and reinforce the heroic warrior's code? How do the monsters allow the poem to explore issues of good and evil, victory and defeat, and honor and ostracism? You do not have to answer all of these. You should answer the questions that will make a strong argument. Also, you may choose just ONE monster and create an arguable claim about the essential role of that one monster.

- Is Beowulf an over-confident and cocky hero? Why or why not?

- Is Beowulf a savior similar to Christ? Why should we interpret him this way? Or if you do not see him as a convincing savior figure, why is it important NOT to view him in that manner?

- How does the poet depict the role of pride in Anglo Saxon society? Is it a positive or negative attribute of heroes?

- Compare and/or contrast two characters in Beowulf. Discuss the significance of the comparison and how it helps provide further insight and understanding of the poem.

- Find 1-2 parts of Beowulf that you believe readers could easily overlook. Make an argument about why the part (or parts) is crucial to this poem.