Your essay should:
Advance an argument about how to interpret some dimension of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Shelley’s Frankenstein, Rekdal’s Nightingale, or Butler’s
Parable of the Sower.
Respond in a nuanced way to the selected prompt.
Advance a clear thesis (contestable argument) that is articulated in the title and/or first paragraph and develops over the course of the paper, taking the
reader on a journey. A contestable argument is one that a reasonable person could disagree with.
Support the main thesis with close observations from the text, making proper use of summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation, as well as, when
appropriate, supplementary readings recommended by your professors.
Demonstrate critical understanding of the formal dimensions of the text.
Exercise critical thinking about the relationship between the selected texts’ form or genre and the historical or cultural issue under discussion.
Select one of the prompts below. Read each carefully to identify what the prompt is asking you to evaluate and what include in your essay
In developing your paper topic, please keep in mind that these prompts are designed to help you generate and focus your analysis, not to create a roadmap
for every stage of the paper. These questions aim to help you to think critically and creatively about the text. While particular passages are suggested to
direct your attention to important moments in the text, you will nonetheless need to develop your own thesis and to cite appropriate textual evidence to
support and develop your claims.
Options
1. Genre Trouble
The works we have read in this course exemplify the creative potential of mixed genre texts: each combines or juxtaposes literary forms, producing startling
results. In some cases, mixing genres and forms seems to be the central feature of a text. With “Nightingale, A Gloss,” for example, the reader’s first
impression probably involves the mixture of forms and voices in Rekdal’s creative use of collage. Or the mixture of genres can be more subtle: Titus
Andronicus is often perceived as a “problem” play, as its comic elements disrupt and may seemingly distract from the contours of tragedy. Your essay will
analyze the meaning produced from the tension between two or more genres (or literary forms) in any one work. To pursue this line of inquiry, choose one of
the following topics:
a). Our lectures on Parable propose a number of formal terms for discussing the genre of this science fiction novel: cli-fi, Afrofuturism, utopian or dystopian
fiction, feminist novel, parable. These lectures also mention the slave narrative and neo-slave narrative, and the work’s structure as a diary. Write an essay on
how the book mixes or merges at least two of these genres or formal structures. How does that mixture of two genres create tensions within the novel? How,
for example, might the novel’s message as a slave narrative or neo-slave narrative be amplified or complicated by the story it is telling about climate change?
What tensions might you identify between the conceit that the novel is the diary of a teenage girl and the claim, implicit in the title and in some of the
epigraphs to individual chapters, that it represents a modern parable? (See also prompt 2d below for more inspiration in developing arguments about Parable
and parables.)
b). How does the tension between poetry and prose inform the meaning of “Philomela” when read against “Nightingale: A Gloss”? Although both might be
seen as examples of epiphanic narrative poems, the narratives are not identical, nor are the epiphanies which they produce. Alternatively, analyze the
tensions between different kinds of poetry and prose within “Nightingale.” You might examine the quotations, in “Nightingale,” from historical poetry by male
poets (Keats, Shakespeare, Raleigh); from female academic literary and media critics (Scarry, Lieder); from the dictionary. How does the mixture of genres
function within the overall genre of collage?
2. Make It New
In this course, we have seen many examples of how writers find inspiration for new work by re-reading and recycling earlier forms and previous literary
works. When a writer refers explicitly to a specific work, we call that intertextuality. At the beginning of the 19th century, Mary Shelley reinterpreted the
seventeenth century theological epic poem Paradise Lost in writing a novel about modern science and exploration. We have also seen examples of writers
discovering new possibilities in old forms, as when Shakespeare, a Renaissance writer, participated in the rediscovery and reinvention of the classical genre
of dramatic tragedy. In both cases, when writers reinvent older literatures they reveal historical difference; they cast new light on moral problems and
aesthetic values, showing how these change over time. For this prompt, you should develop an argument about how one of the texts in this course either
refers to a specific historical work or reimagines the general shape of an earlier form or genre. You might choose to pursue one of the following topics:
a). How does Shakespeare re-imagine the story of Philomela, from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, book 6, in Titus? One approach would be to consider how
particular events are different in each of the two versions of the story, and why or how this matters. Another approach would be to study how the telling or
framing of the story, such as with word choice, or characters, informs the impact or interpretation of the story. If you choose this prompt, you will need to
consult the translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 6, at Project Perseus. (Links to an external site.)
b). How does Rekdal re-imagine the story of Philomela in Nightingale? Because the Ovidian reference is so fundamental to this poem, and there will be a
great deal to work with, you will need to read carefully through both “Philomela” and “Nightingale: A Gloss,” although you may decide to focus on just one ofthese. If you choose this prompt, be sure to consult the translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 6, at Project Perseus. (Links to an external site.) from line
412 and consider the questions in 1b, above.
c) How does Rekdal re-imagine Titus Andronicus by citing particular passages of the play in her poem? For this paper, your task is to identify Rekdal’s
interpretation of Titus and show how that interpretation is communicated through her discussion of the play in “Nightingale.” It will be helpful, as you do so,
to have a sense of how her interpretation differs from other possible readings of the play. Note: you might find that developing an argument about Titus leads
you back to question 2b (above) as you confront a kind of multi-way conversation, in which Rekdal is commenting on Taymor commenting on Shakespeare
commenting on Ovid. You are invited to develop an interpretation of all four (Ovid, Shakespeare, Taymor, Rekdal), but if you do so you should endeavor to
focus your paper as narrowly as possible on identifying specific passage and analyzing the significance of the interconnections that emerge among them.
d). Analyze how Parable of the Sower re-imagines the Biblical genre of the parable. How might a “parable” elaborated by a novel be different than one
appearing in a sacred text? To develop an argument for this prompt you would do well to skim the text of the Biblical parable referred to the title of the novel
and, in the novel itself, to relate this oral (pre-literary) didactic mode (and literary form) to the possible interpretations of Butler’s text. Since the “parable of the
sower” is rewritten three times in the Bible (Matthew 13:1-13, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15), you may also want to consider how reinterpretation of a text may
happen even within a particular work. Could we say that Parable of the Sower also contains multiple tellings of its central parable? Identify passages in
Butler’s novel and explain how they would support your thesis about the “parable of the sower.”
e). How does Paisley Rekdal’s “Nightingale: A Gloss” reimagine the practice of the “gloss”? If you choose this prompt, consult the etymology and definitions
of “gloss” in the OED and other sources, noting that the term “gloss” itself has multiple definitions and a long history; consider using these definitions to help
structure your essay. How does thinking of Rekdal’s poem as a “gloss” shape our reading of her work? How might her poem expand our sense of what a
“gloss” might do?
3.“Sympathy of Woe”
What happens when one person feels another’s pain? Each of the texts we have read in this class has been interested in empathy—or, as writers before the
twentieth century would have said, “sympathy.” For this prompt, identify and compare two texts in this class that represent the power of empathy to do any of
the following: promote reconciliation; hold society together; make individuals better and/or wiser. Or, consider the opposite: how does the power of empathy
undermine community, render individuals less ready to seek compromise or work on resolution? What are the consequences of feeling empathy for others, or
of withholding it? Who is deserving of sympathy? What happens when perpetrators feel empathy for victims, or vice-versa? As you construct your
comparison, you may want to consider questions such as the following:
a). In Parable, is Lauren’s “hyper-empathy” a source of weakness or of strength? How does it help her connect with other characters, with what results? How
does it set her apart from them?
b). Who asks for sympathy from whom in Titus; or, who receives sympathy (or not), and with what consequences? You might consider the moment in Act I,
Scene when Tamora appeals for Titus’s sympathy; the moment in Act 2, Scene 2, when Lavinia appeals to Tamora’s sympathy; the killing of the fly in Act 3,
Scene 2; the role of the “Country Fellow” in Act 4, Scene 4.
c). Who feels for whom in Frankenstein? You might consider Victor Frankenstein’s feelings toward the monster; the monster’s observation of the cottagers in
Volume II and his subsequent interactions with them and various countrymen; Victor Frankenstein’s relationship with his friends and family; Robert Walton’s
relationship with Victor Frankenstein.
4. “Family Business”
The works we have read this semester attest to what seems to be a timeless fact: family is always important, fundamental to society, inherently necessary to
the basic idea of being a human being. But these works also show that “family” means very different things at different historical moments. What is a family?
For this paper, compare how two works from this course represent the constitution of a family unit, or how “family” functions in society. What responsibilities
do parents bear toward their children, and others’ children? How are parental actions shaped by their visions of their children’s future? Does caring for one’s
children make an individual more or less responsible and caring in relationship to other members of society? As you construct your comparison, you may
want to consider questions such as the following:
a). What is the relationship between family feeling and political virtue in Titus Andronicus? You may want to consider Titus’s feelings about his children,Tamora’s feelings about her children, or Aaron’s feelings about his child.
b). Why is so much of Frankenstein devoted to the depiction of Victor’s parents, siblings, friends, and adopted sister/bride? How does that shape the way we
understand Victor Frankenstein? What duties are implied in Victor’s role as parent to the monster?
c). What does “family” mean in Parable? Identify the role of any of the parents in their children’s lives, such as by comparing and contrasting their actions and
the outcomes of those actions. How does caring for children shape parents’ understanding of community or society? How does the collapse or
reconfiguration of family shape the way the reader interprets this book as a utopian/dystopian/Afrofuturist narrative?
d) What happens to families in the wake of sexual assault? We might think of sexual assault as an attack upon an individual, but in several of these works we
see that the crime has transformed the survivors’ relationships to their families. Consider, for example, Lavinia’s relationship to Titus; the speaker’s
relationship to her family in “Philomela,” or how sexually trafficked characters in Parable (Jill and Allie Gilchrist; Natividad, and Zahra) relate to their families.
5. Human/Nature
Our readings this semester show that writers from Ovid onwards are deeply concerned with the nexus of the human and nonhuman. Ovid’s Metamorphoses
depicts human beings transformed into plants, animals, rocks and mountains by powerful, often tyrannical gods. In the modern world, some reimaginings of
Africa (for example, the film Black Panther) have involved the transformation of people into animals imbued with a mixture of human and nonhuman powers,
which is seen as a benefit. In climate fiction, however, concern for the human-nonhuman relationship has expanded to contemplating how human actions
affect transformation on a planetary scale. This prompt invites you to revisit the question of nature and human nature across the semester by comparing two
works or by considering the relationship between human beings and nature in a single text. To develop your argument, consider questions such as: Are
humans part of “nature,” or separate from it? Is nature “inside” or “outside?” Is “nature” represented in the novel as inherently good or bad? Or both? If the
answer to these questions is “both,” what problems does that identify? To construct your comparison, you may choose to ponder questions such as the
following:
a). What does the landscape or climate represented in these works communicate about the internal struggles and psychological states of these characters?
Elements to consider: icefields, seascapes, mountaintops, olive groves, lakes, running trails, islands, canyons, cities, forests, highways, flora, fauna, fire.
b). What does the landscape or climate represented in these works communicate about social hierarchies and power struggles in these works? Consider
again: icefields, seascapes, mountaintops, olive groves, running trails, islands, canyons, cities, forests, highways, flora, fauna, fire. How do such
representations of nature interact with or amplify the text’s engagement with questions of social hierarchy? What does the representation of nature through
literary history (from orally-based traditions in the ancient world to very recent climate fiction and AfricanFuturism) tell us about the structure of class,
gender, or racial power in different times and places?
c). A number of our texts seek to imagine the end of the world, whether by characters searching the ends of the earth, facing the downfall of their civilization,
or considering extra-planetary alternatives. Their moments of confronting “the end of everything” are framed within scenes of everyday life and politics-asusual. Explain, in your essay: how does this interaction between the everyday and the catastrophic shape what these works conveys about the present and/or
future?