Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Final Paper
Final
papers (4–6 pp.) are due in class on Thursday, February 18, 2010.
You may write on any aspect of To Kill a Mockingbird, An
Inspector Calls, and/or any
work(s) in the coursebook (except “The Rich Boy”) that interests you
including on one of the topics suggested below.
These are only general topics that need to be narrowed and refined into a
specific argument. Meet with me to
discuss your ideas in more detail according to the date and time chosen in the
separate sign-up sheet.
1.
Examine the manner in which Olds uses and describes body parts in “Rite
of Passage,” and indicate what function these references serve.
2.
Analyze the satirical use of academic topics of study in “Rite of
Passage” (coming of age rituals) and “My Oedipus Complex” (psychological
development).
3.
Compare the birthday boy’s growing up in “Rite of Passage” with the
girl’s in “The Lady’s Maid.”
4.
Examine sound in Frost’s “Out, Out—.”
In addition to denotation and connotation, how does Frost convey or
reinforce meaning through sound? How
does the aural quality of words contribute to the telling of the story?
5.
Analyze Bishop’s villanelle “One Art.”
How is its form, an old and repetitive structure, appropriate for a theme
about difficulty? What is the effect of repetition, sentence structure, and
patterns of imagery in constructing and developing the speaker’s ideas and
state of mind?
6.
Consider the various appearances of humor in O’Brien’s “The Things
They Carried.” What is the
function of a joke? for the men? for the story?
What is laughed at or made fun of? by whom?
7.
What role do figures of authority play in An Inspector Calls, Trifles,
and To Kill a Mockingbird?
8.
Compare conversations in “A Family Supper” with the conversations in
“Interpreter of Maladies.”
9.
How are An Inspector Calls and Trifles daring plays for
their time? How do they use,
extend, or break theatrical conventions?
10.
Choose a poem and follow it like going on a journey.
Where and how does it begin? Trace
the construction and development of ideas through the twists and turns of line,
meter, rhyme, imagery, word choice, point of view, and tone.
Where does the poem take you? What
effect does it create? Where and
how does it end?
11.
Discuss the nature and function of learning in one of the works.
12.
Discuss the theme of loss and discovery in any of the works we have read.
13.
Discuss the role of children in at least two of the works we have
studied.
14. Consider the different kinds of deception in a work or even words or forms that deceive. Is the deception consistent throughout the work? Does it illuminate or transform anything?
Final Paper Help
Some writing guidelines:
"Some Matters of Form" by Yale University (writing guidelines; pdf file)
Writing Prose (handbook on college writing, Yale University; pdf file)
Sources and Citation at Dartmouth College (pdf file)
Writing Papers for English and Literature: A Word of Advice (also A Few Things to Remember)
Writing a Literature Paper: Guidelines, Suggestions, Strategies
Guide to Essay Writing (helpful reference, where to start, evidence, argument, what is a good essay)
Writing about Literature (elements of the essay, the writing process, the research essay, documentation)
Developing an Outline (pdf file)
MLA format
Some sample papers:
"To Know Well" (on Shakespeare's sonnet 129: "Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame"; Word file)
"The Value of Restraint" by Amy Skerry (on Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral"; Word file)
Last updated February 12, 2010