E Choose ONE of the following topics and write an essay that discusses at least three of the texts from this term’s schedule. One of them must be either Sense and Sensibility or Parable of the Sower. The others are up to you. You may write about texts you have discussed in other assignments
1. Value systems.
This term’s readings and discussions have focused on a variety of value systems, including artistic value, emotional value, exchange value, religious values, moral values, use value, and of course economic value. Write an essay in which you describe the interactions of two or more value systems in three or more of the literary texts that we have read. The interactions may involve compatibility or incompatibility, reciprocity or conflict, even transformation — where value systems are modified by their interactions. Carefully define each example in terms of the value systems involved and discuss the significance of each instance to the text in which it occurs. How do your chosen texts represent valuation and do they offer any insight into how we might understand artistic value?
2. Carnival
Many of the readings this term have featured some elements of what we have called “carnival” or “carnivalesque” — a departure from social norms for a (usually) short period of time that is (usually) followed by a return to those norms. Identify how carnival — or something similar, such as revolution or social breakdown — features in three texts and discuss what it contributes to those texts. What is its thematic significance? Can you see comparisons or contrasts between textual examples that are worth exploring?
3. Suspense/storytelling
Through the historical texts this semester, we’ve traced the development of storytelling from
early forms to the modern novel. Many elements of a story that we value highly were tested and
developed in the stories and time periods we’ve studied. Identify one or more of these elements
and explain how they work in your chosen texts. Are there important differences and/or
similarities in how these elements work in each text?
4. Pragmatic/Practical vs. Idealistic/Theoretical
Identify areas where characters exhibit idealism or pragmatism, where their desire meets or
clashes with “reality” (i.e. the reality represented in the text). What do these characters want? In
what ways are these desires achievable or unachievable? Do characters have to form their
desires around their realities? Why or why not? Are there instances where one character’s
desires affect another character’s reality?
( I will send you the books in the chat. I do not need a citations page. These are the only resources you can use)
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