Generate an original thesis statement and make the case for it as you strive to connect this novel to any of the major themes and arguments we have covered in our class.

Assignment Question

I have a draft attached that needs considerable work – and can be totally thrown out if the themes don’t make sense. The draft is a D. I’d like to get to a B or better. Thank you. EROS AND AGAPE PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE Paper 3: On Sigrid Undset’s Olav Audunssøn I: Vows.

Essay Question:

Keeping in mind that literature is an originary mode of knowing in its own right, write an argumentative essay on Sigrid Undset’s Vows. In your essay you will generate an original thesis statement and make the case for it as you strive to connect this novel to any of the major themes and arguments we have covered in our class. (EROS AND AGAPE) In your essay there should be an evident justification for the parts and characters of the book that you are choosing to comment upon, while still giving the reader the sense of having mastered the entire novel. Your essay should also interpret some of the symbols and situations that the novel uses to express the psyche and the love relations of the characters and situations you wish to comment upon. It would be important if in your essay you focus on the main couple of this novel, Olaf and Ingunn. As in other texts of Undset, one could read in Olaf an Adam-like character (perhaps also a Christ-like character) and in Ingunn an Eve-like character. There is a sense in which Olaf is a stand-in for committed marital love, perhaps Christian love, while Teit is a stand-in for a specific form of Eros. Particularly the closing passages of the novel, with symbolism-rich dreams, speak about the love dynamics in this novel — a perfect setting for the question that we have tried to answer this semester, namely, whether and how love (from Olaf to Ingunn, or from Ingunn to Olaf) has transformed. Finally, you may draw interconnections to other authors studied in this class, on condition that their reference is warranted and does not detract from your analysis of the contents of the novel.

Checklist:

Your paper should be at least 1400 words. You should use a 12-point font such as Times New Roman. Use standard margins. ___ Your paper should list the name of your professor, the course name, the date, and the word-count. Do not make a separate title page. ___ Write down your name and box number only on the back of the last page. Failure to do so may be met with grade reduction. ___ Your pages must be numbered. ___ Your paper should have a thoughtful title and subtitle already indicating the theme of your paper. ___ References to the text (and there of course should be references to and quotations from the text) should be based on the editions/translations used in class and indicate page numbers parenthetically. ___ References to secondary sources should be duly noted using either the APA or the MLA style consistently. ___ Should you wish to use other scholarly sources (e.g., from the internet) you will include a Works Cited page and a printout of these resources as an attachment. ___ Your paper will be proofread for grammar, spelling, clarity, consistency, and “spellchecker casualties.” Please avoid contractions and casual language. Especially avoid confusing “its” (third person possessive pronoun) with “it’s” (contraction for “it is”). Do not begin sentences without a subject, as in “It is,” “These are” or “This is.”

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