TOPICS FOR ENGLISH 398 – FIRST (5-7pp.) PAPER – DUE FEB. 23
Remember that you have to turn your topic into a thesis and build an argument
that supports that thesis (using direct quotes from the text, etc., for evidence).
A topic is not a thesis! It helps to think about your topic as a question you
are trying to explore, and to think hard about what is at stake in that question,
why it is important.
Carefully document all quotes or ideas taken from the readings or from outside
sources. If you’re not sure what plagiarism is, ask me. Note that you
may not submit for credit in this course work that you have already submitted
or plan to submit in other courses here or elsewhere. SEE ALSO: WRITING
PAPERS SITE.
1. What if Lily Briscoe and Stephen Dedalus (and/or Paul Morel) were to meet?
What would they talk about ? How would they talk (that is, what would they sound
like, vocabularies, speech rhythms)? How would they act around each other? How
would they treat each other? What would they be thinking, feeling? Can you imagine
such an encounter and keep these characters consistent with their portrayals
in the respective novels? You might have to ‘grow up’ Stephen, since
he’s just 17 or so when we last see him, while Paul’s 25 or so at
the end of Sons and Lovers and Lily’s 33 when we first meet her. (Alternatively,
you could try to imagine a younger Lily.)
2. Take an extended passage or scene from one (or more) of the novels we have
read. Describe how you would know that the author is Joyce (or Woolf or Lawrence)
on the basis of this passage or scene alone. Make sure that you attend to matters
of STYLE (vocabularies, diction, tones, syntax), IMAGERY, NARRATIVE METHOD as
well as characteristic themes and concerns. If necessary, you might also consider
what this passage or scene is doing in the novel, what it contributes, what
its function is, what would be lost from the novel if it were cut.
3. Joyce said that the most important revolution to occur in modern times was
the revolution between the sexes, that is, the emancipation of women. Lawrence
said essentially the same thing, that in the 19th century, men were masters,
but that now although men may long to be masters again, they know in their hearts
that they will never be masters again. How are these views reflected in their
portrayals of the relationships their main characters, Stephen Dedalus and Paul
Morel, have with women? Consider Stephen and the women in his life or on his
mind (‘imaginary’ or ‘real’; that is, his “Mercedes”
and Bird Girl, the prostitute, E.C. (Emma Cleary), his sister, his mother).
Or consider Paul Morel and women in his life or on his mind (you should probably
focus on Miriam and/or Clara and avoid trying to deal directly with his relationship
with his mother). (If you write on Lawrence, you might also want to read a couple
of his lively essays on gender roles and relations.) Alternatively, you might
choose to focus on Woolf and consider how she portrays relations between the
men and women in To the Lighthouse and tensions about changing gender roles
and identities. We will probably discuss this at some length in class, though,
so be careful not to duplicate class discussion.
4. Fathers in Joyce, Lawrence, and/or Woolf. All three father figures, Simon
Dedalus, Walter Morel, and Mr. Ramsay, are depicted as seriously weak or flawed
in some respects, and as very attractive or somehow compelling in other respects.
In what ways are they alike? In what ways are they different? Consider their
social class and status as well as their occupations and pleasures, not just
their personalities or temperaments. Why is Stephen searching for father-surrogates?
Why does Paul reject his father (other than the obvious reason of rivalry over
the mother)? James Ramsay also seems to harbor patricidal impulses towards his
father, though later on we see that his feelings for him become more complex.
5. When we first meet her, Woolf's Lily Briscoe seems to have renounced having
a life of her own, except through her painting, perhaps, and to have resigned
herself to being her father's caretaker for as long as he needs her. Mrs. Ramsay
wants her to marry William Bankes, who is old enough to be her father. Why would
she feel that Lily had no prospects for romance and marriage with a man closer
to her own age (or younger!)? How (and why) does Lily's situation as an artist-to-be
differ from Stephen Dedalus's and Paul Morel's?