English 251: Paper Topic 5-7 Pages
English 251: Paper Topic—5-7 pages
1. Chaucer created the Canterbury Tale in layers. He frames the tales with (in front) a prologue that describes the characters according to a naïve, fictional version of himself and (in back) with a retraction. His own tales show him to be a tedious pedant whose “drasty riming” is not worth a “tord.” And the tales are told partly in reaction to other tales and their tellers.
How does understanding the overall context of the Nun’s Priest’s Tale or The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale within the larger frame change its meaning? (For example, you can consider first the character interaction in his prologue, then the relation of the tales to others (you can read summaries of the surrounding tales online) then the general prologue itself. Identify quotes from the tale, the tale’s prologue, and the frame that illustrate the tale’s relationship to others. Then, write a thesis that suggests either (a) what point Chaucer may have wanted to make (or deflate) by putting his tale in this context, or (b) how and why he avoids making a definite point at all. Use quotes from original text. Analyze your examples to support your thesis.
2. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the story of a plot to assassinate a leader whom some saw as a tyrant in the time of the Roman Republic. But it is also a product of the tumultuous last years of Elizabeth I’s reign. Using Shapiro’s 1599: A Year in the Life of Shakespeare (and its bibliography) as a starting place, discuss how Julius Caesar reflects and responds to one of the cultural or political developments going on in Shakespeare’s time (for example, an aging and childless monarch who some saw as increasingly erratic, Irish wars, the beloved and troublesome Earl of Essex, theatrical developments in Shakespeare’s company, triumphal processions, the issue of holidays, the issue of social class, or Shakespeare’s personal life). You should use and cite quotes from the original text, but you should also quote and cite Shapiro’s 1599 and, ideally, one other source.
Writing a Thesis Statement
Not Thesis / ThesisChaucer uses X,Y, and Z to explore the Wife’s character. [Doesn’t make an argument] / Because Chaucer’s audience accepted misogyny at face value, he uses X, Y, and Z to defend her character, but at the same time uses A and B to underscore his own naivete.
Chaucer uses X,Y, and Z to argue that the Wife of Bath frequently misquotes the scriptures [Fact; can’t be disputed]. / Chaucer uses X, Y, and Z to show that though the Wife’s religious views seem ridiculous, she is the product of a corrupt clerical establishment.
The Gawain poet uses A,B, and C to contrast the rural and courtly settings [ultimate purpose of this contrast isn’t stated]. / The Gawain poet contrasts A, B, and C to suggest that while Gawain’s courtly world is weakened by its own artifice, the Green Knight’s rural world can help purge the court of its artifice.
The Gawain poet uses A,B, and C to argue that women are the root of all evil [women are in the story, but are not the source of the conflict]. / Chaucer uses A, B, and C to argue that women are the root of all evil; however, he uses X and Y to undercut that criticism, in case women are in the audience.
Chaucer uses A, B, and C to show that Jesus didn’t approve of the Wife of Bath’s behavior. [unprovable] / The Gawain poet uses X, Y, and Z to argue that if the true knight wants to be like Christ, his hardest lesson is humility.
Dr. Michael Delahoyde
Washington State University Stolen from http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/shakespeare/mla.html.
SHAKESPEARE
IN
MLA FORMAT
Habitually italicize the names of plays (or underline them -- it means the same thing). This is especially important with Shakespeare since one usually needs to distinguish the names of the main characters from the names of the plays to avoid occasional confusion: Titus Andronicus [or Titus Andronicus?] is concerned with vengeance.
In writing about Shakespeare, as with any literature or film, use present tense to convey the ongoing life of the work: Hamlet stabs Polonius (vs. stabbed); Shakespeare portrays Henry V as a subtle Machiavellian (vs. Shakespeare portrayed).
When quoting four or more lines from Shakespeare, normally you should use block quotation: Richard III tells his troops,
Remember whom you are to cope withal:
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,
A scum of Britains and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'ercloyed country vomits forth
To desperate adventures and assur'd destruction.
(V.iii.315-319)
In your manuscript, indent block quotations twice -- they are distinct from normal paragraph indentations. Also note the manner of citing the source here. The roman numerals for Act and Scene are standard, although one sees Arabic used by some critics. In quoting shorter passages in linear form, you still need to indicate line breaks when Shakespeare is writing in verse: Othello recalls, "Upon this hint I spake: / She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, / And I lov'd her that she did pity them" (I.iii.166-168). Note the withholding of final punctuation in this case until after the parenthetical citation. The slash marks indicate line breaks in the verse.
When quoting other commentators and critics, offer parenthetical citations (just author and page) not only for direct quotations, but also for summarized and paraphrased material from sources. For example, the songs at the end of Love's Labour's Lost can be seen as thematically integral to the play (Goddard 54). Note proper punctuation in citing (no comma, no pg., no pgs, nothing but a space between author and page!). Note also proper punctuation in quoting directly: Antony's "modifications of Brutus's formulaic oratory are the first hint that he knows his business" (Macrone 45). Interested readers can then easily retrieve full bibliographic information by referring to your alphabetized list of works at the end of the paper. The following list shows correct format for books, articles, television shows, films, primary sourcescontained inside edited works, and mostly actual resources for various types of Shakespeare research.
CHAUCER STUDIES:
MLA DOCUMENTATION
In writing about literature (and film), we tend to use present tense to convey the ongoing life of the work: e.g., Chaucer describes a fastidious prioress; the Canon's Yeoman reveals alchemical secrets.
Inside your discussion, when quoting the primary work, offer line numbers and, if jumping between texts may cause some confusion, an abbreviation of the work beforehand (or with the Canterbury Tales, the fragment). For example, "nature wolde nat suffyse / To noon erthly creature / Withoute slep" (BD 18-20); or, Chaucer offers a bibliography in the Introduction to the Man of Law's Tale (B 57-85).
When quoting four or more lines from a source, normally you should use block quotation:
Right as, betwixen adamauntes two
Of evene myght, a pece of yren set
Ne hath no myght to meve to ne fro--
For what that oon may hale, that other let--
(PF 148-151)
In your manuscript, indent block quotations twice -- they are distinct from normal paragraph indentations.
Regarding secondary sources, offer parenthetical citations (just author and page) not only for direct quotations, but also for summarized and paraphrased material from sources: e.g., Chaucer and Deschamps had similar careers involving service at court and travel on the king's business (Wimsatt 272). Note proper punctuation in citing (no comma, no pg., no pgs, nothing but a space between author and page!). Interested readers can easily retrieve full bibliographic information by referring to your alphabetized list of works at the end of the paper or somewhere on the web site.
The following list shows correct format for books, articles, television shows, films, primary sources contained inside edited works, web sites, CDs, and mostly actual resources for various types of humanities research. [Note: the Works Cited page should be separate, and numbered just like the other pages. ]
Works Cited
Aers, David. "The Parliament of Fowls: Authority, the Knower and the Known." Chaucer Review 16 (Summer 1981): 1-17.
Andreas Capellanus. The Art of Courtly Love. Trans. John Jay Parry. NY: Columbia University Press, 1990.
Brown, Murray L. "Poets, Peace, the Passion, and the Prince: Eustace Deschamps's 'Ballade to Chaucer.'" Chaucer's French Contemporaries: The Poetry/Poetics of Self and Tradition. Ed. R. Barton Palmer. NY: AMS Press, Inc., 1999. 187-215.
Brusendorff, Aage. The Chaucer Tradition. 1925. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Book of the Duchess. In The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1987. 330-346.
- - -. The Parliament of Fowls. In The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1987. 385-394.
The Crusades. Narr. Terry Jones. 4 episodes. The History Channel. 30 Apr.-3 May 1996.
Donaldson, E. Talbot. "The Myth of Courtly Love." Speaking of Chaucer. NY: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1970. 154163.
"John of Gaunt." The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopedia. Ed. H.R. Loyn. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1989. 194.
Kittredge, G.L. Chaucer and His Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1915.
- - -. "Chaucer's Discussion of Marriage." Modern Philology 9 (1912): 435-467.
"The Life of Chaucer." Geoffrey Chaucer Website. http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/varia/life_of_Ch/ch-l ife.html/ (27 July 2000).
The Love God? Starring Don Knotts. United Artists, 1969.
Loyn, H.R., ed. The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopedia. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1989.
Macrobius. Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. Trans. William Harris Stahl. NY: Columbia University Press, 1951.
Menand, Louis. "Love Stories." New Yorker 25 Aug./1 Sept. 1997: 9-10.
The New English Bible. NY: Oxford University Press, 1972.
Shaner, M.C.E. Introduction. The Legend of Good Women. In The Riverside Chaucer. 587-588.
Songs of the Canterbury Tales. CD. Opus Anglicanum. Oxford: Historical Collections Ltd., 1995. 3184.
Tatlock, J.S.P. A Concordance to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Concord: Rumford Press, 1927.
Stolen from http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/chaucer/mla.html