HC 101H Honors College Literature Topics for papers and due dates

Response paper topics and due dates

Formal paper due dates What is an "A" paper?

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 Gilgamesh

• Explore the character of Enkidu. Why do the animals reject Enkidu after he has "intercourse with the harlot" (p. 9)? What does their rejection mean? Conversely, why would "understanding" (ibid.) result from Enkidu's episode with the harlot? Or. . .
• How do you account for the fact that Gilgamesh's death is not recounted (be sure to read Appendix B)?

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 Bhagavad-Gita

• Are the lessons of the Bhagavad-Gita especially suited to a warrior culture? Why or why not? Or. . .
• Explain this quotation:
  Be intent on action,
  not on the fruits of action;
  avoid attraction to the fruits
  and attachment to inaction! (2.47, p 36)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 Odyssey

• At what point (cite line numbers) do you begin to suspect that Penelope recognizes Odysseus? Why does she test him at such great lengths? What does this episode mean? Or. . .
• Why does Odysseus hesitate so long to reveal himself to his own father? What does this episode mean?

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 Aeneid

• Examine Vergil's portrait of Dido, paying careful attention to details. Why does Vergil shape his text's lesson about responsibility and need around the story of a woman and love? What meaning are we to derive from Vergil's choices here? Or. . .
• Compare Odysseus's meeting with his father with Aeneas's encounter in Book VI: in light of Vergil's conscious debt to Homer, what meaning beyond a simple lesson in filial piety is the text expressing?

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 Beowulf

• Why is the history behind Beowulf's rulership elided by the poet? What does the elision mean to the poem in general? Or. . .
• What is the significance of Beowulf's death in literary terms?

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 Song of Roland

• Which episode of Roland--the king's faint (2880, 2890), the preservation of the hearts (2965), the death of Aude (3721)--seems most strange to you? What does the episode mean? Or. . .
• What is the most telling detail in the death of Oliver (1979-2022) and what significance does it have?

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3 Inferno

• What is the most important detail in the narrator's encounter with Ulysses (Canto 26)?
• Why does Dante point out his need for poetic restraint (line 21)?

Formal paper due dates 

Tuesday, November 3
Paper on Gilgamesh, Bhagavad-Gita, or Odyssey

Tuesday, December 1
Paper on Aeneid, Beowulf, or Song of Roland

What is an "A" paper?

This question is probably the most frequently asked in any literature class. To help answer it, let me outline for you what a paper must have in order to get a "C" grade:

1. The paper must be college-level work: that means that it must have evidence of thoughtful inquiry. A college-level paper does not have misspelled words (especially in the age of spell-check); a college level paper does not have grammatical errors. Such errors reduce a paper's grade to below a C; no paper with such errors can receive higher than a C-, and most will receive D's.

2. The paper must have a thesis. A thesis is the paper's "point," what the paper is about, which is more particular than just being "about" Beowulf, for instance, or about the Middle Ages. What in particular are you exploring? What point are you trying to make about your specific area of inquiry? Coming up with a thesis you find intriguing, demanding, outrageous, or confusing means work reading, talking with me, and testing your ideas with your peers and at your desk. Don't be surprised if your thesis changes in the course of writing your paper; instead, count on it, and be sure to write rough drafts. If your paper doesn't have a thesis, it will receive no grade higher than a C-, and it will most likely receive a D.

So what makes a "B" paper? Besides correct spelling, good grammar, and a thesis, the "B" paper's thesis is interesting, limited, and specific. Its argument takes clear steps, and its good, cogent evidence ("judicious quotation") and organization reveal the care taken in writing the paper and analyzing the evidence. Its paragraphs make sense as paragraphs--each treats a part of the argument--and the paragraphs follow one another logically, tied together by an implicit structure (the enthymeme).

Then there's the "A" paper. Besides correct spelling, good grammar, an interesting thesis, cogent evidence, and logical organization, the "A" paper has a compelling thesis, one that might challenge at first but which holds its own with the reader. There are no holes in its argument: on the contrary, its analysis is sophisticated, complete, and compelling. It's a paper the reader thinks with, where the next idea presented is both precise and intriguing. An "A" paper reads beautifully aloud, and reveals a probing intellect. An "A" paper has some "art" to it.

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