british literature 2

Be sure to cite your sources for I and II. Do not use any sources other than those assigned for class.

I – Poetry Analysis -50 points (25 each)

In a fully developed paragraph or more per poem, explain how 2 of the following poems exemplify the themes of the Romantic Period. Use specific examples from the poems, videos, podcast, and assigned readings in your text. General statements, not grounded in specific detail from the poems or other assigned materials, will receive no credit.

Blake – “The Chimney Sweeper”

Wordsworth – “The Ruined Cottage”

“Ode on Intimations of Immortality”

Coleridge – “Frost at Midnight “

Shelley – “Ode to the West Wind”

“Mutability”

Keats – “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be”

“Ode on a Grecian Urn”

II. Wollstonecraft – 50 points (25 each)

Re-read Mary Wollstonecraft’s “from A Vindication of the Rights of Men” pp194-199 and “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” pp 208-238, and then respond to the following questions. Be sure to include specific references to the works (cite them) to support your responses. Choose 2 of the 4 questions below and respond to each in a fully developed paragraph or more:

• What do you make of Wollstonecraft’s assertion that women are also like the rich of both sexes, trained in vice and folly, and soldiers, instructed in gallantry, prejudice and blind submission to authority? What is the effect of her making such disparate comparisons?
• How does Wollstonecraft explain the paradox that women’s artificial weakness leads to tyranny?
• How is romantic love used to degrade women? In what sense can passion (i.e. love) be rational according to Wollstonecraft.
• What arguments does Wollstonecraft make in favor of expanding women’s education? Whom is she trying to persuade?

III. Victorian Gothic Fiction – Complete A and B. 100 points (50 each)

A. Write a 2-3 page English Gothic short story, paying particular attention to the elements of either male OR female gothic (if you are setting your story in Victorian England) or a combination of both male AND female gothic elements if your story is contemporary. Contemporary Gothic generally includes elements of both. Remember – this is Brit Lit II, so the story must be set in England or somewhere else in Europe.

B. Then write a 1-2 page analysis of your story, identifying the elements of male/female gothic and explaining how those elements combine to make your story a Gothic masterpiece! You may write your analysis from your own point of view, or you may adopt the persona of a critic analyzing the story you have written.

Note: Have fun with this one!I am not evaluating your abilities as a creative writer. Points will be assigned according to your effective use and clear analysis of the elements of female/male gothic as well as your understanding of the elements of narrative fiction.