Great Works of Literature II

For our midterm, I think we should be allowed to choose our own topic to write about on the short essay. And we can either have the work of literature already chosen for us, or decide to choose one of the works of literature we have read this semester ourselves.

I think this kind of open-ended and flexible essay would provide students with the opportunity to express their own thoughts and feelings on a certain topic in a work of literature without feeling constrained to any particular subject matter.

For our midterm essay question, I suggest that we have the option to compare and contrast the differences of how Jonathan Swift’s satirical piece, “A Modest Proposal”, and Fredrick Douglass’s “Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass”, impacted their society and culture, during that time period.

Or we could compare and contrast any two authors writing styles, that we have covered so far in class. To help us expand on the idea we can answer questions like, what kind of reaction do you think the author wanted their readers to have after reading the piece? Or what aspects of society do you feel the author was trying to portray?

How does Alexander Pope’s essay relate to enlightenment? I think this is a good question because we haven’t discussed Pope as much as the other topics and I think his essay presents a good topic for enlightenment

Ideas for midterm?  My ideas for midterm is to write about what we have learnt through half of the semester. Is there anything gained or Lost?

Or how is education related to enlightment? We could refer to the text and explain in our own words.

I believe that the midterm question should be about the work of Frederick Douglass,asking us to write a persuasive essay on whether we agree or disagree with his assertions on how the ability to read and write can really be a tool for freedom during any century. Although it is a bit more open ended we would have to choose and analyze quotes from the reading, and possibly even connect it with other readings we have read so far. The “Vindication for the Rights of Women” for instance also discusses the idea of how education could be a tool of empowerment for women, and can thus “free” them from intellectual subordination to men, as well as subordination in all other aspects of life. Essentially there are many ways in which we could go with this essay.