Hebdomadal topics (week 4)

Topic 1: Brainstorming

Craft a précis of your essay. Include in it

1. The you will be tackling in the essay
2. The portion of the text with which you will be working
3. What you think is the larger argument the author is making with this text (e.g. "I read Book II of Middlemarch as GE's exploration of authority and authorship")
4. In brief, the close reading at the center of your argument
5. The developmental stages of your argument (e.g. "First I will examine the X of Y; then I will look at how the X/Y relationship feeds into problems with Z; then I will investigate the consequences of Z in the context of X and Y; I will conclude by connecting these consequences back to the general project of the author")
6. How you think your essay will improve the way we understand the text (be specific)
7. Any questions or problems you find yourself running into

You're welcome to include more in your précis -- possible thesis statements, a description of the critical context of your argument, a connection between your reading and the topics that Prof. Ortiz-Robles has been developing in lecture, etc. -- but those are the building blocks. Again, feel free to be creative and to take risks. I will try to respond promptly to hebdomadals answering this topic so you can proceed with your essay in a timely way.

Topic 2: Textstorming

Return to the Romantic Epiphanies handout we began working through in class last week. What are the significant similarities in the ways in which our four Romantic poets understand the relationship between nature and epiphanic realizations about the order of the world? What significant ideas do the poets have in common in the ways they treat the role of the imagination in constructing these epiphanies? What are the significant differences among the poets on both of these points?

Alternatively, you might consider offering a specific definition of Romanticism -- or at least of Romantic epiphanies -- on the basis of these four excerpts. Your definition can acknowledge what isn't shared in common among the authors, but should dwell on their similarities and the significance of these similarities.