SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Bring a paper copy to class, and upload a digital copy through the Turnitin link at the top of our Moodle page.
FORMATTING GUIDELINES: MLA formatting throughout. Number your pages and staple them. Times New Roman 12-point typeface, double-spaced. Make sure to have a Works Cited page, even if you only use the primary texts. NUMBER THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE CHOSEN.
SECONDARY SOURCES: You are not required to use secondary sources for this Midterm, but they may be helpful for you to consult and include. Our Moodle page has, at the top, a selection of sources you can consult.
TEXTS: You are free to write on anything from Beowulf through all of Shakespeare in terms of dates.
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Choose either of the following:
1) Write ONE 10-page answer to ONE of the following questions.
2) Write ONE 5-page answer to ONE of the following questions, and TWO x 2.5-page answers to TWO other questions.
Scoring – if you choose to write ONE question, it will be out of 100.
– If you choose to write the THREE questions, the 5-page answer will be out of 50, and the TWO x 2.5-page answers will be out of 25 each.
(Updated: 12th October 2017)
1. Discuss the presentation of love in the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt.
2. Discuss the presentation of danger in the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt.
3. Is Dr. Faustus mad?
4. Discuss the concept of the hero or the heroic in Beowulf. You may want to consult the Critical Companion to Beowulf .pdf at the top of our Moodle page.
5. Compare and contrast the character of Hamlet with the character of Dr. Faustus.
6. Discuss the role of religion in Hamlet. You may want to look at Hamlet in Purgatory by Stephen Greenblatt, or Section 2 of Harold Bloom’s chapter on Hamlet. Both are located at the top of our Moodle page.
7. Is Ophelia mad?
8. Is Hamlet mad?
9. Discuss the way in which Shakespeare presents Ophelia.
10. Discuss the way in which women are presented in Shakespeare. You may confine yourself to Hamlet, or choose another Shakespeare text, or cross-compare various Shakespeare plays (for example, you could write on the presentation of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and compare it to the presentation of Ophelia or Gertrude in Hamlet).
11. Is Hamlet’s revenge justified?
12. Discuss the presentation of the Ghost in Hamlet.