This paper should be no more than 3 pages (but use all 3 pages!), typed, double-spaced, one inch margins, title but no title page, MLA in-text citations, Works Cited Page (this does not count in terms of page #s), a header that includes your name, date, class #. This is a formal essay, meaning no first person (this is not a personal reflective essay), no colloquial language, proper spelling and grammar. I want to see close reading, so know how to properly integrate quotations. You will need 1 or 2 secondary sources for support; these are to be legitimate academic articles you can find via jstor.org or the library database (NO WIKIPEDIA, CLIFFS NOTES…ETC). The TENTATIVE due date is Thursday April 15; you will turn it in via Turnitin.com (DON’T FRICKIN PLAGIARIZE). I will post the Turnitin link on Moodle so you don’t need to sign up for anything. Here are the topics (choose ONE):
1) This essay will compare what both Samuel Johnson and John Keats have to say about Shakespeare in their works and how these ideas reflect their respective time periods (the Enlightenment and Romantic Era). Use both Keats’ “Ode” and his Letter to his brothers.
2) This essay will address how two different Romantic Era poets address the dynamic between Ignorance is bliss/Knowledge. Use a close reading to display this dynamic within the chosen works and make sure you use historical context to highlight the significance of this binary.
3) Explain the significance of dreams/the unconscious for a couple of Romantic Era poets. Why the interest in dreams? How does the poetry/non-fiction prose focus on dreaming and, again, why?
