LMC 2000 Short Essay Topics

This essay is due at the beginning of class on October 25. It should be 3-4 pages long (double-spaced; 12-point font). The pages must be STAPLED. Concentrate on creating a real argument, not just listing observations about the works (I should be able to disagree with your paper, while still thinking it’s good work).

1. VIOLENCE

Various works from this course have examined violence, or used violence to emphasize points or further their arguments. In which work was violence used most effectively, and which least effectively? You may define “effectively” any way you wish; for example, you might see a moment of violence as usefully attention-grabbing during an otherwise dry stretch, or you might think of extremely shocking violence as needlessly off-putting, or a random violent act as a distraction. Choose one passage from one work in particular as effective and one as ineffective or counterproductive. Analyze those passages carefully. Imagine that you are arguing against someone who is arguing the opposite position.

2. REALISM

The works on our reading list approach the question of realism and realistic depiction of events and characters in different ways. Some works aim for scrupulously detailed and realistic imagery and characterization; others strategically depart from this tradition when it suits them; still others eschew it altogether. Choose two works which take two different approaches to realism (for instance, one hyper-realistic work and one abstract one; or one work which is consistently realistic vs a work that only depicts some elements realistically) and compare their strategies. Why do they adopt different strategies? Is one more successful than the other?

Keep things formal and logical. Connect your ideas. Do not repeat your introduction in your conclusion. Do not summarize your whole argument in your introduction.