1. Compare/contrast Hopkins's conception of nature to
Darwin's.
You may read and use more of Hopkins's poetry if you like--a few
additional
poems are available in the Norton Anthology, and the posthumous
1918 edition of his poems can be accessed on the WWW from Project
Bartleby. Remember that you must go beyond a "similar but
different"
thesis--you're constructing an argument, not a list. And don't start
with the assumption that Darwin's and Hopkins's views must be opposites
merely because Hopkins was a Catholic priest.
2. Elizabeth Siddal, Dante Rossetti's model, mistress, muse, and wife, herself wrote poetry. The University of Toronto's Representative Poetry Online contains several of Siddal's poems as well as a brief biographical blurb on her. Read these poems as well as two others, "Love and Hate" and "The Passing of Love," and write a paper that analyzes Siddal's view of love and men. You do not need to discuss all of her poems. You may, if you like, develop your argument with reference to the work of Dante and/or Christina Rossetti on these topics.
3. Read Robert Browning's dramatic monologue, "Bishop Blougram's Apology" and a fuller excerpt from the chapter on “The History of My Mind Since 1845” in Newman’s Apologia (available online from Fordham University's Modern History Sourcebook). Like the Apologia but written nearly a decade earlier, "Bishop Blougram's Apology" is a Catholic clergyman's defence of his actions and beliefs. Write a paper in which you argue either what Newman's reaction to "Bishop Blougram," or Browning's reaction to Newman's Apologia, would have been. In other words, what kind of picture of Catholicism and the Catholic priesthood does Browning offer?
4. Read John Ruskin’s “The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century” (Norton 1443-51). Write an essay articulating Ruskin’s view of the age, paying special attention to the figurative language and allusions he employs. The point here is not to summarize Ruskin's views, but to focus on the language and allusions he uses to articulate them, and to explain the role(s) of this language and these allusions in his argument. It would thus be useful to begin your prewriting by identifying major patterns of imagery and/or categories of allusion in Ruskin's essay. You may compare/contrast Ruskin to another writer or writers we have studied (poets as well as prose writers) if you like, but if you do, avoid a “similar but different” thesis.
A rough draft of at least 4 pages is due on November 22; bring a
copy
for me and one for each group member. Critiques of group members'
drafts
are due on December 1. The finished paper of 5-7 pages is due on
December 8; please turn in essay 1 and the critiqued drafts of essay 2
as well as
the finished essay 2.