note: if you skipped one of the first 3 essays, this is not optional; you need to do this to have your 3 essay scores

But if this is an optional paper, why would you want to do it? It is a way of possibly earning more points in the class because it will take the place of a lower score as long as this is not the lowest score you have for the semester (in which case it will not lower your grade; it can not hurt you, but it can possibly help you). You will want to do this paper if any of the following apply:

- You feel you scored too low on one of the first two essays and you want a chance to raise the score.

- You are taking the class with an Honor's Contract. If so, you must do the Drama paper to fulfill the contract.

- You just get inspired to do this for the heck of it.

Choose one of the topics below. Whichever you choose, you will develop your paper (at least four full pages in standard MLA format), as always, with concrete, specific examples.

  1. Here's a big one for those who want to deal with the entire semester's work. discuss the nature of the hero in its many forms. Examine different qualities of the classic hero (Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas), the psychological hero (Oedipus), the spiritual hero (Dante), the chivalric or mock hero (Don Quixote). You may wish to discuss qualities shared by all of these different kinds of heroes and then examine the areas where they are different. Optionally, you may include material from Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces to flesh out your response; you may even include references to heroes we have not discussed this semester if you wish.

  2. In a shadowy corner of Ports'O'Call there is a little shop specializing in odd bits of bric-a-brac. One tarnished old vase has caught your attention, and the $2.00 price tag seems reasonable enough. When you get it home and begin polishing the piece, you notice a parched, faded wad of papers stuffed inside. The writing is foreign. Inspired, you pull out your Castillian-English Dictionary and translate the manuscript. Never before seen in print is the little-known tale of how Don Quixote of la Mancha, the Knight of the rueful figure, roused himself (and, of course, Sancho Panza) for a fourth sally and one last fantastic adventure. You hold the only copy of that adventure. Write out your translation.

    Good luck :)

  3. Our study has been primarily limited to Continental Literature, but the world is a much wider place than that. If you'd like, write an analysis of a work from a country not widely discussed. India, Asia, the New World--these all have rich pre-literary and literary histories. If you choose this option, make sure your work is within the broad timeline of this classs (before the 18th century). Your paper may have a bit of story summary in the beginning, but this is mainly a literary analysis. One (certainly not the only) approach is to explore the work within its cultural context; what does it suggest/reveal about a particular culture and it's concerns and values, customs/traditions, social/political/religious/philosophical leanings, etc?

    Note: do not select works from English or American literature; those works are covered in separate courses of their own. You may, however, pick works from Native America, Mexico, Central or South America, as long as the works fit the time period we are covering in this class.

For some tips on writing about literature, go to

[writing about literature]

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