Paper Assignment #2

The paper is due on Friday, November 17 at the beginning of class. The length is to be about five pages, typed, double-spaced (about 1,250 words). This is not meant to be a research paper, but a close reading of the assigned texts (which may be cited parenthetically in the paper). Thus, all work in the preparation for this paper is to be your own. Remember to keep an English handbook close at hand. Please include a title page listing the paper's title, due date, course title, your instructor's name, and your name. Leave adequate margins, number the pages, and staple the upper left-hand corner. Please choose one of the following topics:

1. Select one of Aeneas' speeches of manageable length from the Aeneid, a speech from the Acts of the Apostles, and a speech by Olivier from the Song of Roland. Compare and contrast these speeches to show how they represent the Classical hero, the Early Christian hero, and the Medieval hero, respectively.

2. To paraphrase Nietzsche, "Both Stoicism and Christianity are movements that appeal mainly to the weakest members of society who are incapable of achieving real success." Examine the validity of this statement using our readings in Stoicism, early Christianity (including Pliny's letter), and Saint Augustine.

3. Discuss the literary depictions of "the enemies of Christianity" in the New Testament readings and the Song of Roland.

4. Compare and contrast the final speeches of Charlemagne and Beowulf. What interesting generalizations about heroism can you make?

5. Is treachery ever defensible? Discuss this question by examining the figures of Judas, Ganelon, and Beowulf's companions.

6. Discuss the role of Carthage in Virgil's Aeneid and Augustine's Confessions.