Suggested Topics for Paper #2

1. A Sonnet by Sidney or Shakespeare, assigned but not discussed in class

Metrics and rhyme scheme, sound and sense, extended conceit or metaphor

2. A song—discussion of music and text relationships

3. Portraits of Holy War: Shakespeare vs. Spenser

4. Truth and Lies in Ralegh ("The Lie") and The Faerie Queene

5. Life and Time in Ralegh and Shakespeare's Sonnets

6. Self -pity in Sidney and Shakespeare

7. In The Faerie Queene

A. Love and Holiness—opposition and compatibility

B. Representing Chaste Love vs. Lust

C. Error and Hypocrisy—compare and contrast the two incidents in Cantos 1 and 2. How and why does Red Cross triumph over the first and succumb to the second?

D. The Sans Brothers: Sans Foy, Sans Loy and Sans Joy—how are they similar and different? What are their relations to one another and to Duessa and Una

E. Fight Scenes: when do they occur, who are they similar and different, what makes them entertaining?

F. Red Cross’s Experiences in The House of Pride in Canto 4 vs. in The House of Holiness in Canto 10

G. Spenser’s take on Despair and Suicide in Canto 9

H. The Love Story of Redcross and Una

I. The fight with the dragon in Canto 11: beginning, middle, end. Vivid descriptions, possible significances.