EN210: Special Topics:

The Age of Chaucer

Second Essay Assignment

 

The first essay is due at the beginning of class on Monday, May 2. The essay should be about 6-7 pages long. In this essay, you should compare and contrast any one of the Chaucerian texts that we have read to any one of the non-Chaucerian texts that we have read. For instance, you could:

Whichever topic you choose, it is extremely important that you have a clear, central thesis. In this case, you will need to be very precise about the similarities as well as the differences between the texts you are analyzing. This thesis should be stately clearly and concisely at the beginning of the essay, and that everything in the essay be dedicated to demonstrating this thesis using specific evidence from the text or texts. Note that the thesis of the essay is the one, central idea that you want to convince the reader of. A good thesis is one that can be proven (that is, there is objective evidence in the texts to support it) and that needs to be proven (that is, it is not obvious or self-evident). You therefore need to avoid vagueness and state the thesis with as much specificity as possible.

Format: All submitted papers should follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines for formatting a paper. These guidelines can be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., which is available in the Reference Section of the library and in the Writing Center, but they are also summarized on pp. 148-150 of Diana Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual, with sample pages on pp. 151-154. When commenting on your essays, I will refer to Hacker on matters of format and style.

Following the MLA style, all papers should cite their sources on every occasion that they are used, and all paper should include a complete list of works cited.