EN357: All About Eve

Spring Semester 2006

Final Essay Assignment

The final essay is due on Monday, May 8. You have three options for this essay:

OPTION ONE:

In a 5-6 page essay, compare and contrast any two of the modern representations of Eve that we have studied-- that is, any versions of Eve later than Paradise Lost, including:

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Drama of Exile
• Christina Rossetti, "Eve" or "Goblin Market"
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “Eden Bower” and “Lilith” in the Coursebook.
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton et al., The Woman’s Bible in Eve & Adam
• Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam and Eve.
• Ralph Hodgson, “Eve”
• Robert Frost, “Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same”
• Richard Wilbur, “She”
• Dorothy Livesay, “Eve”
• John Hollander, “Adam’s Task”
• Rob Holland, “Eve in Old Age”
• Linda Pastan, “A Symposium: Apples”
• Judith Plaskow, "The Coming of Lilith: Toward a Feminist Theology"
• Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them”
• Michael Brown, Chapter 1 from The Search for Eve

Focus not just on the specific ways in which the stories of Eve differ but also on the effect and meaning of those differences. Keep in mind that your essay should have a clear and distinct thesis, a central idea about the depiction of Eve that you have drawn from your close study and comparison of the texts.

Option Two:

Write a critical research paper on the topic of your oral class presentation. Focus any particular representation of Eve in modern or popular culture, analyze its significance as an interpretation of sex or gender and its use of the traditional narrative.

As noted on the course homepage, your paper should follow the MLA style for formatting and for quotation and citation. I suggest that you discuss your topic with me before choosing this option.

Option Three:

Write your own version of Eve. That is, retell the Garden of Eden story the way you would like to imagine it. Feel free to explore your ideas and to alter the traditional tale as you see fit (exploring it from Eve's point of view, or someone else's; changing the time period or the setting; etc.), but keep in mind that the goal is to reveal and comment on, through narrative, issues and problems inherent in the Genesis text.