1-2 Slides Literature Presentation

by

Humanities

This task require a short 1 or 2 slides presentation of an essay plan referred to a topic in the Nineteenth-Century (Victorian Era).

– Deadline on Sunday 9th of December 8:00 PM (UK TIME)

You are required to complete ONE Powerpoint slide, with an abbreviated version of your essay plan on it. You can use bullet-points, rather than complete sentences, as long as this is clear. The tutor will collect all of the slides into one Powerpoint presentation, which we will use in the presentation seminar, in which each student will have 3 minutes (strictly timed!) to explain their essay plan to the class.

Please choose one topic from the following to write about:

  1. ‘Victorian poetry looks at once forwards, backwards and directly, often most critically, at its own age’. Discuss in relation to TWO OR THREE POEMS studied on the unit.
  2. To what extent are God and Nature shown as opposing concepts in Victorian poetry, and how is this evident in the poetic form? You should refer to TWO OR THREE poems studied on the unit.
  3. Discuss the ways in which TWO nineteenth-century writers address one or two of the following:
  • industrialisation
  • art
  • death
  • masculinities
  • the nation
  • empire
  • the Woman Question

You should pay attention to the generic conventions of the dramatic monologue, lyric poetry, social problem fiction, sensation fiction, the ghost story and/or narrative poetry. You should refer to either THREE short poems, or one long poem and one other text studied on the unit.

4- Consider Victorian conceptualisations of femininity, focussing on one or more of the following:

  • the angel in the house
  • the fallen woman
  • the criminal woman
  • the New Woman

Discuss in relation to any TWO TEXTS studied on the unit.

5- Nineteenth-century texts often keep the empire ‘more or less in place’ (Edward Said). Discuss representations of race, colonialism and/or imperialism in any TWO texts studied on the unit.

6- Analyse the preoccupation with secrecy and the uncovering of secrets in Victorian narratives of crime, sensation and/or the ghostly. Discuss in relation to TWO texts studied on the unit.

7- To what extent arefin-de-siècleanxieties about gender, marriage, sexuality and/or race resolved in the endings of texts published or performed after 1880?. Discuss in relation to any TWO texts studied on the unit.

  1. 8- Compare and contrast the ways in which TWO TEXTS studied on the unit explore nineteenth-century concerns about class, capitalism and the marketplace. Your answer should pay attention to the generic conventions of the genre(s) you discuss
  2. 9- Judith Butler has argued that gender is ‘a constructed identity, a performative accomplishment’. Discuss the performance of gender roles and identities in relation to Victorian ideals in any TWO TEXTS studied on the unit.
  3. 10- With reference to TWO plays studied on the unit, compare the effectiveness of the ways in which naturalist drama and social comedy challenge Victorian ideologies of class and respectability.

Please contact me as soon as you decide on what topic you will structure the essay plan so we can discuss the texts (references) that will be used in the paper.


To make it a bit clearer to plan please read the main task (essay) guidance: (Don’t need it at the moment)

Critical Essay (2000 words)

You are advised to use the same question as your essay plan, though you can choose a different question if you prefer. You must refer to at least TWO texts, where a text is a novel, play, poem or short story studied on this unit. You can choose to write on two texts from different genres, e.g. a poem and a novel.

If you are writing on poetry, you should refer to AT LEAST THREE short poems studied on this unit, or one long poem and one short one. These must all be poems included in the Victorian poetry handout used in weeks 2 and 3, and/or Goblin Market.

You can refer to other nineteenth-century texts which you have read, but the main focus must be on texts studied on the unit.

You must include a bibliography consisting of 6-8 secondary sources.

Note that your essay should show:

A knowledge of the nineteenth-century cultural and/or political context

An understanding of Victorianism and/or the fin de siècle

Skills of close reading, and understanding of genre

An awareness of critical approaches to nineteenth-century literature (what critical debates are there around issues such as gender, class, race, sexuality, desire, religion and politics in these texts?)