Directions:  Choose two topics to write about. Each essay should be at least 2 pages and follow MLA format.   Note: Avoid mere plot summary.    (25 points each)

1. Conflict drives the plot of any narrative. Choose any narrative we have read this semester – summarize the plot, identify the conflict, discuss how the conflict is resolved, and what meaning can be drawn by its resolution.
2. Discuss the difference between the Enlightenment (Age of Reason) and the Romantic Movement. As part of your discussion use examples from the narratives we have read in class.
3. We read many contemporary short stories and one novel (Heart of Darkness). Choose one and discuss how it embodies the themes and ideas of the Modern or Postmodern periods.
4. Choose any work from the second half of the semester (Candide, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Song of Myself, Hedda Gabler, or Heart of Darkness and write an essay in which you present arguments for or against the work’s relevance for a person in 2019.
5. Hedda Gabler received mixed reviews when it was first staged in 1891. George Bernard Shaw praised the actress who played Hedda. He said, “You were sympathetically unsympathetic, which was the exact solution of the central difficulty of playing Hedda.” In your essay, examine the character of Hedda. Using support from the play, discuss how she arouses both sympathy and scorn? Which does she deserve most?
6. Summarize the different philosophical perspectives put forth in Discuss Pangloss, Jacques (the Anabaptist), Martin, the old woman, the farmer, the dervish. With which character do you most agree?
7. Read the poem “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy
   1. Paraphrase each stanza.
   2. Discuss what you know about the speaker
   3. Identify the imagery and discuss how it relates to the theme.
   4. Discuss the meaning of the poem.
   5. Explain why this is a good example of Romanticism