Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Spring 2017 | Paper 3

Paper Due: Saturday, April 8, at 5:00 PM in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox
Length: consult your conference leader

Choose one of the following questions:

1. What is a (or the) good life, according to Lucretius? Why, in the troubled days of the late Roman Republic, would he offer his philosophical views in the form of poetry, and what might this imply about poetry's place in a good life?

2. As the title of Ovid's poem suggests, change is one of the central themes of the Metamorphoses. Drawing on two episodes from the poem—for instance, the story of Tiresias in Book III or the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus in Book IV—discuss how Ovid conceptualizes sexual/gender identity and difference.

3. One of the pivotal moments in Virgil's The Aeneid is Aeneas' encounter in the underworld with the spirit of his father Anchises in Book VI (898-1203). How does this passage relate to the rest of the poem? How and why does this passage help construct Aeneas' past as leading to Rome's foundation and, later on, Augustus' rise to power? Why might Virgil have chosen the father figure as Aeneas' interlocutor for this scene?

4. Consider Livy's descriptions and uses of physical space in his work. How do his descriptions of space work to create good and bad exempla for his readers? Pay particular attention to Camillus' speech at the end of Book 5.51-54.

5. Write your own essay topic. If you choose this option, it is necessary to have your conference leader approve your topic before you start working on it.

In addition to consulting with your conference leader, you can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. You can find links to the Writing Center hours on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the week leading up to paper due dates.