Possible Essay Topics on Texts from the Literature Course

Antigone and the criteria for an effective tragedy

Choose one of the topics below. You may choose a topic that is not on this list, but you MUST get my approval in advance. 

1. Examine a performance of Antigone, besides the one that we watched as a class, and discuss the significance of its staging, acting, costumes, etc.

2. Compare Antigone to the criteria of an effective tragedy that Aristotle puts forth in Poetics. Is Antigone a “good” tragedy? Why or why not?

3. Discuss the relationship between marriage and death in Antigone.

4. Investigate the relationship between power and visibility in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

5. What “real world” anxieties are reflected in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale?

6. Discuss the symbolism of colour in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

7. Discuss the role of clothing in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. 

8. Compare and contrast the representation of female characters in TWO of the texts from this course.

9. Compare and contrast the representation of male characters in TWO of the texts from this course.

10.Discuss the theme of “justice” in TWO of the texts from this course.