eng261 hw help

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Though writers of The Renaissance and Early 16th Century wrote of love and hope and God and dreams, so too did they write of things of contemporary, earthly, immediate concern…things related to social ills, political matters, religious disorder. For example, Sir Philip Sidney wrote of an idealized love, while John Milton with Areopagitica wrote of a crisis of import to government and people. In other words, the writers of the time were attentive to both the possibilities of human love and sexuality and divine adoration, as well as to some key and fundamental concerns of their times, exposing them and offering solutions. What becomes even more interesting about these texts, however, as we read and discuss them all these hundreds of years later, is the way in which their earlier interests and concerns so often mimic and mirror our own…what they were concerned about then, in other words, was very similar to what we are concerned about now. And that is what I would like you to discuss. I would like, please, you to point out, using specific references from each text, what two different authors exposed as either a personal or social concern, and then discuss at length the ways in which you see that/those concerns reflected in our own society today. Please keep in mind as you do this, that you offer examples from BOTH chosen texts, that those examples are specific in terms of quotations/discussion of that quotation, that you follow the textual discussion with specific references to specific instances in our own personal or communal society that relate to your textual examples, and that you fully, carefully, and thoughtfully explain those specific current examples in terms of their connection to then and their importance in now.

Some guidelines:

  • Aim for two full paragraphs, each paragraph, I would suggest, devoted to one of the two texts.
  • Be sure to identify the title of the text (and remember, since these are longer prose works you must use italics) in the first sentence of each paragraph
  • Also in the first sentence you will likely find it useful to state clearly the personal or social concern of the text and today, which will help guide your discussion
  • You must choose one text to discuss from the ‘personal interest’ perspective and one from the ‘social concern’ perspective
  • You will want to provide at LEAST one direct quotation from each text in order to support your theme/claim, though one or two more than that would be effective
  • Keep in mind that a quotation should never just ‘hang’ alone…that is, you must explain how/why it is important and significant support for your theme/claim
  • Avoid mere plot summary…this is analysis
  • You should devote equal time to your consideration of the personal interest and social concern from BOTH authors and to the way it relates to/is shared by our society today
  • Remember, these two paragraphs should be well-developed and filled with specific detail…I cannot, in other words, stress enough how important it is that you point to one specific textual concern, show it at play in the text, and share how you see it revealed still today
  • Remain aware that such matters as punctuation, grammar, spelling, and style are not just courtesies but also requirements