Students may contact the Academic Learning Centre (205 Tier) to receive tutoring help on all assignments for ENGL 1200W: Representative Literary Works.
Please limit help to giving feedback on thesis statement, thesis breakdown sentences, topic sentences, and the effectiveness of
students’ usage of specific textual evidence to prove their points. Feel free to contact me at Jenifer.Mohammed@umanitoba.ca if you
require further information.
ENGL 1200 Representative Literary Works
Essay #1
October 7, 2022
Pick ONE of the following questions to write a short essay on. Make sure your thesis
statement and thesis breakdown clearly sets out the argument your paper will follow.
Make sure you use any applicable course theory from course notes to answer the
question. Discuss specific examples from the text to support and develop your points as
clearly and effectively as possible.
- Pick either Jocasta OR Oedipus and discuss the relationship between their
passion and gradual degeneration in Oedipus Rex. Use the concepts of
passion (an uncontrollable emotion that clouds logic) and degeneration
from course theory notes re: the establishment and the “other.” (Remember,
pride, sloth, wrath, love, fear etc. are all considered passions).
OR - Blasphemy refers to the act of speaking sacrilegiously about the gods or
sacred things. Discuss how either Jocasta OR Oedipus commit blasphemy
in Oedipus Rex and the significance of their punishment at the end of the
play. You may wish to examine their punishment in terms of defining the
sacrifices demanded by the gods and or the relationship between humans
and the gods in this world.
OR - A tragic hero is a main character who may be courageous, honourable, and
good, but he or she also has a fatal flaw (hamartia) or poor judgement or a
combination of both. How does Oedipus fit this definition in his actions?
How does Oedipus’s fate serve as a cautionary tale within the text?
Reminder: The essay has to be 500 words (minimum). (You can go over the word count
but try not to go over 750 words). Please choose the best examples to make your points.
Please use 12-point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on
all four sides, left margin justification only, and uploaded as a PDF into the Assignments
folder on the UM Learn course page.
Reminder: You should not need to use secondary sources for this essay. However, if you
use any sources other than the class notes, the story text, and your own brain, you must
cite those additional sources using MLA citation style.
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