/lit/ - Literature

Last book you read, currently reading, next book you're going to read.

>Last book
The Kreutzer Sonata - Tolstoy

>Current book
The Great Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux

>Next book
Essays - Thomas Carlyle

Who are /lit/'s favourite prose stylists? Pic related its Carlyle.
A few can recognise fine poetry, only the truly elite know great prose

So I've had all week to write this...actually a week and a half...and it needs to be done ASAP.

I have to write about the Victorian Era, more specifically a piece of work for my Brit Lit. 2xx Course.

I am going to do Captains of Industry from Past & Present Book 4. Chapter 4.

I have to write one of four topics...

1. Using the context of the Victorian period as you understand it (gleaned from the class
PowerPoints and other source materials), argue why any of the texts we’ve read in this
unit either is or is not a good example of the “Victorian Era.” Note that in order to
make this work, you’ll need to define the Victorian era and explain how and why the text
either fits or does not fit the movement.


2. Without considering the context in which the text was written, perform a close reading
(interpretation) of anything that we’ve read in the Victorian unit. You will likely need to
engage in both a literal and figurative interpretation. Because you only have 3-5 pages to
work with, choose the passage you want to interpret wisely. You’re probably better off
interpreting a smallish piece of text than interpreting a largeish chunk of text.


3. Choose any text we’ve read to this point this semester and explain how the text is both
Romantic and Victorian. Yes, you will likely have to choose a text from the Victorian
period, but borderline texts (like Frankenstein) would also work. Your goal in this paper
would be to synthesize the two time periods and to argue that the text in question is
neither decidedly Romantic nor decidedly Victorian but instead decidedly both Romantic
and Victorian.


I'm not looking for ideas or answers, but rather to bounce some ideas around to get the creative gears moving.