Possible Topics for Paper 2—Choose one and write a minimum of 1500 words. 1) Develop a thesis. 2) Find evidence in the text to support your thesis and offer a conclusion detailing the importance and implications of your reading. The Amores Ovid writes quite a bit about being impotent, whether metaphorically when describing his inability to produce poetry, or literally when he is unable to have sex with Corinna. What does this impotence mean in relationship to the meaning of the poem, or even in the relationship between the poem and the society at large? Given the state of Roman political and social affairs before and during Ovid’s career, what are the possible political meanings of his text? Stoicism was the primary philosophical tradition of Rome during Ovid’s career. It informed politics, jurisprudence and everyday society. Stoicism also has a particularly strict point of view in reference to sexuality and its ability to destabilize society. How could Ovid be addressing that tradition in his poem? What meaning could Ovid’s direct comparison between the power of his poetry and the power of the witch have? Is there a relationship between the feminine power of the witch and what he may (satirically) see as the feminizing power of poetry? Looking at the narrative arc of the poems, write about the concepts of control, masculinity, domination, and how they define masculinity in the Roman world, and how Ovid’s work may be a satire about those concepts. Lais de Marie de France There are a lot of magical happenings in medieval literature and the stories of Marie de France are no different. However, for Marie, they often involve embroiling a character in a disastrous relationship. What is the purpose of the magical events in the context of medieval sexuality? In Guigemar, there is a specific reference to both Venus and Ovid. What could the purpose of such a reference be? The character of the wife in Guigemar represents a particular literary type, the unhappily married woman. What is the purpose of this setup, especially when compared with the notion of feminine betrayal in Equitan? While in Guigemar, the audience is invited to sympathize with the plight of the wife, in Bisclavret the roles are reversed. What might this say about the general concept Marie has towards marriage and love? Writer pick the topic. Thank you.
