Assignment Two: Essay [70%] Essay Titles You are required to write one essay of about 2500 words in length from the list below. Please note that you are required to

submit your essay via the Turnitin link on Blackboard. Further advice on how to do this is available at: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/students/study/elearn/blackboard_help_guides.php You are reminded that your response should demonstrate both your depth and breadth of reading in your chosen subject area. It should be presented in word-processed form and be presented in accordance with the MLA style guide. You must not reproduce substantially the same material in your assignment for this module as for assignments in other modules. Unless otherwise specified, you should refer to the work of two writers in your answer. The texts discussed should also be drawn from those studied on this module. Please note you should choose texts other than Twelfth Night for this assessment. 1. To what extent is it true to say that Renaissance writers were imitators rather than innovators? You should refer to the work of at least two writers in your answer. 2. The logic of love poetry in the Renaissance is that of the gaze, the discrimination of form, and the rendering open and passive of the beautiful object - the woman perceived as territory' (G. Waller). Discuss with reference to at least two poets. 3. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may Old time is still a flying And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow may be dying (Robert Herrick) Discuss the ways in which the literature of the period shows a preoccupation with time and mutability. You should refer to the work of at least two writers in your answer. 4. Discuss the significance of exploration (in terms of science, new learning, or travel) in the work of at least two writers you have studied on this module. 5. Examine the use of the metaphysical conceit in a range of poems studied on this course. You should refer to the work of at least two poets. 6. Discuss the dramatic effects that are achieved by, and the thematic significance of, Kyd's use of metatheatrical devices in The Spanish Tragedy. 7. In Marlowe's Dr. Faustus 'salvation and damnation are no longer played out in the theatre of dancing devils and the material fires of hell, but in the mind of man'. How far do you agree with this statement? 8. But deeds, and language, such as men doe use, And persons, such as Comedie would chuse, When she would show an Image of the times 22 | Page And sport with human follies, not with crimes (Prologue, Every Man in His Humour, by Ben Jonson) In the light of this quotation, consider Jonson's representation of folly and crime in Volpone. 9. Revenge tragedies invite us to reassess the links between justice and revenge, violence and the social order' (Stevie Simkin). Discuss with reference to The Spanish Tragedy and/or The Duchess of Malfi. 10. In the Renaissance writing was regarded as a male activity. With reference to the work of two or more female writers studied on this course discuss the ways in which some women negotiated a place for themselves within this male preserve. 11. Examine the dramatic function of the female characters in two plays studied on this course. 12. 'The total effect of The Duchess of Malfi is of a populous court society straining to preserve its decorous public face while exercising its vicious private wishes; and in that public/private opposition lies much of the Duchess's special predicament' (Keith Sturgess) Discuss. 13. Consider the significance of the Italian and Spanish settings in Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.