Russian 221, Paper # 2 topics. FINAL LIST

1,750 word minimum. If you wrote exclusively on Dostoevsky in your first paper, do not choose a Dostoevsky topic for this paper, except in conjunction with a Tolstoy work.

*Asterisks indicate the presumed difficulty of each topic. More *** = more difficult.

Keep in mind that the long form of some of the questions below is not meant to serve as an outline, but rather to stimulate your thinking on the subject.

You may choose your own topic, but you must clear it with me first. Send me a summary of your idea with one or two examples of the kind of evidence you expect to be using.

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Discuss the theme of literary form and the “concept” of “story-ness” as shaping components in Eugene Onegin and Notes from Underground. How do these two narratives differ as stories about narrative?***

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Compose a well-reasoned, careful, and detailed discussion of whether, and why, “The Meek One”(or "Gentle Creature") should be read as suggesting that the narrator has had a true change of heart prior to his wife’s suicide. The argument should be based only on the story's internal evidence.***

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Compare "A Gentle Creature" and The Kreutzer Sonata as "psychological" novels.  What facets of psychology seem most to interest each author?  What are the important differences in the ways each one attempts to convey a sense of the character's psychology to the reader? Does one or the other seem more "realistic" in his portrayal of psychology?  How exactly is the effect achieved? (give examples). What does each narrator choose to reveal or conceal, consciously or unconsciously? In what way do the authors explore the narrators' tendency towards self-deception? In what ways to the narrators explicitly attempt to manipulate their audience?

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Contrast Tolstoy's "Master and Man" and one of Chekhov's longer stories.  How are their narrators alike or different?  In what ways do the character portrayals seem similar or different?  What different roles does the physical environment play in the two authors' works? You can focus on just one or two characters or other key elements from each author, and treat them in detail.*

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Discuss the use (or neglect ) of suspense and climax in Chekhov's Three Years. Give several detailed examples of how Chekhov overturns typical narrative concepts of suspense, and discuss how they have their effect on the reader. What role do physical objects (or physical surroundings in general) have in Chekhov's creation of the story's motion? **

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Discuss the tension between a Romantic worldview and a realistic one as portrayed in The Cossacks. Which story details seem related to Romanticism, and which seem to be dismissive of Romanticism? (You might want to review a summary definition of what "Romanticism" is). What role does idealization play in the work? How does the narrator express his attitude towards these idealizations? ***

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