Russian 221, Paper # 2 topics. Fall 2017 

Complete rough draft due in class Dec. 5 for peer editing.  If you struggled with your first paper, please see me early in the process of writing this one.

1,500 word minimum, plus useful quotations.You should use quotations and/or clear references to point out specific details from the text you are working with and to support your argument.

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.  Be sure to look at the "dos and don'ts" page for tips on good essay-writing.

Most important, your paper should be entirely about the interesting facts in the works you write about, and your interpretation of those facts.  Do not stray into abstract philosophy, sociology, history, biography, autobiography, political science, or any other genre.  Be specific by referring to facts in the work. Not all facts you might discuss are part of the story: for example, how the narrator uses language to affect tone and mood is one important fact. (Philosophy may be relevant, too, but only as a narrow lens through which to view specific textual facts).
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Conduct an analysis of ordinariness in a work (or two) by Chekhov. How does he imbue the ordinary with extra significance? How does he use the ordinary in order to re-define how human beings can try to understand themselves through narrative or dramatic art?
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Discuss contradictory elements in the narrator's perspective in The Double. What various perspectives does the narrator seem to occupy? Is there a single, coherent interpretation that can be applied to the narrator's identity, or not? Is that important?

Compose a well-reasoned, interesting, and detailed discussion of the function of power and money in "A Gentle Creature."

What do you think is the meaning or significance of gambling in The Gambler? How does the novel use various characters' connection to gambling to create this meaning?

In The Cossacks by Tolstoy, conduct an analysis of Cossack village life. What does the narrator do to differentiate between this life and the high society life that Olenin has left behind? What aspects of this life are similar to Olenin's old life? Why has Tolstoy created this juxtaposition? What does Olenin take away from it?

Discuss Tolstoy's portrayal of animals in any or all of the Tolstoy works we (will) have read; what patterns, perspectives, and significant features do they bring to the works? Why does Tolstoy care (and why should the reader)?

Discuss the concept of simplicity in two separate Tolstoy works. Is there a difference between the portrayals in these two works? If so, what is the purpose of that difference, in your view, as part of the stories' larger meaning?