I always think of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus as the perfect introduction to Renaissance English literary culture, because the play addresses virtually every issue and concern central to Renaissance England.

Compose a short essay (about 5 pages) in which you focus on one Renaissance issue or concern as it is explored in Dr. Faustus.  How is Marlowe's treatment of your chosen issue or concern typical of the Renaissance?  How is Marlowe's treatment atypical?

In this course, all the Renaissance writers that we are reading are male.  Traditionally, the canon of great Renaissance writers has excluded women, even though several women, such as Lady Mary Wroth, were well-known and admired as writers in the Renaissance itself.

Go to the library's Reserve Desk and find

Wroth, Lady Mary.  The Poems of Lady Mary Wroth.  Ed. Josephine A. Roberts.  Baton Rouge:  Louisiana State University Press, 1992.  PR2399.W7 A17 1992.

Choose any one or, at most, two of Lady Wroth's poems that seem(s) to you to compare (and/or contrast) interestingly with the poetry by the men that we have been reading in class.  Compose a short essay (about 5 pages) in which you analyze the relation of Lady Wroth's poetry to the poetry of the men that we have been reading in class.  Does Lady Wroth, as a woman writer, address different issues from the men?  Does she address the same issues but approach them differently or with a different perspective?  Is her writing distinctive for being written by a woman?  Do we lose anything by not including women such as Lady Wroth in the canon of great Renaissance writers?

Please turn in a xerox copy of the poem(s) you have chosen to write about with your paper.

You have spent an entire semester reading Renaissance English writers and talking about the issues and concerns of the Renaissance in England.  Now that you know more about Renaissance literary culture, choose any Shakespeare play that we have not read in class.  Compose an essay (5-7 pages) in which you focus on one Renaissance issue or concern as it is handled in your chosen Shakespeare play.  How is Shakespeare typical of the Renaissance with respect to your chosen issue or concern?  How is Shakespeare atypical?  Does knowing more about the literary culture of Renaissance England aid or enrich your reading of Shakespeare?