Description
Essay should use strong thesis and direct references to the chosen text to produce a thoughtful consideration of an issue, question, problem, or image central to the work being analyzed—either Carson’s translation of Sappho’s poetry or Heaney’s version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. No outside research should be used, though reference materials may be consulted to verify key details like the etymologies or histories of words or the backstories of specific characters. In addition, feel free to use the DLB articles or Carson’s Eros the Bittersweet essay (she calls it an essay even as it is published as a book) to advance your ideas. Be clear that all quotations and paraphrases of any kind, from any sources must always be fully and accurately cited. Overall, the challenge here is to isolate a theme in Sappho or Sophocles that moves you—and then build an argument about how this theme gets developed, explored, or deployed by the author/translator. With Sappho you may use as many poems/fragments as you need to make your argument. The personal (I) may be used to frame or introduce your unique engagement with the idea/issue or text in question, but you should not overly depend on first person expression. Likewise, you may need to frame an issue or explain a backstory, but you should not overly narrate plot. This is an analysis of a text at the point of an idea or question important to you; the paper needs to be in your voice. Furthermore, I strongly encourage the use of epigraphs as a way to jump start the essay.E