THE LIST OF ESSAY TOPICS TO BE EXPLORED BY THE SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS

THESE ARE A FEW TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE A RESEARCH ESSAY: (Я ЛИШЕ НАГАДУЮ ВАМ
поради , ЩО містилися у попередньому документі)

---- READ THE PLAY or THE NOVEL THE SHOT STORY (READ, not only watch!);

----Read (carefully) THESE TIPS.

-----The average length of the essay is, typically, 2-3 pages ;

---- the Deadline: APRIL (1-5)

----follow the topic of the essay: do not fly off the tangent; do not write about smth nor related to
the topic of the essay. For example, do not write about the writer’s biography if the biography is
not the topic of your essay;

----feel free to ask me any questions (through my email or telephone or Viber). Don’t forget to
introduce yourself!

----Mind the paragraph indentations!!! [ абзацні відступи !!!]

----FORMULATE THE CONCLUSIONS СТОВПЧИКОМ!! ОСЬ ТАК:

CONCLUSIONS

1----одне два коротких речення

2----одне-два коротких речення

3----одне два коротких речення

4-----однек два коротких речення

THE conclusions should be brief and formulated on the basis of the ideas expressed in the
essay. THE CONCLUSIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET!

---- Make references to the source of your information if you borrow the ideas, sentences,
paragraphs from the INTERNET. Otherwise your ideas are not your ideas and must be treated as
PLAGIARISM (find the meaning of this word and learn this word by heart, please!!). It is better to
indicate the sources of information within the text of the essay , e.g. www. .....);

----Do not use long sentences and the style of a Cambridge University professor!!! Good Ideas
ARE OFTEN EXPRESSED by means of SHORT and clear SENTENCES (2-3 lines). YOU ARE NOT
WRITING A PhD DISSERTATION yet.

---- You are entitled to choose the topic of the essay!

---- HIGHLIGHT [позначити шрифтом або кольором або підкреслити) THE MOST IMPORTANT
IDEAS, STATEMENTS and points of the essay. It will be much easier for me to read it!! You may also
highlight the ideas that 100% belong to you, that are yours, not copied from the INTERNET
(АЛЕ НЕ ПЕРЕТВОРЮЙТЕ РЕФЕРАТ у кольорову картинку!! ДИТИНСТВО ВЖЕ В МИНУЛОМУ—
на жаль)

THESE ARE 18 TOPICS OF THE ESSAYS:

1. Why is John Milton’s manner of writing “PARADISE LOST” is characterized by literary critics as
GRAND STYLE? (Pay attention to the poem’s diction , length and structure of sentences, allusions).

2. Utopia and Anti-Utopia: what is the difference? (give examples from the English literature).

3. William Shakespeare’s vision (understanding) of an IDEAL KING. Analyze the gallery of kings in
his plays.

4. What are the causes of Hamlet’s procrastination?

5. Stephen Spielberg’s WEST SIDE STORY (2020) and Leonard Bernstein’s WEST SIDE STORY (1957)
are musicals loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ROMEO ANF JULIET. What changes are
introduced by the Directors (aside from amazing music)?

6. Watch a romantic melodrama ROMEO + JULIET (1996) with LEONARDO DiCAPRIO playng one of
the main parts. What are the differences between the film and the original play by William
Shakespeare? Did you enjoy the screen adaptation? Motivate your answer, please.

7. A play-within-play pattern (narrative device) in William Shakespeare’s plays (e.g. Hamlet, The
Tempest, Midsummer Night’s Dream and others): the forms and functions.

8. Hamlet’s last words (before he dies, severely wounded) are : “THE REST IS SILENCE” . WHAT IS
YOUR understanding of Hamlet’s words? Do you discern any special meaning in this phrase? What
is it?

9 Please, give a few examples from William Shakespeare’ plays to illustrate the Greek notions of
HUBRIS, HAMARTiA, ANAGNORISIS, PERIPETIA, CATHARSIS.

10. Ben Jonson’s COMEDY of HUMOURS. What are its charateristics?

11. Comment on the Dark Lady, the poet (persona) and his friend as the main characters of
William Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

12. What is the target of the author’s satire in the description of the Academy of Sciences -?)
(JONATHAN’S SWIFT’s “GULLIVER’s TRAVELS”)?

13. John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” is a sample of didactic literature. Why?

14. What is your attitude to the psychoanalytic analysis of William Shakespeare’s” Hamlet”?

15. What elements of William Shakespeare’s play can be found in the lyrics of the DIRE STRAITS’
song “ROMEO and JULIET”?

16. What film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet do you know? What is your favourite?
Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this or that film adaptation? Adduce a few
examples of the film you saw?
17. What theatre adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet do you know? What are their
advantages and disadvantages (adduce a few examples of the play you saw)?

18. AMAZING, STAGGERING, CHALLENGING, SOPHISTICATED, eccentric, non-conventional, hard to

read and hard to understand, revolutionary, experimental, foreshadowing the newest tendencies
in the literature of the 20th-21st centuries----this is how literary critics describe Laurence Sterne’s
“THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF TRISTRAM SHANDY, GENTLEMAN” (1760). Why? What makes them
think so? (Я готовий поставити 90-100 балів тому, хто наважиться обрати цю тему) ЦЕ—один
за найважчих творів світової (не лише виключно англійської) літератури!!

19 The advancement of printing technology in the 17th century made the best-seller like Daniel
Defoe’s ROBINSON CRUSOE possible. How has the advancement of technology (home video
camers, web cameras, Internet access) contributed to the evolution of REALITY TV programmes in
Britain and the USA? (SURVIVOR, COPS, BIG BROTHER). How do YOU account for the appeal of
these programmes ?

GOOD LUCK!!! START THINKING! ASK ME QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY.

ЯКЩО У ВАС Є ВЛАСНА ТЕМА ----ПОРАДЬТЕСЯ зі МНОЮ! Я підкажу як її сформулювати