Examination of character, focusing on Beowulf, “The Wanderer” or “The Dream of the Rood,” and comparing this character with a contemporary person

Description The speaker of “The Wanderer” expresses the elegiac mood that was a common feature in Old English literature. First, illustrate this mood by giving a description of the speaker’s character, considering especially the things that he desires. Then, compare this character to a character in a popular fictional work from the past few years who also expresses longing for a world that is now lost. Which of the two works provides a more hopeful view? The fictional character can come from a novel, graphic novel, movie, or television show. Be sure to use correct punctuation and italics or quotations marks for the title of your contemporary work.

Make sure you give plenty of evidence for the contemporary character, as well as for “The Wanderer.

” Rubric The paper is well organized, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Transitions make it easy to follow the ideas. Paragraphs are unified and coherent. Ideas are supported with quotations, summaries, and paraphrases from the two literary works or characters. The paper does not unnecessarily retell the plots. The paper shows original thinking about the literary works or characters. The ideas or words of other critics are kept to a minimum. The claims made about the literary work are accurate and show a good understanding of the work. The controlling idea or thesis is presented in the introduction. It makes an assertion about the characters and their differences or similarities rather than simple statements of fact. The paper has few writing errors. The paper follows MLA format guidelines.

The first paper will be an examination of character, focusing on Beowulf, “The Wanderer” or “The Dream of the Rood,” and comparing this character with a contemporary person (actual or fictional, depending on the topic). Please see the Video Lecture on Characterization for some background on this literary tool and the written lecture on Writing the Comparison/Contrast Paper for how to do the thesis statement and organization for this type of paper. NOTE: Be sure to look at the page about the Comparison/Contrast Paper so you get the organization right.