Oral Reports:

Oral reports should be chosen from those listed on the syllabus schedule, unless otherwise
approved by me. Presentations should be about 15 minutes. The presenter should provide a
bibliography and outline for each member of the class, and he or she will serve as
a resource person for that day's discussion.

Paper 1: 4-6pp. Due: Tuesday, Feb. 21

Choose one of the following as the basis for your paper. You may choose a topic not listed
below, but check it with me in advance.

Discuss the relationship between the divine and the human as explored in the Religion tracts
Discuss Blake's use of satire in either "An Island in the Moon" or The Marriage of Heaven and
         Hell or both
Compare and contrast the devils and angels in Marriage
Compare and contrast 2 related poems in the Songs

Paper 2: 10-15pp. Due: Monday, May 8

While it may be true that meaning in a literary work often arises out of some sort of tension,
this seems particularly true in the works of William Blake. For example, in Blake's
illuminated books this tension may take one or more (usually more) of the following forms:

Text vs Image
Narrative vs Proverb or Epigram
Blake vs A Literary Precursor
Innocence vs Experience
Authentic vs Deceptive
Order vs Chaos
Intentions vs Effects
Isolation vs Community
Virginity vs Desire

For this paper you should use one or two of the works we will read after the Songs (i. e. Thel,
Visions, America, Urizen, Los, Milton, Jerusalem, Ghost of Abel), and explore some aspect of
these tensions, or some other tension that you can identify in the work. Questions you might
consider include: What terms or imagery is used to depict the tension? How do the tensions
arise? Does Blake seem more sympathetic to one pole, or does he try to give both a fair
representation? Are the tensions resolved? Does Blake seem to think that tensions should be
resolved?

Your work should include appropriate outside research. Multimedia projects are welcome, but
not required.