Ode on a Grecian URL

I would like to thank you for your patience in waiting to get your exams back--and, for some of you, in waiting to get your sixth hebdomadals commented upon. It has been a truly difficult week for me, and I appreciate that you are willing to be flexible with me.

There are two hebdomadal topics this week. I would prefer that you answer the first.

Topic 1: Thesis

Choose the essay topic you would like to respond to for your second essay. What argument do you want to make, connecting a close reading to a larger analytical issue? What is the significance of this particular argument? That is, once I have read your essay how will I read the text differently? What implications does your analysis have for the way we read other texts in this course? What passage or passages will you be reading closely?

If you are writing this essay collaboratively - which I hope you are - you should write this hebdomadal collaboratively as well.

Topic 2: The Stones of Excellence

Pick one sizeable paragraph or a couple shorter consecutive paragraphs from "The Stones of Venice." Reading this paragraph closely for language and structure - voice and style - explain why this essay is often considered the greatest in our language. How does the way Ruskin writes contribute to our appreciation of his argument?

Do you agree or disagree with the assessment of "The Stones of Venice" as a truly great essay? Why?