Ode on a Grecian URL

This hebdomadal is due before discussion on Dec. 15th.

Topic 1: Practicing for the final

Answer any one of the 10 exam essay prompts that were passed out in lecture today. There is only one restriction: One of the texts in your answer must be The Portrait of a Lady.

Try to reproduce exam conditions as best as you can: spend a good deal of time plotting out beforehand how you will answer the question, selecting detailed chunks from both texts to discuss. Then, if you can, let some time pass between that outlining and your writing this hebdomadal. When you sit down to write the hebdomadal, give yourself only 45 minutes to answer the question and write for the entire 45 minutes.

When you write your answer, try to avoid the two most common (and most boring) argument structures:

1. Text A and Text B have some differences, and some similarities
2. There are there important differences between Text A and Text B: X, Y, and Z

Topic 2: The natural in Portrait

There are 173 occurences of variations of the word "nature" in The Portrait of a Lady, almost exclusively in reference to characters' behavior. (E.g., on p. 499 Ralph is dismayed that he sees Isabel's "natural face" only momentarily.) Pick one moment in which this word appears. What is natural behavior in Portrait, and why is it (thematically) important?