English Term Paper: Outline

1. Optimism in western history/literature.

   A. Opening statements.

2. Point of optimism. 

   A. Why we need it.

    B. Why books need it. 


    C. A story without it.

3. The role of optimism in western literature.

 
      A. Main Stories.
        
            1. Plots.
        
            2. Characters.

4. Optimism in fictional works.

           
      A. Lack or abundance?

    B. The effect?
       

5. Optimism in non-fiction documents, speeches, etc.

   A. Lack or abundance?
    
    B. The effect?
    
6. The importance of the theme of  optimism since 1493.
   
   A. What did we find out?

            1. How the optimism/lack of optimism effected us.
   
              2. Did it seem coherent, crucial, or unnecessary to the stories?

    B. Closing statements.

          1. End.   

Ovid's View of the God's Ethical Performance

" What was Ovid's view of the god's ethical performance?"



     He never states his view formally in Metamorphoses, but we can get a pretty clear idea from the stories that he chooses for his poem.  The stories that he chooses are extremely lacking in ethical performance.

     Let's take the story of Jupiter and Io as an example.  The god Jupiter rapes Io and tries to hide the evil deed from his wife.

     For the lack of ethics in these stories I assume that he didn't think highly of the god's ethical performance.

Thank you so much for reading this essay, and please let me know what you think of it!

The Libation Bearers (Orestes)

"What would have been Orestes' proper course of action had he been living today?  Why?"

     In the Libation Bearers, we see a man named Orestes attempting to avenge his father's death by killing his mother and her lover.  Orestes' mother, Clytemnestra, had killed his father to avenge the death of her daughter.  Orestes' father, Agamemnon, had killed the girl in hope of appeasing the gods.

     Well, if this was today, all these people would be in prison.  The proper course of action would be to go to the court system.  More likely, the court system would come to you if they knew of a murder that you were involved in.  They would not just stand around like a Dodo bird and do nothing.  (I mean no deceased Dodo birds offence by this statement.)

     His course of action would have been to report the murder of his father, testify in court, and see his mother go to prison.  Then, and only then, could he live a happy, regret-free, and worry-free life.

     Today, the proper course of action would be to not go into "serial killer mode".  If you did this, then you would be no better than the people/person that had committed the gruesome act that brought upon another's doom.

     Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!