Examine Theseus’s fascination with order, and his profound fear of disorder, taking into account his social rank and chivalric duties.

TOPIC A:

ORDER AND PASSION IN THE “KNIGHT’S TALE” Chaucer’s Knight seems concerned with order and there are noticeable attempts in the “General Prologue” and in the tale the character narrates to make sense of what seems to be ruled by chance or the passions.

As the Knight’s spokesperson, Theseus has a sequence of codes for coping with life’s unruliness. Under all these codes, however, there lurks intense fear for anarchy which is repressed beneath the story’s controlled narrative style.

• Examine Theseus’s fascination with order (both civic and cosmic), and his profound fear of disorder, taking into account his social rank and chivalric duties.

Consider, in particular, how successful this model sovereign, Christian, conqueror, and courtly lover, is in preserving the order he reveres.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

The following criteria will be taken into consideration in evaluating your paper:

a. The clarity of your argument in the introduction and throughout the essay

b. The analysis and discussion of your thesis and the ideas you introduce as supporting evidence

c. Your facility with language, especially the analysis and relation of your ideas to the topic

d. Your facility with grammar and the conventions of critical writing

e. The effectiveness and depth of your argument overall—its introduction, development, analysis, argumentation, and conclusion

WRITING MECHANICS:

• Your paper should be 5-7 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, and neatly presented. It should be saved as a Word document and emailed to me.

• Literary evidence in the original Middle English should be properly cited and integrated into your text.

• Consult the MLA style for writing academic papers and relevant handouts posted on the blog that address academic writing and critical analysis.

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