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Name
Mr. Alsedek
Honors English III-535
June 2016
Summer Reading Assignment
Texts
Beowulf. Trans. Seamus Heaney.
ISBN 0393320979
Ovid. The Metamorphoses. Trans. Horace Gregory. Books I-IV
ISBN 978-0451531452
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein
ISBN 978-0141439471
Please make sure to have a physical copy the editions specified above for class.
Instructions: Read the texts listed above by the middle of August. Write an essay in response to
only one of the essay prompts attached; submit reading notes written in full sentences. Include
important passages. Please follow the structure of the text in creating your notes. For example,
for Frankenstein use the letters and chapters to subdivide your summaries, including page
ranges, e.g., Letters 1-3 (16-32).
Please submit your assignments on turnitin.com by August 23rd. The class id number is
1288825, and the password is cardinal. Format and submit your notes and essay as two separate
assignments.
Make sure to substantiate your essay argument with evidence (passages and paraphrased
context) from the texts. A combination of at least three per paragraph is suggested. Use correct
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MLA citation for all passages and paraphrases. Use the template attached to the end of this
document. When quoting and citing text from Beowulf, apply the following format:
For up to three lines of verse (the lines of poetry as they appear in the text), offset the
passage from your prose with quotation marks, indicate the ends of lines with backslashes, and
cite the line numbers. E.g., After landing in Denmark, Beowulf reveals his heritage to the
watchman: “…my father was a famous man,/ a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow” (262-3).
For more than three lines of verse, reduplicate the entire passage as it appears in the text
(including lineation and capitalization), setting off the passage from your prose by tabbing the
entire passage in 1 inch; do not use quotation marks, unless they are the author’s. Cite as above.
E.g. After landing in Denmark, Beowulf reveals his heritage and allegiances to a Danish
watchman:
We belong by birth to the Geat people
and owe allegiance to Hygelac.
In his day, my father was a famous man,
a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow. (260-4)
Essay Prompts:
1. Beowulf, although technically not an Epic, embodies several Anglo-Saxon values. How do
Beowulf, Hrothgar, and Wiglaf’s actions each embody a specific value?
2. Choose three larger sequences from The Metamorphoses that share a common subject: hubris,
lust, vengeance, rebellion, social transgression, divine retribution, apt justice, etc. Using the text
argue how each manifests that subject. As you present the second and third sequence, make sure
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to compare and contrast them to the prior sequence(s). Cite page numbers; you may refer to each
sequence by the helpful subtitles the translator provides.
3. Compare Frankenstein and his creature: what experiences and expressed attitudes make them
similar? Make sure to note how the creature differs from his maker in either quality or intensity.
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First name Last name
Mr. Alsedek
535
16 August 2013
Subject in Text
This template contains pre-settings for the essential features of MLA format: margins,
indentations, font, line spacing, and widow/orphan control.
To use this template, select "File--Save As" and save the template under a new name.
Then use type-over insertions to replace the header, information block, and title. Finally, replace
the text in the body of the template by using type-over insertions, or delete the body text in
blocks. (Hint: Leave the sample block quotation in place to preserve its paragraph indentation as
a model. Use type-over insertions in the bibliography to preserve the hanging indentations.)
Quotations less than four lines in length “Require the use of quotation marks encompassing any
special punctuation (i.e., question and exclamation marks and ellipses) but not periods” (Teacher
24). Here is a sample block quotation:
A quotation that occupies more than four typed lines should be indented one inch
(or ten spaces) from the left margin. It should be double spaced, without quotation
marks at the beginning and end of the quoted material. Its right margin should be
set at 1". Its parenthetical citation should be placed after the block's last item of
punctuation. (Name 16)
I suggest printing this template to make sure that your printer is properly configured to
produce an MLA page. It should produce 27 lines on this page, plus the header.
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Works Cited
Doe, John R. Title of a Sample Book. Trans. Seamus Heaney. City: Publisher, Year. Print.