ENGL 2122/Midterm Makeup

Choose one of the following options, and pick either Romantic of Victorian, but not both. Your response should be 2-3 pages or equivalent in creative work. Submit to me as an attachment via email by the due date.

Option 1: Creative Rewriting

Romantic Period: Take one poem from the Romantic period (Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, or Keats) and rewrite it from a modern perspective. This could involve transforming a Romantic theme (nature, imagination, beauty, revolution) into a 21st-century context. After your rewrite, include a 1-2 page explanation of the choices you made in your reinterpretation and how it connects to the original work's themes and style.

Victorian Period: Select a Victorian poem or work (Tennyson, Browning, Hopkins, Arnold, Rossetti, Wilde) and rewrite it from the perspective of one of the minor or secondary characters, giving them a voice. In your 1-2 page explanation, discuss how this new perspective sheds light on the original text's themes, especially as they relate to issues of power, gender, or societal norms.

Option 2: Thematic Analysis

Romantic Period: Write a short analysis of how the Romantic poets you have studied might respond to a contemporary issue, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, or social justice. Use evidence from at least two poets’ works (e.g., Wordsworth's relationship to nature, Shelley's revolutionary ideals) to support your ideas.

Victorian Period: Compare how two Victorian writers address the theme of progress or industrialization. What are their views on the direction society is headed? Apply these perspectives to a modern issue, such as technology, globalization, or environmental degradation, and explain how their critiques or anxieties still resonate today.

Option 3: Artistic Representation

Visual Art: Create a visual piece (drawing, painting, digital artwork, etc.) that represents one of the major themes from the Romantic or Victorian period. You could focus on themes like the sublime, isolation, faith and doubt, or societal expectations. Write a 1-2 page artist’s statement explaining the symbolism and thematic relevance of your artwork, linking it to specific works from your reading.