Dr. Weller's Wish list for Student Presentations on Early Seventeenth Century Literature.

[Of course you are free to choose your own topic from any of the pieces that belong to the Early Seventeenth Century.]

1. Donne, "The Flea"—Each stanza is a stage in a dramatic confrontation between the speaker and his audience.
2. Donne, "The Good-Morrow"—Why do these two "watch . . . one another"?
3. Donne, "The Canonization"—Is this guy serious? Does he have any good reason to think that he is a saint?
4. Donne, "The Apparition"—Donne thinks this is funny. Do you?
5. Donne, "The Ectasy"—On the relationship between the soul and the body.
6. Donne, "A Lecture upon the Shadow"—Is his conclusion comforting or frightening?
7. Donne, "Elegy 19. To His Mistress Going to Bed"—Sexy or not?
8. Donne, Holy Sonnets, #10 ("Death, be not proud, thou some have callèd thee")—This is probably the most famous of Donne's Holy Sonnets. Why do you think that is?
9. Jonson, "On My First Son"—Tear-jerker?
10. Jonson, "Inviting a Friend to Supper"—Would you accept the invitation?
11. Herbert, "Easter Wings"—A curiosity or real poetry?
12. Herbert, "The Collar"—The best of Herbert, I think.
13. Carew, "A Rapture"—Beware: The sexiest poem in all of English Literature.
14. Milton, Paradise Lost—If you are going to tackle this Christian epic, I suggest focusing on just one book, 9.