Canvas for deadline information

Comedy (Q3253E)

Essay Questions

Essay length: 1,500 words
Deadline: Please see Sussex Direct and Canvas for deadline information

Submission: Your essay should be submitted online, via the module’s Canvas site.

Please select a question from the list below. Your essay must discuss texts studied on this module. In some cases, essay questions invite discussion of more than one text, but other questions may be better answered through close analysis of a single text. Please ask your seminar tutor if you are uncertain about the number of texts to discuss, or which to choose.

Essay Questions

1. In your essay, demonstrate how one or more of the theories of humour (i.e. superiority, relief and incongruity) operate through a close reading of one of the texts studied on the module.

2. With reference to Bakhtin, your essay will offer a close reading of the carnivalesque features of one or more of the texts studied on this module.

3. With close reference to texts and theories studied on this module, write an essay on the significance of failure in comic narratives.

4. Consider the role of violence in physical comic forms (e.g. slapstick). How are the effects of violence militated against to provoke laughter?

5. To what extent do comic texts produce critical challenges to patriarchal or class structures? In your answer you should refer closely to texts studied on the module.

7. Comedy often tends operate on the edge of seriousness, if not outright tragedy. Discuss the relationship between comedy and more serious literary or dramatic forms (e.g. drama or tragedy) in your essay. Be sure to reference texts studied on the module.

8. Drawing on ideas put forward by Bergson, Morreall or other critics explored this term, explain how a text or performance might illicit comic amusement and/or laughter in a reader or audience.

Your essay will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Clear and appropriate structure
• Use of appropriate conceptual frameworks
• Contextualised and substantiated argument
• Critical analysis
• Appropriate use of examples and evidence
• Evidence of appropriate reading and research
• Full bibliography of all materials consulted
• Accurate referencing according to your chosen form
• Accurate spelling, punctuation and syntax
• Appropriate original ideas and insights
• Clear, lucid expression

Please consult your tutor or the module convenor if you have questions about the essay.

Further support on essay writing can be found at Skills Hub: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=256&site=normal

Key Points to Remember:

• Use your introduction to explore the title and its terms as well.

• Make sure every paragraph addresses the essay’s title – avoid digression and answer all aspects of the title.

• Beware of spending all your time describing but never reflecting on and analysing your points: make sure that you support every suggestion with argument and evidence. You need to be critical and avoid superficial observations and generalizations. Be specific.

• You should research the issues raised by the essay’s title in order to offer suitable justifications for your arguments: each essay must include a bibliography formatted according to an accepted style, e.g. MHRA style. You can download a free copy of the guide here: http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/download.shtml

• You may use any material studied on the module (including trips, screenings, etc.) in your arguments. However you must ensure to contextualize these examples in a way that could be understood by readers outside the module; don’t assume your reader will know the performance/material you reference.

• Treat your chosen topic sensitively: it is complex and should not be reduced to simple positions.

• Make sure your essay is double-spaced and that it adheres to the word count. Footnotes and bibliography are not part of the word count.