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School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Formative Essay Titles

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

In addition to the summative assignment that you may be REQUIRED to submit for this module, you have the OPTION to write a formative assignment from the list of questions given below. Please note that formative assignments are for training purposes only and do not count as part of your final degree classification.

We strongly recommend that you submit a formative assignment as it will enable you to hone the skills developed in this module and to prepare for your summative assessment(s).



You may, If you wish, discuss the same text/thinker in a summative assignment as you have discussed in a piece of formative assignment, but you must not reproduce in part or whole any of your formative assignment in your summative assignment.


Please write a 1,200-1,500 word formative essay on ONE of the following questions.

  1. What are the root causes of the French Wars of Religion? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least two different types of sources (visual/textual, literary/historiographical, poetic/prose, …).
  2. To what extent, and in what way, are Erasmus’s ideas about war and/or peace reflected in Rabelais’s Gargantua (The Picrocholine War) OR Ronsard’s Discours des misères de ce temps?
  3. You may also propose a topic of your own or borrow/adapt one from a seminar worksheet, hand-out etc. Make sure, however, that your answer refers in detail to at least two Renaissance sources.

Submit your essay on Tabula by 27 November 2015 (click on the link)

MHRA Style Guide (download page)