Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Spring 2019 | Paper 1

Due: Saturday, February 16 at 5:00 PM in your conference leader’s Eliot Hall mailbox

Target length: 1500–1800 words

Note: It is expected that your paper will engage with both the assigned texts and the lectures.

1. Drawing your evidence from a close visual analysis of no more than two “pages” of the Tira de la Peregrinación or the first section of the Codex Mendoza, analyze the relationships between space, time, and human action. You may want to consider how your interpretation informs our understanding of these texts’ larger narratives of migration or political history.

2. Compare the Coyolxauhqui and Tlatecuhtli monoliths found on the site of the Templo Mayor. You should pay close attention to the visual details of both, including the artists’ use of space, shape, line, and (where possible) color, and the monoliths’ representation of the body of the divine. You should also discuss how the monoliths relate to other sculptural and architectural elements of the Templo Mayor and to the rituals of sacrifice that took place at this site. Considered not simply as material objects but as actors in their own right, how do these sculptures help shape the cosmic order?

3. Do a close reading of Song 3, “Another to the same tone, a plain one” (Bierhorst, p. 139), paying particular attention to how performance and the idea of a “flower and song” genre are crucial for understanding the text.

In addition to consulting with your conference leader, you can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. You can find links to the Writing Center hours on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the week leading up to paper due dates.