Compare and contrast the ways that early women writers fly in the face of conventionality or risk their status and even lives to challenge status quo. Choose three women writers from before 1700s (up to p. 123 in your text) to demonstrate the ways these early writers blazed a trail for later independence. Set them into their context culturally speaking and demonstrate the conditions under which they were operating. How do these women view themselves? How are they viewed by those around them? Be sure to build your argument using specific quotes from the primary text. Try not to rely on your editors, Gilbert and Gubar, except for factual information and in such cases, cite them using MLA8.

1. Compare and contrast the ways that early women writers fly in the face of conventionality or risk their status and even lives to challenge status quo. Choose three women writers from before 1700s (up to p. 123 in your text) to demonstrate the ways these early writers blazed a trail for later independence. Set them into their context culturally speaking and demonstrate the conditions under which they were operating. How do these women view themselves? How are they viewed by those around them? Be sure to build your argument using specific quotes from the primary text. Try not to rely on your editors, Gilbert and Gubar, except for factual information and in such cases, cite them using MLA8. (CCOs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

2. Choose at least three of the female writers from the Middle Ages to the end of the 1600s (pp. 1-123) and explain the ways their works are universal, exploring contexts that are still relevant to us today, whether as women, as artists, or simply as people. Be sure to incorporate relevant, interesting quotes with in-text citations as laid out by MLA8 guide. Seek three who share some thematic relevance rather than simply claiming that they are relevant. Find a common thread such as attitudes toward religion, sex, marriage, or child bearing, e.g. You are welcome to discover your own common thread: those are simply suggestions. Be sure to place these women in their context in terms of what they were up against as opposed to what we today are up against. Remember to avoid using first person references when discussing modern day. (CCOs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

3. Choose three writers from the Middle Ages to the end of the 1600s and examine the ways religion and the church intersect their lives. They may be writers who follow the dominant religion or find themselves at odds with their society. Consider the ways religion shapes them, shapes their voice, and determines their paths as writers and as women. In what ways are their lives transformed by their religion? In what ways are they empowered by their religious beliefs when compared to other women of the time? (CCOs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

4. Choose three writers who redefine womanhood by fighting in male terms in a male world. We have read the words of women who fought back or who assumed male robes, so to speak, to engage in a male world, be it on the battlefield or elsewhere. Queen Elizabeth I, for example, addresses her troops on the battlefield, using language to appeal to that audience; Anne Askew engages the language of warfare to describe her spiritual battle. Rachel Speght is undaunted by the gauntlet laid down by Joseph Swetnam�s misogyny: she confronts him blow for blow; and, well, Juliana Berners is Juliana Berners. She�s got feminist clout, operating in her own world! There are countless examples. I only name a few. Choose three to describe in terms of their ability or willingness to operate in a man�s world on man�s terms, shunning or at least redefining their proscribed roles. (CCOs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)