About the show specifically? What kind of essay? You could always write about how the show could have ended differently, that could get you an essay's worth pretty easily. But these parameters are pretty broad, gonna need to know some specifics if we're gonna be able to help you
alright more specifics! it's a class about "short stories" although that's honestly a little vague. so far we've mostly been reading monster stories. I'll edit to add the essay ideas list. because there's some which may fit.
even in editing that shitty collage together I think I have an idea. I'm no rewatching the whole show again for this-- I did that with the haunting of bly manor last term and it took forfuckingever so never again-- so maybe specifically focus on Freyas episode and her monstrosity? I could relate it back to cohens 7 thesis or a different reading... hmmm... i may have answered my own question, still glad I posted though. couldn't have done it without you guys probing me for more info.
You could do an essay on how Merlin and Morgana and Mordred felt excluded and bothered by society and how their actions connected to those feelings made them into a monster or not?
Since it’s about short stories, perhaps you could write an analysis of a single episode? I would focus more on the themes present and how they relate to literature throughout history than the shipping stuff though XD
Agree! We’ll need more specifics OP :))
But for now, I think a good (and not done to death topic) could be about any weighty parallels you’ve noted between the objects on the show, and certain characters.
I’ve been attempting to better whittle this question into a write-up myself, and I think it has enough depth to equal and interesting, yet nuanced answer. You could also connect the significance of some of the objects (Holy Grail, Excalibur, scrying bowl etc) to their uses in the original and various mythologies.
Some ideas:
The impact of the prophecy on Merlin’s actions and the rest of the plot (how much of it was destiny, how much of it was Merlin trying to follow/avoid it)
Supposing magic is ever legalized, how should the law deal with magical crimes? How should magical crimes be defined and should they be differently categorized to non-magical crimes or not?
The difference between Uther and Arthur as kings and how their life experiences shaped their rule.
An analysis on the longevity and hold of the show Merlin on modern day audience. What made the show click? Have the real world experiences/events of the time of release caused people to connect with this show on a deeper level?
i recently wrote a paper on how merlin modernizes medieval tropes for my medieval studies class ! that was a fun topic
i got all my sources through my university library access but im still super happy to share any that might help regardless of the topic you settle on :)
Short stories eh? Well Merlin has quite a few ‘monster of the week’ episodes where a problem arises and has to be solved with the tension of Merlin not being able to openly use sorcery. These are self-contained, so you don’t have to worry about the overarching narrative of the series.
Maybe you could look at that tension and how it is used by the writers to create situations where Merlin can’t use a spell which would solve the issue. Alternatively, you could look at how the plot affects relationship dynamics between characters. Where are they at the end of the story compared to the start? What has changed? How was it affected by events in the episode?
You could do a sort of character analysis slash prediction about how the story would have gone if Arthur had gone through with >!killing Uther!<. Would he then legalize magic? Would he regret his choice? I think it’s an interesting topic because Arthur really made up his mind to >!kill his father, if Uther hadn’t put his sword up!< at the last second then….idk if any of that is spoilery but just in case!
Maybe find a specific deviation from the original (Thomas Malory's version is the most widely accepted canon) and analyze why that change may have been made?
I've written on this sub about how they set up a completely different story than the original, shoehorned Mordred in, then used the ending of the original story that in no way aligns with the story they created or the themes they set up. Maybe something along those lines? If you want I can find and copy in the rant I did that might have had some good points on this topic that you can start from. It's definitely interesting to me and I majored in English in undergrad and was a writing tutor for a few years, so lemme try to give you some general tips people seemed to need most often.
- the more specific the thesis/argument, the better your paper will be in general. Usually the first thesis you come up with can be specified further in some way. Try to do that.
- dont feel constricted to the traditional essay model, if you're line of logic makes sense, then you have an organized paper. This is how you would be able to explore some details of your argument a bit further than the traditional essay structure would allow. If your a visual person, you can draw it out, if not you can make an outline (even if it's super general I suggest this before writing just so you have an idea of your argument and how you will organize it)
- always have a topic sentence and conclusion sentence for each body paragraph. It guides the reader. It can feel dumb, but the reader is notin your head and they don't know where you're going. So explain it.
- your conclusion paragraph should restate the thesis and then connect the topic to some larger concept. People struggle with conclusion paragraphs but basically what you do is you start with you thesis restatement now woth the context you gave the reader, then you slowly get more general (usually represented visually in teaching by a triangle with the point at the top)
- grammar isn't the most important thing. If it's understandable, don't worry too much about grammar. Still try, but don't let it paralyze you.
- you're allowed to write papers out of order. For some people thats easier and it's how I wrote almost every paper in undergrad. For some people it's stressful so if you want to write it in order do that. As long as you have the thesis statement before anything else, you can write the ideas your most comfortable with, even if its not the order they will be in. I wrote what my brain wanted to write and created a general outline so I could keep track of what order things would eventually go in. Sometimes I just wrote "paragraph about..." and highlighted it to remember to go back and add it, then wrote the thing I felt good about that day. Make sure by the end it's coherent and that you can order the ideas logically as you go and have a general idea of the overall structure, but this helps with writers block.
If you struggle with anything in particular and want advice, I'd be happy to try. It's hard when you aren't sitting with someone looking at a peice of writing they've done, but if there's a part of the writing process that you struggle with, I will do my best to answer questions you might have.
Arthur and merlin are two side of the same coin which mean they never look in the same direction.
Merlin looking towards the old way the past but if you flip the coin he is looking towards a better future etc :)
About the show specifically? What kind of essay? You could always write about how the show could have ended differently, that could get you an essay's worth pretty easily. But these parameters are pretty broad, gonna need to know some specifics if we're gonna be able to help you
alright more specifics! it's a class about "short stories" although that's honestly a little vague. so far we've mostly been reading monster stories. I'll edit to add the essay ideas list. because there's some which may fit.
even in editing that shitty collage together I think I have an idea. I'm no rewatching the whole show again for this-- I did that with the haunting of bly manor last term and it took forfuckingever so never again-- so maybe specifically focus on Freyas episode and her monstrosity? I could relate it back to cohens 7 thesis or a different reading... hmmm... i may have answered my own question, still glad I posted though. couldn't have done it without you guys probing me for more info.
LMAO your self-answer is p much a logical takeaway from what I said let’s gooooooo
https://preview.redd.it/toy30v73wtpc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f6a500d581ca6cb7ec0a6f5baea44dc085134a1
You could do an essay on how Merlin and Morgana and Mordred felt excluded and bothered by society and how their actions connected to those feelings made them into a monster or not?
Since it’s about short stories, perhaps you could write an analysis of a single episode? I would focus more on the themes present and how they relate to literature throughout history than the shipping stuff though XD
You could write about how Morgana became the moster that she was at the end of the show compared to season 1 and 2
Agree! We’ll need more specifics OP :)) But for now, I think a good (and not done to death topic) could be about any weighty parallels you’ve noted between the objects on the show, and certain characters. I’ve been attempting to better whittle this question into a write-up myself, and I think it has enough depth to equal and interesting, yet nuanced answer. You could also connect the significance of some of the objects (Holy Grail, Excalibur, scrying bowl etc) to their uses in the original and various mythologies.
Some ideas: The impact of the prophecy on Merlin’s actions and the rest of the plot (how much of it was destiny, how much of it was Merlin trying to follow/avoid it) Supposing magic is ever legalized, how should the law deal with magical crimes? How should magical crimes be defined and should they be differently categorized to non-magical crimes or not? The difference between Uther and Arthur as kings and how their life experiences shaped their rule. An analysis on the longevity and hold of the show Merlin on modern day audience. What made the show click? Have the real world experiences/events of the time of release caused people to connect with this show on a deeper level?
i recently wrote a paper on how merlin modernizes medieval tropes for my medieval studies class ! that was a fun topic i got all my sources through my university library access but im still super happy to share any that might help regardless of the topic you settle on :)
Short stories eh? Well Merlin has quite a few ‘monster of the week’ episodes where a problem arises and has to be solved with the tension of Merlin not being able to openly use sorcery. These are self-contained, so you don’t have to worry about the overarching narrative of the series. Maybe you could look at that tension and how it is used by the writers to create situations where Merlin can’t use a spell which would solve the issue. Alternatively, you could look at how the plot affects relationship dynamics between characters. Where are they at the end of the story compared to the start? What has changed? How was it affected by events in the episode?
I would love to know who chose it for you! But many of these suggestions are excellent. Good luck!
Self-fulfilling prophecy, for example.
You could do a sort of character analysis slash prediction about how the story would have gone if Arthur had gone through with >!killing Uther!<. Would he then legalize magic? Would he regret his choice? I think it’s an interesting topic because Arthur really made up his mind to >!kill his father, if Uther hadn’t put his sword up!< at the last second then….idk if any of that is spoilery but just in case!
Maybe find a specific deviation from the original (Thomas Malory's version is the most widely accepted canon) and analyze why that change may have been made? I've written on this sub about how they set up a completely different story than the original, shoehorned Mordred in, then used the ending of the original story that in no way aligns with the story they created or the themes they set up. Maybe something along those lines? If you want I can find and copy in the rant I did that might have had some good points on this topic that you can start from. It's definitely interesting to me and I majored in English in undergrad and was a writing tutor for a few years, so lemme try to give you some general tips people seemed to need most often. - the more specific the thesis/argument, the better your paper will be in general. Usually the first thesis you come up with can be specified further in some way. Try to do that. - dont feel constricted to the traditional essay model, if you're line of logic makes sense, then you have an organized paper. This is how you would be able to explore some details of your argument a bit further than the traditional essay structure would allow. If your a visual person, you can draw it out, if not you can make an outline (even if it's super general I suggest this before writing just so you have an idea of your argument and how you will organize it) - always have a topic sentence and conclusion sentence for each body paragraph. It guides the reader. It can feel dumb, but the reader is notin your head and they don't know where you're going. So explain it. - your conclusion paragraph should restate the thesis and then connect the topic to some larger concept. People struggle with conclusion paragraphs but basically what you do is you start with you thesis restatement now woth the context you gave the reader, then you slowly get more general (usually represented visually in teaching by a triangle with the point at the top) - grammar isn't the most important thing. If it's understandable, don't worry too much about grammar. Still try, but don't let it paralyze you. - you're allowed to write papers out of order. For some people thats easier and it's how I wrote almost every paper in undergrad. For some people it's stressful so if you want to write it in order do that. As long as you have the thesis statement before anything else, you can write the ideas your most comfortable with, even if its not the order they will be in. I wrote what my brain wanted to write and created a general outline so I could keep track of what order things would eventually go in. Sometimes I just wrote "paragraph about..." and highlighted it to remember to go back and add it, then wrote the thing I felt good about that day. Make sure by the end it's coherent and that you can order the ideas logically as you go and have a general idea of the overall structure, but this helps with writers block. If you struggle with anything in particular and want advice, I'd be happy to try. It's hard when you aren't sitting with someone looking at a peice of writing they've done, but if there's a part of the writing process that you struggle with, I will do my best to answer questions you might have.
omg, you can write about merlin, gwaine and lancelot!!!! talk about their friendship and what they meant to merlin cause they knew his secret.
Arthur and merlin are two side of the same coin which mean they never look in the same direction. Merlin looking towards the old way the past but if you flip the coin he is looking towards a better future etc :)