This document provides three essay topics related to Renaissance literature and thought. The first topic asks the reader to discuss what Montaigne would think of the Mayan ball game in which losers were sacrificed, based on his essay "Of Cannibals." The second topic asks the reader to agree, disagree, or modify a statement about Caliban and Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The third topic prompts the reader to imagine a dialogue between Prospero and one of several Renaissance humanists on subjects like education.

1. Write a well-developed essay of at least 4-5 solid, long
paragraphs on ONE of the topics below.
1. Relying upon Montaigne's "Of Cannibals," discuss what
Montaigne would make of the
Mayan ball game
, in which the loser, often a king or high official, would be
sacrificed to the gods.
2. Agree, disagree, or modify the following statement: "In
The Tempest
, Caliban represents the deprived colonial subject and Prospero,
the usurping European colonizer." Be sure to support your
argument with reference to speeches in the play.
3. Imagine a dialogue between Prospero and one or two of the
Renaissance humanists that we studied in this unit (Rabelais,
More, Cervantes, Machiavelli). You can create an actual
dialogue or write an essay that covers 2 or 3 subjects or ideas
that Prospero and the humanist might address. Here's just one
example: both Rabelais and Prospero address that key
Renaissance humanist concern, education. What do the two have
to say about the importance and nature of education?