MLA Outline Format
I. Thesis
A.
B.
C.
D.
Subtopic #1
Subtopic #2
Subtopic #3
Subtopic #4
II. Subtopic #1
A. Evidence 1a
1. Detail
a. More Detail
i. Even More Detail
ii. Even More Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
B. Evidence 1b
1. Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
C. Evidence 1c
1. Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
III. Subtopic #2
D. Evidence 1a
1. Detail
a. More Detail
i. Even More Detail
ii. Even More Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
E. Evidence 1b
1. Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
F. Evidence 1c
1. Detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
Oedipal Repression: The Chorus and the Reworked Memory
I. The chorus in Oedipus Rex serves as a figure for Oedipus’ repressed and repeatedly,
reimagined memories of his parentage, the murder at the crossroads, and the marital bed
that he shares with his mother.
A. Freudian theory of the subconscious
B. How choral pauses in the action of the play work and why.
C. Mistaken memory and hubris
II. The Freudian theory of the subconscious works as an apt literary theory that can be
used to decipher the role of the chorus in the play.
A. The chorus repeats the collective memory of the people of Thebes.
a. Recounting the plague
a. Devastation to the land
i. fields barren and no crops
ii. animals dying
iii. chorus also represents the voice of the people in Antigone
b. Recounting the riddle of the sphinx
c. Recounting the murder of Laius.
B. The chorus repeats events from an omniscient perspective.
a. Relates the emotions of the gods as they view action in the play
i. Comparison to Sappho’s Ode to Aphrodite
b. Recalls events that no single person could be present for
i. Murder of Laius
ii. Death of Jocasta
C. All the stories (repeated memories) of the chorus are driven by Oedipus’
personal history.
a. Oedipus’ rise to power
b. Oedipus’ birth and adoption
c. Oedipus’ peripetia and anagnorisis
ETC ETC ETC ………………………………………………………………………….
Possible Subtopics for the Oedipus Rex Paper:
Oedipus Rex
Antigone
Electra
The Aristotelian model of Tragedy
Five components of Tragedy: (Anagnorisis, Catharsis, Pathos, Hamartia, Peripeteia)
The Myth of the Fatal Flaw/Tragic Hero (Marsh McCall, podcast lecture)
The Greek Gods (mythweb.com)
Myth stories from other cultures and ages (pantheon.org)
What is Myth?
Surrealism and Dali (article)
Sappho and her poetry