English 112.3 Essay One Prep and Essay One Assignment
Essay One Prep Assignment:
Do not look at secondary sources / other people’s ideas about the play. Do not Google or Wikipedia it, or consult any other secondary material. If you have questions about words or references in the play that a dictionary cannot answer, ask me.
Read through the instructions for essay one. Choose one of the topics to write on.
Read / reread the play, check words in the dictionary, think about the specific topic and what you find in the play that relates to it. Do an annotation exercise and / or a freewriting exercise if you wish, to get your ideas percolating (see the Essay Process Slides). Then, create a basic outline for your essay. The outline should include a working thesis statement that shows your reader what main message the play sends in terms of your topic, how it sends it, and why it is significant or important (perhaps in tension with a more straightforward or traditional reading). The outline should also include three or four potential topics for paragraphs. Begin with a claim for each paragraph and list the specific evidence from the play you have found to back it up. This outline is your Essay One Prep Assignment; it is due 9 February 2018.
Essay One Assignment:
Taking into account the feedback you have received from your Prep Assignment, write an essay of approximately 750 words in which you make a clear and specific argument about your chosen topic. You are not to use secondary sources for this assignment; instead, you are to rely on your own careful reading of and ideas about the text. Consulting internet or other sources for this essay constitutes plagiarism. Do not plagiarize. You are welcome to use information and ideas from class lectures and discussions, and you are welcome to use a dictionary. The essay should have a clear thesis statement and topic sentences, an introduction, a conclusion, a title, an MLA style Works Cited, and most importantly, a coherent, interesting, and thoughtful argument that is backed up by solid and convincing evidence. Essays will be evaluated on the strength of the arguments presented as well as on the presentation itself (format, organization, style, grammar, punctuation, etc.). Please ensure that you proofread your essay carefully for mistakes and typos. Please talk to me in person or via email if you have any questions or ideas that you would like to run by me. Essay One is due 28 February 2018
Topics:
- Choose one of Oedipus Rex, Lysistrata, or Othello and write an essay that makes an argument about the importance of identity in the play. Is identity important and what is it tied to? Think about how characters know who they are and how they define themselves and others. Do all the characters understand identity in the same way? Does the play suggest that some characters have a better, worse, or more useful or detrimental understanding?
- Choose one of Oedipus Rex, Lysistrata, or Othello and write an essay that makes an argument about the significance of love / human connection in the play. Think about what kind(s) of love is important? Why? What does love lead to? Does the play suggest characters should love certain kinds of people? That they should love only in certain ways?
- Choose one of Oedipus Rex, Lysistrata, or Othello and write an essay that focuses on a particular set of imagery, comparisons, or figurative language and makes an argument about the effect of the play’s usage of it. For this topic, you might begin by going through your chosen play again and looking for images / comparisons that are repeated. Think about which characters or events are associated with the images, whether it shows up in positive or negative situations, whether it tends to have the same kind of meanings throughout or if it changes.
