Writing a literary analysis essay will allow you to examine questioned posed by our readings and our class discussions in depth. In sharing an essay based on a clear and provable thesis statement, you will be providing your reading audience with your ideas about what your selected text(s) means according to specific criteria. Consequently, ENG 230 students will be required to write a two-page double-spaced essay inspired by one of the following eight writing prompts to demonstrate their ability to make logical argument. All essays must be written according to MLA format. Your essay will have a cover page, a bibliographic page, have properly numbered pages. Click here for a link that helps students with setting up their essays according to MLA format.
Also, your essay will present between two full double-spaced pages and three pages written text -- not a line less and not a line more.
The essay will be due on May 12, 2017 at 11:59 pm and delivered through Blackboard.
It must be submitted as an uploaded file with one of the following extensions: .doc, .docx, .wps,.RTF, .PDF Do not use GoogleDocs to submit your file! I can only grade essays I can open.
PICK ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS
- Explain how Medea as a play fits ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's definition of tragedy. How does this play inspire "pity [for unmerited suffering] and fear [for the suffering of someone like ourselves]" as Aristotle says?
- Can the Iliad be regarded as an anti-war story? What understanding of war do characters generally have? What are identified as in the text as good reasons for war? What you think about these reasons?
- The question of Hamlet's sanity has been a topic of debate ever since Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was first performed. Where do you stand in this debate? Is Hamlet insane? Is Hamlet merely a sane person pretending to be insane? Does Hamlet - in ways he can scarcely control - cross the line from sanity to insanity? As you join this debate, define insanity and explain why it is an important element of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
- Hamlet's "[t]o be or, not to be" soliloquy (III.i.56-88; pgs. 1035 -1036 is one of the more famous and analyzed passages in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Throughout this passage, a philosophical question reverberates, namely, is suicide an ethical and effective choice? To what degree does this passage support suicide as a viable choice? On the other hand, to what degree does this passage suggest that most human beings choose to live despite being weighed down by "a sea of troubles" (III.i.59; pg. 1035)? What argument has Hamlet offered by the end of this soliloquy? How do you interpret this argument?
- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is performed and taught repeatedly; and "the delay" in this play has been a significant part of this teaching and performance. What causes this delay exactly? Is it Hamlet's state of mind, his use of strategy, or both?