Four General Topics to Analyze in Shakespeare's Play - Essay Writing Assignment

Ironic parallels between characters

There are four general categories for the topics (character, imagery, directing [of play]), each of which has options. Choose ONE of these options.

I. Ironic parallels between characters: develop an essay in which you analyze moments in the play when, counter-intuitively, two characters are set in ironic parallel – often two characters who are very different, if not outright opposed: e.g., Shylock and Antonio; Antonio and Portia; Lorenzo and Portia; Antonio and Bassanio; etc.     
You could organize the essay around one pair of characters or more than one pair – e.g., each paragraph could look at a different pair, your argument being grounded in very particular moments of the play.
The moments of ironic parallel are brief in the play – often amounting to just one line. However, to make critical sense of the parallel, you’d need to discuss the characters roles more generally – as they lead up to such moments. 
You also need to make a thesis about these ironic parallels: WHY does Shakespeare set up these moments? Consider the complications of theme(s) involved, as well as character. 
This is NOT an essay merely comparing any two characters for any number of reasons; rather, it is an essay exploring the moments of uncanny similarity of lines spoken by otherwise radically different characters.

II.  Analyze the use of ONE of the following cases of imagery/language use in the play:
a) “bond” and “ring” 
b) “fair” and “fortune”
c) bigoted/racist imagery (e.g. animal imagery used in reference to and by Shylock; racist imagery used in reference to Morocco and others, etc.)
You must choose a) OR b) OR c): the essay cannot be composed of all three.
This topic requires that you make connections between particular words (imagery) and theme(s) in the play. You need to examine the language of the play carefully and do specific analyses of words and speeches. You need to connect the specific cases of the use of the imagery and the general context of the speech, scene, play. 

III.  Imagine you are the director of a production of the play. How do you get the various characters off-stage at the very end? Explain your decisions about exit strategies with reference to themes in the play and character roles. That is, you need to justify your directorial decisions by considering the characters’ roles in the whole play and the themes involved. 
You may refer to Sennet’s essay on the play, the essay by Robert Smallwood that we discussed in class, the film version of the play we watched and the essay by Alexander Leggat in the Signet edition of the play assigned in this course. You may refer to all these or none, but you may NOT merely copy/use their arguments. You must have your own “exit strategies”. Reference to any of these essays must conform to academic standards – with MLA footnotes/endnotes/works cited/ bibliography formats. Plagiarism will be strictly penalized. 

IV. Discuss the theme of gender and sexuality in the play focusing on specific characters and scenes. That is, analyze and interpret cases in the play when characters cross conventional gender lines, when they challenge stereotypes of gender and sexuality (of hetero-normativity). This happens mostly, but not exclusively, in the comic-erotic use of language (irony, double entendre) and in costume/disguise. Consider the thematic implications of genre: comedy as resolving problems through transformation/recreation; the undoing of restrictive, punitive structures and rules for a more life-affirming, dynamic liberty; the triumph of wish, desire and the sensual (the heart-body) over merely rational, normative, static and stable (head-ideological).

Objectives of assignment:

To write a well-organized, insightful essay, which includes specific references to the text and quotations.  Check your essay carefully for the following: clear, explicit, direct, complete thesis statement in an introduction; logical sequencing in paragraphing; fully developed paragraphs (there should be 3-5, which include several quotes and/or references); correct grammar (verb tenses and forms; spelling; correct, varied syntax). 

Specifically:

1. To identify and analyze the significant devices and techniques  (such as character(s), imagery, theme(s), irony)  which are relevant to your thesis;

2. To formulate an introduction and a thesis statement which clearly establish an  argument that needs to be proven;

3. To organize your ideas effectively into unified and coherent paragraphs that develop your thesis logically and fully;

4. To use sufficient and pertinent textual evidence in the form of quotations and accurate paraphrases in order to develop and support an argument;  and to use quotations properly;

5. To use appropriate terminology in the analysis;

6. To edit your writing in order to avoid grammatical errors and syntactic ambiguity.