Drama Essay assignment

The assignment is a 900-1000-word drama paper on the play August Wilson, Fences. A formal (third person) essay with YOUR opinion on something important. I would like it to focus on Rose Maxsons’ (the wife) point of view. I attached a literary criticisms from the database to use as one of the sources it is just the highlighted one by Joseph H Wessling and the book is going to be the other source. Below are the directions the other things to help, and the one criticism to be used and sourced.

**There are lots of details below but the main thing to know is to write a formal (third person) essay with YOUR opinion on something important about the assigned plays/dramas. Think about the following: is there a particular character you like or can identify with in the readings? Is there something about the setting ( the porch in Fences, that you like? Is there a certain theme that you think is present in one of them? Do you want to research and see if there is a connection with one of the author’s and their particular play or drama- can you identify it? What does the play or drama say about their time period in history? In Fences, think about the 50s and 60s and how society and how American race relations were changing. These are just some of many ideas to help generate thoughts and how to start your writings.

**Note the final essay are due to the assigned links by February 22.

You may NOT re-use an essay you have written for any previous class. Recycled essays will not be considered and will receive grades of zero.

Your drama essay should be 900-1000 words in length (not including the endorsement (heading) or Works Cited), follow MLA style for attributions, in-text citations, and Works Cited, follow the policies for formatting documents, and use present verb tense and third person (Use “the reader” or “readers,” not I, me, my, you, your, or yourself.).

Your drama essay will be a focused analysis of one of the following dramatic works. .

August Wilson, Fences

You MUST use quotations and/or paraphrases from the play in every body paragraph of your essay and one literary criticism of the play found in the TCTC Library databases to support your thesis in one body paragraph of your essay.

Unit 4 Essay Topics: If you would like to write an analysis on a topic not listed (it must be on one of the four plays assigned), please use College Email to email me your topic idea for pre-approval.

1. Choose a character, either major or minor, from one of the above plays to analyze. Some examples of what you could cover in a character analysis are: What function does this character serve in the work, and why is that significant? For example, is the character an antagonist, protagonist, or foil? How does the character change over the course of the work and why? What does this character show about the human psyche? What does this character reveal about gender roles or societal roles? Does this character fit into a specific role or does the character criticize the idea that we should or do fit into socially prescribed roles? *Please do not attempt to answer all of these questions in such a short essay.

2. Choose one of the dramas listed above and analyze one of its themes, keeping in mind that “every element of a playits title, its conflicts, its dialogue, its characters, and its stagingcan shed light on its themes.”

3. Analyze the purposes and value of justification in relation to an aspect of one drama listed above. For example, analyze the characters in Sweat. Is anger justified? What about the social dynamics make either one of these plays more real?

4. In these dramas, the action unfolds in a confined, isolated space. How does the confined setting influence the characters’ actions, reactions, and dialogue in one of the plays? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the confined setting in the play? What might the limited setting symbolize in the play?

5. Dramatic irony occurs when the main character(s) know less than readers do. Analyze the use of dramatic irony in one of the plays.

Critical sources are available within the and other TCTC library literature databases. Remember, you’ll need your T# to access the databases. Use the TCTC library databases for your research; no websites are allowed. For help finding sources, chat with a librarian using the chatbox under “Got a question?” on the .

Guidelines:

1. For this assignment, you may write about either of the two plays required for reading in the course. Again, you should have TWO sources on the Works Cited for this essay: the dramatic work from our online textbook and one critical source from the library’s databases. Cite each correctly.

2. Follow the “MLA Formatting Example for 102 Essays” provided in the MLA Document Design folder in Getting Started/Course Info so that you don’t lose unnecessary points for incorrect formatting. Also, use the “Essay Outline Planning Guide” in Unit 4 to help you plan your essay.

3. Title your essay creatively–do not give it the same title as the play or character you are analyzing.

4. Use present tense, and write in third person. (See examples in the Notes documents “Ways to Quote” and “Writing a Literary Analysis.”)

5. Italicize the play’s title.

6. Include an introduction with an audience attention-getter and a clear thesis statement focused on your analysis. Avoid plot summary.

7. Write well developed supporting paragraphs with details, quotations, and/or paraphrases cited from the play and one critical analysis. Integrate quotations smoothly into your sentences.

8. Transition smoothly between ideas and paragraphs.

9. Write a conclusion that draws the analysis to a close, not merely restates the thesis or content of the earlier paragraphs.

10. Include the playwright’s last name and page number(s) of the quotations in the in-text citations for the play since none of the plays have line numbers, only paragraph numbers.

11. Use an attribution to introduce the literary criticism author and/or article title (if no author is given) when you first include it in your essay.

12. Do not plagiarize. Please be aware that when you submit essays, they will be run through SafeAssign and will be checked for plagiarism. See the ENG 102 English Department Syllabus and the “Policies for Assignments and Essays” for consequences of plagiarism.

13. Create a Works Cited using correct MLA 8th ed. documentation formatting. Review , , Remember to include the original publication date after the play’s title. Use the Citation tool on the database article to correctly construct the Works Cited entry for the library database literary criticism article, and check its accuracy with our textbooks and Purdue OWL resources.

14.Revise and edit before submitting your essay for a grade in SafeAssign. Review and as needed.