ENGL 209: Introduction to Literary Analysis
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Topic for Essay 2: Drama
Due Monday, 10-17-16
Instructions: In a three-page essay (1200 words, MLA format), compare Sophocles’ Antigone to Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. It will be up to you do determine which elements of the texts to compare and what point you intend to make through your comparison—but it is worth remembering the twin strategies for finding a useful thesis we discussed in class:
Feel free to consult a dictionary as needed, but otherwise focus directly on the literary texts in question. If you do include outside sources, be sure to cite them appropriately.
Here are a few guidelines for writing a successful essay:
1. Your first paragraph will need to address directly the assigned topic, probably by identifying and briefly summarizing the texts that your essay will be examining and by clarifying your approach. However you choose to begin, this opening paragraph should conclude with a clear thesis.
2. This is a short essay, so do not attempt to cover too much ground. Instead, organize your very best ideas into cohesive units of meaning that can then be developed into several full, pointed paragraphs. Paragraphs that lack clear topic sentences invariably falter.
3. Be sure to keep your comparison parallel and balanced; if you raise an issue for one play, it needs to be addressed for the other as well.
3. Quote directly words, phrases, and passages that best support your ideas; without such direct textual support, your claims about the text will remain unconvincing.
4. Have some fun! Do not hesitate to shape, bend, or mold the assignment in such a way that it becomes interesting to you; do be careful, however, not to abandon the assigned topic.
5. Proofread carefully for grammatical and mechanical mistakes.
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Topic for Essay 2: Drama
Due Monday, 10-17-16
Instructions: In a three-page essay (1200 words, MLA format), compare Sophocles’ Antigone to Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. It will be up to you do determine which elements of the texts to compare and what point you intend to make through your comparison—but it is worth remembering the twin strategies for finding a useful thesis we discussed in class:
- Demonstrate how two ostensibly similar things differ in an important way (or set of ways)
- Demonstrate how two ostensibly different things are similar in an important way (or set of ways).
Feel free to consult a dictionary as needed, but otherwise focus directly on the literary texts in question. If you do include outside sources, be sure to cite them appropriately.
Here are a few guidelines for writing a successful essay:
1. Your first paragraph will need to address directly the assigned topic, probably by identifying and briefly summarizing the texts that your essay will be examining and by clarifying your approach. However you choose to begin, this opening paragraph should conclude with a clear thesis.
2. This is a short essay, so do not attempt to cover too much ground. Instead, organize your very best ideas into cohesive units of meaning that can then be developed into several full, pointed paragraphs. Paragraphs that lack clear topic sentences invariably falter.
3. Be sure to keep your comparison parallel and balanced; if you raise an issue for one play, it needs to be addressed for the other as well.
3. Quote directly words, phrases, and passages that best support your ideas; without such direct textual support, your claims about the text will remain unconvincing.
4. Have some fun! Do not hesitate to shape, bend, or mold the assignment in such a way that it becomes interesting to you; do be careful, however, not to abandon the assigned topic.
5. Proofread carefully for grammatical and mechanical mistakes.