Outline and Drama Paper

The link to writing the outline is a youtube video and it is:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1FQ9ZHG0Lw 

102 DRAMA PAPER GUIDELINES

This paper is an interpretive essay.  That means that your interpretation of the primary work is the fuel that drives the paper forward.  You MAY NOT use any outside sources WHATSOEVER in this paper.  I want to hear you and only you. 

Interpretive essays do not just give your interpretation of a work; they also use relevant passages from the text to prove to me that your interpretation is the RIGHT one.  You are a lawyer trying to prove your case to me, and the quotes you use are your evidence.  Each quote should be introduced and explained as it fits into your overall interpretation of the work.

As with all of your papers in this class, please feel free to take this assignment sheet and your rough draft to The Writing Lab for extra help before you turn the paper in for a grade.  Make sure you allow at least 48 hours for this.

TOPICS: Choose one of the following prompts below as the topic for your paper. 

1. In what ways is Trifles a play about undermining expectations?  What do we expect to happen, and what actually happens?  (Think about who discovers the truth, how they discover it, what the motive is, what trifles are, what justice is.)
   1. Sample Thesis: Trifles challenges the typical male-dominated detective story by _____________, ____________, and _____________.

• Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale do not begin the play determined to do whatever they can to help a fellow woman in trouble.  Discuss the development, over the course of the play, of their attitudes towards Mrs. Wright and the killing of her husband. What does their gender have to do with these shifting attitudes?
  • Sample Thesis: Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale become symbols for female empowerment, due to ______________, __________________, and _______.  (What are the things that lead them to empower each other/change their minds/stand up to the men?)

• Trifles was written before women had the right to vote, before domestic violence was prosecuted widely, and before it was common to seek a divorce.  With these things in mind, in what ways is Trifles a commentary on the lives of married women?  What is it trying to say about their lives? (Be as specific as possible – look especially hard at the physical objects in the play, as well as the way the men and women speak to/about each other.)
  • Sample Thesis: Trifles functions as a criticism of marriage in the early 1900’s by showing _________________, ___________________, and __________________.

• In class, we have talked about Gender Criticism as being a discussion of how men and women interpret the same information in different ways.  How do the men and women see the Wright household?  How do they interpret evidence differently?  Also consider the “gendered space” in the play – that is, which physical spaces in the play do women inhabit, and which spaces do men inhabit? 
  • Sample Thesis: Trifles highlights what Glaspell believed to be the emotional and intellectual superiority of women over men based on how they react differently to _______________, _________________, and ______________.

GRADING: This essay is worth a maximum of 75 points.  To do well, your paper must

1. Be a minimum of 750 words
2. Have a clear, arguable thesis in the appropriate location
3. Use one brief quotation from the text in each body paragraph, with citations done in proper MLA style
4. Use clear organization of ideas and transitions between the main sections of the paper
5. Clearly observe all parts of the essay (introduction, body paragraphs – properly structured, conclusion)
6. Be typed, headed in MLA style, use 12-point Times New Roman font, be double spaced, and have numbered pages according to MLA style.  (See model paper in handbook for layout.)

Papers will be HEAVILY penalized if they:

1. Do not meet the length requirement
2. Use improper spelling, grammar, and punctuation
3. Summarize (I have READ THE PLAY!)

 

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