ENGL 3313/5583: Shakespeare: Tragedies            Fall 2008                                 Mercer

 

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM

 

Write out of class and submit at 7:20 p.m. on October 9 a well-developed essay on the following topic:

 

Assigned Topic

 

Identify at least three (3) causes of the tragic outcome in the tragedies we have studied, and illustrate each cause with specific references to at least two (2) of the assigned tragedies.  In the essay as a whole, demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge of all four (4) tragedies.

 

Explanation of Topic

 

  1. The tragic outcome includes
    1. the fall of the tragic hero from happiness to misery
    2. the entire “scene of suffering” at the end of the play, including the suffering of other characters and of society as a whole

 

  1. In The Poetics, Aristotle maintains that the plot of a tragedy must be probable or believable, with the events of the plot linked to the tragic outcome in a clear sequence of cause and effect. Throughout your essay, then, you must clearly show a cause-and-effect relationship between each cause you identify and the particular tragic outcome(s) that the cause produces.  Do NOT expect your reader to figure out how the cause produces the effect.

 

  1. The main points you use in the body of your essay will probably be specific causes that fit into some of the following general categories.  More than one of your main points could come from the same category. 
    1. Natural or supernatural forces beyond human control
    2. Problems or restrictions in human society
    3. Character traits of the tragic hero, other characters, and/or groups within society,  whether these traits are generally thought to be positive, negative, or neutral
    4. Actions of the tragic hero, other characters, and/or groups within society

 

  1. Throughout the essay, clearly distinguish between the traits and actions of the tragic heroes and those of other characters or groups so that it will be clear whether the tragic heroes themselves are responsible for the tragic outcomes.  In the assigned plays, the tragic heroes are the title characters (including both Romeo and Juliet).  In Julius Caesar, you may consider Brutus as a tragic hero in addition to—or instead of—Julius Caesar.

 

  1. Discuss only those causes of tragedy that are found in two (2) or more of the tragedies we have read.

 

 Instructions for Writing Essay

 

  1. OUTSIDE HELP 
    1. Work independently.  This is not a group project; do not collaborate with your classmates.  Do not submit an essay that is like a classmate’s in content or organization.
    2. This is not a research paper; try not to consult any sources outside our textbook. If you do, however, use words or ideas from any sources other than the assigned plays, informally document them in your essay.  Example: In The Riverside Shakespeare, Frank Kermode identifies chance events as an important cause of the fall of Romeo and Juliet.     
    3. If you need help with your essay, please see, telephone, or e-mail me.  For best results, show me an outline and later a complete draft before you submit the essay.  The deadline for submitting complete drafts by e-mail (cut and pasted, NOT by attachment) for my feedback is Sunday, October 5, at 2 p.m.  You may continue to ask questions by e-mail, telephone, or in person after that time.  I can also respond to drafts in hard copy during my office hours on October 6-8.  

 

  1. MANUSCRIPT FORM
    1. Use Times New Roman 12 as your font.  
    2. Default margins in Word are 1.25 inches.  Change your margins to one inch on all four sides of the page.  If you need a little extra space to make your essay fit the three-page limit, however, you may use one-half inch margins.
    3. Double-space the entire paper.  Do not leave extra spaces before or after the title or anywhere else in the document. 
    4. Use left (NOT right or full) justification.
    5. Omit the usual four-line heading from the upper left of the first page.  Instead, insert your SSN (followed by one space) and the page number as a header in the upper right of each page, beginning with page 1.  To protect the security of your SSN, you may scramble some of the numbers as long as the final four (4) digits are in the correct order.  Because I don’t want to know whose essay I am grading, please do NOT put your name anywhere on the essay.

 

  1. TITLE
    1. Give your essay a title that clearly and specifically reflects

                                                               i.      the content of the essay and especially of the thesis

                                                             ii.      the group of plays you’re writing about

    1. Do NOT underline or italicize the title of your own essay or place it in quotation marks. 
    2. Center the title at the top of the first page of the essay.
    3. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, the last word, and all other words in your title EXCEPT for articles (a, an, the), prepositions (throughout, between, to, for, in), coordinate conjunctions (and, but, or), and to when used with infinitives.
    4. Examples of appropriate titles:

                                                               i.      Internal and External Causes of Tragedy in Shakespeare’s Early Tragedies

                                                             ii.      Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes: Why They Fall

 

  1. THESIS
    1. Clearly and concisely state a clear, focused thesis as the only sentence (or possibly two sentences) in a separate opening paragraph.
    2. If your thesis includes a list of the main points to be covered in the body of the essay, put them in the same order as in the body. 
    3. The thesis must reflect what the body of the paper actually supports.
    4. Beyond a statement of thesis, no other introduction is desired or needed.  Use your limited space to develop the body of the essay. 

 

  1. ORGANIZATION OF BODY
    1. Organize the body of the essay into at least three (3) paragraphs, preferably more, but no more than about five (5) or six (6).
    2. Devote each body paragraph to one (1) main cause of the tragic outcome in two (2) or more assigned tragedies.
    3. Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies a cause of tragedy and covers the entire paragraph (and therefore does NOT refer to only one play or tragic hero).
    4. Be sure that your body paragraphs do NOT illogically overlap each other.  For example, don’t devote one body paragraph to “chance events” and another body paragraph to “coincidences.”  A coincidence, by definition, is the occurrence of two chance events at the same time, so these two main points would overlap.   

 

  1. DEVELOPMENT OF BODY PARAGRAPHS 
    1. In each body paragraph, support your assertions with brief, very specific, and logically appropriate references to as many assigned plays as are relevant (at least two (2) plays, preferably more).   
    2. Refer to the plays in your own words and in very brief quotations introduced and integrated into your paragraphs.  Do NOT quote more than three (3) lines of poetry or more than four typed (4) lines of prose at a time.  Quotations of this length would have to be indented within the text of your essay.
    3. For each example you discuss, you must show the cause-and-effect relationship between the cause of tragedy and the tragic outcome(s).   
    4. Within each body paragraph, clearly show the relationships among the various plays that share a cause of tragedy.  Do NOT merely list examples from different plays as if they were unrelated to each other.
    5. In the essay as a whole, make specific references to and demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge of all four (4) assigned tragedies.    
    6. Be sure to correctly spell the names of the characters.  To save space, throughout the essay you may use and underline the standard MLA abbreviations for the titles of the plays (Tit., Rom., JC, Ham.), or, if you prefer, use and underline only the first word of each title.   
    7. When you refer to the plots and characters in your own words, use present tense verbs. When you quote, leave verb tense as it is in the play.

 

  1. DOCUMENTATION:  Observe MLA form for quotations and parenthetical documentation.  (The quotations below are italicized only to make them stand out.  Do NOT italicize the quotations in your paper.)
    1. Smoothly introduce and integrate all quotations into your essay.  Do NOT just begin quoting at the beginning of your sentence.  (See examples below.)

 

    1. Always quote accurately.  Any changes you make within quotations must be placed inside square brackets, NOT parentheses.

 

    1. Immediately after each brief quotation, use all Arabic numerals to document in parenthesis the act, scene, and line numbers.

Like this:  Under the influence of the love potion, Demetrius calls Helena “goddess, nymph, perfect, divine” (3.2.137).

NOT: Under the influence of the love potion, Demetrius calls Helena “goddess, nymph, perfect, divine” (III.ii.137).

 

    1. Do NOT use act, scene, and/or line numbers to introduce quotations. 

NOT:  In act 3, scene 2, line 137, Demetrius calls Helena “goddess, nymph, perfect, divine.”

 

    1. When parenthetical documentation immediately follows quotation marks, drop the punctuation mark at the end of the quotation (with the exception of a question mark or exclamation point), and after the parenthetical documentation place the punctuation your own sentence requires. 

Like this: Rosalind bluntly advises Phebe, “Sell when you can, you are not for all markets” (3.5.60).

NOT: Rosalind bluntly advises Phebe, “Sell when you can, you are not for all markets.” (3.5.60)

Like this: Feste asks Olivia, “Good madonna, why mourn’st thou?” (1.5.67).

NOT: Feste asks Olivia, “Good madonna, why mourn’st thou” (1.5.67)?  

 

    1. Leave one space between closing quotation marks and opening parenthesis.

Like this: Feste asks Olivia,“Good madonna, why mourn’st thou?” (1.5.67).

NOT: Feste asks Olivia, “Good madonna, why mourn’st thou?”(1.5.67).  

 

    1. When you quote two (2) or three (3) lines (maximum) of poetry consecutively, place a slash mark (preceded and followed by one space) to show where one line ends and the next line begins.  Do NOT use a slash mark, however, between quoted lines of prose.

Like this: Olivia admits that Orsino is “virtuous,  . . . noble, / Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth” (1.5.258-59).   

NOT: Olivia admits that Orsino is “virtuous,  . . . noble, Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth” (1.5.258-59).   

NOT: Olivia admits that Orsino is “virtuous,  . . . noble,/Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth” (1.5.258-59).   

 

  1. CONCLUSION
    1. Conclude the essay with a one- or two-sentence paragraph that restates the thesis (in different words).
    2. No other conclusion is necessary.  Use your limited space to develop the body of the essay.

 

  1. LENGTH
    1. The essay should be no shorter than two (2) FULL typed, double-spaced pages and no longer than three (3) pages. 
    2. Essays shorter than two (2) FULL pages will NOT receive a satisfactory grade.
    3. To write a superior essay, you will probably need the full three (3) pages  allowed. 

 

  1. EDITING AND PROOFREADING
    1. Edit your draft to ensure that the sentences are clear, smooth, and logical.
    2. Before you print the final version of your paper, proofread carefully and use spell-check. 
    3. After you have printed the paper, carefully proofread it again.  If you can=t reprint, make corrections in black or blue ink.

 

  1. SUBMISSION OF ESSAY

a.       To assemble your essay for submission:

                                                               i.      Staple the pages of your essay, followed by the works-cited page.

                                                             ii.      Separately from the essay, staple the pages of a clean, unmarked copy of this document. 

                                                            iii.      Paper-clip your essay in front of this document.

b.      Submit your essay in class at 7:20 p.m. on October 9.  Even if your essay is not finished or printed, be sure you are present in class at 7:20.

 

Criteria for Grading Essay

 

1.      Adherence to assigned topic and instructions, including requirements for the number of assigned plays in the essay (all 4), number of paragraphs in the body of the essay (at least 3), number of plays discussed in each body paragraph (at least 2), and overall length of the essay (at least 2 full pages). To receive a C, the essay must meet all these minimum requirements.  To receive an A or B, the essay should exceed some or all of these minimum requirements.

 

  1. Clear, logical, insightful, original thinking about the assigned topic, showing the cause-and effect relationship between each cause of tragedy and its tragic outcome

 

  1. Demonstration of your comprehensive understanding of the assigned plays (by including specific references that are numerous, brief but very specific, and logically relevant)

 

  1. Mechanical correctness, especially in the spelling of characters’ names, consistency of verb tense, and form of documentation