The course has three (3) assignments that you will write at home, to develop and demonstrate your skills more independently. Each will be discussed in lectures and tutorials, and each of their due dates is listed in the course schedule (A1, A2, A3). See my Submission Policy for the penalties for late submissions. If you miss any assignment, for any reason, there is no make-up exercise.
Assignment 1 (7.5%, due Week 6) will ask you to choose two of three passages from As You Like It to compare and contrast with each other. Your 500-word analysis will discuss the important similarities and differences between the two passages, in a logical and clear argument. Your argument must focus on the themes and ideas in each passage””but you should also use any other components of close reading that aid your comparison, while remaining focused and coherent. For details, see the A1 instructions.
Assignment 2 (7.5%, due Week 10) will ask you to write a 500-word analysis of a scene from Hamlet, in its historical and modern performances. You will have a choice of questions; all will address the relationships between performance, adaptation, and interpretation. For details, see the A2 instructions.
Assignment 3 (10%, due Week 13) will ask you to write the introduction and detailed outline of a critical essay. This is the culmination of the skills we have discussed and demonstrated in Weeks 10, 11, and 12. You will choose one of three essay questions on Cymbeline. You will then write one complete paragraph as an introduction, which clearly describes your argument and your methods, and culminates in an underlined thesis statement. (This is the only paragraph you will write.) Follow this paragraph with a detailed outline of at least five paragraphs, which form the essay’s body and conclusion. Each paragraph will offer a distinct part of your larger argument, and each will follow in logical sequence. (You will not write these paragraphs, only outline them.) Each outlined paragraph will be a series of five or more point-form sentences. Each outlined paragraph will also quote from the play at least twice (two or more lines in each instance). Your final outlined paragraph is the conclusion, which will address the larger issues or questions that your argument provokes. For details, see the A3 instructions.
For all writing in this course, it goes without saying that grammatical correctness is essential to clear writing, and to good grades.
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