Focus on a single character from one of our readings so far (Genesis, The Odyssey or Antigone). Then compose a brief essay using one of the templates* below.
Templates:
- Based on one or two key speeches made by your chosen character, analyze that person’s primary motivation. What do they really want? This will work best if you suspect the character is motivated by something more than what they reveal to others, or even to themselves.
- Focusing on a crucial choice made by your character, explain how their chosen course of action reveals and/or alters who they are going forward.
- Antigone and the fall of humanity in Genesis can both be considered tragedies. Explain the hamartia, or tragic flaw/error, that triggers the catastrophe for one of the protagonists involved. Traditionally, a hamartia is inseparable from the tragic character’s strengths, so we can admire them somewhat even as they fall into ruin.
*If you would like to use another template of your own devising, please check with me by email first.
Technical Requirements:
- _Write 700-1000 words (about two to three double-spaced pages), not including the Works Cited Page.
- _Quote from the literary text regularly in support of your assertions.
- _Integrate at least one scholarly research source beyond the literary text, citing it in MLA format and providing a full entry on a Works Cited Page at the end of the essay.
Rubic
| Announces a debatable, insightful thesis in the intro and revisits it in the conclusion.
All body paragraphs relate clearly to the thesis, with topic sentences making the relevance known along the way. |
| Essay makes apt and revealing associations between its writer’s ideas and source passages. Every major claim is supported by details from the texts and/or by quotes. MLA format is followed responsibly. |
