Order Description
Compose a 3-5 page Research Essay. Please choose one of the following approaches (https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/study.html) to focus your essay. Your thesis statement will be a re-statement of the topic with your opinion driving the issue.
Analyzing Theme and Characters- Analyze Desdemona’s role. To what extent is she merely a passive victim of Othello’s brutality? How does her character change when she is not with Othello?
Critical Approach- Analyze one or more of the play’s bizarre comic scenes: the banter between Iago and Desdemona in Act II, scene i; the drinking song in Act II, scene iii; the clown scenes (Act III, scenes i and iv). How do these scenes echo, reflect, distort, or comment on the more serious matter of the play?
Cultural Approach- Discuss the role that race plays in Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello. How do the other characters react to Othello’s skin color or to the fact that he is a Moor? How does Othello see himself?
Use your research skills and include at least 3, but no more than 5 credible sources to cite in your essay this week.
Don’t forget to document that source in a Works Cited Page at the conclusion of your essay.
Important to Remember
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You must cite at least three credible sources in your essay this week.
You must list your source(s) on an MLA formatted Works Cited Page at the end of your essay.
Incorporate everything you have learned about writing over this semester two weeks. Your essay must include the following to earn a passing grade of a 70% (C) or better:
In-Text Citations (documenting your research in support of your claims)
Works Cited Page (in MLA format, listing all of your sources)
Review the Composition Grading Rubric for details on how your essay will be graded
Review the MLA Manuscript Formatting Guidelines required for ALL essays in this class.