Reference no: EM132285636

Assignment Instructions

This final project will require you to gather research material, analyze it, evaluate it, and bring it together to act as support for your writing.

All options require strong critical engagement with both the focal primary text(s) and with the required peer reviewed sources.

General Requirements for the Project:

• use 3 peer reviewed sources in addition to whatever primary texts they discuss

• be 1000-1500 words long

• must be original to this class and assignment

BE CAREFUL that you do not create a cut and paste essay of information from your various sources; your ideas are to be the focus of the essay, and the research should only supplement and support your ideas. Also, take great care not to plagiarize; if in doubt, cite the source. See the sample essay for an example of an MLA formatted essay.

Topic Choices for the Research Project

Choose one of the following prompts to guide your project.

• Social Issues in Pygmalion and The Importance of Being Earnest: Both plays emphasize issues with class during the turn of the century. What sort of statements could these plays be making? With this choice, it is important that you use both plays within your response. You may compare/contrast the two, but you must create an overall point with this sort of comparison in your essay.

• Classifying The Merchant of Venice: The Merchant of Venice is a troublesome play to classify in the usual Shakespearean categories of comedy, history, or tragedy. Though it ends with several marriages, and therefore matches the usual pattern of a comedy, it also contains some very dark and problematic elements, such as Shylock's essentially forced conversion to Christianity. How do you think that we should view this play? Is it really a comedy? Is there any way to argue that it is a tragedy? Be sure to clearly define your understanding of tragedy and comedy; for some helpful sites, see Comedy and Tragedy by David L. Simpson of DePaul University, and the Comedy and Tragedy pages by Lisa Schnell of the University of Vermont.

• Gender Issues in Pygmalion and The Importance of Being Earnest: Describe Eliza in Shaw's play, and discuss how Eliza is treated by others within the play. Does she appear to be marginalized? What about the portrayal of the female characters in Wilde's play? Do these plays reflect issues that women may have faced during this time period? To answer this question, you may use one or both of the plays assigned during week five.

• Satire in The Importance of Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde is known for his satire, and The Importance of Being Earnest is no exception to Wilde's usual mode of satirical writing. The effect of satire will change, however, depending upon the audience, and one of the fascinating things about this play is that the people Wilde satirizes are also the people he expects to be watching the play. Why does Wilde satirize the viewers who will be buying the tickets? What kind of reaction might he be aiming to evoke in his audience?

• Make your own essay topic: create your own topic that focuses on one play that we read for this unit, or on some specific related element of two plays. Avoid responding directly to any of the forum topics for this unit, though you may work with an offshoot of the ideas that came up during discussion.