Posted: June 8th, 2015

The Tempest

The Tempest

Overview: The purpose of this essay is to make some statement about the play The Tempest. This statement (your thesis statement) should appear at the end of your introduction. You’ll also need to incorporate two scholarly sources.

Topic: Your essay can be on any topic you wish. You can base it on a theme discussed in the lectures (like fate or colonization) or one of the overarching themes we’ve been talking about in class all semester (like the exercise of power). You should search for sources as soon as you have a topic – don’t wait until you’ve already written the essay.

Length: 1500-1700 words (not including Works Cited page!)

Due date: Dec 2

Sources required: Your primary source (the play) plus two scholarly sources.

-Quote from each outside source at least a few times

– Be sure to use 2 scholarly sources. “Peer reviewed” means that the source is scholarly.

– Websites, including wikipedia, are not scholarly and will therefore not count as a source!!!

– You may give a brief (1 paragraph) interpretation of what the play is about or what happens in it. Your essay should consist of mostly analysis — not summary of the plot.

Format: MLA Style Documentation (see the MLA section in your Quick Access book, example essay on 262)

Additional Tips:

– Remember the 3 T’s in your intro: mention title of the text, topic, and thesis

– Don’t forget your Works Cited page

– A good thesis goes beyond an obvious statement — it should be something that most readers will not have thought of or considered upon a first reading of the text, or it might be an in-depth examination of something within the text (a symbol, character, place, etc.) that goes beyond the obvious.

– A good rule of thumb for quoting is at least once per paragraph; you should quote from both your primary source and from your scholarly source.

– Don’t use first person pronouns (“I,” “you,” “we,” etc.) since they detract from a scholarly, objective tone. Just rephrase your sentence as an argument. Also avoid contractions.