LITS 1003 – INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA SEMESTER II 2018

FINAL ESSAY DR. RYAN

• Essays must be approximately 1200-1500 words, 12-pt. font, 1” margins, double spaced.
• On the first page list: your name, student ID number, and your selected question number,
and an original essay title.
• On the final page attach a bibliography of any and all sources used.
• Submit as Word or PDF document emailed to dr.connorryan@gmail.com.
• Due date is Friday, April 27st submitted by 11PM.
• Plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the assignment. A late submission will also
attract a penalty.
INSTRUCTIONS
Students must write one essay on one of the topics provided below. As in any writing
assignment you do at UWI, a strong paper will be one that selects meaningful, significant
passages that are rich with subtext and not empty or marginal passages. Be sure to quote from
short passages and analyse each passage’s literary features closely. Remember the critical
concepts and terms we’ve discussed in the first six weeks of class. This is your chance to use
them in your response. Above all do not give a summary of the play’s story.

I encourage and reward original interpretations. Originality consists of showing the reader
something new about the text, an insight that would not be evident or obvious at first glance. It is
not summary of a text, but it need not be earth-shattering or obscure. If you focus on how the text
works, rather than what it is saying, it is much easier to be original. The more an essay relies on
textual summary, the lower the grade. The stronger the analysis and more supportable the
consideration of a text, the higher the grade. The highest grades are reserved for essays that offer
new insight into the text, a perspective that the typical reader would not have perceived without
benefit of your essay.

Finally, when you write assignments for my classes, I want to encourage you to be imaginative
and creative in your readings. Therefore, I am open to any interpretation you can support and I
reward originality, as I explain above.

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS

1. Tragedy allows audiences to confront suffering. But does tragedy encourage audiences to
accept the fact of suffering in their own lives, or does it help them imagine how they can
free themselves from forms of suffering? Discuss with reference to two plays.

2. Several of the plays for this course dealt with Africa and the African diaspora in the US
and Caribbean. With reference to two plays, discuss how the connection (or lack of
connection) between the diaspora and Africa is handled.

3. “On the stage, men are presumed to be the voices of reason and order. Women, on the
other hand, are cast as agents of disruption, for better or worse.” Discuss with reference
to two plays.