Shakespeare

Answer of the following questions.  Your answer should be in essay form; that is, it should have a thesis supported by evidence that involves direct reference to the texts in question.  Make sure that your essay is more than a list of similarities and differences, but instead uses those similarities and differences to draw conclusions about the plays in question and about Shakespeare’s dramatic practice.  If you quote Shakespeare’s plays and your source text is the Norton Shakespeare, there is no need for a Works Cited list; if you are using a version other than the Norton, you must cite it.  In addition to Shakespeare’s texts you may make use of class discussion and lectures, but should go beyond them as well.  You may make use of no other sources: the goal of the exam is to see how well you’ve digested the work of the course and what you are prepared to add to it (and remember, using sources without acknowledging them, including online sources, is plagiarism and will result in no credit for the exam).  Your essay should be 4-5 pages long (not counting any long quotations), typed in a standard font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all four sides.  Please proofread your work before submitting it: while persuasive argument is more important than technical correctness, too many writing errors will distract from your meaning.  Essays should be submitted as Word documents via Blackboard and are due December 7 at 9:00 am.  

-. A consistent theme of our discussions this semester has been Shakespeare’s use of genre.  We have discussed the characteristics of Shakespeare’s four dramatic genres, the expectations that accompany them, and the way Shakespeare fulfills, thwarts, or manipulates those expectations in order to help convey the meaning of his plays.  Choose three of the plays we read this semester—at least one from before the midterm, one from after, and a third of your choosing—and compare the role of genre and generic expectations in the plays’ function and meaning.  You might explore the use of the same generic characteristics in three plays, the way three different sets of generic conventions are used to address the same topic, the ways in which Shakespeare exploits generic expectations in different plays to different ends, or some other idea that you prefer, but be sure that your essay offers a thesis that links the three plays rather than simply describing three different situations.

list of the plays we read:

before:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Romeo and Juliet

The Taming of the Shrew

after:

Henry V

Hamlet

The Winter's Tale