Personal response to the work of Shakespeare

Personal response to the work of Shakespeare

Introduction to Shakespeare: Final Essay
Unlike your first essay for this class, which was a thesis-driven argument, your final essay will be
a personal response to the work of Shakespeare. To write this essay, you should choose
between 3 and 5 speeches or short extracts from plays we have read and write about how you
connect with or feel about these extracts. You can choose anything from a single line to a long
speech of 40 lines or more. Note: at least one of the extracts should be from Macbeth; the other
passages can be from any (or all) of the plays we have read.
List of plays:
Romeo and Juliet edited by Peter Holland, Henry IV Part 1 Edited by Claire McEachern, A
MidSummer Night’s Dream Edited by Russ McDonald.

Here are some questions to help you think about how to respond to the extracts, although you
don’t need to answer all of them or restrict yourself to these questions.
• How does the extract make you feel?
• Can you relate to the ideas in the extract? (If you want to write about how the ideas connect to
something in your own life, you can do so)
• What do you notice about Shakespeare’s use of language? (For example, does the language
seem formal and/or does it rhyme? What effect does this language use have on you?)
• Does the extract give you an insight into human nature? And, related to this, does the extract
give you more insight into the way that people around you “act”?
Guidelines
Unlike with a more formal academic essay, you can think outside the box with how you approach
this essay. If you want to include images, such as an image of a particular scene, I encourage
you to do so (although images don’t count toward the page limit – see below). While the essay is
not thesis-driven, it should still be cohesive i.e. a good essay will link together the different
extracts.
Your essay should incorporate quotes from your chosen extracts, but you don’t need to quote the
entirety of a long speech.
Requirements
The essay should be 6-8 pages
Grading Contract
This essay is worth 30% of your final grade.
If your essay is over 5 pages (not including images) and if it engages with at least 3 extracts, including an extract from Macbeth, then your essay will receive at least a B.
If in addition to the above, your essay also gives the reader a compelling sense of your own
connection with the work of Shakespeare, it will receive an A.
If your essay doesn’t meet one of the requirements, the essay will drop down half a letter grade.
i.e if you essay engages with two passages, it will be a B-