exploring themes and drama

Purpose: This assignment will enable you to discover how a playwright’s use of elements such as character, dialogue, setting, plot, and time period work together to enhance the themes of a drama.  You will conduct a close reading of your chosen drama and discuss the playwright’s use of these devices in his or her structuring and composition of the script. You will also incorporate at least one appropriate scholarly source into your analysis, ensuring that your included scholarly materials are directly relevant and applicable to your argument. Applying a close reading and composing a literary analysis will prepare you for the many texts that you will read, summarize, and discuss in your future studies and in the workplace.

Task:

• Write an essay that explores how and why key elements such as character or symbols from the drama of your choice (Simply Maria, POOF! or “Thanksgiving”) relate to one or two of the themes from Unit 1 in a particular way, using at least one scholarly source. Review what you learned from Unit 4.1 Discussion – Exploring Themes in Drama. Some important contexts you may to consider are:
  • The dialogue
  • The setting
  • The plot
  • The cultural context
  • The time period in which the drama was written (vs. the one in which it is set, if applicable)
• Review the pages Sample Play Analysis: Andre’s Mother,  Sample drama paper outline, and the Starting Your Drama Analysis Essay as guidelines for how to approach your analysis.
• Your essay should incorporate details and quotes from the play (using parenthetical documentation with the playwright’s name), integrate them logically and grammatically, and you should use your own words to elaborate on the function and meaning of the details and quotes you use as evidence.
• Apply what you learned from (LO 2) Unit 4.2 Discussion – Applying a Lens to Your Drama Analysis by incorporating at least one quote or paraphrase from one of the literary theory research resources included in the course. These include Research Resources for Your Drama Analysis Essay, Resources to Help You With Your Lit Crit Discussion, Resources on Psychoanalytic Criticism, and Cultural and Gender-Focused Research Resources.
• Be sure to include an in-text parenthetical citation for your sources as well as a bibliographic citation in MLA format for your Works Cited page.
• Be sure to maintain an appropriate academic tone (no slang, second-person [“you,” “we”], contractions, etc.)
• Leave time to submit your draft to Free Tutoring at Tutor.comTutor.com multiple times during the revision process!
• Please refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab for MLA formatting and style guide.
• Submit your final paper in the Unit 4 Essay: Analysis of a Play (under “Assignments”). Remember, your instructor will be able to see your Turnitin results – both your similarity percentage and any phrases or language that appear elsewhere, either online or in TurnItIn’s database of prior student work, so ensure that your work is scrupulous in its citations and adheres to the standards of academic honesty. Only appropriate scholarly sources are needed or encouraged and should be correctly cited.  Plagiarism, as always, will not be tolerated.  Please ask if you have any questions about citation or academic honesty.
• This table lists criteria and criteria group names in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method. You can give feedback on each criterion by tabbing to the add feedback buttons in the table.Criteria
  Exemplary (A)
  Accomplished (B)
  Developing (C)
  Beginning (D)
  Did Not Attempt (F)
  Criterion Score
  Purpose of the Essay – Thesis Development
  20 points

  Thesis/main idea is clear, specific, and developed, clearly articulating an argument about the work at hand.

  17 points

  Thesis/main idea is present, but may need more specificity and/or development in order to be clear.  For instance, a clear judgment about the work may be missing.

  15 points

  An argument may be present, but it focuses on summarizing the work versus an analysis of the work and resulting opinion or judgment.

  13 points

  Argument is missing and/or the analysis does not clearly relate to the selected work.

  11 points

  The submission did not attempt this part

  OR

  submission suggests complete lack of thought/investment, and/or risk of plagiarism

  Score of Purpose of the Essay – Thesis Development,/ 20
  Analysis of the work/development of thesis/argument by presenting examples/supporting claims in a logical manner
  20 points

  The essay’s analysis is sound, reasonable, and original, and its argument is exceptionally well-developed with logical supporting claims.

  17 points

  The essay’s analysis is sound and reasonable, argument is well-supported, but may lack specificity and could benefit from additional development.

  15 points

  Supporting claims relate to the thesis, but are vague or underdeveloped or focus on summary rather than analysis of the work.

  13 points

  Supporting claims are only weakly related to the thesis

  OR

  are significantly underdeveloped (i.e., perhaps rushed)

  11 points

  No submission

  OR

  Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed

  Score of Analysis of the work/development of thesis/argument by presenting examples/supporting claims in a logical manner,/ 20
  Textual Support – Engaging Sources as Evidence
  20 points

  The paragraphs are well-developed with textual examples that are explicitly placed in dialogue with the paragraph’s topic sentence and main idea.  Textual examples are properly represented and correctly interpreted.

  17 points

  The paragraphs’ claims are supported with generally well-chosen textual examples; however, there may be areas where further support and/or more explicit explanations (how the example supports the topic sentence) would be beneficial.  

  15 points

  The paragraphs contain textual evidence; however, the textual examples may be generalized references and/or poorly explained in terms of how they support the topic sentence.  There may be a few instances where the textual examples may be misinterpreted.

  13 points

  The paragraphs may not contain sufficient textual support to persuade a reader.  The textual examples do not clearly support the paragraph’s main idea and/or are misrepresented (or misinterpreted); and, the textual examples may not be explicitly placed in dialogue with the paragraph’s main idea.

  11 points

  The submission did not attempt this part

  OR

  Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed

  Score of Textual Support – Engaging Sources as Evidence,/ 20
  Quality of Writing, Mechanics, Language – topic sentences, paragraph development, conclusions, transitions, MUGS
  20 points

  Topic sentences are clear and thought-provoking claims that directly support the paragraphs’ content and explicitly engage the thesis. Strong transitions. Concluding sentences actively engage topic sentences.  Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling all exceed standards.

  17 points

  Topic sentences may be claims but may lack clear relation to paragraphs’ content and/or the thesis.  Stronger transitions might be beneficial. Concluding sentence in the paragraph may need to more explicitly engage the topic sentence.   Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling meet standards.

  15 points

  Topic sentences may lack clear claims that relate to both the paragraphs’ content and the rhetorical analysis thesis.  Transitions within the paragraph may need further finessing. Concluding sentence may not engage the essay’s main idea as well as the paragraph’s topic sentence.  Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling standards are mostly met.

  13 points

  Topic sentences only weakly relate to the content and/or thesis.  Transitions within the paragraph are missing.  Concluding sentence does not actively engage the paragraph’s topic sentence or the essay’s main idea.  Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling standards are only minimally met.

  11 points

  No submission

  OR

  Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed

  OR

  Essay’s Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling fall well below standards.

  Score of Quality of Writing, Mechanics, Language – topic sentences, paragraph development, conclusions, transitions, MUGS,/ 20
  MLA Citation Formatting/Citation and Academic Honesty
  20 points

  MLA formatting and citation usage is excellent, with few or no minor errors.

  • The title page includes the writer’s last name and page number at the top right corner of the page as well as an MLA header and an academic title for the essay.
  • Works cited page is included.
  • Quotations are introduced with a signal phrase and are properly punctuated and cited. This includes the use of block quotations where required.
  17 points

  MLA formatting and citation usage is good, but there are some minor errors.

  • All of the required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are present but lacking in form.
  15 points

  MLA formatting and citation usage is good, but there are some significant errors.

  • Some of the required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are present.
  • The elements are lacking or weak in form.
  13 points

  MLA formatting and citation usage is poor with many errors.

  • Several required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are missing and those that are present are weak in form.
  11 points

  The submission did not attempt this part

  OR

  Work strongly suggests that instructions were not read or followed

  OR

  submission suggests complete lack of thought/investment, and/or risk of plagiarism