Research Writing

WORD LENGTH: 2000 words (N.B. The usual 10% rule is in operation, so the range of word lengths is 1800-2200 words) DUE DATE: 20 May (N.B. All work is to be handed in via the dropbox on BlackBoard, using the "turnitin" system. The cut-off time will be 11.59pm on 20 May) PERCENTAGE of OVERALL MARK: 45% INSTRUCTIONS For this assessment, you write ONE essay in response to ONE of the questions listed below. Your response should refer to TWO of the plays from the following list: Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It. You can mention other plays briefly, including plays not covered in this unit. But your main focus should be on TWO plays from that list. There are NO RESTRICTIONS on what plays you can choose, so if you have already written on either Hamlet or Titus Andronicus in your first assessment, you can write on that play again. The only thing you need to bear in mind is the Faculty rule on recycling material. So, write on the same play if you want but do not simply re-use work from your first assessment. The questions here are given as guidelines, relating to some of the topic areas we have been thinking about. You should feel free to re-formulate them as much more specific questions. Don't think that you are obliged to cover the whole topic that is indicated by the question. Careful, detailed analysis will be valued more highly than an attempt to cover as much ground as possible. Each of the questions will be given a separate list of suggested approaches in the "tips" for this assessment. These will be released a week after the questions themselves, to give you time to form your own ideas first. In this essay, you should provide some evidence of your understanding, and evaluation, of relevant critical material. There is no "quota" for this. Quality is more important than quantity and what we would be looking for is a genuine understanding of the criticism to which you refer. What you should not do (it never works) is leave your critical reading to last, as a way of "infilling" your essay with quotations. This is a superficial way to work. Rather, read widely first and then think about what your response to the question is going to be. I would like to see orderly referencing and citation in this essay. Please refer to the "Tips for Assessment 2" on BlackBoard if you are in doubt about how to format quotations from plays etc.. Please READ through these tips before writing your essay even if you are super-confident about how to format quotations. There are other tips and guidelines there as well. Finally, there are no trick questions here, and no hidden answers. If you think that the question is open to interpretation, that means that it is open to interpretation, and you should feel free to intepret. As long as you stick to the rules given above, you can respond in any way that you want. QUESTIONS QUESTION ONE 190 PYRAMUS: I see a voice; now will I to the chink, To spy and I can hear my Thisbe's face (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5.1.190-91) Write an essay that investigates the relationships between words and vision in at least two of Shakespeare's plays. (choosing from Hamlet, A Midsummer Night Dream, Titus Andronicus and As You Like It) You do not have to write on A Midsummer Night's Dream if you don't want to.