3.3 Assignment: The art of thematic persuasion
Throughout this unit, you have been reading Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in order to examine evidence of resilience in modern theatre. Death of a Salesman has many important themes that resonate with its readers because these themes capture the essence of life experiences and are applicable to the society and world that surrounds us, making them extremely relatable. In this assignment, you will write a persuasive essay on the importance of a specific theme present in Death of a Salesman.
This assignment is worth 15% of your course grade.
Instructions
Citing sources:
Check out theMLA Citation Guide to review the MLA citation style that you’ve been using throughout the course. You will need to cite sources as you write with in-text citations as well as synthesize an MLA-formatted Works Cited page for your essay.
Prewriting:
Brainstorm a list of theme topics present in Death of a Salesman. Synthesize theme statements for the theme topics you came up with. Choose one theme statement to focus on for this assignment. You may use one of the themes discussed in Learning Activity 3.3 or pick one of your own.
Create a robust thesis with the chosen theme statement that identifies a specific theme in Death of a Salesman, its significance, and evidence for it. In a persuasive essay, you will explain the importance of your chosen theme in the play.
Plan out the arguments and evidence you will use in your body paragraphs to develop your essay. Review the elements of a persuasive essay in Learning Activity 3.3 to help you get started.
Writing:
Write a first draft of your persuasive essay with an introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion. The aim of your persuasive essay is to convince your audience of the importance of your chosen theme in Death of a Salesman with arguments and evidence from the text that support its significance. Your essay should be 1,000–1,500 words long, in 12-point font, and double-spaced. All quotations you use from Death of a Salesman as well as any external sources used should be properly cited according to MLA style.
Responding and revising:
If possible, ask a trusted friend or relative to read your essay and provide you with feedback by filling out the following Peer Editing Checklist. Use the feedback you receive to make any changes you feel are necessary and create a revised draft of your essay.
Editing:
Now, you need to edit and proofread the revised draft of your essay to ensure your final copy is clearly written and free of errors. Use the Editing and Proofreading Checklist to help you review your work.
Presenting:
Once you have finished editing and proofreading your work, complete the final copy of your essay. Make sure the final copy of your essay includes your MLA-formatted Works Cited page.
For this assignment, you will need to submit the final copy of your essay (with Works Cited page).
Your teacher-marker will grade and provide feedback on your work using the following success criteria and rubric. Before submitting your assignment, review the success criteria and rubric. If you are unsure about how to format your assignments, citation or what constitutes plagiarism, please review the following support pages:
Referencing and Formatting Submission Guidelines
Avoiding Plagiarism Guide
Success criteria and rubric
Shows an understanding of the events of the play.
Uses evidence of symbols and motifs from the play in developing a theme statement to defend.
Supports points with concrete evidence from the play.
Develops a thesis statement that is arguable and defensible.
Creates a conclusion that supports the thesis.
Uses language with accurate and correct spelling and grammar.
Creates sentences that flow.
Builds an argument that is convincing and persuasive.
Creates an essay with a structured introduction, body, and conclusion.
Uses quotations from the play effectively.
Uses correct MLA style citations.
