Our first essay requires you to write about two of the dramas we’ve read this semester. “Glaspell’s Trifles” and “Ibsen A Doll House, Act 1 & Act 2.” Below, you’ll find three assignment options. You must choose one of these three prompts and respond in essay form. Each prompt is designed to propel you toward an insightful, clear thesis statement that argues for a debatable claim. You will then need to gather evidence in the form of many specific details – plot points, quotes, character analysis – to support your thesis. Each prompt is also designed to get you thinking creatively about each drama. To do well on this assignment, show me that you have a solid understanding of the plays and the material I’ve gone over in the video lectures.
Requirements
Due: 6/7
Length: 3 FULL pages (no more than 4), and a Works Cited page
Format: MLA format for both in-text citations and works cited entry. Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced, 1” margins.
Research: You should not do any outside research for this essay. I am grading your engagement with the texts.
AI Assistance: Any use of AI for this assignment is prohibited. This includes ChatGPT for “outlining” or “brainstorming,” and Grammerly for sentence level editing.
Essay Prompts Options
1. All the plays we’ve read say something about love and relationships, so it would be useful to consider how love operates in these plays. This prompt asks you to consider what two of these plays say about love and/or relationships and how you see these ideas play out in our contemporary culture of 2024. You might want to consider questions like, where do we get our ideas of “true love”? Are these plays good models for love? Are they too critical of love? Use plenty of specific details, quotes, and insights from both plays to support your answer.
2. It’s helpful to put works of literature “in conversation” with one another. It’s also possible to use your own creativity to reach some interesting literary interpretations. With that in mind, consider one of the following questions. (1) What advice would Nora Helmer give to Minnie Foster? (2) What advice would Minnie Foster give to Nora Helmer? Keep in mind, “advice” can be about many things. Fully explain your answer by telling us how you arrived at your answer, the implications of your advice, and/or what you think the advisee would do with the advice. Use plenty of specific details, quotes, and insights from both plays to support your answer.
3. A Doll House was written in 1879. Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is a little closer to us at 1916, while our ten-minute plays are chronologically the most contemporary to us. Despite the aged dates of composition, which one of the four plays we’ve read this semester strikes you as the most thematically contemporary? Which one best speaks to the theater going audience in 2024? Which would has the greatest resonance for us today? To help explain your answer, you need to identify the play that seems the least likely to resonate with an audience. Hint: Get beyond mere comprehension for the audience and think about the plays’ thematic meanings. Use plenty of specific details, quotes, and insights from both plays to support your answer.
