Merchant of Venice – Semi-formal essay.
Your challenge is to write an informal essay addressing one of the questions below:
- Are we cheering for the wrong people? It is clear who Shakespeare wants us to cheer for, but do they deserve our support?
- Salerio and Solanio are minor characters, but perform a very important function in the play.
- Defend Shylock's insistence on getting revenge against Antonio.
- Explain how the lottery of the caskets proved to be a worthy challenge to determine Portia’s husband.
- Is Shylock a villain or a victim? Establish a position and defend it.
WRITING EXPECTATIONS:
YOU MUST SHOW YOUR WORK. You need to get your ESSAY ORGANIZER signed before you start working. You also need to show your work in Google Docs. I should be able to track your progress through version history.
Organize your thoughts and arguments, and use evidence from the play to support your views. A strong introduction and conclusion will strengthen your essay.
Length – 450-550 words, CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY!
No fence sitting. Where required, take a position and stick with it.
NOTE: Quoted material does not count in your word count.
Minimum 2 pieces of evidence (episodes are good, but QUOTES are essential)
Informal essay means that you do not need to provide a works cited, but should provide act scene and line references, in parentheses, after quoted material you use as support. For example:
Make sure you present quotes exactly as they're shown in your source material. For example, five lines of textbook should take up 5 lines in your essay.
NOTE the use of roman numerals to indicate where the quote lies in the poem. CAPITAL ROMAN NUMERALS for act, lower case R.N. for scene, Arabic numerals for lines. NOT PAGE NUMBERS!
When you submit your piece, you must hand in the following:
Finished essay
Graphic organizer. Transfer to DocHub to manipulate, or take a photo of the signed paper document and submit with your essay.
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