ASSIGNMENT: This 1000 word (4 page) essay should use strong thesis and direct references to the chosen text to produce a thoughtful consideration of an issue, question, problem, or image central to the work being analyzed: either Hollanders translation of Dantes Inferno or Shakespeares The Tempest. Choose one of these works and explore some image, issue, question, concern, or idea that is important to the textand to you. Be sure to keep your focus as narrow as possible to try to discover within a very tight topic some larger attribute of or truth about the text in question. Trust that (almost) no matter how narrow your focus, you will have a lot to say if you use the text and read it closely. Practice letting the text lead you to previously unperceived insights. With Dante, you should feel free to use Hollanders notes or the Princeton Dante site. With The Tempest, you should also feel free to use the reference materials or notes associated with the version of the play you are using or Bates essay on the play on Blackboard. Of course, all such references must be adequately cited. Again, like the first paper, this is not a research paper. No substantive outside research should be used. These are your critical and creative thoughts about some important aspect of either of these works. Be sure to always avoid just presenting plot summaries and instead develop the implications of your insightful observations about the texts. Epigraphs are welcome to jump start your argument, but avoid drawing epigraphs from texts you do not personally know (as in quotations from quotation sites or books).
Again, sure to cite any and all sources accurately (MLA citation style), including a Works Cited. This essay will be turned in physically as a stapled hard copy and electronically via Turnitin. Please be sure to put page numbers on each page except the first, and include a word count at the end. Finally, avoid any and all sentence fragments, fused sentences, and run-onsand concentrate on using active verbs!! Read aloud as you go or in the final editing process.
