Unit 4 Essay: Analysis of a Play

Unit 4 Essay: Analysis of a Play
Purpose: This assignment will enable you to discover how a playwright’s use of elements such as character, dialogue, setting, plot, and time period work together to enhance the themes of a drama. You will conduct a close reading of your chosen drama and discuss the playwright’s use of these devices in his or her structuring and composition of the script. You will also incorporate at least one scholarly source into your analysis. Applying a close reading and composing a literary analysis will prepare you for the many texts that you will read, summarize, and discuss in your future studies and in the workplace.
Task:
Write an essay that explores how and why key elements such as character or symbols from the drama of your choice (Simply Maria, POOF! or “Thanksgiving”) relate to one or two of the themes from Unit 1 in a particular way, using at least one scholarly source. Review what you learned from Unit 4.1 Discussion – Exploring Themes in Drama. Some important contexts you may to consider are:
The dialogue
The setting
The plot
The cultural context
The time period in which the drama was written (vs. the one in which it is set, if applicable)
You are encouraged to use your outline from (LO 10) Unit 4.3 Assignment – Developing a Thesis and Outline for Your Drama Essay as a guide for your essay’s logical flow, but if you wish to change your focus or your drama choice, you can.
Review the pages Sample Play Analysis: Andre’s Mother and the Starting Your Drama Analysis Essay as guidelines for how to approach your analysis.
Your essay should incorporate details and quotes from the play (using parenthetical documentation with the playwright’s name), integrate them logically and grammatically, and you should use your own words to elaborate on the function and meaning of the details and quotes you use as evidence.
Apply what you learned from (LO 2) Unit 4.2 Discussion – Applying a Lens to Your Drama Analysis by incorporating at least one quote or paraphrase from one of the Research Resources for Your Drama Analysis Essay. Be sure to include an in-text parenthetical citation as well as a bibliographic citation in MLA format for your Works Cited page.
Be sure to maintain an appropriate academic tone (no slang, second-person [“you,” “we”], contractions, etc.)
Leave time to submit your draft to Free Tutoring at Tutor.com for review. Your tutor can help with thesis and content development, organization, grammar, and mechanics. Don’t forget that you can submit your draft to Tutor.com multiple times during the revision process!
Please refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab for MLA formatting and style guide.
Submit your final paper in the Unit 4 Essay: Analysis of a Play (under “Assignments”). Remember, your instructor will be able to see your Turnitin results – both your similarity percentage and any phrases or language that appear elsewhere, either online or in TurnItIn’s database of prior student work, so ensure that your work is scrupulous in its citations and adheres to the standards of academic honesty. Only appropriate scholarly sources are needed or encouraged and should be correctly cited. Plagiarism, as always, will not be tolerated. Please ask if you have any questions about citation or academic honesty.
When writing your essay, the goal is to demonstrate what spin the play has on one or two particular themes. Be specific about the ways the theme is used and how the play’s use of time period, character, dialogue, and setting develop a deeper meaning to the theme. Provide details, including cited direct quotes from the play. Don’t forget that you must comment on the quotes you use to explain why they are significant.
File submissions: Please submit your file as a DOC.X or PDF file.
Grading Criteria:
The specificity and development of your synthesized ideas about the drama
Your supporting claims, logic, and organization
The quality of your writing, to include paragraph development and organization: topic sentences, conclusions, transitions, etc.
Your engagement with the text (how you explain your examples, your choice of supporting quotations)
Length Requirement: 750-1,000 words
Hide Rubrics
Rubric Name: Essay Rubric for Units 2, 3, AND 4
Print Rubric
Exemplary (A)
Accomplished (B)
Developing (C)
Beginning (D)
Did Not Attempt (F)
Criterion Score
Purpose of the Essay – Thesis Development
20 points
Thesis/main idea is clear, specific, and developed, clearly articulating an argument about the work at hand.
17 points
Thesis/main idea is present, but may need more specificity and/or development in order to be clear. For instance, a clear judgment about the work may be missing.
15 points
An argument may be present, but it focuses on summarizing the work versus an analysis of the work and resulting opinion or judgment.
13 points
Argument is missing and/or the analysis does not clearly relate to the selected work.
11 points
The submission did not attempt this part
OR
submission suggests complete lack of thought/investment, and/or risk of plagiarism
/ 20
Analysis of the work/development of thesis/argument by presenting examples/supporting claims in a logical manner
20 points
The essay’s analysis is sound, reasonable, and original, and its argument is exceptionally well-developed with logical supporting claims.
17 points
The essay’s analysis is sound and reasonable, argument is well-supported, but may lack specificity and could benefit from additional development.
15 points
Supporting claims relate to the thesis, but are vague or underdeveloped or focus on summary rather than analysis of the work.
13 points
Supporting claims are only weakly related to the thesis
OR
are significantly underdeveloped (i.e., perhaps rushed)
11 points
No submission
OR
Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed
/ 20
Textual Support – Engaging Sources as Evidence
20 points
The paragraphs are well-developed with textual examples that are explicitly placed in dialogue with the paragraph’s topic sentence and main idea. Textual examples are properly represented and correctly interpreted.
17 points
The paragraphs’ claims are supported with generally well-chosen textual examples; however, there may be areas where further support and/or more explicit explanations (how the example supports the topic sentence) would be beneficial.
15 points
The paragraphs contain textual evidence; however, the textual examples may be generalized references and/or poorly explained in terms of how they support the topic sentence. There may be a few instances where the textual examples may be misinterpreted.
13 points
The paragraphs may not contain sufficient textual support to persuade a reader. The textual examples do not clearly support the paragraph’s main idea and/or are misrepresented (or misinterpreted); and, the textual examples may not be explicitly placed in dialogue with the paragraph’s main idea.
11 points
The submission did not attempt this part
OR
Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed
/ 20
Quality of Writing, Mechanics, Language – topic sentences, paragraph development, conclusions, transitions, MUGS
20 points
Topic sentences are clear and thought-provoking claims that directly support the paragraphs’ content and explicitly engage the thesis. Strong transitions. Concluding sentences actively engage topic sentences. Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling all exceed standards.
17 points
Topic sentences may be claims but may lack clear relation to paragraphs’ content and/or the thesis. Stronger transitions might be beneficial. Concluding sentence in the paragraph may need to more explicitly engage the topic sentence. Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling meet standards.
15 points
Topic sentences may lack clear claims that relate to both the paragraphs’ content and the rhetorical analysis thesis. Transitions within the paragraph may need further finessing. Concluding sentence may not engage the essay’s main idea as well as the paragraph’s topic sentence. Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling standards are mostly met.
13 points
Topic sentences only weakly relate to the content and/or thesis. Transitions within the paragraph are missing. Concluding sentence does not actively engage the paragraph’s topic sentence or the essay’s main idea. Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling standards are only minimally met.
11 points
No submission
OR
Work strongly suggests instructions were not read or followed
OR
Essay’s Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling fall well below standards.
/ 20
MLA Citation Formatting/Citation and Academic Honesty
20 points
MLA formatting and citation usage is excellent, with few or no minor errors.
The title page includes the writer’s last name and page number at the top right corner of the page as well as an MLA header and an academic title for the essay.
A works cited page is included.
Quotations are introduced with a signal phrase and are properly punctuated and cited. This includes the use of block quotations where required.
17 points
MLA formatting and citation usage is good, but there are some minor errors.
All of the required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are present but lacking in form.
15 points
MLA formatting and citation usage is good, but there are some significant errors.
Some of the required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are present.
The elements are lacking or weak in form.
13 points
MLA formatting and citation usage is poor with many errors.
Several required elements in the Exemplary (A) category are missing and those that are present are weak in form.
11 points
The submission did not attempt this part
OR
Work strongly suggests that instructions were not read or followed
OR
submission suggests complete lack of thought/investment, and/or risk of plagiarism
/ 20
Total
/ 100
Overall Score
Level 5
90 points minimum
Level 4
80 points minimum
Level 3
70 points minimum
Level 2
60 points minimum
Level 1
0 points minimum

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