Do the lenses provide contrasting interpretations of the play?

Critical analysis essay on Hamlet
This is your third assessment for feedback and a grade. This assessment is worth 15% of your course grade.
It is time to demonstrate your knowledge of literary lenses by writing a critical analysis essay. Your essay will be 1000-1500 words using two critical lenses to analyze how the concept of resilience is addressed in Hamlet.
You will be guided through the essay writing process. You will be submitting your essay outline for feedback and incorporating the feedback you receive before proceeding to write your essay.
Your teacher will assess your work using the following rubric. Before submitting your assessment, review the rubric to ensure that you are meeting the success criteria to the best of your ability.

Step 1: Prewriting stage
In the next few steps, you will develop an outline for your critical analysis essay. You will then submit your outline to your teacher for feedback.
You should not proceed with writing your essay until you receive and incorporate your teacher’s feedback.
Choose your lenses
Now, choose the two lenses that you feel most comfortable applying to Hamlet. Use this chart entitled “Literary lenses chart” to help you make your decision. Press “Literary lenses chart”(Opens in a new window) to access the chart.
Filling out the chart will help you decide which two literary lenses will reveal the most insights about resilience in the play. The details you add to the chart will also make creating your essay outline much easier.

Step 2: Prewriting stage
Having decided on two literary lenses, compare and contrast how they interpret the play.
Do the lenses provide contrasting interpretations of the play?
Do the lenses provide complementary interpretations of the play?
How well do the lenses work together?
You may find it helpful to use one of the following graphic organizers: “Two literary lenses: Compare and contrast chart” or “Two literary lenses: Venn diagram”
Press “Two literary lenses: Compare and contrast chart(click link to download Word document)” to access the first organizer.
Press “Two literary lenses: Venn diagram(click link to download Word document)” to access the second organizer.

Step 3: Prewriting stage
Now that you have explored how the two literary lenses interpret the play (in particular the concept of resilience), develop a thesis statement for your essay.
Your thesis statement should state your point of view on how resilience is addressed in the play drawing on insights from both literary lenses.
You will be adding your thesis statement to your essay outline in the next step.

Step 4: Prewriting stage
Develop your essay outline
Revisit the feedback you have received in the course so far. Consider what you can incorporate into this outline. What can you carry forward from that learning opportunity? After reviewing the feedback you received, complete the “Critical analysis essay outline (for submission)”. Press “Critical analysis essay outline (for submission)(click link to download Word document)” to access the document.
Remember to make note of direct quotations and external sources using MLA style so that you can easily add them to your essay in the writing stage. Please do not copy direct (word-for-word) quotations from this course. Before engaging with the guided writing process that follows, be sure to review the Citing Sources section of Start here – Student Resources on the course home page. You can also review the same information regarding the MLA citation style in the following document entitled “MLA Citation Guide(Opens in a new window)” that you encountered in Learning Activity 1.5

Step 5: Responding and Revising stages
Review and incorporate feedback
Review the feedback you have received on your essay outline and consider the following questions:
Do you need to modify your thesis statement? How?
What do you need to add or modify in your outline?
Are your supporting examples sufficient?
Make any necessary changes to your essay outline.

Step 6: Writing stage
Now that you have incorporated the feedback from your teacher, it’s time to write the first draft of your essay.
Your essay should be 1000-1500 words long in a 12-point, professional-looking font (e.g. Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman are a few suggestions) and double-spaced. All of your sources should be properly cited using MLA style. You should include a Works Cited page.

Step 7: Editing stage
Time to check your draft. It’s a good idea not to just read it over, but read it aloud. Chances are good that if you stumble, you will catch the error you have made. Here is an editing checklist:
I have a clear and arguable thesis statement.
I have stayed on topic.
I have used linking phrases to connect my paragraphs.
I have used transition words to connect sentences where needed.
I use present tense to describe literary action.
I avoid the passive voice.
My spelling and punctuation are correct.
My sentence structure is effective.
My choice of words produces a clear meaning.
My level of language is appropriate for the topic and audience.
Step 8: Return to Responding and Revising stages
Ask a peer to review your draft
If possible, ask a peer or relative to read your essay and fill out the “Peer editing checklist“ for your compare and contrast essay. Press “Peer editing checklist(Click to download Word doc)” to access the document.

Step 9: Presenting stage
Before submitting your work, review the rubric to ensure that you are meeting the success criteria to the best of your ability. Press the tabs to examine the success criteria and expectations.

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