Anthony and Cleopatra Assignment | Custom Essay Services

apply your knowledge of early modern genres of history and tragedies to Antony and Cleopatra in order to make an argument about whether the play should be read as a history or a tragedy. For the sake of this assignment, there is no middle ground. You must choose to read the play either a history OR a tragedy and, following that decision, answer the question: What is highlighted when we view the play as a history play? OR What is highlighted when we view the play as a tragedy? You will argue your point by choosing at least three passages to read closely in order to support your reading of the play

Final Essay

Length: 1500 words

Weight: 30%

At first blush, the genre of Shakespeare’s plays can seem cut and dry. This semester we have been discussing Shakespeare’s exploration of the genres of history and tragedy in his plays. But as we have been discussing in lecture, the more closely we read Shakespeare’s plays, the clearer it becomes that Shakespeare was playing with genre and his audience’s expectations about what genre might mean for the viewer’s experience of the play. Is Richard III a history or a tragedy? Is Hamlet a tragedy or a history?

Your job in the final paper is to apply your knowledge of early modern genres of history and tragedies learned in the course to Antony and Cleopatra in order to make an argument about whether the play should be read as a history or a tragedy. For the sake of this assignment, there is no middle ground. You must choose to read the play either a history OR a tragedy and, following that decision, answer the question: What is highlighted when we view the play as a history play? OR What is highlighted when we view the play as a tragedy? You will argue your point by choosing at least three passages to read closely in order to support your reading of the play.

Either argument is possible and therefore this assignment invites you to read creatively by applying the knowledge and skills that we have practiced throughout the semester to your own analysis of the play’s genre. Because the play can be read as both a history and a tragedy, your essay will be graded not on whether you chose the right genre, but how effectively you have supported your argument with careful reading, effective understanding of early modern dramatic tropes, and articulate analysis of the text’s engagement with those tropes.

Remember:

1. Choose to discuss Antony and Cleopatra either as a tragedy or a history
2. Based on that decision prepare to discuss: What is highlighted when we view the play as a history play? OR What is highlighted when we view the play as a tragedy?
3. Do certain thematic tropes become emphasized? How so?
4. Which verbal interactions stand out? Why?
5. How does genre influence staging? Examples?
6. Develop your answer by choosing at least THREE (3) passages to read closely in support of your argument
7. As you consider which passages to choose, consider how Antony and Cleopatra compares and contrasts to the expectations set by our previous interactions with Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies:
8. Remember to apply your understanding of Shakespeare’s prosody as you’ve practiced in your close reading assignments to the passages that you choose. What are their most significant characteristics? How does Shakespeare use language to communicate his

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ideas? How can YOU use language to communicate the significance of those ideas to your reader?

We are looking, in these papers, for lively and persuasive argument, not just a series of observations. The paper should be organized around an identifiable thesis statement that asserts what the essay is attempting to prove, with support for that argument in the form of detailed, attentive analyses of significant passages that are linked, via clear organization of the essay’s body paragraphs, to the central thesis. Because the gist of the thesis sentence has been provided to you, the organization of your response is particularly important to your paper’s success.

Please use standard essay form: an informative and interesting title, a succinct and specific introduction delineating the paper’s thesis, a body of argumentation, and a conclusion summarizing your findings and pointing to their larger “so what” or significance. The play should conform to MLA formatting standards.

Citations from the play should be in parentheses, and should give act, scene, and line numbers in this format: (1.2.34-7). You are required to cite from the Folger edition of the play, unless arranged with your TA. Please include a Works Cited list, even if the only text you are citing is the play edition. Failure to include a Works Cited list will result in an automatic 10% deduction in the paper mark.