Write an analysis that responds to the prompts below with your original analysis and insight about the play. We want to know what you understood about the play, not what you liked or didn’t like. Assume your reader has already read the play. Provide context for your discussion and analysis without retelling the entire plot of the play, if a brief synopsis of the story might help you set up your arguments.
. Prompt/Essay Outline
INTRODUCTION Introduce the play and your main ideas. Don’t summarize the play, but you may provide some context.
CHARACTER (Paragraph 1). Examine ONE character in the production. How does this character’s psychology and behavior create meaning and contribute to the conflict/resolution or the overall idea the playwright wishes to express? Use at least one cited quote from the play to support your interpretation and analysis.
PLAYWRITING ELEMENT (Paragraph 2): Examine ONE playwriting element (setting, themes, or conflict). How did the playwriting element create meaning in the play? How did the playwriting element contribute to a deeper message for the audience? Use at least one cited quote from the play to support your interpretation and analysis.
IDENTITY /DIVERSITY(Paragraph 3): Examine the politics of the play by choosing ONE issue of diversity (such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, or disability) and evaluate its depiction. How does the play’s depiction reinforce or challenge conventional (traditional) understandings of the issue under examination? How does this particular identity impact the character and the plot? Use at least one cited quote from the play to support your interpretation and analysis.
CONCLUSION Form a brief but thoughtful conclusion about the play’s significance in relation to a deeper symbolism, universal values, the play’s relation to creating social change, or its relation to its entertainment value and how it impacts audiences.
Do not let the above prompts limit your response; rather, use them to inspire, expand, and deepen your thinking about the play and its production.
II. Format
Follow MLA style guidelines: MLA Sample Paper.
- Your paper must contain your name, the course title, your instructor’s name, and the date.
- Italicize play titles. They do not belong in “quotation marks.” Ex: The Laramie Project is correct.
- This is a scholarly paper. Use a formal voice. Avoid slang or words such as “a lot”, “very”, “good”, “bad”. Use thesaurus.com or other sources to find varied word choices. Writing should be polished— your grade for presentation includes grammar, syntax, and spelling.
- Your text should be double-spaced, per MLA standard.
- Proofread. Your writing should be free of typos, misspellings, and other mistakes.
- Cite the play and/or Wilson’s book properly
- For all MLA instructions, visit:
Click for MLA Instructions from Purdue.eduLinks to an external site.