Macbeth Essay Assignment



Macbeth Critical Analysis Essay Assignment

You will be writing a critical literary analysis essay on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This essay is a typical literary analysis, for which you make a claim about the play and then support that claim with evidence and explanation. However, instead of simply using the text itself for support, you will also incorporate critical analyses by experts and scholars to illustrate and support your arguments. You will need to demonstrate understanding of these critical sources as well, as you will be applying these scholars’ ideas to your own analysis of the play. In order to find scholarly criticism of this play, you should use the library’s databases (esp. JSTOR and the Lit Resource Center), Google Scholar or other academic/scholarly databases.

I will not be providing specific prompts, so you must come up with your own thesis and argument about the play. Some general topics to consider include the following: the role of the witches/supernatural and fate v. free-will; themes of ambition, power, deceit; the progression of Macbeth and/or Lady Macbeth’s character; motifs of nature, manhood, clothing, disease, etc; the idea of culpability; turning points. You may also have other ideas, or you may find other ideas in the criticism you read.

Because this is a critical literary analysis, you must use at least one piece of scholarly criticism and will need to include a bibliography in MLA format that includes the secondary source(s) you use and the play itself. Because you are using multiple sources, be sure to use appropriate and correct citations throughout the essay. Also, be sure to look at specific uses of language in performing analysis and building your claims.

Some things to remember:

✓ Review the list of fatal errors and do not use any of them.

✓ You MUST use direct quotes from the play and the critical source, integrated, punctuated, and cited correctly.

Example: Macbeth, initially described as “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way” (Shakespeare I.v.17-18), quickly descends into horrific slaughter.

✓ You may also have paraphrased (but attributed) info from your criticism.

✓ Do NOT use 1st or 2nd person.

✓ Do NOT refer explicitly to your essay in your essay. i.e. “This quote shows…” or “In this essay…” or “For example…” etc.

✓ Make sure the introduction includes the name of the play and the playwright. Also, be sure to introduce the critical source(s).

✓ You must have a thesis statement that states your main claim and your supporting reasons.

✓ Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that supports the thesis and states the main point/argument of the paragraph. The paragraph should then explain and illustrate this point with specific examples and quotes.

✓ Your essay should include a conclusion that reinforces the argument and the main reasons and that draws a conclusion about the topic of your essay.

✓ If done well, this essay should be about three typed pages.

✓ This essay should be typed following standard formatting.

✓ The first complete draft of this essay is due Friday, December 15. You must have a printed copy in class, and you will receive a grade for this essay draft.

✓ A revised, final draft of this essay is due Monday, December 18 and must be uploaded to . It is worth 200 points.

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