While we are reading Hamlet, you are to select another Shakespeare play from the list below. Read it carefully and make detailed notes of Shakespeare's use of language to create meaning, being particularly observant about the use of metaphor. Look for patterns in language use. If you were reading Romeo and Juliet, for example, you would notice the celestial comparisons to sun, moon, and stars found throughout the play.
You will write a paper of at least six pages in Times New Roman font, 12 point type (standard for all papers in this class), discussing how language is used to create meaning in the play of your choice. Double space this and all your papers.
Do not write plot summary!
Discuss theme only in the context of its relationship to the play's language.
Annotate quotes with act, scene, and line number (i.e. I, :iii, 3-10). Organize your paper around types of metaphors and other language devices and their meaning.
You'll not be able to be exhaustive because to do so would mean writing a book. Select important examples of language use and be careful to explain meaning (e.g. "the master mistress of my passion) note and explain these as well.
Rely on your own brain to do this work. Don't read critics or use the Internet -- this should be your paper, your work, your thinking. If I detect signs of canned writing, I'll mark down, and if I discover plagiarism -- either based on work taken from other published sources, or work copied from other student papers -- the result will be a 0, along with the other consequences noted in the class description.
Write well. Use the no-no list or the grammar guide.
You may select from the following plays:
King Lear
Macbeth
Richard III
Henry IV, Part I
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Taming of the Shrew
The paper is due on Tuesday, October 8.
Remember: Where are the words? How do they work? What do they mean? How do they connect to larger meanings?
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