Posted: April 28th, 2015

Fences & Othello – Literary Analysis and Research Essay

Fences & Othello – Literary Analysis and Research Essay

Order Description

Please also provide an outline of the paper.(I saw it’s a free feature) Outline and Works Cited are due soon. Please try best to finish earlier. Or if you can’t finish, let me know first. Thanks.

1,500 Words MLA Format
Typed Outline & MLA Works Cited Page due in class 5/6
Final draft due uploaded to Moodle 5/17

Review the essay options below as well as the handout example of a literary analysis essay outline. Pick one topic & do research on the LATTC Library database to help inform your analysis. You should also look at the Sample MLA Research Paper on page 947 of Lit to Go to see how the writer integrates research, citations, and works cited page.
Use at least 4 resources besides the plays themselves. No Wikipedia, sparksnotes, or any other basic google search—use the library database for scholarly research.
Always cite your source when paraphrasing and quoting, and be sure to use textual evidence from the plays& cite the play & page number.
Be sure to use literary and dramatic terms when analyzing.
Indicate at the top of your essay the letter of the prompt you have chosen.
Include an MLA format Works Cited page.

Fences & Othello Prompt Options:
A.Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior discourages readers from defining them as purely good or purely evil—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a character from Fences and one from Othello and explain how that character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his/her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole.

B.Tragic Hero—There are several characteristics that define a tragic hero. Support or refute the characters of Othello and Troy as tragic heroes. Be sure to identify a minimum of three traits that label a hero as tragic, and discus how you perceive Othello and Troy to fit into that mold.

C.Feminist Theory—The play Othello emphasizes the importance of three women characters, exploring the way limits are imposed on their freedom to act. Explore how at least one woman from each play is a feminist prototype or is a victim of her gender role in society. Develop ideas such as these, their opposites, or ones entirely of your own making.

D. Discuss ideas of loyalty and disloyalty in Othello and Fences (Iago & Othello, and Troy & Gabriel, for example).

E.Post-Colonial Theory—How do the plays expose “European” notions about race and difference?

F.A critic once said that one important measure of a literary work is its ability to produce in the reader a healty confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Write an essay in which you explain the sources of pleasure and disquietude in Fences and Othello.

G.Fences (Physical and Metaphorical)–There are many “fences,” physical and metaphorical, in Fences. One could argue that there are in Othello as well—fences/barriers of caste, station, birth, age, gender, age, health, etc. Explore, compare, and analyze the “fences” in these texts.

Do NOT just summarize the plots. Focus on answering the prompt & use research from the databases & textual evidence from the plays.