Assignment:
You will come up with a formal, narrowly focused research paper on a Theater History 1 play and an original topic of your choice. There are a number of important guidelines below. Broadly speaking, though, the topic, the play, and the type of research you bring into the project are up to you. So, take some time to find a topic that interests you, something you want to learn about, think about, and write about. Maybe find something that connects meaningfully with your broader studies. Whatever you do, don't pick a boring topic!
Length: The paper must be a minimum of 5 written pages (1250 words), excluding the required Works Cited page.
In your paper you will take an obvious position which is:
• Articulated clearly in your thesis paragraph(s) at the beginning of the paper
• Supported by your cited research and close reading of one or more of the texts covered this semester
• Summarized/re-stated persuasively, along with your supporting evidence, in your concluding paragraph(s) at the end of your paper.
Your thesis should be strong enough that it demands to be supported with argumentation, textual analysis based on close reading, and research. It should also be narrow enough in focus that you can fully support it within the span of an essay as short as this. If you choose to write a 5-page essay, it would be a costly blunder to choose a thesis that needs a lot more (or a lot fewer) than 5 pages to support persuasively. Outlines, where you plan-out your argument step-by-step, paragraph by paragraph, reference by reference, are extremely useful in making sure you're neither over- nor under-shooting your intended mark.
Supporting your argument: You will support your argument in two primary ways:
(1) a close reading of your chosen play(s) or theory text, and
(2) research