Assignment:
Scholarship developed from the nineteenth century through the present offers multiple interpretations of Antigone's character. One of the abiding questions about her is whether her desire to bury Polyneices properly is political or if her defiance of the king is motivated, as she claims, solely by divine edict. Advocates of the first position see her as "speaking truth to power" as she engages in civil disobedience. But scholars who support the second explanation tend to consider Antigone's concerns as primarily domestic-about her family-rather than political. Yet another interpretation of Antigone is that she, like so many other figures in ancient Greek drama, is guilty of excessive pride-hubris-as she tries to impose divine law on Creon.
Develop a character analysis of Antigone. You may argue for or against one of the positions stated above or you may take another direction. One thing to consider in your discussion is whether she is successful despite her suicide.
Develop a Tentative Thesis
As you consider different options for your thesis:
Develop a few hypotheses about the text that are based on your own perspectives and relate to the topic that you chose to explore for this assignment.
In addition to considering the text's plot, reflect on what genre and other elements of literature (see the online lecture on this topic) reveal about ancient Greek cultures and important philosophies and values associated with this era and region.
Review the lecture on literary movements and determine if examining other ancient Greek plays, particularly Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, can shed light on Antigone and/or test your hypotheses about it.
Prewriting
Gather evidence that is likely to support your tentative thesis. At this point, there is no need to use "outside" sources to complete the essay. You will have an opportunity to do that next week. For now, your evidence should consist of experiential knowledge (what you have learned through life experience) and quotes, paraphrase, or summary from the play's text.
Next, choose one of the prewriting techniques discussed in chapter , "Invent and Prewrite," of The New Century Handbook and begin prewriting.
Rough Draft
Write your rough draft.
Revise and Edit
Proofread the rough draft to ensure:
The thesis is clear and well focused and the introduction includes all the necessary information.
The discussion of evidence includes quotes, paraphrase, or summary and synthesizes this material and your ideas.
The conclusion is appropriate and reinforces the paper's main ideas without repeating the introduction word for word.
The essay is formatted in APA style throughout. It uses appropriate grammar, spelling and mechanics, and quoted material does not exceed 25% of the paper.