General Instructions: As published in the Reading Syllabus for ENG 103, by class time on Friday, Oct. 08, 1999, I am to receive a critical essay of about four pages on William Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night.
The essay must reach me both as a traditional paper copy and as a Macintosh document in Microsoft Word 98. I have developed a Style Sheet, outlining the specific document conventions you need to observe when producing a printed, not typed, document, for your convenience. Be forewarned, you'll probably have to forget a few of the rules your old typing teacher taught you: the Mac is not a typewriter, and we should take advantage of its ability to reproduce the standards of the traditional print shop! Failure to meet all terms will result in a penalty, unless I can be persuaded to modify the terms. For additional information on revising papers, my grading policies, etc., click here.
Background: In Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night we encounter a universally acclaimed play that was performed by our Theater Department in early May of last year on a make-shift stage in the Arboretum, since the tornado of March 29th destroyed Anderson Theater: it is a romantic comedy whose setting is Illyria, undoubtedly more a landscape of the mind than a place we might locate on a map. Unlike the situation in so many Shakespearean comedies, in TN there is no realistic point of departure or return: all of the action takes place in a locale springing from its author's imagination. However, the denizens and the visitors which people Shakespeare's Illyria are recognizably real enough. We might very well resemble them, or, a more appealing proposition, know persons who are much like them: the real world, too, is populated by people who are afflicted by various kinds of delusions/illusions--be they external or internal in origin--which need to be cleared up before a happy ending becomes possible.
The Specific Challenge: If my above claims find support from you, respond to them in a critical essay of ca. four pages in which you focus on the delusions/illusions of Malvolio, an admittedly second-tier figure, as a parallel or contrast to one of the major characters Viola encounters in Illyria. Viola, who decides to adopt a disguise for safety's sake, appears to be the only character at the core of the festive comedy who always knows/remembers who she really is. Maybe, Feste, who does not care to tangle with her, is another.
If you have questions or simply want to check out your own ideas before you commit them to 'paper,' feel invited to see me. It usually helps a lot to start such a critical essay early.----Good Luck,cpb
Click on Icon to Return to the ENG 103 Page
Click on Icon to Return to my Home Page
. |
 |  |
