Macbeth Essay Feedback

C1: Need more short jabs, whole swaths of your essay or entire paragraphs had nothing specifically from the text.

C2: Don't mention passages outside of given text. This includes mentioning historical information or other action that occurred in the play.

C3: Artificial analysis or construction of sentences--what are you really saying? Substance over style. Many people tried to sound smart instead or simply writing smartly. Or this comment might be about how you phrased a sentence (e.g. "In the following line, Shakespeare says..." or "The last line of this soliloquy gives the audience a feeling of..."). This is all fluff.

C4: You're jumping around too much. Stick with analyzing one particular quote or idea and zoom in closely with a "microscope." If you are going to move to another idea, make sure it logically flows and transitions with ideas.

C5: Can occur anywhere, but most commonly in the first paragraph thesis, you simply listed literary devices without making a claim or adequately modifying the term, thus simply restating the prompt (relates to C3).

Miscellaneous:

• Underline the friggin' title of Macbeth.

  • Long works: underlined. Novels and plays.

  • Short works: quotations. Poems, short stories, and essays.

  • I'm serious I'll throw it away next time.

• Complimenting the author without making a claim. (e.g. "In the excellent play by William Shakespeare...")

• Vary your sentence structure (demonstrative statements and otherwise) and length.

• Traditional thesis with tripartite prompt list...try a demonstrative statement instead.

• On the Q1 and Q2 essays: I'd recommend a chronological reading of the poem / prose passage. Lends itself to a close reading and helps you focus on development and change.

Challenge:

Start pushing away from organizing your essay around the prompt (paragraph 1--first literary term, etc.). We've been working together for 3 months now, time to take the training wheels off from formulaic demonstrative statements and boring literary analysis. It's time to discuss literature in a sophisticated, intelligent way.