How is the imagery of light and darkness used throughout Oedipus the King?  How is it related to Oedipus’ blindness?

Assignment Sheet: Drama and Film Essay

DIRECTIONS: 

Choose one of the following topics, and write a well-organized essay of at least 600 words.  Do NOT do any research.  Do NOT look at anything on the Internet.  This essay must contain only your original ideas and words.    After choosing a topic, go back to the text, and study it carefully.  Find pertinent quotations from the play, and explain how those quotations prove your points.  Finally, remember to take the necessary time to plan what you want to write so that you present two to four main points in a logical and orderly fashion, and after you finish, please proofread carefully several times so that you don’t leave grammatical, punctuation, or spelling mistakes.  Good luck with your drama papers!

Even though you are not doing research, the ideas and quotes used from the literature you are writing about must be documented, and there must be a works cited page.

1. How is the imagery of light and darkness used throughout Oedipus the King?  How is it related to Oedipus’ blindness?

2. What roles do the chorus and choragus assume?  Compare their functions in the beginning, middle, and end of the play.

3. “Oedipus is completely fated.  He simply has no free choice.”  Agree or disagree with this statement.
4. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dreaminvolves multiple couples and prospects of marriage, yet the play proclaims, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (1.1.134). Note how this statement is true either in Shakespeare’s text, the Michael Hoffman 1999 film version of Gustafson’s Were the World Mine.Discuss the role of magic in either of the versions of Shakespeare listed in #4.
5. Discuss the role of magic in either of the versions of Shakespeare listed above.
6. A dynamic character undergoes a significant change in personality or outlook while a static character stays the same.  Choose one of the characters from Indecentand explain why that character is either dynamic or static.  Remember to give specific evidence from the text.

Stipulations:

1. The first paragraph of the paper must mention the title of the play/movie, correctly punctuated, and the author’s name.
2. Begin with a summary not more than 3-4 sentences. Then state your thesis. (In such a short paper, the introduction and conclusion should be brief.)

Note: A thesis should not announce. For example, avoid phrases such as “In this essay, I will prove…” or “This essay is about…”

3. Do not use 2nd person (you), phrases such as “I think” or “I believe,” or statements such as “when I did my research….”
4. No quotes over two lines are permitted.
5. All quotes must have a signal phrase.