Develop an interpretive thesis that explicates Shakespeare’s development of a theme in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Your essay should offer an engagement with some of the formal features we’ve discussed as you analyse your
play or poem (for example, plot, characterization, diction (word choice), verse form, alliteration/assonance,
figurative language (metaphor, simile, imagery), rhetorical figures, etc.), but you need not feel obliged to address
them all. Indeed you’ll need to narrow down your topic in order to come up with a coherent thesis and focus.
Required format: You must double-space, using 12-point Times New Roman. All margins must be 1-inch wide.
Your essay must have a specific, descriptive title. Do not put unnecessary blank spaces in the heading, and do
not use extra line spacing between paragraphs. Number your pages. Include a word count at the end of the essay.
Use MLA style for citations.
General Essay Guidelines:
Thesis:
A thesis is more than a general topic or an accurate description or paraphrase of a poem or play. It must
say something that would not be obvious to a reasonably intelligent person who has read the poem/play once or
twice. (Hence, you should read the poem/play many times while developing your thesis.) A thesis interprets,
rather than describes; it figures out how a poem/play says what it says. A thesis makes an argument about a
poem/play, which requires that you should be able to imagine debating your thesis with someone who wouldn’t
immediately agree with you, and imagine that you could marshal enough evidence to convince him or her.
Support:
A strong essay will go beyond the ideas discussed in class, extending them, refuting them, or arguing a
completely original idea. The argument itself should be clear and logically pursued. The essay should provide
many supporting examples, should analyze them carefully, and should explicitly tie them to an element of the
larger argument. The essay may also address and overcome potential counterarguments or counterexamples.
This includes acknowledging when a more obvious interpretation may contradict a more counter-intuitive
interpretation put forth by you.
