English 258 Final Essay Options  Due Monday 5:00 PM in Tom's English Dept. Brink 200 Mailbox

Write a 5 page (five full pages, bare minimum), thesis-driven essay addressing the following:  Compare and contrast the Existential conditions and possible failures of the characters in No Exit with those in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Essay grades will be based on:

a) The student's understanding of Existentialism and Post-Modernism and their relevance to the plays.

b) Copious and relevant quotation and citation of sources.

c) Writing conventions (editing, essay and paragraph organization etc.)

Essay Guidelines:

Format: Use standard MLA format, Times New Roman or similar 12 pt font and standard punctuation. Double space, 1” margins, page numbers and staple.

Edit to college level writing standards.  Poorly edited papers will be docked accordingly.

Cite: For all questions referring you to the readings, cite page numbers (MLA Style) from our text or line numbers if using another text (in which case, include a Works Cited page).  You are not just citing quotes but any references to the text.  This is important.

Quoting And Citing Sources:  Quote and cite frequently and wherever possible.  You are not expected to quote frequently from films used in class -- although you can often find transcriptions online or at the library -- but you must quote our other relevant sources.  Remember always that you must also cite more than just quotes.  Review your English 102 notes or look online if you've forgotten the guidelines about what to quote and cite when.

For citations, we can simplify the format to a certain degree to save you some time.

a) If citing our  anthology or the film, just write “Lit of West. Civ.” or “R&C” and the page #s. Example for page 358 from our anthology: (Lit of West Civ, 358)

b) If citing lectures and/or online course material, just write the author’s name etc.: (Drake, Locke Lecture) etc.

c) If citing some source other than these, you will need to use full MLA style citations.  Guidelines to doing so are available online.

 
d) If you use an electronic source you will still need to cite page numbers.  If your electronic source does not supply them, you will need to get a copy of our anthology or copies of the required other texts and cite them, including a MLA Works Cited page citing the book(s) that you used.

Help and Discussion:  Obviously we will discuss the film in class and in groups, and I’d like to encourage y’all to discuss everything about the class whenever you want to.  On the other hand, this is an essay test, so I ask that:

a) all of the writing and all of the words be your own, unless they are quoted from the lecture notes etc.
 

b) you do not share your essay with anyone, at all, before all essays are turned in.
 

c) you honor the above not only to the letter but to the spirit: no one but you knows what you have written, or plan to write, or are writing etc etc etc until all the papers are in, period.
 

d) you restrict your cited sources to course lecture notes (including student presentations) and assigned reading.  Cite these sources as you use them (author name, lecture title is ok, and include URL in Works cited page).
 

e) in short, you do not plagiarize or cheat.  The clearest way to avoid doing so is to cite every single idea and phrase that is not your very own.