a 6 page research paper. It should focus on a problematic issue. This paper should argue how women in the play The Merchant of Venice defied expectations and performed beyond the confines of their roles in the male-dominated society. contextualize it, explore further the thesis and start developing an argument towards proving it. engage the critical views attached as well.
Secondary sources :
Background articles/ information are vital and should be read and used in this research paper: these articlks are the only sources of Background information that you can use !
For the themes Love , courtship and Gender background : the article – Kaplan, intro to Women and Gender.
The situation of women in terms of how they are subject to patriarchal rule: the article – Amussen Gender Family and the Social also Kelly, Did Women Have a Renaissance?
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR THE Background Texts that you should rely on : Margaret King Women in the Renaissance book excerpts.
As for the the Critical articles that should be used – engaging their point of you/ perspectives : Leventen “Patrimony and Patriarchy”File
Newman Portias RingFile
Engaging Critical article means using those point of views/ perspective as a support or presenting an argument against those perspectives. You have to be verry clear dissociation between your writings and ideas and the opinions in the critical articles you are engaging. You have to clearly show where they are in the field. (Attached a paper titled The Harvard Guide to Using Sources that is verry helpful to see how you can engage sources I recommend reading it before engaging any article in this paper). you need to always make clear the boundaries between what you are thinking and what the writer of the article you are engaging is thinking, what you find maybe insufficient and want to complete or if it is something you agree with you can quote it and show why you agree with it maybe by demonstrating something for the primary text (the paly in our situation)
the first stage of this paper is to show how women do the impossible and how they preform masculine roles and how they managed to do it successfully. this can be done using the primary source and the background information. later you can further your argument by engaging the two critical articles.
There are two possible positions to take: the first you can argue that the women seems to be verry strong but we have to realize that it is a comedy and in the context of comedy it was not possible to create controversial and groundbreaking characters with revolutionary intentions but rather something that was offered for enjoyment and entertainment but was definitely taken back by the ending.
another postion: ypou could say that the way in which are the women represented on stage is vital and verry memorable and it does stay with us even though everything returns to the norm but the return to the norm maybe something formal while in the spirit the aliquants and spirit of the women especially of Portia does suggest something and does offer them a possible question whether women could not perform a masculine part as well as a man.
For the argument to become of an argument you need a thesis statement that shows an awareness of the inconsistency with which you are working and resolving basically by addressing it and possibly restating it and reconceptualizing it and not necessarily resolving in one or another direction.
The primary source: The play is : The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The secondary source ( critical articles ) :
Carol Leventen Patrimony and Patriarchy in MV
Background information articles :
Kaplan, intro to Women and Gender
Amussen Gender Family and the Social
Kelly, Did Women Have a Renaissance?
Margaret King Women in the Renaissance book excerpts
Instructions
Remember that your essay must open with a thesis statement. To be effective, your arguments and claims must be supported by close textual analysis.
Do not break the essay into chapters or sections.
Before beginning to work, please revisit the “10 do’s and don’ts” of writing a paper surveyed in our last session (the file is up on Moodle). Doing so will help you produce higher-quality work.
10 important Do’s and Don’ts
- Make sure that your paper includes a thesis statement of the form: “In this paper I shall argue that…” (or words to that effect), that it is clearly phrased, and that it appears in the first or second page of the essay.
- Make sure that the argument comes out of the thesis statement. Keep to the main idea and develop its various facets. Do not go off on tangents. Stay focused.
- Make sure that the force and scope of your claims matches what you are able to concretely demonstrate. Avoid sweeping, all-encompassing claims that far exceed what you can effectively show. Remember that you must back your claims up with textual evidence and interpretation. It’s not enough to say that something is so, you must demonstrate that it so.
- Do not divide your paper in sections or chapters.
- It is encouraged to use interim summaries and signposts (“Having established X, I will now to turn to show that Y”; “James’s concern with fashion is matched by Wharton’s close attention to clothes and hairstyles, which I will now turn to discuss,” etc.).
- Always follow quoted passages with a gloss/interpretation/analysis that makes sense of the passage and explains how it ties into your developing argument. Neverleave textual evidence to stand alone, as if they wore their meanings on their sleeves. If you find that your paragraph ends with a quotation mark, check yourself (see point 10 on the importance of editing your work).
- Make sure that you get the names of the characters, or theorists, or books that you cite right. Don’t call a scholarly article a “book”; don’t call a chapter an “article.” Don’t call The Age of Innocence a “story.” Don’t call Tom Corey “Tim.”
- And while on the topic, Howells, Wharton, and James are not your friends. Don’t call them “W.D.” “Henry,” or “Edith.” Use their full names upon the first mention, followed by “Howells,” “James,” and “Wharton.”
- Make sure to turn in your paper with a correctly formatted Works Cited list. You can use either MLA
- Try to finish writing the paper well before the deadline so as to leave yourself enough time to properly edit your work for style and grammar.
