GUIDANCE: TWO-PAGE PAPERS
All papers are to be written with normal 1” margins, 1.5 sp, 12 pt. TREBUCHET font.
Papers not thus presented will be returned unread and subject to failure.
Two pages should come out between 800–900 words.
Use only quotes that you embed in the text. Do not quote longer than two lines of text. The correct way to quote Shakespeare in your papers is:
Titus’s first appearance in the play is triumphalist, he comes “bound with laurel boughs, / To re-salute his country with his tears, / Tears of true joy for his return to Rome” (1.1.90-92).
Note the slash, which is used to signal the end of a line of blank verse. Note also how to reference act, scene, line. You should use Act, Scene, Line (ASL) and not Through Line Numbering (TLN). Incorrect citations will lose marks.
Please do not leave a space between paragraphs; a carriage return + simple indent is adequate.
Get straight to the point. Do not waffle. Do not say things like: “Titus Andronicus is like a great play and I have literally never read a play like it before”.
Do say things like: “The grim body count in Titus Andronicus substantiates the relative state of tension in which the Roman Empire finds itself at the play’s opening.”
Do not conclude a paragraph with a citation. Instead, briefly analyse the quotation and push forward to the next paragraph.
Please Italicise titles or works of literature.
Please do not tell me that William Shakespeare is the author of Titus Andronicus (or any of the plays we will study). Shakespeare is, after all, the title of the course.
Please do not call the plays anything other than their simple titles, e.g. Titus Andronicus; The Merchant of Venice. Please avoid, e.g. The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus
In order to attempt to make better writers of you, I will pick at your paper with a scalpel. The less picking I have to do, the higher your grade will be.
Therefore: I urge you to check and recheck your prose before you hand your paper in. Read your paper out loud to a friend before submitting. I guarantee this will make your paper more polished. Sloppiness is the enemy, spelling mistakes are not acceptable; likewise formatting errors, odd constructions and unfinished thoughts.
Please ensure your document is titled thus:
Class Number / Your Surname / Name of Play / Paper Number
Best Wishes!
