The Basics
* Subject: Henry fifth – Shakespeare
* Research: No
* Documentation Style: MLA 2009
* Style: Typed, double-spaced, brilliant

The Assignment

While no paper will be able to encompass the entirety of any Shakespearean play, a good paper can explore a particular aspect of a play in valuable ways. Your goal is to find a functional or thematic aspect of the play you’ve chosen and explore it as a means for understanding the play as a whole. Your approach should enable you to ask some key questions about the play, and hopefully to answer them as well.

A paper that simply states a basic idea (i.e.: the Athenian forest represents freedom, Prince Hal is an actor playing various roles) is safe, solid, and boring. Your purpose should be to find questions that challenge both yourself and the play, and that allow you (and me) to confront it in new and exciting ways. One way to start is to ask yourself what value the play you’re discussing has today – so what?

Possible Topics

Structural
1)    Genre: does this play satisfy or challenge the conventions of its genre?
2)    Stylistic Technique: how does the verse function? what imagery patterns or motifs appear?
3)    Construction: how does the arrangement of scenes or other plot elements help you understand the play’s ideas?
Thematic
1)    What is the relationship between the individual and his/her community?
2)    What is the nature of male/female relationships?
3)    What role(s) do reason and passion play?
4)    What social patterns does the play seem to endorse?
Dramatic
1)    What is the nature or function of art in this play?
2)    Direct a scene: choose a pivotal scene and describe how you would direct it, being sure to explain how this scene helps illuminate the play as a whole.