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Prompt: In the Introduction to the Penguin edition, Richard Rutherford argues that our feelings toward Orestes cannot be black and white. Instead, they are complicated, moving between pity and anger. Do you agree with Rutherford? If not, are you compelled to feel pity toward him or anger? Defend your position in a three-page essay.

Some things to consider:

This prompt offers at least three options for an argument. You can argue that the audience’s feelings fluctuate, that the audience’s feeling is primarily pity, or that the audience’s feeling is primarily anger (or related emotions).
You could also push your thesis to argue a more refined point about why this emotion(s) is necessary to the genre of tragedy or to the argument Euripides makes about man/religion/justice/etc. (For example, perhaps Euripides intends the audience to feel pity toward Orestes in order to emphasize man’s inability to control his fate. This idea is just an example and might not be a good one. It is also not required that you stretch your analysis to make a bigger point in this way.)
Your argument should be supported with ample evidence (direct quotations, not summary) and explained with analysis (commentary that shows how the quotations work toward your thesis).
Remember to use discourse-specific definitions rather than dictionary definitions of words, as appropriate. For example, if you define tragedy or catharsis, look to the experts’ definitions from the online lectures.