Midsummer Night’s Dream Research Paper
Write a critical analysis of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Anchor your discussion and analysis in the specifics of a single passage, scene, moment, or episode, but show how the microcosm of your choice
is either a tautology or a destabilizer of larger themes in the play. Locate two peer-reviewed items (books or journals are both OK) and integrate these into your paper at least one time each. Your
analysis and interpretation must also include either a discussion of several cinematic or theatrical dramatizations of that scene or some clear use of visual rhetoric in your analysis. In your
Works Cited you should clearly indicate what source you used to locate these other two items. This is just a very simple connection to critical context. What you decide to quote and paraphrase can
emerge from critical discussions of the play, or cinematic or theatrical production, as a whole, or from the particular scene you are exploring. Just make the explicit connection; it is important
to learn how to contextualize your own thoughts with those of other critics.
English 1001A (F): Major Research Assignment
Assigned: Week 6 (Oct 17)
Due Date: Week 11 (Week of Nov 21) in your tutorial
Length: 2000 words min, 2500 max
The Task
Write a critical analysis of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Anchor your discussion and analysis in the specifics of a single passage, scene, moment, or episode, but show how the microcosm of your choice
is either a tautology or a destabilizer of larger themes in the play.

Locate two peer-reviewed items (books or journals are both OK) and integrate these into your paper at least one time each. Use what you’ve learned from They Say, I Say to delineate your own
critical voice while contextualizing your opinion with a critical context. In your Works Cited you should clearly indicate what source you used to locate these other two items. This is just a very
simple connection to critical context. What you decide to quote and paraphrase can emerge from critical discussions of the play, or cinematic or theatrical production, as a whole, or from the
particular scene you are exploring. Just make the explicit connection; it is important to learn how to contextualize your own thoughts with those of other critics.

You are responsible for organizing your essay and you will be evaluated, in part, on the logical transparency and thoroughness of your argument.

Be wise! Spend time in consultations and dialogue with your tutorial leader to get this right. Set yourself up to succeed!
Use the SPARK resource to help you plan your approach.

Your analysis and interpretation must also include either a discussion of several cinematic or theatrical dramatizations of that scene or some clear use of visual rhetoric in your analysis. For
cinema, use the terms mentioned in Some Cinematic Terms and, if appropriate, in the document entitled, Narratology terms. For visual rhetoric, start with the material under “Compulsory Readings” in
week 7. In either case, your tutorial leader will guide you with these options.

Be textually specific in your use of evidence and be thoughtful in your selection and treatment of secondary sources. Formatting and Works Cited should follow MLA 8thedition, 2016. Please read all
of the submission requirements on the assignments page.
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Some Further Suggestions
You could also show how the scene moves and how it is structured, but also show something of how the scene reflects, reproduces and/or deconstructs and/or mirrors ideas elsewhere in the play.

Here are some further considerations. Look to the content of your chosen scene–its theme, structure, sequencing and movement, metaphors, tropes, and other literary devices, but also pay very close
attention to language. If more than one character appears in the scene, explore the possibility of differences in language use, according to character. You can start with the general theme or motif
and then move to the specific of your chosen passage, scene, moment, or episode, or vice versa.

Be very careful about the length, difficulty and relevance of the passage, scene, moment, or episode you decide to engage. Choose wisely. If the passage is too short, you won’t have enough to say.
If it is too long, you will have trouble focusing. If it is not significant enough to have relevance across the whole play, your argument will be weakened considerably.