The essay should be 5-8 pages plus a Works Cited page with 5-8 sources from the college databases. Please do not use the Internet.

Outline

Please double space your essay even though the student examples are single spaced.

Heading

MLA heading. You must include your section number. See the checklist for this assignment for an example.

Title (must relate to the thesis)

I Introductory paragraph: give general information about the the Athenian Greek Age and the author, Sophocles. State the name of the play. Do not use any quotations within the intro.

Your thesis sentence, the last sentence in the introductory paragraph, should state your argument or position: You may choose a Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytical interpretation or you may focus on the difference of opinion among the critics writing the secondary sources on Antigone. (Antigone, itself, is the primary source; the critics' arguments are the secondary sources.)

Body paragraphs: as many as you need. In these paragraphs argue your interpretation of the play (using quotations as you did in essay 1and 2), adding the critics' points-of-view to your own.

Generally speaking, paraphrase the critics' words but give credit to the critic by using parenthetical documentation just as you do when quoting directly from a critic's own words. Use direct quotations from critics when you feel their words are particularly powerful or insightful, when you feel that to change the wording or sentence structure would water-down the ideas.

Do not plot summarize.

VI Conclusion: connect the themes of the play to your own age.