Instructor Sharon Cronk-Raby

ENC 1102

Short Essay: Drama

ENC 1102 (Composition II)

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (Literature and Ourselves, pages 332-390)

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Prepare a 500-750 word essay on some aspect of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House or Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Start with an Introduction which states your thesis statement (as the last sentence). In the body of the essay, support points with quotes and paraphrases cited accurately in MLA style. End with a Conclusion in which the thesis statement is rephrased. Include a Works Cited page with the play (written version of DVD version) used for this essay. Remember, prose dramas are cited by page, just as with literature.

Possible Topics:

1. Arthur Miller states, “But there are among us today, as there always have been, those who act against the scheme of things that degrades them, and in the process of action, everything we have accepted out of fear or insensitivity or ignorance is shaken before us and examined, and from this total onslaught by an individual against the seemingly stable cosmos surroundings us – from this total examination of the ‘unchangeable’ environment – comes the terror and the fear that is classically associated with tragedy.”

Study the character of Willy Loman or Nora Helmer. Do they fit this profile of tragic hero? Consider the other characters in the story – How do you see these main characters in relation to their family members? How do you view the main characters in relation to their jobs/roles in society? How do you see the main characters in context of a greater society and world at-large? Did the main characters have options? Did they choose their end, or did their end choose them?

2. Focus your essay on symbolism and/or theme. Is Willy Loman a symbol of society? Is Nora Helmer a symbol of women’s independence? How? Are these symbols positive or negative? What themes can be interpreted?

3. View the entire movie version of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Compare and contrast the written play with the movie version. Is it what you imagined? Be specific as you discuss elements of fiction and such issues as nuances of character, setting, tone, etc.

4. Your choice. Considering the Elements of Drama, develop an essay that features some aspect of the written or movie version of one of the plays.

Per Item #45 on page 222 of Kirszner & Mandell’s The Brief Wadsworth Handbook, cite a DVD in this format:

Title of Movie. Dir. First & Last Name. Name of Company/Studio who released the DVD, year of DVD. DVD.

Bowling for Columbine. Dir. Michael Moore. United Artists and Alliance Atlantis, 2003. DVD.

Information from the DVDs to create a Works Cited entry, as needed:

Title: A Doll’s House Death of a Salesman

Directors: Patrick Garland Volker Schlondorff

DVD Released by: MGM Image Entertainment

Year of DVD: 2003 1985

Grading Rubric:

Writing Assignments fOR ENC 1102

For all written work completed in Composition II (ENC 1102), the following grading standards will be used; therefore, use this information as a checklist to make sure you are not forgetting anything.