Essay 1 takes the form of a documented personal response to “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”  The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to: the process of generating ideas for writing critical essays,  the process of converting ideas into thoughtful, well-considered critical essays, developing the logical, critical defense of an arguable position that you take. 

This essay is analytical, and requires 1. an interpretive, non-obvious, arguable claim about the drama  i.e.  a clear, concise, explicit, arguable thesis 2. several (2 or more) specific lines of support that you use to (logically) prove your claim a. SHOW support (quotes) and explain it, connecting it directly to the thesis claim i.e.  logical warrants logical explanations HOW the quote proves the claim 3. A well-organized, well edited, polished composition.

Possible thesis claims, while not limited to the material of class discussions, include any material generated in these discussions.  In other words, any close readings/journals that you do for this drama, as well as the class discussion and any other efforts to understand/interpret this text including any thesis statements and lines of support generated in these efforts are available for your use in this essay only. (NOT the case with Essays 2, 3, and Final Essay)
Other key requirements: 500-700 words (from start of title to last word of conclusion) MLA format is required (including in-text citations and a Works Cited) Strong essay organization  Strong grammar and punctuation, etc, including clear, complete sentences  A well-polished submission overall,  o reflects attention to all aspects of the grading rubric for Essay 1  A submission that corrects any past journal/essay/etc ) mistakes and issues