Short Essay #1
Justice, Aristotle and Oedipus
Specifications —
Length: 2 to 3 pages, typed, double spaced, 12 point font
Draft Due: Wednesday, Feb. 2 (Post it in Discussion Board and bring a printed copy to class.)
Peer Review: Monday, Feb. 7 (Bring a printed copy, revised if possible, to class.)
Final Version Due: Wednesday, Feb. 16 (Post the final copy in Discussion Board and submit printed copy, along with all other drafts, in folder or letter size yellow envelope.)
In this essay you will explore and analyze an issue of your choice has some connection to Sophocles� Oedipus Rex and Aristotle�s �Definition of Justice,� or �On Tragedy�. You have already begun to explore issues that were of interest to you when you did the Double Column Note exercise. You added yet another element to your analysis when you did the Synthesis Paragraph in Discussion Board. You should use these two exercises as the foundation for your paper.
To make your essay more complex and interesting you should also consider including reference to the film Chinatown and/or to any other film, book, or play you�ve seen or read that will help you to make your point. You can also refer to any pertinent material I have posted in External Links (Martin Luther King speech, Nirvana lyrics, websites on myth, etc.). Also, refer back to your class notes and to the notes I�ve posted in Course Documents for more ideas. Use your imagination to make interesting connections between the various pieces, but make sure that you maintain your focus on Aristotle and Oedipus Rex throughout. The trick here will be to stay focused on the question you have decided to address as you provide evidence to support or illustrate your response to it.
Although I am leaving this assignment relatively open-ended to encourage you to write about what you�re interested in, you should keep in mind that your goal is to write about your topic in terms of its relation to Public Life. Also, remember that you are not expected to �prove� a point in this essay. Literature is too complex and profound for such things. Your job here is to simply explore a response to your question.
Your essay must:
1. Use quotes, paraphrases, or summarizing statements for each of the works that you discuss.
2. Do MLA style intext citations and a Works Cited page for them as well.
3. Have a thesis statement, an effective introduction, well-developed paragraphs, and a satisfying conclusion.
4. Be free from major structural or grammatical errors and typographical mistakes. I strongly suggest that you take the paper to the Writing Center at some point in the writing process.
IMPORTANT: Papers will be scanned for plagiarism. Take great care to document your sources. Anything not quoted should be expressed in your own words (paraphrased or summarized) and must be documented with an intext citation, just as you would for quoted material.
Justice, Divine and/or Human
Divine Right of Kings in Oedipus and in the present day (Innaugural speech)
Leadership / Kingship: Who gets to wear the crown and why?
Concept of Family
Patriarchy: then and now
Community: Private lives of heroes and their effect on the community
Tragedy and the Pubic Audience: the catharsis of tragedy
The Plague of Thebes: Punishing the city to punish the King
Central Conflict: Man vs. God/Fate = Individual vs. Society
The Role of Advisors to the Leader
The Truth Teller(�soothsayer�) and the Leader: Speaking Truth to Power
Crime and Punishment: both self-inflicted
Fathers and Sons: Sins of the Father
Saving the City: Solving the Riddle of the Sphinx