Welcome to Unit One!

Blueprint of a tragedy

Students will begin the year with the study of Aristotle’s Poetics on what makes a good tragedy. They will revisit Oedipus Tyrannus and apply the poetics to Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. Students will analyze various themes and write a thematic essay, using MLA format, at the end of the marking period where they include literary criticism. 

Students will then transition to modern tragedies such a revisit to the  The Crucible, Death of a Salesman,  and Street Car Named Desire . Students will have a holistic view of tragedy as it applies to not only the literature, but the human condition as a whole, specifically the social commentary being made. I.e. The Crucible and McCarthyism. 

• Review Poetics and Oedipus Rex 
• Write an essay identifying various elements of a tragedy in one of the Shakespearean tragedies.
• Write a thematic term paper which includes literary criticism.