Sample Essay Review

Sample 1
A: 5 out of 5
B: 7  out of 10
C: 4 out of 5
Total: 16 out of 20

     This essay is written fairly well, was easy to follow and provided the appropriate amount of context for Richard III, and the scene they chose to perform. However, the author never stated their role explicitly, and that was a small cause for confusion in the beginning.
     The section dedicated to literary analysis provided an in-depth look at some lines in Richard III. Every claim was backed with evidence or a strong literary term, which helped clarify the scene. However, the use of the word "audience" in this section is off-putting, because this section should be dedicated to the book - therefore, the word "reader" would have been more appropriate. This section was granted a 5/5 because it provided a very detailed analysis and was well done.
     Section B effectively began with a very clear separation between A and B. However, this section of the essay was much less detailed than section A. There was too much discussion of "modernity" and not enough said about delivery of lines and blocking. This section was also slightly unorganized, as the stage was explained, but the set of the writer's individual scene was only mentioned as an afterthought. The explanation of players "in freeze" was necessary and heightened understanding of blocking in the scene. Still, there was a lack of detail. For example, the sentence "Using the people in freeze to yell at or look up and down and using my disgust on them I showed the audience my anger and despair." This sentence is not only too long and difficult to follow, it was not specific about the approach to those in freeze, or how the author "used my disgust" on them.
     Due to the abundance of confusing and long sentences like the one above, this essay only scored a 4 out of 5. The quotes also lacked explanation or translation, especially the first one. The paragraphs, however, were well organized.
Overall, this essay was a good example of an underdeveloped analysis of the stage and a well done analysis of the text.


Sample 2
A: 5 out of 5
B: 9 out of 10
C: 5 out of 5
Total: 18 out of 20

     This essay was an extremely well done in depth analysis of Ophelia in both the text and onstage.  There was a natural flow between textual analysis and stage adaption, which made it very easy to read and follow. The one stylistic "error," if you will, was the quote in the beginning. It felt out of place, however the rest of the essay was very well done.
     The text analysis used a good balance of literary terms and tone analysis. Many claims were backed with a quote, and the author then went into explaining how they translated their literary analysis onstage.
     Section B also had a high rating because it was in depth and descriptive. I only wished their had been more of it - sometimes the essay felt like the focus was on literary analysis, when in fact the bulk of the rubric is adaption of the script. Still, this part was very detailed, for example the sentence  "I decided to kneel down in this moment of despair, gradually but drastically increasing my voice, which was then trembling and hinted at a feeling of hopelessness." It is clear that every move made by this actor was well thought out, and describing them in relation to the text was extremely effective.
     Stylistically, this essay flowed very well. Finding the thesis statement was slightly difficult, but I believe it was "her childlike and naïve nature is maintained despite the different circumstances, alongside her purity and strong, religious moral code." This thesis sets up a nice paper, and those three qualities of Ophelia are referenced throughout the essay.
     This is a great example of a balance between literature and performance. Very well done.