2014 Summer Reading: 10/11 Grades
As a prerequisite for your American Literature course you will be required to read Ernest
Hemingway’s famous novella The Old Man and the Sea. A physical copy may be checked out
from the ECA library. The first unit of American Literature will be on The Old Man and the Sea
and the first assessment will be the assignment below.
Essay Prompt
The passage below is an excerpt from Aristotle’s Poetics in which he defines the appropriate
conventions for a tragic hero and my brief definition of “tragic hero”. Read the section below
and reflect upon the character of Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea. Is Santiago a
traditional Aristotelian tragic hero? Why or why not? Choose specific examples from the text to
defend your assertion.
“A perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on the simple but on the complex
plan. It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive
mark of tragic imitation. It follows plainly, in the first place, that the change of fortune
presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity: for
this moves neither pity nor fear; it merely shocks us. Nor, again, that of a bad man passing from
adversity to prosperity: for nothing can be more alien to the spirit of Tragedy; it possesses no
single tragic quality; it neither satisfies the moral sense nor calls forth pity or fear. Nor, again,
should the downfall of the utter villain be exhibited. A plot of this kind would, doubtless, satisfy
the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity nor fear; for pity is aroused by unmerited
misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves. Such an event, therefore, will be
neither pitiful nor terrible. There remains, then, the character between these two extremes - that
of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice
or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and
prosperous - a personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families.”
Tragic Hero – The literary archetype of a character who is destined for misfortune because of a
fatal flaw or weakness.
Essay Requirements:
 600 words
 MLA Formatting
 Works cited in MLA formatting for outside research (none is expected or required)
 Due: 8 August 2014
Rubric
Adherence to
Instruction:
2
4
6
8
10
Length:
1
2
3
4
5
Organization:
2
4
6
8
10
 Your essay should have a discernable focus: a thesis statement is highly recommended.
Make sure your thoughts flow logically from paragraph to paragraph.
Grammar:
1
2
3
4
5
Content:
2
4
6
8
10
 Do you make strong assertions? Rather than simply listing facts, do you make it clear
why your arguments are important? Always think: significance!
Support:
2
4
6
8
10
 Each assertion should be grounded in source material. Support any claims you make with
quotes from the book. Any outside research you use must be cited correctly in MLA
formatting though none is required or expected for this assignment.