Mabie
AES
Medea
IB English 11
-An Opportunity for You-
The following assessment is to be worked on in two parts. First you will have the rest of this period to
select a prompt, reflect on the material, prewrite a response and then begin actually writing the response.
Second, you will go home and type up your response. It will be due at the beginning of class on Friday, 4
April. Why the two-part structure to this assessment? A couple of reasons. I want to give you class time
to get going on the response because I know that you are busy and have many other academic demands.
You should be able to get a solid start on this in the time that I am giving you. Further, I expect quality. I
was a bit struck by the lack of proofreading and polishing in the non-IB written projects that were handed
in before spring break. Unacceptable. I will be using the IB Written Paper 2 Essay to grade this. I will
grade Section D (Presentation) and Section E (Formal Use of Language) particularly closely this time
around. So, when you take home your working draft from this block period, you will have a night or two
to revise, proofread, revise, edit, revise, tweak, revise…you get the idea. Please, take your writing seriously,
or no one else will.
The Procedure:
I’ll ask that once you start working on this in class, there is no talking. Further, note that you are
not to have others read this; you are not to get help from anyone on this. This is an honor code
request. This is to say, I’m trusting you. One last, obvious note: while I will clarify the prompts
or directions, I will not meet with you regarding this or provide help on drafts. I want to see what
you can do on your own.
1) Choose only one of the following prompts.
i.
It is all too easy for the audience to dismiss Medea because of her horrific treatment of others, especially her
children. In Medea, what does Euripides do to keep our response more balanced…poised between revulsion or
condemnation and sympathy, if not a touch of admiration? What is admirable (heroic?) in Medea’s character and
her response to her situation?
ii.
So far this year, we have dealt often with notions of Truth. It has come up yet again in our exploration of the
ancient Greeks. We learned of the Aristotelian idea of Imitation—the idea that literature imitates life as it is, as it is
thought to be and as it ought to be. In Euripides’ Medea, we plumbed the psychological depths of a seemingly
mad Medea—only a myth, thank heavens. Yet, wait, we have the small problem of Andrea Yates, the depressed
Texas mom who drowned her five children. It would seem that in this case life is imitating art. On the surface,
the Yates event seems more “true” than the what happens in the story of Medea; I mean, the Yates thing
happened, no? So, I ask: 1) is Truth—Truth, that is—dependent upon historicity and 2) which is more true, the
ancient Greek myth of Medea where Medea slays her two children or the historical occurrence where Andrea Yates
drowned her five children? Why? Finally, provide a response to Aristotle’s definition of the function of literature.
How does it connect or not connect to what you wrote regarding which story/event is “more true”?
iii.
In Euripides Medea, one could argue that different characters represent passion whereas others represent
rationality or law. First consider just that. In exploring the passion or rationality of the central characters, you
might return to the Nietzschean construct of the Dionysian and Apollonian, but you do not have to. You may
even be uncomfortable with a perfect, dichotomous division of Medea and Jason. In any case, at different times
in the play, both Medea and Jason evoke pathos in the reader. Ultimately, which character is the more
sympathetic and why? In other words, for which character does one feel the most and why ?
2) Use any texts that you need to use to begin brainstorming a response. Be sure that you address all
parts of the question. If you quote or paraphrase, cite both in the text and at the end of the text with a
works cited page. Use proper MLA form. Get required bibliographical information while you do your
drafting in class. Citing is a really good idea. Doing so offers legitimacy to your response. Moreover,
you all need practice at doing it.
3) In class, you should be thinking, researching, prewriting and drafting—not talking.
4)
Go home, type up what you wrote in class, type up only part of what you wrote in class, or throw out
what you wrote in class and start anew. Eventually, draft a solid response. Read it on the screen.
Revise. Print it out. Revise. Read it aloud. Revise…you get the idea.
5) When you are done with the product, do the following,
Print out a double-spaced, hard copy of the paper. Remember: this is an essay response. Do not
inundate me in unnecessary words. I will reward short, succinct, lucid, “to-the-point” writing; my
BS-o-meter will be set on high. Please paginate and staple the pages in the proper order.
B) Submit an electronic copy to <turnitin.com>. Submit it to the Medea Response option on the
assignment menu. Print out a receipt. Attach it to the back of the response. I will not accept the
product without this receipt.
A)
C)
Fill out the IB Written Paper II Rubric thusly:
Name:
Period:
Date:
Project:
(obvious)
(obvious)
(obvious)
Write in the number of the response that you chose, i.e., 1, 2, or 3
Attach this rubric to the front of the response.
6) Hand in the whole packet to me.