Our Town Essay Assignment
Name __________________
In a brief essay, relate two of the following poems to the conclusion of Our Town, focusing on
character and theme. Write in present tense, and include specifics from the play to support
your ideas. Revise and edit for concise language, paragraphing, punctuation, spelling, and
grammar. Length: 1 and a half typed pages minimum, double-spaced/ due Friday.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
from Macbeth
William Shakespeare
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------But this is human life: the war, the deeds,
The disappointment, the anxiety,
Imagination’s struggles, far and nigh,
All human; bearing in themselves this good,
That they are still the air, the subtle food,
To make us feel existence.
from “Endymion”
John Keats
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