Twelfth Night Essay Prompts
for
Final Exam Project
Directions: Write an insightful thesis-­‐based essay on one of the following prompts. Include at least 6 correctly embedded quotations from the play. Use the ANT formula for your introduction. Type, edit, and format correctly. Your brilliant essay is due on final exam day. 1. Some form of egotism-­‐-­‐vanity, self-­‐absorption-­‐-­‐is a basic fault of many of the central characters in Twelfth Night. Select three characters and, for each, describe his or her particular form of egotism, and how it affects his or her actions, motivations, and relations with other characters in the play. 2. Orsino, Olivia, and Malvolio each react differently to being in love. Compare and contrast the effects of being in love on these three characters. How does being in love affect their behavior, their speech, and their relations with other characters? 3. Compare Orsino in the first scene of the play with Orsino in the last scene. Has Orsino changed at all? If so, how? Pay particular attention to his longer speeches and the way they reflect his attitudes toward love. 4. While Twelfth Night seems to celebrate social upheaval like riotous partying and cross-­‐dressing, it also ridicules ambitious attempts to cross class boundaries, which makes us question its ideas about social order. 5. Create your own prompt! Use the questions on the back of this sheet to develop your own essay prompt. Write out your prompt and attach it to your finished essay. Follow all requirements outlined in the directions on this page. Create Your Own Essay Prompt Ideas! Love -­‐-­‐-­‐Explain your own definition of “true love”. Then, discuss how it differs from other kinds of love, such as infatuation or self-­‐love. -­‐-­‐Discuss character you think least understood this idea of true love. Remember to fully explain with reference to the text. -­‐-­‐Discuss another character’s idea of true love. Remember to fully explain with references to the text. -­‐-­‐Explain whether or not we see any examples of “true love” in this play. Remember to refer specifically to the text when responding. Friendship -­‐-­‐ Describe what you believe to be the core values and responsibilities of friendship. -­‐-­‐ Discuss where we see friendship misused or abused in this play. Fully explain, with references to the play. -­‐-­‐Discuss where we see a positive model of friendship in this play. Fully explain, with reference to the play. -­‐-­‐Choose another example of friendship (positive or negative) Fully explain, with reference to the play Human Foolishness and Weakness -­‐-­‐Describe some specific examples of foolishness and weakness that plague humanity in general. -­‐-­‐Discuss where we see examples of foolishness or weakness in the characters of this play. Analyze what we can learn from their mistakes. Discuss 2 foolish or weak characters. Use references from the -­‐-­‐Explain which character seemed least foolish to you, and why