This assignment offers students a choice of four options to demonstrate and develop their academic or creative skills. The options allow students to research and write an annotated bibliography on a Shakespeare-related topic; translate elements of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, or The Tempest creatively to a different time or culture; explore a personal theme inspired by one of the plays; or analyze a scholarly article about one of the plays. Each option is expected to be between 5-10 pages depending on the task and allow students to strengthen existing abilities or gain experience with new challenges.

1. Final Creative Assignment
Description
This assignment is an opportunity to stretch yourself academically and/or creatively. I am
providing a selection of options to support the development of a variety of different skills
and interests. Choose an option that interests you and that gives you the chance to practice
an existing skill or work on developing a new one.
Choose one of the following options:
1. Annotated Bibliography of at least five sources. Choose a specific topic related to
Shakespeare to research – like teaching Othello or applying a particular theoretical
approach (like feminism or post-colonialism) to one or more of Shakespeare’s works –
then identify, summarize, and evaluate five sources that you recommend. Introduce
your bibliography with a paragraph describing your topic, why this bibliography is
useful, and who might use it. Think of an audience that is educated and well-read
(perhaps high school teachers or undergraduate literature students), but not
Shakespearean experts.
2. Creative Translation using one or more elements from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,
Macbeth, or The Tempest. Write a short story, sample scene, movie treatment, or other
creative work that translates the play to a different time, place or culture. A movie
treatment tells the story of what happens in a screenplay; it should include an overview
of how your movie idea translates Shakespearean elements and descriptions of the
main characters and setting. I expect a solid creative translation to be around 8 to 10
pages.
3. Personal Essay on a theme or idea from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, or The
Tempest that you would like to explore from a personal perspective. For example, for
Hamlet you could choose the supernatural, convents in Renaissance England, grief, etc.
This non-fiction option differs from a creative translation in that you are using
Shakespeare’s work as a jumping off point for your own musings, not translating it. A
strong personal essay will likely include some outside sources, depending on the topic,
but the dominant voice is yours and the focus is your exploration and thought process.
Again, I expect a strong personal essay to be around 8 to 10 pages.
4. Scholarly Article Summary and Rhetorical Analysis. If you would prefer to go deep
rather than broad, like the annotated bibliography, choose a scholarly article on Hamlet,
Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, or The Tempest and write a summary of the argument and a
rhetorical analysis of how the argument is put together. This option provides the
opportunity to practice close reading and analysis of professional scholarly prose and
explore how scholars build their arguments. This would be a good choice for students
considering graduate school. I expect a complete summary/analysis to be around 5 to 6
pages.