English 106: Writing Your Way Into Purdue

Hummel Spring 2015

Paper #2: Review of Macbeth

What happens here?
In your first assignment of the semester, you considered how to stake your claim by looking at your
personal development and finding your voice as a writer. In your second paper for ENGL 106, you will
use the voice and style that you developed in your literacy narratives to explore what happens at Purdue
in a new genre: the review.

Purpose : We will attend the Purdue Theater performance of Macbeth as a class on Feb. 20.

While
there, you will consider the choices made by the actors and directors as specific rhetorical choices.
Following our discussion of mise-en-scene, you will use the elements of set design, blocking, lighting,
costuming, sound, and props as criteria for your review. After viewing the play, you will stake your
claim as a reviewer and evaluate how successful the play was based on these rhetorical choices.

Goals: As a reviewer, you must carefully consider your rhetorical situation for this assignment.
This essay will require you to analyze the following aspects of a rhetorical situation:
Audience: To whom are you writing? What actions do you want your readers to take as a result
of reading this review?
Stance: How does your perspective influence your opinion of the play? What are your biases in
viewing the play, and how will you address them in your essay?
Purpose: What is your goal in writing this review? What kind of impact do you intend this
review to have?
Tone/Diction: How is your word choice and your tone influenced by your stance as a writer?
How will this affect your audience?
Your essay must also:
Do more than just summarize the plot of the play
Provide sufficient specific support for your evaluation from the play
Follow a logical organizational pattern and flow smoothly
Display an awareness of the ethics of reviewing (aka dont rant about what you loved/hated)

Length : Your review must be approximately 1,000-1,200 words, or 4-5 full pages. Assignments that
do not meet the length requirements will lose points.

Format : MLA style for the essay. Review the formatting requirements for font, page margins,
heading, and page numbers on the Purdue OWL site or the Literacy Narrative assignment sheet.

Project Packet
*All materials must be turned in as hard copies WITH a binder clip or paper clip*

Planning (any brainstorming or outlining)

Drafts 1 and 2
Peer Review (CY forms and electronic comments)
Final Draft
Cover Memo
Conference Presentation

20 points
(each component is worth 5 points)
80 points
10 points
20 points

English 106: Writing Your Way Into Purdue

Hummel Spring 2015

Due Dates
Draft 1
Draft 2
Final Draft and
Cover Memo
Conference
Presentation

Submit via e-mail

Hard Copy
Hard Copy

Monday, 2/23
Monday, 3/2
Friday, 3/6

By midnight
In class
In class

Hard Copy

Tuesday, 2/17 or
Thursday, 2/19

In class

Conference Presentation
Each student will give a 2-3 minute presentation on a character from Macbeth. The presentation must
include:
Overview of character
Characters motivation (what does this character want?)
Major action in plot (with whom does the character interact?)
Famous quotes or scenes involving the character
You will create a handout about the character to distribute in conferences. The handout must include the
information you cover on your character, and feel free to design it in an entertaining or appealing way.
Bring 5 copies of your handout to conferences on the day you present. You must also produce a Works
Cited page that consults at least three credible websites. You may NOT use SparkNotes or No Fear
Shakespeare as one of your sources.

Cover Memo
Your Cover Memo on the project is a separate assignment, and it should be about 500 words, or 1-2
pages. The Cover Memo will be included on top of the final draft of your Review, and I will likely read
this before reading your paper. Think of this component as a letter to your reader explaining what you
tried to accomplish in your essay. Your Cover Memo must address the following topics, in no particular
order:
A description of your writing process throughout this paper (including what you thought of the
feedback you received and how you responded to it)
An evaluation of how well your assignment meets the projects purpose and goals (from the first
page of this assignment sheet)
A description of challenges experienced while writing the paper, or parts about the paper you
enjoyed writing
An indication of what grade you feel you deserve on this project (after consulting the rubric)
The Cover Memo is due on the same day as the Final Draft, and is worth 10 out of 130 points.

NOTE: While viewing the play, you will have pen and paper with you and take notes on what you see.
You may NOT take notes digitally, because you cant bring a computer into the theater and your phone
must be off.

The Review Assignment is worth 130 out of 1000 points.