Final Unit Assessment – The Antigone Hero Essay
Over this past unit, we have gone over a wide range of information and history. For this assignment, you will have to use your understanding of the concepts of heroism and tragedy to analyze a character from Antigone.
Essay Prompt – Pick one of the two main characters from the play – Antigone or Creon. In a literary analysis essay, explain why your choice best fulfills the criteria of the tragic hero.
Essay Guidelines –
· 5 paragraph minimum in proper M.L.A. format
· Proper format – introduction with thesis, body paragraphs, conclusion
· Minimum of 3 quotes are used as evidence.
· Explain why your quotes are evidence for the arguments you make.
Additional Information
- Look back at your notes over Greek Tragedy structure! Remembering exactly what is involved in a Greek tragedy will make this writing assignment much clearer, since there are already clear guidelines for what makes a character tragic.
- While you are primarily focused on one character, you may include others to help provide a greater depth of information (For example, if you are using the character of Antigone, you can also bring in Ismene to demonstrate the differences and why one character is heroic compared to the other).
- USE THE RUBRIC! It is designed to tell you EXACTLY how you will be graded and EXACTLY what I am expecting in this essay.
Essay Rubric –
Exceed Expectation | Meet Expectation | Approaching Expectation | Approaching Expectation from Very far away | Incomplete | |
Ideas and Content | Student creates clear and original ideas that demonstrate understanding of the method of Greek tragedy. The paper uses evidence effectively from the text to create a strong argument (quotes), and quotes are explained clearly. | Student creates clear ideas that demonstrate understanding of Greek Tragedy. The paper uses evidence effectively from the text to create a strong argument (quotes), and quotes are explained clearly. | Student is able to identify the aspects of a Greek Tragedy through a character in Antigone, but evidence is not effectively used to demonstrate understanding. May use quotes, but does not connect them to the argument. | Student identifies they have read a Greek tragedy, but does not clarify why their choice of character connects to these ideas. Does not use quotes from the text. | Student has no ideas. Weak. |
Organization | Essay has a clear thesis, and each paragraph is based around a central idea or stage relating to the thesis. The entire essay connects well to itself (body paragraphs relate to the thesis, introduction and conclusion are clear.) | Essay has a clear thesis, and each paragraph is based around a central idea or stage relating to the thesis. The entire essay connects well to itself (body paragraphs relate to the thesis, introduction and conclusion are clear.) | Essay lacks a clear thesis, and paragraphs are disconnected. Introduction and conclusion paragraphs are undeveloped. | Essay lacks a thesis. Paragraphs are not connected to the thesis, and the paragraphs are confusing to follow. The essay lacks an introduction and/or conclusion. | Student’s essay lacks everything. |
Sentence Fluency and Word Choice | The student uses sentences of different length and uses interesting vocabulary. The essay is smooth to read and flows well. | The essay is not repetitive and sentences are of different length and style. Word choice varies (do not repeat yourself over and over and over and over and over and over and over). | Student writing repeats the same sentence structure. Sentences are all similar, and some run-on sentences and fragments are present. Word choice is very, very, very, very repetitive. | Student writing is robotic and there is no variation. Fragments and run-on sentences occur frequently. No variation in word choice. | Student didn’t write anything. Quite weak. Intensely weak. Immensely weak. |
Mechanics | No spelling or grammar errors. A spell-checker would cry it is so good. | Very few spelling or grammar errors. | Several spelling or grammar errors. Enough that it is difficult to read the paper because of spelling and grammar. | Paper is very difficult to read because of misspellings and poor grammar. | Student didn’t write anything. Do you see a theme developing in this column? |
Voice | Individual personality and style is present in the writing. The audience feels connection to the writer. | Individual personality and style is sometimes apparent. The audience sometimes feels a connection with the writer. | Individual personality and style are difficult to find in the writing. The audience does not feel very connected with the writer. | Individual personality and style are not visible in the writing. The audience does not feel connected, the writing feels stiff and robotic. | You didn’t write anything. How can something that isn’t written have a voice? |
