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From the story below complete this assignment.
Final Reflective Essay
Essay Prompt:
Five years from now, which literary selection from this list will you most likely remember? Explain the reasons for your choice by following the steps below as you draft a four paragraph Reflective Essay.
Part I: Complete an informal outline for a 4 paragraph essay: introduction, two body paragraphs & conclusion.
Part II: Use your informal outline as you draft your essay: You may wish to consider the following areas as you organize the two body paragraphs for your essay:
Plot Summary – What happens in the plot that makes this work worth remembering? Avoid merely retelling the story, here!
Conflicts – What conflicts does the work include?
Character – How does the writer reveal character? With which character(s) do you sympathize? Are the characters plausible? What do minor characters contribute to the work?
Setting – What does setting (time and place of the action) contribute to the work?
Symbolism – Do certain characters, settings or actions seem to you to stand for something in addition to themselves? In other words, are they symbolic?
Theme – What is the theme? That is, what does the work add up to? Does the theme reinforce values that you hold, or does it challenge them?
Connection – How or why did this particular selection come to mind?
Part III: Essay Directions
The introductory paragraph is fully developed and smoothly leads to a concise and focused thesis that states your recommendation. The paragraph or the thesis contains the title and author of the work you will be addressing.
Each of the two body paragraphs must have a restricted topic sentence as well as sufficient primary and secondary supports. The primary supports are your assertions about the literary work/film, and the secondary supports are specific examples from that work. The paragraphs are also unified and coherent.
The concluding paragraph is fully developed and provides closure.
Mechanics:
The essay contains correct grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.
The final copy must have a title and have the heading in the upper left hand corner. Keyboard/consistently double space throughout.
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1996 Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare that speaks about love among other themes. It was written during the sixteenth century. The play was written during the Elizabethan times, where all aspects of love were dictated by the parents. The daughters were betrothed by their parents and, therefore, freedom to choose one’s lover was denied. The movie was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who tried to envision the way Shakespeare would have loved to cast the play into a film (Gleiberman). The main characters were Romeo and Juliet. The two were eventual lovers whose death brought together two families that had been at war with each other. They mourned the death of the lovers together, and it is this calamity that ended the bad blood between them. The theme of love was explored quite perfectly in this film with the characters showing their different mannerisms and how family name led them to behave the way they did. The setting of the film suited the theme well by showing how two empires handled their enmity and how the enmity was solved.
The times when the play was written by Shakespeare were Elizabethan. This refers to the time Queen Elizabeth 1 was at the helm. This time was characterized by the rise of freedom of expression whereby poets and musician alike sprung to the fore and composing songs, poetry and plays expansively (Mortimer, 12). It is during this period that the likes of Shakespeare thrived. Shakespeare took this time to write a number of plays and poems including the play “Romeo and Juliet”. In this play, Shakespeare depicts the rulers of that time as one of Monarchy where the houses of the elite ruled. The marriages during that decade were decided by the parents. The daughters had no control over the choice of husbands they ended up marrying. The fathers are the ones who decided when their daughters could be married and by whom. The groom first approached the father of the bride he had chosen to marry after which the father would decide when the marriage negotiations would commence. It was also during this period that the different elite families existed. These families were not always at peace with one another. They at times grew enmity due to the businesses they undertook or due to competition for control of resources. This was evidenced by the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. The feud was of such enormous magnitude that even the servants of the two houses argued openly almost fighting each other in public. This was also the time when the Parents betrothed their daughters to princes and noblemen of the land to raise their standing in society.
The characters in this film were very bold and determined. They could go to great lengths to achieve the desires of their hearts. Let us take the example of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was a Montague, the family that was at loggerheads with the Capulets, where he had a lover. The gentleman, accompanied by his cousin; Benvolio, decide to go to the party organized by the Capulets without being formally invited (Shakespeare). This shows how bold Romeo was. Though his mission was to see his lover; Rosaline, the niece of Lord Capulet, he ends up falling in love with Juliet, the daughter of Lord Capulet. Keep in mind that the daughter had been betrothed to Count Paris, the kinsman of Prince Escalus, who was ruling at the time. Juliet, on the other hand, proves her determination to choose her lover when she is overheard professing her love for Romeo after the first meeting with him. At that moment, they even kissed. This was contrary to the culture of England at the time. The ladies were expected to be shy and not that determined. Juliet went contrary to the wishes of her parents. She refused to be married to the ruling family and instead chose to marry a rival family member. Her determination reaches its peak when she decides to take a potion that makes her mimic death and avoid getting married to the son of the governor.
The setting of the film enabled the director to pass the message as Shakespeare had envisioned when he wrote the play. The play was about the love between Romeo and Juliet. It started by showing the enmity between the two families, Montagues and Capulets, and how the love between their children resulted in the two families reconciling. The film was shot at a time when the empires ruled the land. The empires were at feud with each other over control of either power or resources, and it is from this feud that the activities of each empire thrived. The warring families could not come to terms with one other. Even their servants could not see eye to eye, they engaged in fights in public. This setting enabled the message of love to thrive. It showed how the warring families could be reconciled through the love their children had. It further proves that love knows no bounds. It cascades every barrier placed in its way. Juliet refused to marry the kinsman to the ruling Prince and opted to marry Romeo, from a rival family. This setting made the escapades of the two lovers look real and imaginable. There is always a feud between elite families but, unfortunately, the children of the said families do not usually carry the hatred with them. They socialize normally to the point of falling in love, and even eloping to avoid the repercussions of their actions.
The lesson learned in this film is that love is the best way to end enmity and rivalries. The competition between families will forever exist provided that as human beings, we have feelings and would like to prosper and sit at the helm of everything human. Love knows no bounds. As a result, parents should allow their children to marry and the ones they love and not the ones chosen for them. The filmmaker conveyed these messages by showing how the children of the two families strived to express their love. The girl and the boy were both from feuding families but chose to put aside their differences and express their feelings to each other. Their death brought the families together since the two families were all mourning the death of their loved one. The second lesson was proved when Juliet opted to marry Romeo instead of the kinsman to the Prince. The parents had chosen Paris. The girl did not approve of their choice and therefore decided to follow her heart. Therefore, parents should consult their children when seeking to give them out for marriage. This will help avoid embarrassment if the children refuse the choice of their parents.
In conclusion, the play by Shakespeare captured the love life as it were during the Elizabethan times. The style of theater arts had changed and, therefore, the writers of plays, music, and other literary works explores their minds to capture the freedom of expression. The theme of love was also handled with the culture during that time in mind. The system where girls are betrothed by their parents was explored showing how during the Elizabethan times, the choice of a partner was still determined by the parents. The film also showed how love conquers all. How two rival families were brought together when the love of their children had culminated in their death. They shared in the grief, which in the end enabled them solve their differences.
Four Paragraph Final Reflective Essay Rubric: 100 pts.
______Introductory Paragraph
This paragraph is fully developed (100+ words), coherent, and smoothly leads to a concise and focused thesis.
The introductory remarks or the thesis contains the author and the title of the literary work you will be discussing.
The thesis is the last sentence within the introductory paragraph and presents your focus on that literary work.
The thesis should also include a preview of the two elements you will use to develop your central focus.
______Body Paragraphs
Each of the two body paragraphs (200 - 250 words) contains a restricted topic sentence, unity and coherence.
Each paragraph contains ample primary and secondary supports which further develop the focus of that paragraph.
The primary supports are your assertions regarding the literary work.
The secondary supports are specific examples/details and/or direct quotes from the selection.
______APA or MLA Formatting
A complete heading is placed in the upper left hand corner, and the title of the essay is centered.
The essay is double-spaced and each paragraph is indented.
If direct quotes from the literary selection are included, they are correctly formatted using either APA or MLA parenthetical documentation.
If direct quotes are used, the References section for APA or the Works Cited section for MLA is properly formatted
______Concluding Paragraph
This paragraph is fully developed and brings closure to the essay (50+ words)
______Mechanics
Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Check out this HYPERLINK "http://spcollege.libguides.com/gum" \t "_blank" Grammar Guide located in our SPC Library Research Section. You may find it helpful as you revise and edit!
Use correct sentence structure: No run-on sentences, sentence fragments or awkward sentences.
