The Importance of Being Earnest

Directions: Choose one of the writing prompts below and write a well-developed essay of 750-1,000 words (3-4 pages, double spaced, Times Roman 12 font) about The Importance of Being Earnest. Beneath the writing prompts, you will find the guidelines for formatting your paper. Upload your document to the drop box as either a Microsoft Word document or a PDF file.

**Use at least one outside source in your essay (maximum of 2). Create a Works Cited for your sources and be sure to include in-text citations each time that you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source**

Links to all 3 acts of the play can be found here:

http://www.stagebeauty.net/plays/th-erns1.html

http://www.stagebeauty.net/plays/th-erns2.html

http://www.stagebeauty.net/plays/th-erns3.html

**Chose one of these Writing Prompts**

Psychological Approach: Choose one of the characters in the play and discuss that character’s motivations for his or her behavior.

Sociological Approach: How do social forces shape the power relationships between groups or classes of people in the play? Who has the power, and who doesn’t? Why?

Feminist Approach: How are women’s lives portrayed in the play?

Philosophical Approach: What moral statement, if any, does this play make? Is it explicit or implicit?

Historical Approach: How does the play reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was written or set? Does it reinforce these attitudes and beliefs, or does it resist them?

Guidelines for Formatting Writing 2