World Literature Analysis: Thebaid

Paper on Thebaid. Choose a topic and give it a title. First, your claim must be supported by evidence from the text as well as from a secondary source found in the https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=murfet database. Make sure every quote is preceded by a signal phrase and is correctly cited. Additionally, somewhere in your paper, I want a discussion of life v. essence, as I defined it for you in the original email on Thebaid. You can apply it in anyway you choose, as long as it’s in the paper, somewhere. You may write on any specific character, such as Polynices, or Tydeus, or one of the female characters, like Argia and Antigone. Hipsypyle is a character worthy of discussion. One of the things interesting in the poem is Polynices as a leader. Is he? What about the infamous scene with Tydeus and Melannipus? The double flame after the cremation of the Oedipal brothers. Jocasta’s role as mother is interesting. There are a lot of things you can write on.
You must follow MLA format, Times New Roman 12 pt font. It must be 5 pages in length. The paper must account for the five sections of the rhetorical essay listed below. Avoid over summarizing. This is not a book report. It is an analysis. Remember, analysis explains why. There are two questions that need to be accounted for in the paper: why do(es) the character(s) do they things he/she/they do(es)? and what is the point the poet is making through that scene? With the second question, you need to consider previous writers important to the story like Homer, Sophocles, and Vergil. I gave you what you need to know about them to do that. There needs to be a works cited page at the end of your paper, correctly formatted.
You cannot use 1st or 2nd person in your paper. EVERYTHING must be written in THIRD PERSON. Your paper must contain the five parts of the rhetorical essay: exordium, narratio, confirmatio, refutatio, and peroratio. For the exordium, you must include the complete title: Thebaid. The title is italicized. It does not go in quotation marks. You must include the author’s name as well: for example Sophocles. For the narratio, you will include only those parts of the play that are necessary to understand the argument. You will not summarize the entire play. For the confirmatio, you will quote from the primary source, the play, and the secondary source, the database article. Quote only passages that support the points you are making. If the quote is not supporting a specific point, do not use it. Each quote must begin with a SIGNAL PHRASE identifying the speaker of the quote. This is required! For the signal phrase of the secondary source quotes, you do not include the title of the article. Use only the name(s) of the author(s). Make sure that there is context for every quote you use. Actually, when you provide context, you are using narratio. Make sure every quote is cited with the line number(s) for the play, and the page number for the secondary source. There are no names in the citation, especially in the secondary source quotes. When you find the secondary source, find the page numbers on the PDF version of the article, and use them when you quote a passage from that article. Remember that quotes longer than 3 lines go in block format. Anything up to three lines is incorporated into the paragraph. After each citation, make sure you explain why that quote is important. For block quotes, the next line in your paragraph is not indented since it is an explanation of that particular quote. The refutatio is simple; you must identify and rebut the opposing point of view to your claim. You may or may not end up quoting here. DO NOT begin the peroratio with “In conclusion.” I hate this! Place your claim in the paper where you feel it is most effective. Do not misspell ANYTHING! In academic writing, misspellings are inexcusable, even if they are typos. Do not use contractions.