For example “Hamlet and his madness”

Youre choosing any character from Hamlet and writing a critical essay about them using evidence from the text.


Your outline should follow the form you used in studying paragraphs in earlier units this year. Write your thesis at the top of the outline. Assign a Roman numeral to each main idea that helps support the thesis. Under each main idea, list the specific details that develop it.

Writing. You will write your essay, using your outline and notes. After you have written, however, your critical essay is not yet finished. You must give that first draft, and yourself, an opportunity to "rest." When you return to the first draft, do so with the intention of revising whatever is necessary. Give attention to the mechanics and the guides of grammar and composition. Above all, make sure that you have clearly stated your thesis and convincingly supported it with evidence from the text. When you have completed these steps, you will be ready to write the final draft of your critical essay.

You will complete the task of writing a critical essay in two parts. In the current project, you will complete the following:

Name the character and related, limited aspect you wish to write about in your critical essay (i.e., choose and limit a topic).
Formulate the statement you wish to make about the topic you stated. (i.e., draft a thesis statement).
Write a tentative outline for your critical essay.
For this essay, do not use outside sources, but use direct evidence from Hamlet itself.

Careful, thoughtful completion of the three steps above is essential to the success of your critical essay. Your teacher will analyze your work and may request revisions before you can move on to the writing stage in the next assignment.