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Basic Rules For Composing A Literary Essay On The Merchant Of Venice


The Merchant of Venice is a famous play written by William Shakespeare. It’s considered to be a comedy, but people often remember it because of its dramatic scenes. This piece of literature is a good choice when it comes to writing a literary essay. Read this article to learn how to create an interesting paper related to this play that will earn you a high score.

  1. Read the play.
  2. For your paper to be of good quality, you should read the full text of The Merchant of Venice. In this case, you’ll know the plot in details and will be able to use quotations from the text to support your ideas and arguments.

  3. Select a topic.
  4. To write a decent literary essay, you should concentrate on some aspect of the piece of literature. For example, you may focus on personalities of particular characters or discuss the setting of the play. It’s also very interesting to investigate nuances related to symbolism.

  5. Define your thesis.
  6. It’s important to develop a decent thesis statement for your paper. It will show your position and make your readers understand what to expect from your work. Try to make your thesis short and clear, but make sure that you’ll be able to connect all your arguments to it.

  7. Create an outline.
  8. This step is necessary because without an approximate outline your literary essay on The Merchant of Venice might not be solid and logical. Divide your paper in such sections:

    • Opening paragraph.
    • Start your paper with an interesting quotation from the play, for example, to grab your readers’ attention. Then, give a brief background about the play and its author. Finally, move on to your narrow topic and state your thesis.

    • Body paragraphs.
    • Here you should analyze the chosen aspects of the piece of literature and raise your arguments. Use passages from the text as evidence.

    • Concluding paragraph.
    • Summarize the points that were mentioned in the body and indicate the importance of your analysis. State what lessons your readers may learn from the play and your investigation.

  9. Write the draft.
  10. When writing your paper, try to make it reader-friendly. Use present tense when describing events from the play. Explain lines of the characters in a simple language because not everyone can understand Old English.

  11. Edit the draft.
  12. Take a break after completing your first draft and then start proofreading it. Look for grammar and spelling errors first. Additionally, make sure that all paragraphs are related to your thesis.

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