Should I steal my little brother's Halloween candy?
Cheat on the Chemistry quiz tomorrow? Lie to protect a friend?
Break a law? Bury the body of my felled brother? Admit a grevious mistake and attempt to stop the damage?
What guides our decision-making process when
we consider the above dilemmas? Morals, principles, of course,
or the absence of them, but that's only the beginning. Did
you steal your little brother's Halloween candy because
he's powerless to do anything about it? Did you not cheat on the
Chemistry quiz because of your fear of being caught? Did you lie
to protect a friend because of the demands of your inner conscience? Did you bury the body of your brother because a higher law bade you to do so? Did you accept responsibility for a wrong and attempt to make amends to restore peace and protect the public welfare?
 ASSIGNMENT--Motivation Essay: What motivated Antigone, Creon, Haimon, Euryicide and others in the play Antigone? In other words, why did each of the characters do what they did? A character's motivation may result from emotion:
feelings of yearning, ambition, fear, love, jealousy, hatred, revenge, patriotism, or doubt. A character may also be motivated by moral principle or belief, and these principles or beliefs may vary in sophistication and perspective.
These levels or stages of moral decision making are defined here in these stages of moral development.
For this unit’s major writing assignment, you will be analyzing the motivation of a character in Antigone. First, pick a character from Antigone and follow the instructions below.
1. In an introduction paragraph, identify what motivated the character you chose. Use either an emotion or a moral perspective or belief in your answer to the question "What motivated the character in the play?" This "motivation" is your thesis statement. After your thesis, you will want to elaborate on this point by making several ASSERTIONS that are true statements or declarations that answer the essay prompt and therefore, your thesis. Your thesis should be specific, such as the following:
Opening of an Example Response:
Initially, Ismene refuses to help Antigone because of her respect for mortal laws. As she states in line 50-51, "I must yield/To those in authority." Ismene's conventional sense of duty here, to the state and the king, certainly contrasts markedly with Antigone's regard for divine law, respect for the gods, and principled conscience, all above the laws of man. However, later in the play Ismene's motivations shift when...
2. In the second paragraph, it is time to analyze and discuss the characters' words and actions and explain how these words and actions reveal the character's motivation. Use quotes from the play to support your assertions. Provide two things here: EVIDENCE AND COMMENTARY.
EVIDENCE = Direct quotes from the play or direct references to contexts, scenes, characters, words, actions. Be sure to cite your quotes with the line numbers from the play.
COMMENTARY = Your comments linking the EVIDENCE and your ASSERTIONS. Discuss, explain, show how the EVIDENCE you've selected supports the ASSERTIONS you've made above.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT MERELY SUMMARIZE THE STORY!!!
3. Conclude the essay with a third paragraph THAT DOES NOT RESTATE WHAT THE ESSAY'S ALREADY SAID!!! Instead, let's try one of the ideas at the following site: Click here for new ideas in concluding your essay.
Click here for a rubric for this assignment.
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