Performance Task: Write an Analytical Essay (301) This collection explores the many facets of love - joy, pain, passion, and conflict, to name just a few. Look back at the anchor text, Romeo and Juliet, and at the other texts in the collection. Consider the attributes or characteristics of love that are represented in each text. Synthesize your ideas by writing an analytical essay.
Me English teacher English 1 H 18 November 2016 Quarter 4 Analytical Essay A mysterious force able to throw lovers into despair, to wreck havoc on the mind, twisting thoughts and judgement; to force upon others the violence of one’s love for another, and yet, it is also able to tame the strong-willed, and cause a heart to beat fast, like a repeating drum. That mysterious force, called love, has been introduced in many stories and texts in different ways since as long as people have known about it. Companionship, misunderstandings, and even death have been the result of love, but, as it is with everything, there is not just one type of love; there are many. William Shakespeare and authors from various texts understand the impact that romantic love, friendship love, and familial love have on various pieces of literature and how each type of love may result in terrible consequences. The use of the romantic love, called eros, heavily impacts both the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, and the classic story, “Pyramus and Thisbe” by Ovid, which leads to a series of unfortunate events. In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” Romeo falls in love with Juliet in Act 1, scene 5, where he says, “...beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear. So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows...did my heart love till now? Foreswear it, sight! For ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare. lines 44-45, 48-49). These lines show that Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet, and vice versa, so they advance quickly into marriage, like an excited teenage couple. By doing this, Shakespeare is allowing the story to kick off and explore the use of passion, and how it may or may not hinder the couple’s happiness. A similar concept is explored in the story “Pyramus and Thisbe,” by Ovid, who writes, “...but with time, love grows. Theirs did-indeed, they wanted to be wed...yet there’s one thing their parents can’t prevent: the flame of love that burned in both of them...when covered, fire acquires still more force” (Ovid p.1, lines 9-10, 12-13, 16). Pyramus and Thisbe had fallen in love, and although it was not love at first sight, it was still eros love that compelled them to act in a certain way. However, because they were so passionate about their love, they got caught up in it, and it led to misunderstandings and death, like in Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, because of their love, Romeo kills himself in Act 5, scene 3 without hesitation, as he says, “here’s to my love! (drinks the poison) O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die (Romeo dies)” (Shakespeare. 119-120), and in “Pyramus and Thisbe,” Thisbe says after Pyramus dies, “dear boy, you died by your own hand: your love has killed you...I’ll follow you in death” (Ovid p.6, lines 131-132, 135). These two examples show how misunderstandings about their love can lead to death, and how they were so passionate about their love that they didn’t stop to think, which is why the couples did not get a happy ending. However, aside from romantic love, readers will also know about platonic love and how that also affects stories and plays. One of the major role players in “Romeo and Juliet,” and in the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K Rowling was friendship love, also known as philia, whom, like eros, leads to both good and bad events. For example, Shakespeare writes in Act 1, scene 4 that Romeo says, “Tut, dun’s the mouse, the constable’s own word. If thou art dun, we’ll draw thee from the mire, or—save your reverence—love, wherein thou stick’st up to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho!” (Shakespeare. lines 40-44). Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, attempts to cheer Romeo up by saying that he will pull Romeo out of the mud he’s in because of love, and convinces Romeo to come to the feast with him and Benvolio. However, because of this, Romeo meets Juliet, which leads to Romeo’s, Juliet’s, and Mercutio’s deaths. Also, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry attempts to comfort Ron in chapter 14, as Rowling writes, “nothing Harry said made any difference...he tried boosting Ron’s confidence all through dinner” (pg 291, p.7, lines 21-22). This example shows how Harry cares enough about Ron that he tries to comfort and boost his confidence up when he’s feeling down about Quidditch, even if Ron himself doesn’t notice (like how Mercutio tried to cheer up Romeo). By doing this, Harry is able to figure out a plan to help Ron, which leads to friendship problems in the story, like Hermione getting upset over Ron teasing her about the fact that he was right. It affects their relationship throughout the book as a result. In both the play and the book, their friend’s attempt to cheer each other up, which also leads to one misfortunate event after another. Similarly, another platonic kind of love is not of the friendship kind, but of the familial kind, or storge. Although storge, or familial love, is not shown as often as philia or eros, the impact it makes is still significant in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Pyramus and Thisbe.” Through the use of storge in the texts, Shakespeare and Ovid advanced their plots, which led up to the lovers’ demise. For instance, in “Romeo and Juliet,” Lady Capulet delivers the news that “thou hast a careful father, child. One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, hath sorted out a sudden day of joy...The County Paris, at Saint Peter’s Church, shall happily make thee there a joyful bride” (Shakespeare.3.5.107-110, 114-155). Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, wants her to be happy because she was acting depressed over Tybalt’s death, which shows the love a father has for his daughter, however little. As a result, Juliet, who doesn’t want to marry Paris because she was already married to Romeo, creates a hasty plan with Friar Lawrence which fails in the end. Additionally, in “Pyramus and Thisbe,” Ovid writes that “theirs did-indeed, they wanted to be wed, but marriage was forbidden by their parents” (Ovid p.1,lines 10-11). Arguably, parents who forbid marriage care about their children, because they might want their children to focus on academics, or to marry at a certain age. Their parents may have forbid marriage because they cared, which would lead to Pyramus and Thisbe keeping their relationship a secret. Due to both couple’s parents, they had to keep their relationship a secret, and as a result, all four lovers ended up killing themselves. Above all, these types of love affected the story immensely, which left behind a trail of awful events. As a result, readers should understand the different types of love, how they affect literature in different ways, and how love may result in terrible consequences. Eros, which is romantic love, leads to the death of two young couples who misunderstood their situations because they were blinded by their passion. On the other hand, friendship love, or philia, is what compels Mercutio and Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet” to try and drag Romeo to a feast in order to cheer him up and Harry to try and bring back confidence in Ron. As a result, it led to Romeo meeting Juliet and Hermione’s friendship with Ron getting affected. Pyramus’ and Thisbe’s parents who forbid marriage and Juliet’s father who arranged a marriage with Paris for Juliet is an example of storge, which is familial love, since they cared about their children to do that. In any case, eros, philia, and storge greatly impacted “Romeo and Juliet,” “Pyramus and Thisbe,” and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which led to death or unfortunate events.
Improvements in writing I think that my hook has gotten better, because in middle and elementary school, I would write the hooks as either a quote or a question. In this essay, however, I actually wrote a statement, and my hook became more intriguing. My thesis has also gotten better, because it is more descriptive, but not too much, and it introduces the main text I am using. My English teacher also helped me on the intro paragraph, so I learned from him as a result. My transitions were also better, since I had searched up how to make my transitions more smoother and better.