Drama Analysis – A Research Project
For our final two writing assignments, we will engage a multi-part research project focused on Henrik
Ibsen’s A Doll House. The first portion of the project will involve an annotated bibliography in which
you’ll compile and evaluate your research, which will then become the basis for your final essay. Below
are instructions for each portion of the assignment.
Research Prompt:
The following prompt will be your research question to be investigated in the bibliography portion and
then answered fully in your final essay:
Explain the role of freedom within the context of Henrik’s Ibsen’s A Doll House. In addition, consider
how this motif might be illustrated differently were we to give this play a contemporary production.
Annotated Bibliography:
For the research portion of this assignment, you will need to compile a bibliography of at least five
critical sources (academic journal articles, literary criticisms, and historical references) relevant to the
subject of this assignment. For each source, you will need to include a two-paragraph annotation. The
first paragraph (3-5 sentences) should provide a brief summary of the source, highlighting the main
argument of that specific text.
The second paragraph (3-5 sentences) should provide a prediction for
how you will use this source to answer the research prompt. Be specific in explaining what makes each
source a unique and useful contribution to your research. You may choose to use of the five sources to
help you answer the second portion of the question; however, the majority of your research should
focus on the analysis of Ibsen’s text directly.
*No public websites will be accepted for the bibliography or essay*
Final Essay:
Your final essay should result directly from your research compiled for the preceding bibliography;
however, you are free to include additional sources or alternative sources as you develop this essay.
The final essay should present a well-developed argument in which you respond directly to the first
portion of the prompt.
The majority of your essay (approx. ¾) should focus specifically on developing
that analysis of the original text. Because the question is asking you to consider how the motif functions
within its original context, you will benefit from further considering how that motif changes when the
context changes. Therefore, the rest of your essay (approx. ¼) should respond to the second portion of
the research prompt.
While you’ll find room for creativity here, your answer should be based on critical
analysis of both the original text and distinctions we find in our own surrounding circumstances.
The final essay must contain at least 4 critical sources, all documented within the essay and on a Works
Cited page using MLA style documentation. Your writing should be free of typing, spelling, and
grammatical errors, and demonstrate college-level writing of a thesis-driven, well-supported argument.