Merchant of Venice Paper III Law and Literature  /   Professor Olson

Focus upon the characters of Portia and Shylock and in a tight thesis sentence sum up what the Merchant of Venice teaches about the relationship between law and grace in light of these two characters.  Then prove the thesis in your paper. You need not feel as if you must agree with my reading. You may conclude that grace and law do combine into justice, or that they do not.  .

Be SURE to incorporate quotes throughout your paper (you may pull from any character). .

ALSO be careful to pay attention to the rhythm of your sentences, to the way words sound when placed next to another, and to the appearance of vigor or calmness in your style.  This cannot be accomplished without several rewrites off the computer!

FINALLY, be sure you clarify the how and why of what you assert.  Parse carefully each idea you find in the text.  Avoid too many large concepts.  Rather speak in terms of justice, law and grace alone and unpack, or peel, those concepts by reference to the text.