You just met someone, and immediately thought, “I feel like this person can’t be trustworthy.” What made you think that? Is it because of something they’ve said or done? In the book, “The Merchant of Venice,” three guys, Prince of Morocco, Prince of Arragon, and Bassanio try to compete for Portia’s love by the choosing of the correct casket. Before choosing caskets, Portia meets with each one, explaining the rules of choosing a casket. The Prince of Morocco immediately tells her not to judge him by his skin color, as it might affect the choice Portia makes. But the appearance of something does not declare the value of it.
“The pound of flesh which I demand from him was expensive to buy. It’s mine, and I will have it!” Shylock is the character that hates Antonio, since Antonio thought of him as a low-status/poor person. Shylock was a Jew, while Antonio was a Christian. Antonio’s initial thought of Shylock before was that he was harmful, and he could do something that would put him in danger. This was because of Shylock’s religion. Their religions fought, therefore they didn’t like each other. Now that Antonio comes back, Shylock is trying to get revenge on Antonio for what he did in the past.
“It isn’t spelled out, but what of that? You’d do that much out of charity./I can’t find it. It isn’t in the bond.” Shylock is now trying to find an excuse to cut the pound of flesh off of Antonio’s body, while Portia tries to bribe him by tripling the amount of ducats. Shylock refused the pay and went on, but was forced to not cut out the pound of flesh, after Portia tells him that he has to cut Antonio without a single drop of blood to fall. If blood is spilled, all of his lands and goods will be taken away according to their law. He tries to back away from the deal, but Portia tells him that it was either get the pound of flesh or nothing. He then just backs away, only charged with a fine, leaving Antonio unharmed.
In conclusion, you can't judge a person by what they are or what you see on the outside. Prince of Morocco thought that he would be judged by the color of his skin, while Portia thought that it wasn't exactly necessary, since it all came down to what casket he chose. Antonio initially thought of Shylock as a bad Jew, who was a beggar and could put him into danger, while Shylock still thought of him as a bad person because of what he's done to him before. All of these things are when you judge someone even if you haven't really known them. But in the end, if you make the effort to actually get to know them, you would know that they're more than who you thought they were.
Aloha Angela,
ReplyDeleteI feel like your introduction could have more discussion about the general topic about appearances. Also in your introduction don't give out to much detail about what happens in the book. There should be more commentary in your essay. Also for the beginning of each paragraph, don't start off with the quote, you need to have and introduction sentence for it as well. You also have to properly quote shakespeare by using (Act.Scene.Line) your essay is not in chunky paragraph form. You only have one quote for each paragraph and a whole ton of summary about what happened in the book. The thing that this essay is missing is your voice. You need to put in more commentary about the situation that happens. But overall good essay.
I don't really understand what's your purpose, although the audience, being Shylock, Antonio, Portia, and Prince of Morocco, were clear. There are a few grammatical errors, such as a slash mark and a comma after "charity," where a question mark should be. You make the voice of the essay seem to persuade the reader to understand and agree with your opinion, but the writing is confusing and leaves out a lot of context (such as how the Prince of Morocco's skin relates to your thesis).
ReplyDeleteThe essay has an effective form and persuades the reader to agree, along with personal thoughts on the book that support your evidence, but the two middle paragraphs don't follow the chunky paragraph form (TERRERRC).
You managed to complete a few thoughts, such as explaining Shylock and Antonio's relationship, but it didn't follow you thesis, as Shylock and Antonio seem to perceive each other just as they behave.