Aspects of tragedy common mistakes

Common mistakes

• Overlooking character motivations

  Failing to analyze why characters act as they do, leading to superficial interpretations.

  Fix itFocus on the underlying motivations and desires of characters, particularly Willy and Biff, to deepen your analysis.

• Overlooking character motivations

  Students often summarize actions without analyzing the motivations behind them.

  Fix itFocus on the reasons characters make choices and how these choices contribute to the tragedy.

• Plot Summary

  Focusing too much on summarizing the plot rather than analyzing themes and characters.

  Fix itEnsure your response includes analysis of key themes and character motivations.

• Overlooking Context

  Failing to connect the poem's themes to the historical or social context.

  Fix itAlways consider how the context influences the themes and characters in the poetry.

• Over-reliance on plot summary

  Students often summarize the plot instead of analyzing the text.

  Fix itFocus on close reading and textual evidence to support your analysis.