This quarter you’ll practice the skills necessary to write a 3000 – 4000 word scholarly essay that explores one or more of the many ways Shakespeare’s work has been converted into a profitable product in the past one hundred years. Your essay should seek to enter into a critical conversation and support a debatable point in that conversation. For example, many scholars have asked why Shakespeare? What value is inherent in his writing that engenders value in these products? Does cultural capital have inherent educational value or are do these products pursue separate goals that remove education from the equation? Who is the target audience of these products and how are their needs met? Follow your own interests and feel free to develop an essay that identifies other problems or controversies within the broad topic area, but be sure your final draft includes a debatable thesis, a review of literature, a persuasive supporting argument, and MLA works citation.