Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

In this essay, you will use Aristotle’s definition of tragedy from Poetics to analyze Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Is Wilson’s play tragic according to Aristotle’s definition?

You must:

• Define tragedy according to Aristotle’s Poetics.
• Describe Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
• Determine the relationship between Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Aristotle’s definition.
• Include a clear thesis that states your position.
• Support your position using direct references to both texts in at least three body paragraphs with topic sentences and transitions that refer back to the thesis.
• Use MLA format in-text citations and Works Cited page.