Best ideas for writing a 3 paragraph essay about Oedipus Rex

The 3 paragraph essay is a technique used by teachers to introduce the concepts of essay writing to their students. It allows them to organize their thoughts, visualize the individual parts and apply their knowledge to a written piece of work.

As you would expect, it's broken down into 3 parts:

• Introduction: Usually between 5 - 7 sentences in length This contains the purpose of your essay or thesis statement and what you want to talk about. In regards to Oedipus Rex, you may want to state which themes you are going to explore and why.
• Main Body: For this section, you need to choose 3 points to discuss based on your introduction. Again for Oedipus Rex it could be three examples of your chosen topic.
• Conclusion: Here you need to remind your reader of the thesis statement/ topic and give them something to take away and think about.

The structure above is how to write a 3 paragraph essay on any topic and you can apply it to any subject.

So what could you base a 3 paragraph essay about Oedipus Rex on? A great place to look is at the themes used within the piece and there's more than enough to chose from.

Themes

• Fate and free will: Free choice is seen in Oedipus' pursuit of knowledge about his own identity and fate is can be seen in his incestual relationship with his own mother and indeed a lot of events within the play.
• Determination: This is a key character trait of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta who are both driven people, but how much this trait is an asset or a hindrance could make an interesting essay.
• Power: Absolute power corrupts absolutely and Oedipus Rex is an arrogant, mean and unperceptive ruler even though he is supposedly acting for the "good of the people". Exploring how this is shown in the play might be a nice angle to explore.
• Memory and the past: A strong theme in the play is how looking too far into the past can be self-harming and dangerous. In your essay, you could argue whether Oedipus knowledge of his past harms him or benefits him.

You could also discuss the symbols and motifs used in the play and to what effect the writer uses them to enrich the text.

Any of the above areas would make for good subject matter for this type of essay and you tutor would be able to steer you in the right direction if you brought them to him/her.

If you are still struggling then try this site for more information. Good luck.