[Test students' ability to evaluate the strengths and limitations of New Historicism versus Formalism when interpreting Shakespearean tragedies. Require comparative analysis of each approach’s assumptions, methods, and likely conclusions; application to at least one tragedy (e.g., Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello) with supporting textual and contextual evidence; and a reasoned judgment about which approach—or a synthesized approach—yields a more persuasive interpretation for a specified critical question.]