Hamlet IntroductionPlease bring your Hamlet book to class on Tuesday. We will begin listening to Act I together. Use the provided reading calendar to guided questions to keep up with your reading assignments.

Hamlet Schedule Fall 2018: English IV AP

As you read, use the attached guided reading questions to help you annotate. Additionally, for each Act that we read, you should write 2 original questions (these could be things you aren’t understanding or more Socratic questions you want to pose to the class). Your questions are what will be the starting point of our class discussions.

Tuesday, October 16: Begin listening to Act 1 together in class.

• HW: Finish Act I by block day, Oct 17/18

Weekend of October 19: Read Act II by Monday, Oct 22

Monday, October 22: Read Act III by Block Day, Oct 24/25

Weekend of October 26: Read Act IV by Monday, October 29

Monday, October 29: Act I-III Quiz (2F)

• HW: Finish Hamlet by October 30

Block Day, November 7/8: Hamlet Test (Objective and Writing)

Important Terms

Machiavellian – characterized by unscrupulous or immoral cunning, deception, or dishonesty (remember medea)

Existentialism – analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of each individual; man assumes ultimately responsibility for actions of free will; no certain knowledge of what is right or wrong

Nihilism – the rejection of traditional values and beliefs/religions, often in the belief that life is meaningless; man’s existence is senseless and useless

Metadrama/metatheatre – aspects of plays that draw attention to its nature as a drama, especially through the use of soliloquies, asides, prologues, epilogues, and references to acting

Important Terms

• Aside: When a character addresses the audience or another character on stage in a manner that presumes the other characters cannot hear him.

• Monologue: A long dramatic speech directed at other characters in the play.• Soliloquy: A speech given by a character alone on stage, meant to reflect the character’s innermost thoughts and struggles.

• Hamlet will give SEVEN soliloquies in this play. They are crucial in tracking the conflicts, themes, and character development of Hamlet.

• Blank verse vs prose: blank verse are lines written in unrhymed iambic pentameter whereas prose is meant to mimic the more natural flow of speech.

• Shakespeare uses this to distinguish class as well as an indicator of Hamlet’s mental state throughout the play.

Background of the Play

• Written in 1600 or 1601 and first performed in 1602• The origin of Hamlet comes from a Scandanavian tale called Amleth or Amlóði (which means "mad" or "not sane" in Old Norse) was put into writing around 1200 AD 

• Thematic influences come from both the Renaissance and the Restoration: • The 15th-century Renaissance brought with it a new interest in the study of human experience

and awareness. Scholars and artists purported that the human understanding of the world was based on appearance, and that it was only with great difficulty (if at all) that humans could see beyond these appearances in order to see the “real.”

• The main action of Hamlet takes place in Denmark, a largely Protestant nation at the time of the play’s composition. Protestants broke with a number of Catholic teachings, including the existence of purgatory, in the Protestant Reformation. This may explain why Hamlet is hesitant to accept the ghost’s claims that he is tormented until his life’s crimes are “purged” away.

The Revenge Genre

•HAMLET is a story driven upon the need to revenge a murder in a family. In a typical revenge plot, there are no authorities to appeal to, either because the original criminal is too power (i.e. has become king) or those in position to act do not know about or believe in the criminality of the villain.

• In a revenge plot, the avenger assumes responsibility early and spends much of the story overcoming various obstacles before carrying out his/her mission.

Motifs and ConflictsLook for the following motifs and conflicts. These will be

important in discovering the themes of the play.

•“PLAY” – ACTING•SPYING•DECAY/CORRUPTION•MADNESS•APPEARANCE VS REALITY•ACTION VS INACTION

Characters

• Setting: Elsinore Castle in Denmark• Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, currently home from his studies at Wittenberg for his

father’s funeral and mother’s marriage. • Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother• Claudius: New King of Denmark after the death of his brother, Hamlet’s uncle and

step-father• Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’ court, Claudius’ right hand man when it

comes to spying and mischief, father of Ophelia and Laertes• Horatio: Hamlet’s closest friend• Laertes: Polonius’ son, quick to action = foil for Hamlet• Ophelia: Polonius’ daughter, Hamlet’s love interest• The Ghost: the spectre of Hamlet’s dead father

Act 1 scene 1 Recap

Remind me, what happened yesterday? What information about Denmark and King Hamlet was established?

Act I scene ii

• Based on this introduction, how could we characterize Hamlet?• How do we see Hamlet breaking away from Elizabethan

religious values and reflecting on the more modern concepts of nihilism or existentialism?

• What images of decay and corruption are presented? With whom are those images associated?

• Mythological allusions and analogies - what various comparisons are made? Why?

• Who does Hamlet ultimately seem angry with?

Act I scene iii

• Meeting Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia - What contrasting advice is given to Ophelia from Laertes and Polonius.

• How is Polonius’ interaction with Laertes different from his interaction with Ophelia.

• What do these contrasts reveal to us about the time period?• Aphorism: “To thine own self be true” - how is this contributing

to concepts seen thus far in the play?

Act I scene v

Before the soliloquy what important information is directly revealed and implied by The Ghost?What aspects of Hamlet’s character have shifted and what has remained the same in the soliloquy?

ACT II and III Questions

What are YOUR questions on Act II and III?

Act 2 Key Elements and Analysis

● SPYING/PLOTTING MOTIF: What are the 2 spying plots?● DECAY MOTIF: Hamlet’s conversation with Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern● HAMLET’S MADNESS? Notice how his conversation with

Polonius and R&G are in prose.● THE FUNCTION OF THE PYRRHUS STORY● HAMLET’S 3rd SOLILOQUY - What are his primary emotions

now? What aspect of his character does he reflect on?

Act III Key Elements and Analysis

Hamlet’s 4th soliloquy,interaction with Ophelia, and Ophelia’s reflection on Hamlet’s character?

The outcome of Hamlet’s spying on Claudius at the play?Claudius’ soliloquy - How does this solidify his Machiavellian nature?

Hamlet’s 5th soliloquy - Are we witnessing a character shift in Hamlet?

Poor Polonius!And why can’t Gertrude see The Ghost?!?

Gertrude?

Re-read Act III scene iv (starting on line 30 – end) and Act IV scene i.With these scenes what do you make of Gertrude’s character? Do you find her to be innocent in all of Claudius’s scheming? How might her inability to see the ghost be indicative of something with her character?

Act 1-3 Quiz - Find your scantron

Reminders:

• Finish Hamlet by block day• Your 1st draft of your song essay is due Monday, 11/11• You have seminar work days on 11/12 and 11/15• Your next vocabulary quiz is 11/15 along with No Red Ink

Act IV - Hamlet and Claudius

How has the play shifted significantly at this point?

How is Claudius’ reaction to Polonius’ death revealing? What are Claudius’ more specific plans in regards to Hamlet?Claudius and Hamlet’s conversation?

What is going on with Fortinbras? How does this lead to yet another shift in Hamlet as revealed in his soliloquy?

Ophelia’s Madness and the Decay Motif

Rosemary for remembrance – Gives to Laertes

Pansies for thought – Gives to Laertes. T

Fennel (It wilts quickly after being picked) and is a symbol for flattery and columbine for foolishness as well as “deceived lovers”– Gives to Claudius

Rue for adultery and eternal suffering (Thought to cause abortions in its day) – Gives to Gertrude: “There’s rue for you, and there’s some for me.”

Daisies for innocence - these she gives to no one

Violets for faithfulness and fidelity - she says she would have brought these but they all withered when her father died

Ophelia’s Madness and the Decay Motif

What are the varying opinions on Ophelia’s madness? Find text evidence to align each theory with certain characters.

What do you think is the root cause of her decline? Her father? Hamlet? Both? Use text evidence to support your thoughts.

Because of Ophelia, what are some of themes that might be developing in regards to revenge, decay, corruption, etc . . .

Madness: Perception vs Reality

Often in Hamlet a character’s interpretation of Hamlet’s or Ophelia’s madness is based on his/her own character motivations. Examine each character’s interpretation of Hamlet’s and Ophelia’s behavior and consider what that may reveal about the other character. Use text evidence to support your claims. Something like this may be helpful…

Perception of Madness on: Hamlet Ophelia

Claudius

Gertrude

Polonius N/A

Laertes N/A

R&G N/A

What WE know:

Q3 Open Ended Prompt Practice

The Q3 in AP Literature allows you as the reader to select a text that addresses a predetermined topic. (For this activity and your test, you must use Hamlet).

Because you do not have the text in front of you, you must balance the appropriate level of paraphrase and summary with analysis to provide adequate text evidence without accidently giving a book report.

A major component of this essay is that it will ALWAYS ask you: “how does this contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?” This means you will have to turn the topic of the prompt into a greater thematic statement.

Also, beware of the select A CHARACTER restrictions...

Turning Topics into Themes

•“PLAY” – ACTING•SPYING•DECAY/CORRUPTION•MADNESS•APPEARANCE VS REALITY•ACTION VS INACTION

Themes:Make a comment on human nature- What image of human nature emerges from

the work? Are people generally good or deeply flawed?

The nature of society- Does the author portray a particular society or

social scheme as life-enhancing or life-destroying?

Ethics- What are the moral conflicts in the work? Are

they clear cut or ambiguous? To what extent are characters to blame for their actions?

Your task . . .

With your groups, you will be rotating to 4 different open ended prompts. You must:

1. Write a thesis statement answering all the parts of the question.2. Provide an outline of AT LEAST ONE scene you would use as textual

support (In a real paper, you would want to use multiple examples, probably 3 depending on the prompt).

3. Offer a bullet point explanation of how you would tie this example back to your thesis. (How does it answer all the parts of the question)

The catch:When you rotate to a new prompt, you CANNOT repeat the ideas of the group before you. There might be overlap (for example, maybe you end up at the same theme), but you cannot take the same focal point.

Hamlet’s foils

Which TWO characters function as foils for Hamlet? How does revenge motivate these foils and how do these characters behave differently from Hamlet? How does this opposition further characterize Hamlet and contribute to the action vs inaction motif? Find multiple pieces of text evidence to support your claim.

Hamlet Thesis Statements• The murder of King Hamlet catalyzes the seepage of corruption into society, ultimately proving

deceitful actions can over power people’s moral compass.

• I would clarify the “seepage of corruption into society” because the prompt says how a past event impacts the activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Clarify who is impacted and falls victim to corruption.

• Although Laertes successfully acts his revenge on Hamlet, his search for justice becomes corrupt through other people's own dishonorable values. Through Laertes decline, Shakespeare emphasizes people’s susceptibility to corruption.

• Ophelia’s death of both her innocence and life illustrates the extent to which corruption can spread and hurt everyone around even when they are not directly involved.

• Laertes’ quest for justice in his father’s death reveal the corruptive inflence of King Claudius and the ability of deception to twist righteous intent into murderous revenge.

Hamlet’s Changing Perception of Death?

How does Act V show a shift in Hamlet’s perception of death?

Machiavellian Politics in Elsinore

ClaudiusPoloniusHamlet - How does Hamlet’s moral ambiguity make his Machiavellian nature more complicated? Does Hamlet maintain a moral justification for his actions in the latter half of the play? What about what he says to Horatio Act V scene ii?

How might the ending of the play offer commentary on the outcome of these types of behaviors?