One observation from AP readers is that students seem unable to wrestle with complex texts. I am not so sure that the ability is lacking. Rather, I think it is the desire or the willingness to read hard texts and think deeply about them that is sometimes missing. It does require discipline to train yourself to read complex texts, but it's so worth it, not only for the AP tests, but also for college and beyond. Lazy thinking is said to give you mud for brains. Use these assignments as exercises in compressing any brain mud into diamonds. :-)
Follow directions for all entries carefully. Answer the prompts thoroughly. Write enough to demonstrate your deep, thoughtful engagement with the text.
Write legibly or type responses. LABEL ALL RESPONSES CLEARLY. Example: Act 1.1 Entry#1.
Be prepared to read your response in class as called to do so. You will lose points if you are unable to read a response when called on. Yes, you will read your response, not just wing one on the fly. :) In other words, you have to bring them to class to be able to read them. Bring all of them to class each day; we may or may not discuss each one.
Hamlet journals will be collected eventually. These points are a major part of the unit's grade.
Entries and points are subject to change as the unit progresses.
(Bolded terms in entry prompts can be found on your Glossary of Literary Terms packet, and they are likely to appear on future tests, possibly on the AP test, too.)
Act 1.1:
Entry#1:After watching/reading 1.1, answer these questions and prepare to discuss -
What is the function of the scene? What mood is established in the scene? What do we discover about Denmark in the scene?
Act 1.2
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy,--
With an auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole,--
Taken to wife (1.2.8-14)
Entry#2: King Claudius’s words above are full of antitheses, pairs of opposites. The reference to sister/queen in the first line is an example of antithesis. Find and list the other five pairs of opposites. Next, reorder the convoluted syntax in the king's sentence above. Record the subject, the complete predicate, and the direct object of the main clause, ignoring all the phrases. What is the basic message? Discuss the intent behind Claudius's lengthy and confusing periodic sentence. What do the new king's words tell us about Claudius and about the situation in Denmark? What effect is Claudius trying to create with these contrasts? Consider both the connotation and the denotation, or direct meaning, of the king's words. Keep in mind that to marry a sister-in-law was considered by many of Shakespeare’s contemporaries to be incest.
Act 1.3
Entry #3: What tone is exhibited by Polonius's diction in his words to his daughter below? What does he reveal about the kind of father he is? How do Polonius' words to Ophelia characterize Polonius? Does his attitude come from concern for her or from something else? Explain.
'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late
Given private time to you; and you yourself
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous:
If it be so, as so 'tis put on me,
And that in way of caution, I must tell you,
You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behoves my daughter and your honour.
What is between you? give me up the truth.
OPHELIA
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.
LORD POLONIUS
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?
OPHELIA
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or--not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.
Act 1.4
Entry#4: Near the end of the scene, Marcellus's famous line, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," is one of the most recognized lines from the play. What is the purpose of the line?
