Resources for Reading and Writing about Hamlet

Readers' Note: please move your cursor over identified links (light blue/gray text) for additional information abut a film, resource, or literary term.

Film Adaptations
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is the first of the great tragedies written by William Shakespeare. Since plays are meant to be seen as well as read, I encourage you to watch a version of the play. There have been many versions on the stage and screen, and many are available at video rental or retail stores, or can be rented through Netflix.

Contemporary film adaptations include the films listed below. Each title brings you to a link on The Internet Movie Database where you can view cast list, facts about the production, and pictures.

Hamlet (1991, starring Mel Gibson)

Hamlet (1996, starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh)

Hamlet (2000, starring Ethan Hawke)

Many key scenes from different film versions can also be found on YouTube.com . Check them out!

Reading Tips and Other Resources

Besides viewing a film version of the play and/or scenes to help your comprehension, be sure to use other available resources. As you complete your reading for each class period, be sure to review the questions for each act found at the end of the play in your textbook. The questions can be helpful in testing what you understood and upcoming events and ideas in the in the play.

Also you may find a study guide helpful, either to read before and/or after you have done your reading from the play. Study guides, of course do not replace actually reading the play and coming to class for the discussion; however, they can help you look for important ideas and events without getting lost, and they also provide reading comprehension questions.

Shakespeare writes in English, but the language can sometimes be difficult. He uses iambic pentameter (poetic form) for his noble characters' dialogue, and he uses Elizabethan English for all his characters. Reading and, yes, re-reading, especially after reviewing a summary can help you get the hang of the language.

The footnotes help, but they can be distracting if you look up every word or phrase footnoted. You may want to save studying the footnotes after you have read once. Occasionally, however, it is necessary to check the footnote for a word's meaning.

Check out this Hamlet study guide. Remember this does not replace reading the play!

You may also want to check out the web site for The Globe Theater where many of Shakespeare's plays were and still are performed.

Class Themes in Hamlet

Remember to review the following ideas and questions that lead to a variety of themes (and possible writing topics) from the play:

• The "war-like" state of Denmark, how is it influencing events and provide some characters opportunities? What does it represent about the characters?
• How is corruption in Elsinore/Denmark/The World represented--(images, similes, and metaphors of a garden "gone to seed" or things rotting and incest references)?
• Royal Succession--How would a British audience living under a monarchy view the fact that Claudius and not Hamlet is King? How might the idea of "divine right" being possibly interrupted show the kingdom out of order?
  
• Claudius and Gertrude's marriage--why is it incest according to the Elizabethan understanding of marriage?
• Theatrical language, masks, and hypocrisy, how do these fit symbols/metaphors/similes highlight Hamlet's struggle and the other characters' and their motivations?
• What do we know about gender relations? How are our expectations about men and women played out in Hamlet?
• The play Hamlet can be viewed as a forth-and-back power struggle between Hamlet and Claudius. How does each act show a shift in power?
• How are Hamlet's ideas about his father influencing his perspective and actions?
• What characters are foils for each other, particularly foils to Hamlet?
• What kind of person is Hamlet? What motivates him? What does not motivate him?
• How does each of Hamlet's soliloquies show his struggles, power, and ideas at certain points in the play?
  
• Challenge your assumption that a character is a "good guy" or "bad guy." By examining the character closely and his/hers interactions at a given moment in the play with other characters, you may not change your initial opinion but seeing Hamlet as less-than heroic or Claudius as maybe not so bad given circumstances might lead you to a more thoughtful and complex analysis of a character or a particular scene in the play.

Critical Approaches or Perspectives from which you may read to Hamlet

(Review class notes and Writing, Part 4.)

• Historical
• Sociological
• Gender
• Psychological
• Reader-response
• Formalist
• Biographical

You can combine many of these perspectives (e.g. reader-response/psychological/gender). Most "close-readings" are a combination of formalism (how a piece is put together and your own experiences (reader-response). Your own gender and your understanding of others' gender and its impact on a character's place, actions, how she/he is perceived by others, a character's psychology, and your own understanding of human nature (psychology) inform your reading and writing about literature. Being aware of these perspectives can make you a more careful reader and can give focus to your writing about (interpretation of) characters' actions and events.

Do not use a critical approach that require research for essay # 3. You only need research for essay #4.

Final Reading and Writing Tips

By keeping a writing journal and annotating your textbook when you read and in class, you start working toward the composition of your in-class Essay #3 (See blog syllabus for class date). If you get great ideas from working with Hamlet, you could also expand them in a research-based analysis (Essay #4).

Welcome Back! New Deadlines Approach! Essays #3 & #4 Ahead!

Please review the syllabus for upcoming assignments. We have begun Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, so check out the reading schedule to the right for the day's reading.

While working on Hamlet in preparation for a short in-class essay (Essay #3), we will also begin your out-of-class research-based analysis (Essay #4).

Important dates:

April 2--Meet in Roberts Library for research workshop with Mr. Paul Robards or Ms. Judy Ellis, the MGC librarians

April 16--In-class Essay #3

April 21--Research Analysis Topics due!

April 30--Research Essay #4 due!

In order to prepare for our April 2 library visit, you may want to start thinking about selecting a literary work for your final essay. You may select a new work or you may revise an earlier essay. (See below.)

Frequently Asked Student Questions

Research-based Analysis?! What is that? (Essay #4)

You will first select a poem, short story, scene from a play, or a chapter from a novel as the focus of an analysis of your selected work. You will be adding to your essay the opinions of one to two literary scholars.

You will create a thesis and develop your thesis using your ideas, support from the literary work (quotations and direct references), and ideas from the critics.

How many sources do I need?
One to two approved Galileo sources.

Do I have to use Galileo sources?
Yes.


What if I can't find an article that says what I want it to say?
You do not need to use an article that necessarily agrees with your thesis. You can disagree with a critic's interpretation as long as you provide support from the work and your own logic.

What if I can't find any article about my particular poem/story/play/novel!?
You do not even need to find an article that is on your selected poem/short story/ play/novel. You can take a critic's article analyzing another work by your author and apply it to your selected work. Often writers have similar themes that run through several works or maybe your selected work is a departure from other works.

For example, Stephen King has written many books that deal with writers as main characters and their struggle to write. Among these are The Shining, Misery, The Dark Half, and Bag of Bones, to name a few.

But maybe you want to write on Lisey's Story, a newer novel and can't find an article about that novel, but you do find an article discussing earlier novels, say The Shining and The Dark Half and King's writer characters in these novels. You could still use that article for your analysis by taking that critic's ideas and applying them to your analysis of this later novel and see what themes continue and/or have changed.

Start thinking now as we work on Hamlet and prepare for essay #3! Please see me about any ideas or questions you have!

Poetry Essay Deadline Reminders!

Remember we are meeting in the computer lab tomorrow (March 10).


Essay #2 is due no later than March 10 @ 5:00 PM at my office.


Be sure to turn in your essay in a pocket folder with the final draft in the left pocket, stapled, and your draft work (see assignment sheet) in the right pocket.


Do not forget to post your final essay also to turnitin.com!




I had a student email me a great question:

"I was wondering how I would go about starting my essay after I have done
seven devices of poetry and stanza by stanza analysis?"

I'd like to share my answer with the class:

Writing an Introduction

Step One:
Once you have written on six of the seven areas of a poem, through that process you discover the 7th area--the theme of the poem--and that can become the essay thesis.

You then write your introduction with a general opening to get the reader's attention and focus on the general theme, leading to the thesis.

Step Two:
You then organize the body of your essay, focusing on the ideas that advance your thesis.

ENGL 1102 Poetry Analysis (ESSAY #2)

Assignment: You will be writing an essay that demonstrates a “close reading” of one of the poems in Native Guard. You should follow a multi-step process of reading, drafting, and writing.

This assignment asks that you compose the parts of your essay separately and then piece them together in order. For many of you this may be non-intuitive; a writer starts at the beginning, right?

The out-of-class essay writing process, however, is not linear and is not done in one step. In order to discover what you need to write about, you must read the poem closely, examining each part. The below writing process will guide you through the writing process leading you through a "close reading" of a poem and a more in-depth and refined final essay.

Step One: Select poem and read it aloud.

Step Two: Read the poem a second time, annotate, and make notes on The 7 & Areas of Poetry

· Make margin notes (annotations) next to the poem on this page.

· Answer on your own paper the below questions. Include specific lines & or phrases from the poem.

Questions for the 7 & Areas of Poetry

1. What does the title tell you?

2. Who is the speaker? (Identify personality, age, background, change in the poem)

3. What is the setting of the poem?

4. What is the situation of the poem?

5. Identify the audience (What type of reader?) and other characters in the poem;

6. What are unusual words in meaning, use, repetition? Poetic devices? Symbols?

7. What is the theme of the poem? (What about x?)

Step Three: Write a draft of the body of your essay following the structure of the poem (stanza-by-stanza or grouping stanzas together in the case of very short stanzas or long poems.)

Step Four: Write your conclusion, focusing on the theme.

Step Five: Create your introduction based on the information and focus/theme of the poem.

· Be sure to include a “hook” to open your essay—a quotation or related incident from your life or what you observe in the world;

· Include your working thesis.

Step Six:

· Put essay parts (intro, body, conclusion) together in order;

· Revise/refine your thesis;

· Proofread & revise essay (Eliminate repetition; Take out points that do not advance your thesis; take out repetitive phrases, combine sentences; Revise for style.

Guidelines & Reminders:

Format & citation rules: MLA (See rules for quoting & citing poetry in Writing, Part 4 & handbook)

Length: 500 words minimum (“C” length) to 1,000

Include all steps with your final draft in your folder.

Submit final copy to turnitin.com & a hard copy in folder.

Due: March 10 by 5:00 PM @ my office.