FRIDAY IN CLASS
Starting the Hamlet Process Essay--all parts to be retained and submitted as part of the final Hamlet essay packet.
1) Students discussed three topics (or at least 2 of the 3) in small groups.  Notes from these discussions were to be recorded under the heading "Group Discussion Notes" and dated 3/27.
2) On the same piece of paper, students wrote a "Personal Plan" for this essay, essentially stating which prompt and (if #3) which parent-child pair was being selected. (Also dated 3/27) This is an informal overview of what you intend to show; it was okay to use "I," and it did not have to be in academic style.
3) If you changed your mind over the week-end, you were supposed to have added an "Amended Personal Plan," dated whichever day.

TODAY IN CLASS
Without being distracted by lots of wordy instructions, students began working on a hand-written draft:  the text of the play, the mind of the student, paper and whatever writing implement most pleases the writer.

Simple directions for this stage:
1) Start with a "Working thesis" (or Hypothesis, if you prefer).  This is the main idea or claim that your paper will support.  Do not worry about word-smithing, and expect that you will revise it.  It will be much better after you proceed to step 2.
2) Begin writing your body paragraphs.  Start with the assumption that you will have 3.

• Each one must have a "body thesis" that a) shows how the paragraph relates to the main thesis and b) covers (like an umbrella) whatever goes in that paragraph.
• Later, some of you may decide that one or more paragraphs are too long, too packed with concrete detail and commentary, to be a single paragraph.  DO NOT CUT GOOD STUFF OUT.  At this point, you may use a minor transitional phrase and proceed, so long as everything is appropriate under the BODY THESIS for that section.
• But guess what--I don't want you to worry about that on Monday and Tuesday.  Just generate three solid body paragraphs.
• You need 3 "chunks" (quotation plus commentary) for each paragraph.  It's possible that one paragraph really has only two really relevant elements of support, but they are very convincing. If you are certain, and your other paragraphs are exceptionally solid, two will be okay.

Your progress will be stamped at the end of each day.  You will have both Monday and Tuesday in class to work on these paragraphs.  Do NOT worry about the introduction (let alone a conclusion) at this stage.,

FOR TUESDAY

• You could continue looking for appropriate support in the text and jot down notes.
• If you got well into the 2nd paragraph today, then you are probably on target to finish tomorrow.
• If you did NOT get that far today, you will probably want to try to catch up as homework.

Hamlet test tomorrow, Thursday 3/26; mostly objective; a few quotes but not many; either one or two "solid paragraph" responses.

TODAY IN CLASS
Hamlet quizzes and the Acts 3 and 4 study guides were returned.
Students had a few minutes to consider/collaborate on the following key spots of Act 5; then we discussed them briefly together.

• Implications of Horatio's exclamation "Why, what a king is this!"
• Osric--what are we supposed to make of this character?
• what is the actual content (message) of his conversation with Hamlet?
• how do both Hamlet's comments (directly to Osric plus asides to Horatio) AND what Osric says (substance as well as style) help tell us what kind of person he is?
• Serious conversation between Hamlet and Horatio:
• one spot we didn't discuss:  look at 5.2.11-12 (Folger): "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will--"  Look at what your book says about this; then actually look it up online; then try to apply it to how it applies to Hamlet's frame of mind at this point.
• what we DID discuss:  see 5.2.223-238 (Folger) and 5.2.209 to the long stage direction in the 5th period book

TOMORROW
Before the quiz--we will make sure to have the fullest possible understanding of the Effects (results) of the specific Causes (actions) listed in #21 of the Act 5 study guide.

TODAY IN CLASS
1) Collected the Act 3, Scene 4 "imagery" assignment.  (See yesterday's post for details.)

2) Handed out the Act 4 Study Guide.  It is due on Monday.  Read the questions for each section, read that section of the play and answer the questions, then move on to the next section.

3) Students tracked "tone" in the Hamlet / Gertrude conversation.  What is the exact tone or attitude each one expresses along the way?  The precise term (or even phrase) isn't as important to agree on as the general shifts that both participants experience in their own mood, in their self-insight/self-perception, and in their attitude towards the other person.

4) Then we watched the whole scene from the David Tennant version and all (or most) from the 1990 Mel Gibson / Glenn Close film.

5) Finally, students wrote a short (8 minutes or so) summary of their own reactions to or opinions of the two versions.

FOR TOMORROW
Get started on Act 4.  I will not check progress specifically for tomorrow, but remember that the completed study guide is due on Monday.  If you were absent today and don't have the hand-out yet, at least start reading Act 4.

TODAY IN CLASS
There was a quiz over Acts II-III.  Make it up tomorrow afternoon or Friday afternoon if you missed it today.

I collected the Act III study guides just before the quiz; I also returned the Act II guides.

I did NOT collect last night's homework; apparently I forgot to tell one class that the details of a short imagery assignment would be on the blog, and some individuals in another class seemed to feel that the link was broken. (?) I am giving all of us a bit of slack on this work:  everyone can turn it in tomorrow!!

SO, FOR TOMORROW
Here, just copied and pasted, is what was on yesterday's post:

As homework, write a short analysis of three of the following four passages from Scene 4.  Each passage contains an analogy or imagery that helps convey the literal meaning. Here are two quick examples of what you need to do.

Ex. #1:   " . . . you shall not budge./ You go not till I set you up a glass/ Where you may see the inmost part of you."  (Folger 3.4.23-25; McD-L 3.4.19-21)

Hamlet's analogy uses "glass" in the sense of a "mirror," only as a special kind of mirror which would show what is inside a person instead of the mere reflection of the exterior.  He is saying that he is going to force his mother to look inside herself to see what is really on her conscience.

Ex. #2:  "Look here upon this picture and on this, / The counterfeit presentment of two brothers."
(Folger 3.4.63-64; McD-L 3.4.54-55).  [And this is expanded in the following lines.]

Hamlet is actually using literal props here; he indicates two actual portraits, one for each brother.  They may be paintings on the wall, small portraits on a dresser, or even a "miniature" (of his own father) that he wears around the neck.  He points to each picture, as needed, to support his description of the noble character of the dead King vs. the "mildewed ear" of corn or grain that is Claudius.

CHOOSE THREE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR SHORT EXPLANATIONS OF YOUR OWN:

Folger 3.4.100-103 / McDougal Littell 3.4.91-93

Folger 3.4.126-7 / McDougal Littell 3.4.114-115 (What is the nature of the analogy, and what is the Ghost urging Hamlet to do?)

Folger 3.4.161-163 / McDougal Littell 3.4.146-147

Folger 3.4.165-170 / McDougal Littell 3.4.149-155

Tomorrow:  Quiz over Acts II and III

TODAY IN CLASS
Group debriefing and then a whole-class discussion of the main ideas of Claudius' soliloquy and Hamlet's response; these hand-outs were collected.

Then--an enactment of the opening portion of Act 3, Scene 4, depicting the start of Hamlet's conversation with his mother and the killing of Polonius.  Every class did this twice--getting the "stage business" down to make the scene more realistic was important (and pretty entertaining!).

FOR TOMORROW
Read/review the rest of the scene; use the synopsis at the beginning of the scene to help your understanding.

As homework, write a short analysis of three of the following four passages from Scene 4.  Each passage contains an analogy or imagery that helps convey the literal meaning. Here are two quick examples of what you need to do.

Ex. #1:   " . . . you shall not budge./ You go not till I set you up a glass/ Where you may see the inmost part of you."  (Folger 3.4.23-25; McD-L 3.4.19-21)

Hamlet's analogy uses "glass" in the sense of a "mirror," only as a special kind of mirror which would show what is inside a person instead of the mere reflection of the exterior.  He is saying that he is going to force his mother to look inside herself to see what is really on her conscience.

Ex. #2:  "Look here upon this picture and on this, / The counterfeit presentment of two brothers."
(Folger 3.4.63-64; McD-L 3.4.54-55).  [And this is expanded in the following lines.]

Hamlet is actually using literal props here; he indicates two actual portraits, one for each brother.  They may be paintings on the wall, small portraits on a dresser, or even a "miniature" (of his own father) that he wears around the neck.  He points to each picture, as needed, to support his description of the noble character of the dead King vs. the "mildewed ear" of corn or grain that is Claudius.

CHOOSE THREE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR SHORT EXPLANATIONS OF YOUR OWN:

Folger 3.4.100-103 / McDougal Littell 3.4.91-93

Folger 3.4.126-7 / McDougal Littell 3.4.114-115 (What is the nature of the analogy, and what is the Ghost urging Hamlet to do?)

Folger 3.4.161-163 / McDougal Littell 3.4.146-147

Folger 3.4.165-170 / McDougal Littell 3.4.149-155

Briefest of blogs tonight--
The handout with the soliloquys by Claudius and Hamlet--finish the "summa-phrase" so that you will be ready for some group processing on this.
If you just got the Act III study guide today, do your best to get that done through #15.

Quiz still Wednesday.

Good afternoon to you all on the first day of Daylight Savings Time 2015.

Upcoming:  Quiz over Acts II and III of Hamlet on Wednesday

FRIDAY IN CLASS
There was some initial time to get started on the Act III Study Guide by answering questions 1-10 as review of material already assigned/discussed, including readers' theater segments.  We briefly set up some of the elements of the play-within-the play:  is it good drama (why/why not?); how would you expect Ophelia to react to Hamlet when she sees him at the play?  How would you expect Hamlet to act with Ophelia?

Then we watched the David Tennant version from Hamlet's advice to the players through Claudius' reaction after rising and calling for the lights.  If you were absent on Friday, make sure that you give a thorough second reading to the "play within the play,"

FOR MONDAY
First, read the rest of Act 3, Scene 2--approximately from line 300 through 432, and answer just a few more questions on the Act III Study Guide:  11-15.

Then continue reading:  Act 3, Scene 3.  You don't have to answer the questions yet,and we will proceed with Act 3, Scene 4 in class tomorrow.  (However, you can certainly feel free to finish reading the act on your own first).

RE: the Study Guide--I do not have this digitalized, so I can't link it here.  However, if you were absent, here are questions 1-15 so that you can catch up.  Answer on your own paper.

Act Three, Scene 1:
1. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to Claudius?
2. How does Claudius react when Polonius says, " . . . with devotion's visage, And pious action we do sugar o'er/ The devil himself"" (52-55)
3. What plan do Polonius, Claudius, and Ophelia not put into action?
4. What is the nature of Hamlet's soliloquy (lines 64-98)?
5. What is Hamlet's main argument against suiciide?
6. Why does Hamlet treat Ophelia as cruelly as he does?  What has changed him?
7. What thinly-veiled threat does Hamlet voice, after he becomes aware of his hidden presence?
8. At the end of the scene, what does the King decide to do with Hamlet?  (What modification does Polonius suggest?)

Scene 2
9. What qualities in Horatio cause Hamlet to enlist his assistance?
10.  What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do?
11. Summarize what happens in the play-within-a-play,.
12. Why, in line 261, does Hamlet refer to the play-within-a-play as "The Mouse-trap"?
13. What is the King's reaction to the play?
14.  In lines 375-402, to what object does Hamlet compare himself?
15.  As Hamlet goes to his mother at the end of the scene, what does he admonish himself to do?

TODAY IN CLASS
1st period was very prepared with the soliloquy; thank you.  Obviously, due to my not adjusting to the missing 5 minutes, 2nd and 5th did not get the hand-out and instructions, so there was some in-class time.

All classes discussed their "summa-phrase" in groups, and some aspects of that carried over into the whole class discussion.

FOR TOMORROW

• Pick up at the end of the soliloquy and read the rest of Act 3, Scene 1 (Hamlet talking with Ophelia; Ophelia, the king, Polonius talking) 
• Then read Act 3, Scene 2 up to where Horatio enters (3.2.55)

TODAY IN CLASS
We had a short timed write, looking at the end of Act II from the point of view of Hamlet and one other assigned character (Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, or Ophelia).  The title was "What's on my plate?" and the idea was to write a short first-person journal entry that would lay out everything facing that character at the end of Act II.
We discussed Hamlet's qualities of character as we see them at this point (#28 of the guide, but the idea was to be as complete as possible; and in our discussion, we considered the evidence for all traits mentioned).
Also, I collected the Act II Study Guides.

Then in 1st and 2nd we read the first part of Act III up to Hamlet's "To be or not to be . . . " soliloquy; we'd gotten that far yesterday in 5th.  In 1st and 2nd we need to discuss the imagery of Polonius' self-incriminating statement as well as the King's aside--we ALMOST got done with that in 5th.

FOR TOMORROW
1st period--you received a copy of the soliloquy.  Read it, and annotate it, please.  You can wait for class to do the paraphrase if you wish.

2nd and 5th--we ran out of time and you did NOT receive the copy.  You would still be wise to read it carefully tonight, but you can annotate at the start of class tomorrow.

FRIDAY IN CLASS
1st/2nd periods:  discussion and some time to work.  5th:  discussion and some time for a film.  We'll make up the difference tomorrow.

FOR MONDAY
Finish reading Act II.  Some parts are somewhat hard; I've told everyone not to worry about the "child actor" discussion, because though it was important to Shakespeare at the time, it really has no bearing on our understanding of the play.  Also, the actor's rendition of the excerpt from Dido and Aeneas is difficult for people who don't know the story, but it IS important.  Do your best with it now;  There will be discussion before you hand in the study guide questions later in class.

HOWEVER, have the questions completed before class starts; I will mark or stamp the papers before we begin.