Work out more than one way of structuring and organizing your Hamlet essay

   Formulaic Five-Paragraph Essay

1. Thesis map listing barely-connected points 1, 2, and 3

2. π about 1

3. π about 2

4. π about 3

5. Conclusion

   Compare Claudius vs. Hamlet’s speech

π1. Intro + Thesis

π 2. All about Claudius’ speech

π 3. Comparing Claudius’ speech with Hamlet’s speech

π 4. Conclusion

   Compare Claudius vs. Hamlet’s speech B

π1. Intro + Thesis

π 2. Claudius’ convoluted speech reveals his deceptive side

π 3. Hamlet’s convoluted speech reveals his indecisive side

π 4. Two convoluted speakers, two different inner states

π 5. Conclusion

  Point by Point Comparison

π1. Intro + Thesis about words/metaphors and long sentences

π 2. How Claudius and Hamlet use vivid words and metaphors

π 3. How Claudius and Hamlet use long sentences: what it shows about them

π 4. How two different characters can have similar speech, but it comes from different impulses

π 5. Conclusion

  Compare Hamlet’s public vs. private speech

π1. Intro + Thesis

π 2. How Hamlet speaks in public reveals his persona

π 3. How Hamlet speaks in soliloquies reveals his inner turmoil

π 4. Conclusion

  It seems x, but actually y!

While at first it may seem that Claudius and Hamlet speak similarly, using long sentences and many metaphors, a careful analysis reveals that Claudius uses overly authoritarian language to compensate for his illegitimacy while the Hamlet uses eloquent but equivocal language, revealing his extreme self-doubts.

π 2. How Hamlet and Claudius seem to speak alike

π 3. How Hamlet and Claudius have different patterns of speech, revealing important differences in character.

π 4. Conclusion

Analysis of Two Basketball Poems, Then Writing an Essay

Tips on Writing a Close Analysis Essay and a Compare and Contrast Essay

See Jago textbook p. 41-58
p.41-3 Annotate the basketball poem “Slam, Dunk, & Hook” by Yusef Komunyakaa

p.44-48 Respond to the Thesis Statement and Sample Essay on “Slam, Dunk”

p. 49-56 Annotate “Fast Break” and respond to the compare and contrast essay

p.57-58 Annotate two poems about animals, “Traveling through the Dark” and “Woodchucks”

How can you apply these same skills to your essay comparing the way two characters speak differently in Hamlet? How can you organize your essay? How do you include close reading of passages and then move to a larger claim? How can you write a strong thesis?

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Sample Essay: One may be mad and mad and be Hamlet

 In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet pretends to act mad, to deceive people around him, so they do not question his behavior around the palace. Hamlet’s soliloquies show the reader that his speech changes dramatically to suggest he is becoming madder, than he is trying to act. In each of his soliloquies, Hamlet initially blames himself, and contemplates suicide, but then immediately starts to blame others. For example, his anger and resentment towards his mother, when in should only be focused on Claudius. This shows how Hamlet has an inner struggle, which causes him to live in fantasy, act out, and lie to the people who get in the way of his father’s revenge.

Sample Essay: The King and The Prince: Analyzing Their Different Speech Patterns

              In Shakespeare's Hamlet, King Claudius and Hamlet are contrasted through the various ways they speak in public to when they are contemplating their own thoughts. The two men have both a different set of values and different speech patterns. Shakespeare uses the different speech patterns of Hamlet and Claudius in order to differentiate between the two characters and in order to aid the actors in the ability to perform the character, the audience to understand the characters and the different speech patterns show certain themes throughout the play. The different ways an actor recites a character’s line or the way a character’s lines are phrased make a big difference in Hamlet. Each word chosen makes a big difference to the entire meaning of what the character is saying. Hamlet says everything with equivocation, witty and with lots of puns which says that his character is very deep and he is in the midst of making a huge decision and he does not know what to do. On the other hand Claudius’ character says things with an authoritative tone, and is very paradoxical with the things he says. This could be because he wants to confuse his audience and other characters in the play. While King Claudius and Hamlet are both alone they seem to expose their true emotions, when in public Claudius is a deceiving speaker in order to steer away his audience from the truth and takes command of the stage,  and Hamlet "pretends" to act mad when he is around others so they will not see his real emotions.

Homework (click below)

Click:--> Homework/Assignment page

Essay due Sun. Oct 24

Homework Mon. Sept. 27 to Oct. 4

Home work due by Mon. Sept.27:  NONE (just getting back from Senior Retreat)

Homework due by 2^nd class meeting of week (Tue Sept. 28 for A/G, Wed. Sep. 29 for B)

Read Pride and Prejudice and DW Harding from Senior Reader

Blog about your turnitin.com comments on your essay (strengths, grammar, areas to work on)

Homework due by 3^rd class meeting of week (Wed. Sep. 29 for G, Thu. Sep. 30 for A/B)

Read Pride and Prejudice

Blog about DW Harding: Is Collins funny or a nightmare? (a full paragraph)

Homework due by final class meeting of week (Thu. Sep. 30 for G, Fri. Oct. 1 for A/B)

Finish Pride and Prejudice

Comment on two students' blogs about DW Harding
(Review online guidelines for commenting: respectful, specific, constructive)

Homework due by MON. Oct 4

Finish Pride and Prejudice and prep for test (40 multiple choice plus paragraph)

No blog is due.

Reading and Responding to D.W. Harding

Objectives: 1. Practice reading dense, college-type prose, 2. Extract main points of difficult articles, 3. Take a stand: agree with one point, qualify or disagree with another, 4. Ask questions of the text, 5. Come to class prepared to speak out, ask questions, participate, and read passages aloud from both texts to further the classroom conversation or support a point, 6. Write a (blog) paragraph responding to Harding in interesting ways, 7. Comment on others’ blog posts about Harding, 8. Simulate a college seminar in which you are obligated to participate intelligently.

  Questions to Prepare for:

1.      What is/are Harding’s main point(s)?

2.      How does he set it up? How can you find it?

3.      How does he organize his ideas (paragraph by paragraph)?

4.      What specific idea can you agree with Harding on? Would you modify or qualify what you agree with?

5.      What specific idea do you disagree with?

6.      What questions do you have or could your raise for others to discuss?

7.      What will you speak up about in class? How can you further the discussion by listening carefully and commenting? What larger question about Austen can you raise?

What passages from Harding and/or Austen can you read aloud to help the conversation?