Hamlet Final Essay

Homework over the long weekend:  Read 2-3 articles on JSTOR (email me for username/password if you forgot it); annotated bibliography.

Close Reading: Ophelia

If you missed class today, you missed some in-depth conversation regarding the character Ophelia.  Some questions were raised after reading Brown's article, including:
-- Is Ophelia truly just a pawn/puppet for the men in her life?
-- Is Ophelia's suicide (if you believe it's suicide) an act of helplessness, or her only true act of autonomy?
-- Does she, as Brown asserts, "serve no purpose in the play"?
-- In what ways is Ophelia simply a mirror, reflecting the images of men like Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet (note the "madness" parallels between her and Hamlet)

With these questions in mind, you will be completing a "quiz" (project... writing assignment... whatever) in which you explore some aspect of Ophelia's character.  Make a claim (i.e., Ophelia is mad;  Ophelia is feigning madness;  Ophelia serves no purpose in the play...) and support that claim using specific textual evidence from both the play and Brown's article.

Requirements of the quiz are below, as is Brown's article should you need to reference it again.  Quizzes will be due Tuesday-- be creative!

Ophelia: Pointless & Insane, or Powerful and Cunning?

You are going to read an essay entitled “Gender and Identity in Hamlet: A Modern Interpretation of Ophelia.”  After having read and annotated the essay, consider these questions:

·       --What is the essay saying about the relationship between men and women?  What is it saying about Ophelia?  

      --About Ophelia’s relationship with the men in her life?

·       --Do you agree or disagree with the essay?  Why?

·       --What textual evidence can you find within the play to support your opinion?

With the answers to these questions in mind, create a thesis that explores some aspect of Ophelia’s character, that you can support with textual evidence.

Put together your argument in a creative, persuasive way.  It must include numerous quotes from the text to support your thesis.

This is a 20 point quiz grade and you may work with up to 2 other people.

article:

grading rubric:

Act IV

We have completed Act IV, and students handed in their packets.

For homework, please read the article "Gender and Identity in Hamlet: A Modern Interpretation of Ophelia" by Heather Brown.  Read it, annotate it, and be prepared to apply your understanding of it during our activities Friday.

Act III/IV

Today we finished Act III and got into Act IV (scenes 1-3).  If you were absent, please make sure you've read through 4.3.

Hamlet Act III

We finished Act III;  if you missed class, please be sure to catch up on the reading, as there will be a quiz on Monday.

Hamlet Act II

Today in class we reviewed and took a quiz on Act II and spent some time analyzing Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be..." soliloquy in Act III.  We will continue with Act III on Wednesday.

Hamlet Act 2

We have finished Hamlet's Act II.  If you were absent, please make sure you've read up through Act II and are prepared for a quiz on Monday.