Mid-Term Break

Best wishes on your mid-terms!

Please read V.i for Friday, 22 January. Bring in a question or connection.

Day 14 HAMLET

Benjamin West's "Ophelia Before the King and Queen"

Do Now: There are many doubles in Shakespeare's plays (e.g., the feuding Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet, sets of twins in Twelfth Night and A Comedy of Errors, foils like Banquo and Macbeth in Macbeth, etc.). What is a double in Hamlet and what does it make you think about?

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to observe how Shakespeare repeats plot elements in Act IV that compel his audience to reconsider earlier events in the play.

I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can point out which characters in Act IV undergo similar sequences of events that other characters experience earlier in the play.
-I can make a claim about what this repetition emphasizes.

Agenda: 

1. Doubles to consider
2. Act IV
3. Exit Ticket: What do the echoes and doubles in Hamlet make the audience consider?

HW: Please submit your revised TP2 on the form below.

Day 13 HAMLET

Do Now: "In a brilliant scene [III.ii] the resolution of Hamlet's doubts by the play-within-a-play triggers the murderous reaction by the now thoroughly alarmed antagonist [Claudius]. It is the height of irony that the exposure of Claudius's secret also involves the exposure of Hamlet's and thereby sets in motion a counteraction that will eventually destroy him in his moment of victory." (Bowers 25)

I agree/disagree with the critic because...

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to recognize elements of dramatic structure and support my observations with appropriate evidence and analysis.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can point to an event that serves as the climax of the play.
-I can make a claim about why this event is the play's turning point.

Agenda: 

1. III.iii-iv
2. The Point of No Return
3. Exit Ticket: To what other heroes would you compare Hamlet?

HW: Prepare one entry for Friday's blog entry.


Upcoming Thesis Dates

January 8: PS4 entries due

January 12: TP2 revised draft due

Day 12 HAMLET

Do Now: Please underline or highlight the line/passage you asked a question or drew an inference about. As a group, choose one of these highlighted lines/passages to share with the class.

1. Reviewing III.i and III.ii
2. III.iii in groups
3. Exit Ticket: In general, the climax or turning point in Shakespeare's work occurs during the third act. Have we witnessed this turning point yet? Explain.

HW: SS4 due tomorrow.

SS4 Work

Please use the lab time to find a fourth secondary source and begin work on the blog entry. Reminder: in addition to selecting three quotations from the article to paraphrase and evaluate, you'll also need to provide a short (2-3 sentences) summary of the article. Let me know if you're having trouble finding good literary criticism!

HW: Work on SS4 blog (due Tuesday) and read III.ii. Mark one passage from the scene and either ask a question or draw an inference about it.

Day 11 HAMLET

Do Now: Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy is arguably the most-quoted speech from any of Shakespeare's plays. But does that mean that it's the best understood? What do you (or did you once) think the speech is about?

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to  make a claim about how the two soliloquies in act III, scene i further develop the conflicts of Hamlet and Ophelia.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can compare and contrast Hamlet's and Ophelia's soliloquies.
-I can explain how the soliloquies reveal internal conflicts a character is facing.

Agenda: 

1. Soliloquies in III.i
2. The Nunnery Scene
3. Comparing adaptations
4. Exit Ticket: What do you think is preventing Hamlet from acting?

HW: Begin searching for a fourth secondary source.

Day 10 HAMLET

Do Now: Put the events from Act II in order and choose a line or passage that strikes you as significant.

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to review acts I and II of Hamlet and make a claim about Hamlet's first three soliloquies.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can describe the key events from acts I and II.
-I can compare and contrast Hamlet's first three soliloquies.

Agenda: 

1. Act II
2. The third soliloquy
3. Double Binds
4. Exit Ticket: What is the most memorable part of act two?

HW: Please finish your claim about Hamlet and read III.i. Begin looking for a fourth secondary source.