Hamlet Act Two

Color coding: Notes, Hamlet Odds & Ends (doc/paper), Hamlet's Soliloquies (doc/paper), Hamlet Motif (doc/paper).

All act two work will be due by class time on Monday, December 1.

Read 2.1 in class. (Finish at home if necessary.) 
* Take notes on your motif/thread.
* Take notes on characters and characterization; situation, events, and plot; essential question and other themes; interesting literary and rhetorical language; repetitions, contrasts, and other patterns. 
* This scene happens in two phases. Polonius talks to a man named Reynaldo about going to France to check on Laertes. Ophelia then comes to Polonius to tell her father about an encounter with Hamlet.  In your "Hamlet Odds & Ends" (doc/paper) explore character development in relation to themes: 

In the first part of the scene: 
1) How is the characterization of Polonius (through what he says and does) related to the theme of appearances and truth? How is the characterization of Polonius (through what he says and does) related to the theme of gender roles? 

In the second part of the scene:  
2) In this scene how is the characterization of Ophelia (through what she says) and Hamlet (through what he did) related to the appearances and truth of Hamlet's mental state? (If I haven't talked about it already, remind me that we need to discuss Hamlet's statement in 1.5 that he will "put an antic disposition on.") How is what Ophelia says happened between her and Hamlet related to the theme of gender roles? 

* Small group / whole group discussion: Based on your answers above [^^^], if you were a director or actor involved with a production of Hamlet, would you depict Polonius as proper and well-meaning, as crafty and conniving, as foolish and out of touch, or some other way? Would you depict Ophelia as motivated in this scene by loyalty to her father, obligation to her father, concern for Hamlet, concern for herself, confusion about Hamlet's behavior, a combination of these factors, or as motivated by something else entirely? If, in a film adaptation, you were to recreate the encounter that Ophelia describes would you depict Hamlet as disturbed, as pretending to be disturbed, as attempting to communicate something to Ophelia but unable, as wanting to disturb Ophelia, or would you depict Hamlet some other way?

Read 2.2 (in class and at home)
* Take notes on your motif/thread.
* Take notes on characters and characterization (particularly Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, Hamlet, and the players all of whom figure prominently in this scene); situation, events, and plot (especially regarding Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's role, Claudius's attempt to get the King of Norway to stop Fortinbras's planned attack on Denmark, Claudius and Polonius' plan to figure out why Hamlet is acting strange, Hamlet's plan to use the players); essential question and other themes; interesting literary and rhetorical language; repetitions, contrasts, and other patterns. 
In your "Hamlet Odds & Ends" (doc/paper)  1) choose something substantial or revealing Hamlet says in this scene and explain not only what it means but how the way he says it is significant (I suggest selecting something witty he says to Polonius or to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or you might explain his most famous non-soliloquy speech (2.2.316-334); 2) answer this question: How does the speech Hamlet asks the First Player to recite relate to the situation in Denmark? Think about Priam, Hecuba, Pyrrhus, Achilles, on the one hand, and King Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Prince Hamlet, on the other hand. The two stories are not exactly parallel but relate in interesting ways particularly with regard to the question, how do different people respond differently to traumatic loss?
* In your "Hamlet's Soliloquies" document/paper follow the directions for writing two responses to Hamlet's 2.2 soliloquy.

* In your "Hamlet Motif" document/paper do the following:
1. Write down your motif.
2. Write down the act, scene, line of every place you noticed your motif in act two. (If you're thin on notes: Here you'll find searchable text.)
3. Write a paragraph in which you explore the role and significance of the motif in play so far.
4. Write down a quotation from act one that involves your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write a thorough explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the significance of the motif.