Getting Started with Hamlet (pre-writing, pre-reading, pre-thinking, pre-talking)

Here's what we have done so far.
1. In a Google doc entitled "Hamlet Odds & Ends" or on paper, we've written what we would feel and do if we were in Hamlet's situation. (Hamlet's father has died. Hamlet's mother has remarried soon after the death. Hamlet's mother married his father's (her husband's) brother. Soon thereafter Hamlet's beloved is forbidden to see him. Then, Hamlet's friend (and a couple guards) tell him they have seen the ghost of his father several nights in a row. They invite Hamlet to see the ghost that night.)

2. In class we discussed our responses in the context of the big question for this play: How do different people respond to traumatic loss and tragedy? How do people respond to uncertainty, mystery, and doubt? How do people respond to wrongdoing and corruption? What do these responses have to do with inner character and inner consciousness, with social pressures and external influences, with gender and age, with power and lack of power? 

3. We've read some of the introductory material at the beginning of the the Folger's edition of Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare's Language and An Introduction to This Text. (Don't worry about reading Shakespeare's Life, Shakespeare's Theater, and the Publication of Shakespeare's Plays unless those topics interest you.)
 
4. While reading write (in a Google doc or on paper) ten (10) details that seem important to know about the play, the language, and the text. (Ten total not ten each.) We shared these details in class. Details from the introductory reading will be assessed as part of the test you take after reading and studying the play.

Here's what we were supposed to get to today but didn't.
5. Before you started reading I was supposed to assign you a Hamlet motif (or thread) to track through the book.

Concrete motifs
Water (in its many forms) & other fluids [Julia H]
Ears & hearing [Gina C]
Songs, tunes, music [Josh C]
Eyes & seeing [Caitlin C]
Flowers, plants, & weeds [Alex E]
Animals [Sara F]
Rot & decay [Matt G]
Disease & sickness [Gage L]
Food & appetite [Greer V]
Acting, playing, theatre [Madison S]
 
Conceptual motifs
Men & male roles [Ariel M]
Women & female roles [Erin T]
Appearances (what seems to be) & truth (what is) [Natilia W]
Action & inaction [Matlida G]
Madness & sanity [Mikayla H]
Death, afterlife, ghosts, spirits [Emily R]
Fate & fortune [Karina K]
Responses to authority (obeying & dissenting) [Liam C]
Sleep & dreams [Lukas S]

Here's Friday's work:
Add responses to these prompts to the document in which you already responded to Hamlet's situation (i.e. father dies, mother remarries quickly, mother remarries father's brother, significant other can no longer see you, friends tell you your father's ghost has appeared).
 
* In the "Hamlet Odds & Ends" Google doc or on paper, write down your thoughts about the motif you have been assigned. (See above.) Write about your personal feelings, experiences, observations, and knowledge of the motif. Also, speculate about how the motif might be significant in the play based on what you already know about the play.
 

* In the "Hamlet Odds & Ends" Google doc or on paper, respond to the essential questions that we'll explore while reading the play: How do different people respond to traumatic loss and tragedy? How do people respond to uncertainty, mystery, and doubt? How do people respond to wrongdoing and corruption? What do these responses have to do with inner character and inner consciousness, with social pressures and external influences, with gender and age, with power and lack of power? 
Respond based on your experiences, observation, and/or studies. (I'd rather you respond deeply to a single question than superficially to all of them, but you're also free to respond to all, most, or some. Whatever you do respond deeply.)

* For class on Friday you were supposed to have read act one scene one (1.1). How does Shakespeare throw the audience into mystery, uncertainty, and doubt in the first scene (before we even meet Hamlet the protagonist)? Your response should show that you understand some of what you read in 1.1 in relation to the key theme in the question.

Preparing for the analyzing satire assessments

Preparing for the analyzing satire assessments

What? Timed in-class Q2-style analysis of satire.
When? Thursday, November 6 (long block)
How can I prepare? Read an example of a Q2 analysis of satire. In the satirical excerpt Edward O. Wilson satirizes how the two sides of the environmentalism debate characterize each other. The prompt and excerpt are here on page 12. Examples of student work with the rubric and scoring commentary are here. (<<You might be especially interested to read the scoring commentary in which the difference between an 8, a 6, and a 4 is thoroughly explained.)

Also, I've posted Wednesday's notes on in-class analytical essay writing*. These notes show how to make sure your response focuses on the satirical strategies and the purpose of the satire; the responses also show how important it is to incorporate quotations and to explain how the quotations support your analysis of how the strategies contribute to the point of the satire.

***
*Wednesday's notes on in-class analytical essay writing.

Annotate the prompt.

Example:

Write an essay in which you analyze how Wilson’s satire illustrates the unproductive nature of such discussions.
(Throughout the notes the yellow highlighting relates to satirical strategies and blue highlighting relates to how the strategies are used to indicate "the unproductive nature" of the rhetoric being satirized.)

Make a note plan including support. On the left, write main ideas about how Wilson's satire illustrates the unproductive nature of such discussions. On the right, write the line numbers of the supporting details. Underline the supporting details in the text.

Write your response.

Here is an example of an okay thesis statement from a student essay. Notice how the student address both parts of the prompt (the strategies and "the unproductive nature"). Notice that the prompt could have been stronger if the students had been more specific about the techniques instead of just writing "similar techniques".

In his book The Future of Life Wilson illustrates the unproductive nature of environmentalist and people-first debates by highlighting their ironic parallels and similar techniques throughout his satirical works.

Here is an example of a good topic sentence or mini-thesis for the first body paragraph. Notice how the topic sentence or mini-thesis addresses both parts of the prompt with insight and specificity.

One of the most overarching points made is the way both sides use highly-strung and emotional appeals, rather than statistically, scientifically, or logically-based argument.

Here is an example of using relevant, precise quoted evidence and then explaining how the evidence supports the topic sentence/mini-thesis (above).

…he calls out names on both sides, calling the environmentalists “greens, enviros, environmental extremists, environmental wackos” and then on the opposing side calling people first advocates “brown-lashers, wise users, and sage brush rebels.” Name-calling is stressed as childish, insignificant, and above all unconstructive.

 ...

Again, such diction—especially the fascist Nazi reference of “uber alles, meaning ‘above all else’”—is both illegitimate and juvenile a point now clearly made by Wilson of the two groups. Childish discussion is nearly by definition unproductive.

This conclusion is rushed but successfully returns to both parts of the prompt.

Edward O. Wilson takes the arguments of people first and environmental advocates to the extreme and puts them together to show the unproductive arguments and diction they truly share. 

  ***

What else? A satire vocabulary quiz (similar to the rhetorical analysis (Unit 1) and personal writing (Unit 2) vocabulary quiz a few weeks ago)
When? Friday, November 7
How can I prepare? Study the satire (Unit 3) vocabulary. Click here for the words. After you click scroll down for the subject specific vocabulary definitions. After class on Wednesday you can click here for some examples that use the general academic vocabulary words. 

Exploring the nuances of satirical and humorous tones with general academic vocabulary

Task 1:

Divide the words up into two groups: words more likely to describe Horatian satire and words more likely to describe Juvenalian satire.

Horatian satire: light-hearted, intended for fun
Juvenalian satire: bitter, angry attacking

Task #2

Provide an example for each vocabulary word your group is assigned.

Either embodying the adjective or alluding to an example of the adjective.

Example

Jocular: characterized by joking or jesting (kidding, unserious, lighthearted)

Jocular embodied:

It’s important that you do well on this vocabulary quiz but not as important as looking good for the semi-formal.

Jocular allusion:

The “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live tends to be jocular, whereas the Daily Show tends to be more bitingly satirical (or sardonic) in tone.

The opening monologue on Saturday Night Live tends to be jocular, but this past Saturday Chris Rock crossed the line into insolent, irreverent humor.

1

Amused

Caustic

Condescending

Contemptuous

Cynical

2

Disdainful

Droll

Facetious

Flippant

Insolent

3

Ironic

Irreverent

Malicious

Misanthropic

Misandristic

4

Misogynistic

Mock-heroic

Mock-serious

Patronizing

Pompous

5

Ribald

Ridiculing

Sarcastic

Sardonic

6

Satiric

Scornful

Whimsical

Wry