1. Hamlet Applied Practice Passage One and Two
AP Practice Exams
Hamlet Applied Practice Passage One and Two

2. Reminders… 50% is a good score
Most folks hovered between a 5 or 7 out of 15
Highest = 9/15
Desirably = 8/15
This is hard!

3. Questions Did you read the questions first?
Did it help? Did you hate it?
Did you use process of elimination?
Did you skip difficult questions?
Did you get to all the questions?

4. Question One Correct Answer
C. Paradox
Personally, I had a hard time deciding between Irony and Paradox
Seeming contradictions:
“sometime sister, now our queen”
“defeated joy”
“mirth in funeral”; “dirge in marriage”

5. Question One Wrong Answers
A. Irony – difference between Irony and Paradox
Irony is the exact opposite in what is said and what is meant. It does not say dramatic irony, so we shouldn’t go there
Paradox, on the other hand, is a statement that seems to be contradictory, but when you think about it, it is true and insightful. The intended message is the same as the stated message

6. Question One: Wrong Answers
B. Alliteration – “sometime sister” and “delight and dole” are in the passage, BUT, it can not be said that it is a “primary” part of the passage
D. Euphemism – What is understated?
E. Hyperbole – What is exaggerated?

7. Question Two: Correct Answer
D. concerning
“He hath not fail’d to pester us with message/Importing the surrender of those lands/Lost by his father”
Remember: Read the whole sentence and the sentence before and after before deciding
It is a message he is pestering them with, and the message is about the surrender of the lands his father lost

8. Question Two: Wrong Answers
A. asking for – he is not asking for the surrender of the land – he is building an army to get the land back
B. bringing in – he is not bringing the land back into his property at the time
C. demanding – He is not demanding them – there’s no indication he is saying you must give me the lands or else. He is simply preparing an army to go and take the land
E. suggesting – refer to asking for

9. Question Three: Correct Answer
C. belief that “old Norway” will not serve as king much longer
Nothing shows that they think the King of Norway will die soon; yes, he is old and sickly, but the very fact that they are writing him to fix the problem indicates their belief that he will live long enough to calm Fortinbras

10. Question Three: Wrong Answers
A. owe allegiance – “commend your duty” (43)
B. desire for swifty action – “let your haste commend your duty” (42)
D. concern for limits – “Giving to you no further personal power” (39)
E. confidence in the two – “We doubt it nothing; heartily” (45)

11. Question Four: Correct Answer
B. metonymy
Is when a closely related object is used to represent an object or concept or person
The throne is closely related to King Claudius, so when he says that that Laertes’ father is instrumental to the throne, he is saying Polonius is helpful to Claudius

12. Question Four: Correct Answer
Other Examples
The red pen could be used to refer to a teacher who likes to correct in red pen
The teacher could be used to refer to a red pen
Activity: Please write your own metonymy about the person next to you.

13. Question Four: Wrong Answers
A. litotes
Understatement – but it is a specific kind of understatement – when the affirmative statement is understated by saying a negative statement
Example: Say, you get a free ride to Harvard, and your parents say, “Not bad”.
Activity: Write your own litotes to congratulate someone on winning the lottery

14. Question Four: Wrong Answers
C. syllepsis
Use of a word to perform two syntactic functions when the numbers don’t agree
Huh????
Example: Neither he nor we are willing to go to the grocery story.
He is singular; we is plural, so we use a syllepsis – a rule to follow or a compromise to make to allow one word to follow two rules: ARE is allowed to function as singular and plural

15. Question Four: Wrong Answers
D. chiasmus
Reversal of a parallel phrase
Example: I go not to the store; the store comes not to me.
Activity: Please write the chiasmus for this phrase:
I love peanut butter ice cream.

16. Question Four: Wrong Answers
E. synecdoche
Use the part in place of the whole or vice versa
Example: Nice threads!
The part = threads
The whole it represents = clothes
Example: Texas promotes the death penalty.
The whole = the state of Texas
The part it represents = Texas legislature

17. WAIT! Synecdoche vs. Metonymy???????????????
These two are easily confused – certain “experts” even say they are the same thing, but that is not going to fly.
Metonymy – is a RELATED object
Synecdoche is a PART of the SAME object

18. Synecdoche vs. Metonymy
Ways to remember these silly words:
My mommy is related to me (metonymy), but my sin is a part of me (synecdoche).
My neck is a part of me, but Tony and I are only related.
Activity – Write down your own way to remember the difference

19. Question Five: Correct Answer
C. I and II only
Less than a son, but he does not look favorably on the King
Hamlet agrees that he is related – and more than just a nephew (cousin means kin), BUT he is less than made from the same kind of stuff that Claudius is – he is less than a son.
The fact that he doesn’t want to be considered his son = unfavorable tone

20. Question Five: Wrong Answers
We will look just at III – he does NOT reject the king’s notion that he is related – he says, “more than kin”.

21. Question Six: Correct Answer
A. pun
A pun is a play on words – where a word is meaning two things at once
Hamlet says he is “too much in the sun”; son = sun is the pun
Claudius asks him why he is still gloomy, and he says that he is in the sun too much – this only really makes sense if he is saying that he dislikes being considered Claudius’ son.

22. Question Six: Wrong Answers
B. allusion
He is not alluding to anything
C. metaphor
The sun is not representing anything else
D. symbol
There is no symbol with the sun
E. oxymoron
There is no phrase with opposing words side by side

23. Questions Seven: Correct Answer
E. 1st = external; 2nd = internal