1. English 12 -February 27th
TAKE OUT YOUR WRITING NOTEBOOK AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING. YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO WRITE UNTIL INFORMED OTHERWISE.
Summarize what happened so far in hamlet. Based off of what we read, what do you think is going to happen in the play?
WHEN YOU ARE DONE WRITING, PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF THOSE WHO ARE STILL WRITING BY WORKING ON SOMETHING QUIETLY.

2. Today’s Objectives
To understand why it’s important to learn about Shakespeare and read Hamlet.
At minimum, a brief, sketchy understanding of the events in Act 1, Scene 2
To identify the various themes represented in Act 1, Scene 2
At minimum, a brief, sketchy understanding of the events in Act 1, Scene 3

3. Today’s Agenda Announcements: Agenda: Homework:
Have you turned in your SP Reflective Questions and Log #2?
Agenda:
What you wanted to know about Shakespeare
Why You Should Care about Shakespeare
Act 1, Scene 2
Act 1, Scene 3
Homework:
Hamlet Logs 1.2 and 1.3 due Tuesday, Feb 28th by 11:59 pm
Complete these on the same word document
Label them clearly (1.2 and 1.3)
Turn in to turnitin.com

4. What you wanted to know about Shakespeare
I couldn’t find height and weight.
Mental Health issues?
Unclear
Depression, OCD, and other mental health issues existed, but I couldn’t find if Shakespeare specifically had any mental health issues.
Was Shakespeare arrested?
I couldn’t find any indication that he was
What was Shakespeare’s most and least favorite plays?
I couldn’t find anything that identified this
Did Shakespeare have other lovers?
I couldn’t find anything other than his wife, Anne Hathaway and the Earl of South Hampton
All speculation, based on sonnets

5. Act 1, Scene 2
As we read make a mark in the margin (annotate) where you see an example of one of the themes of the text
Themes:
Appearance vs. Reality
Theatre vs. Life
“There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark”
Family relationships
Revenge
Thought vs. Action
Also mark anything that denotes setting and information about characters
Share with a peer: what themes did you see
Share with the group

6. Claudius’s Use of the Royal “we”
In Shakespeare’s time:
When kings or queens represented their countries and talked about public issues, they used the royal “we”;
When dealing with private matters, they used “I”
When a monarch switches from first-person plural to first person singular, this is a textual clue that signals a change in situation or tone.
Why does Claudius continue to use the royal “we” when addressing Hamlet, whom he calls his “son”?

7. Claudius’s Using Antithesis
Look for antithesis, the balancing of two contrasting ideas, words, phrases, or sentences in parallel grammatical form
Examples:
“An auspicious and a drooping eye”
What does auspicious mean?
What does dropping mean?
“With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”
What does mirth mean?
What does dirge mean?
What feelings do these juxtapositions evoke?
Auspicious – favorable
Drooping – drooping eyelid
Mirth = amusement/joy
Dirge = funeral hymn

8. Claudius’s Choice of Words
Why does Claudius remember old Hamlet with “wisest sorrow” rather than “deep sorrow”?
Why does he say it “befitted” them to bear their “hearts in grief”?
How effective are these word choices?

9. Claudius’s Order of ideas
Although Hamlet’s mourning is of major concern to Claudius, why does he:
justify his marriage to Gertrude,
deal with Norway’s impending invasion, and
respond to Laertes’s petition
all before he addresses Hamlet?

10. The Second Family—Meet Laertes/Ophelia/Polonius
Describe the family relationships…
Laertes and Ophelia
Polonius and Laertes
Polonius and Ophelia
What does each of these people want?
How do they treat each other?
How is this family similar to or different from the Claudius/Gertrude/Hamlet family? The Old Hamlet/Gertrude/Hamlet family?

11. Polonius’s Language Clues
Let’s look at Polonius’ speech to Laertes (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 59-81
Look at “but” constructions– “Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar,” for example. What is their effect?
What can we infer about Polonius’s from his choice of words?
What do words reveal about his beliefs, philosophy, and values?

12. Act 1, Scene 3 Advice
Paraphrase Polonius’ speech to Laertes (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 59-81
Paraphrase-
To put in your own words
“A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning. “
("paraphrase." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Mar <Dictionary.com
Bring to class on Thursday the best piece of advice that anyone has ever given you.

13. Works Cited
Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare's Death Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug (date when you accessed the information) < >.