Thursday

 

Study Questions

Act IV, Scene 1

1. What is Claudius' main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius' death?

Act IV, Scene 2

1. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Act IV, Scene 3

1. What image does Hamlet use to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily?

2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter: to whom, and what order does it contain?

Act IV, Scene 4

1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland? What will the invasion itself cost)?

2. Hamlet's soliloquy is self-critical; summarize his main fault.

Act IV, Scene 5

1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. 
Why? What do they tell us about her at the moment? What might they reveal about Her, Hamlet and 

Polonius?

2. Why is Laertes a danger to Claudius' throne? (Actually two or three related reasons.)

3. What does Claudius offer as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death?

Act IV, Scene 6

1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

 How did he?

Act IV, Scene 7

1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius?

2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder?

3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon)

and that Hamlet is envious of this fame. What is the purpose for this?

4. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge?

5. How does Laertes refine the plan?

6. What announcement does Gertrude make to end Act IV?

Wednesday

 We need to go over your poems one last time before tonight's poetry out loud. We also need to review vocabulary and finally finish reading Act 3. 

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 4

Today we are going to review vocabulary and then finish Act 3.

We will look at a scene from the 1990 movie Hamlet. 

 

Monday

 Today we need to have a Poetry Out Loud quiz, review what happens in Act 3 scenes 1 and 2, and begin Act 3 scene 3. Remember you have a vocabulary quiz on Friday and Poetry Out Loud on Wednesday.

Act III Scenes 3 -4 Study Questions

1) What does Claudius plan to do with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hamlet?

2) What is Polonius going to do while Hamlet speaks with his mother?

3) List three important things about Claudius’ soliloquy.

a)

b)

c

4) Why is it odd that Hamlet sees the king praying?

5) Why doesn’t Hamlet take this opportunity for revenge?

Scene IV

1) Describe Polonius’ advice to Gertrude.

2) What is the significance of the following quote: “How now, a rat? Dead! For a ducat, dead!

3) What is odd about the following quote: A bloody dead; almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother.

4) Why might Gertrude say, “What have I done, that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me.”

5) What descriptions does Hamlet use to compare his father and his uncle?

King Hamlet

Claudius

6) What point does Hamlet make by comparing the men?

7) What is disturbing about the following: Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; stewed in corruption; honeying, and making love over the nasty sty.”

8) What stops Hamlet’s ranting and raving at Gertrude? What does this figure tell Hamlet?

9) By the end of the act, Hamlet has made many statements about humanity, in general. Explain a few of his points. Do his opinions reflect his madness.

10) Explain the differences between the ghost in Act I with the ghost in Act III. Why might these differences reflect Hamlet’s insanity?

Hamlet Act 3

 This week you need to read Act 3 scenes 1-2 and answer the study questions below. You also need to practice your poetry out loud poems.

Act 3

Scene 1:

1. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to Polonius?

2. How does Claudius react when Polonius says, "…with devotion's visage, And pious action we do sugar o'er/ The devil himself"?

3. What plan do Polonius, Claudius and Ophelia now put into action?

4. What is the nature of Hamlet's soliloquy, lines 57-91?

5. What is Hamlet's main argument against suicide?

6. Why does Hamlet treat Ophelia as cruelly as he does? What has changed him?

7. What thinly veiled threat to Claudius does Hamlet voice, after he becomes of his hidden presence? (lines 148-150)

8. At the end of this scene, what does the King decide to do with Hamlet?

Scene 2:

9. What qualities in Horatio cause Hamlet to enlist his assistance?

10. What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do?

11. Summarize what happens in the play-within-a-play.

12. Why, in line 233, does Hamlet refer to the play-within-a-play as "The Mouse-trap"?

13. What is the King's reaction to the play?

14. In lines 354-363, to what object does Hamlet compare himself? Why?

15. As Hamlet goes to his mother at the end of this scene, what does he admonish himself to do?

Friday

 Today we have a memorization quiz. Please print out your poems.

After the quiz you have time to work on study questions from Act 2.

ACT 2 Questions

1)    What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II?  How does he plan to trap his son?

2)    What does this say about Polonius?

3)    What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?

4)    Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?

5)    What does Hamlet ask the players to recite?  How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?

Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6)    “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”

7)    “More matter less art”

8)    “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,

9)    “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia? 

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  How does this relate to Hamlet.

14) What is a fishmonger?

15) Who was Jephthah?

Tuesday

 I need you to write sentences with the first two words of your new vocabulary, and then we will begin Act II.

Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate an understanding of Hamlet by choosing a prompt from below, developing a thesis statement out of it, and answering the thesis statement by analyzing and using direct evidence from the text.  

QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP THESIS STATEMENTS ABOUT AND ANSWER

1. Polonius is sometimes played as a senile old fool, sometimes as a shrewd and worldly old man.  Which interpretation do you agree with and why?
2. Pick one character who could, at some point, have changed the whole chain of events.  Discuss.
3. Analyze the three appearances of the ghost seen in the play.  Where did he appear; to whom did he appear?  How does the third appearance differ from the first two?  What is the significance of this?
4. Discuss the reasons for Hamlet’s apparent delay in seeking revenge for his father.  What is your opinion regarding his procrastination?
5. Compare and contrast Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras as avengers.
6. What is Hamlet’s attitude towards life and people?  How does it affect his actions?
7. Apply the following quote to Hamlet: “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good.  Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how to not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.”  -- THE PRINCE, Machiavelli
8. Examine the reoccurring pun on sun and son.  How does this symbol work in the overall meaning of the play.
9. Was Ophelia pregnant with Hamlet’s child?
10. Did Hamlet slip into madness?
11. It is Hamlet who causes the downfall of Denmark.
12. What is the meaning of the pirates?
13. Is Hamlet Jesus Christ?  How is Horatio either John the Baptist or an apostle.
14. Why or how is Denmark the Garden of Eden?
15. Gertrude knows about the murder?
16. The meaning of prostitution in Hamlet?
17. Can Hamlet be compared to our current society?  If so, how?
18. Perhaps others—as we read or when we finish
    

    
    Scale/Rubric relating to learning goal:

    
    4 – The student is able to combine more than one question into a thesis statement, and answer it by evaluating the text and using specifics to back up his/her position.

    3 – The student can choose a question, develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

    2 – With some direction/help from the teacher the student can choose a question, develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

    1 – Even with help from the teacher the student is unable to choose a question, or develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

Vocabulary # 1
1)    Countenance

2)    Perilous

3)    Sullied

4)    Apparition

5)    Portentous

6)    Calumnious

7)    Prodigal

8)    Discourse

9)    Canon

10) Imminent

ACT 2 Questions

1)    What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II?  How does he plan to trap his son?

2)    What does this say about Polonius?

3)    What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?

4)    Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?

5)    What does Hamlet ask the players to recite?  How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?

Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6)    “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”

7)    “More matter less art”

8)    “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,

9)    “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia? 

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  How does this relate to Hamlet.

14) What is a fishmonger?

15) Who was Jephthah?