Hamlet Essay

The Method Behind The Madness

At the time when Polonius says “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” it is the first time that Polonius thinks that Hamlet might not be just crazy. He is also talking to Hamlet at the time but doesn’t say this to him. Polonius still believes Hamlet to be mad but now at this time he is also considering the possibility that he might also be plotting. This is also when the audience if not have figured it out already figures it out now the same thing that Polonius does, which is that Hamlet may be mad but he might just be presenting himself as such.

            This helps me understand more clearly that Hamlet is a very bright person who is not only more cunning than Polonius but can be argued to be the smartest one in the play. The quote helps the reader understand the gravity of the situation a little bit more because he is mad, at least a little. It would be weird if a teenage boy whos father just died and mom remarried his uncle who is trying to get rid of him because he sees him as a threat didn’t make him a little crazy. On top of all that he gets visited by his fathers ghost telling him to avenge his death. This just further proves how great of a character Hamlet is to use all of this to further motivate him to get done what he has to instead of sitting down and giving up.

Literature Analysis

Literature Analysis: The Crucible

1. Summary:

The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, an extremely puritan town. There are a group of girls dancing in the woods with a slave. They are caught by Reverend  Parris and his daughter Betty, one of the girls dancing, faints. The town starts to rumor about witchcraft so they try and contact Reverend Hale, an expert on the subject. After the girls leader Abigail was interrogated and admits she did nothing she advises the rest of the girls to do the same. John Proctor whom Abigail once had an affair with approached her and told her to stop what she was doing. Betty finally wakes up and everyone in the household is flustered. Reverend Hale interrogates the slave Tituba. She admits to talking to the devil. Soon Abigail steps in and also says that she has seen the devil and shortly after that so does Betty. Then Betty starts to list people that are witches causing complete chaos. Proctor brings his servant Mary to court to testify against the girls and say they are lying. She does so but the girls say that they were just under a spell that Mary cast on them. Then Proctor is accused of being a liar so Mary turns on Proctor and says that he is a witch. In the end everyone on trial is hung by being accused of witchcraft.

2. Theme

The theme is that Religion or just the unknown can blind people which in turn causes fear. That fear turns into violence and soon everyone is scared and doing whatever they can to save themselves.

3. Tone

The author’s tone is very serious due to the fact that it is a very biblical topic based on puritan beliefs.

“I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more.”

4. Literary Devices

Irony – How Abigail said she was pure although she has done more wrong than anyone else in the play.

Symbolism – The poppet represented a voodoo doll.

Simile – “His eyes were like coals”

Personification – “Heaven and Hell grapple on our backs.

Allusion – “I have gone this three months like The Lord into the wilderness.”

Characterization

1. Direct/Indirect

Indirect (Abigail) – “I’d best be off. I have my Ruth to watch…. Good morning, Mister Proctor. (Mercy sidles out. Since Proctor’s entrance, Abigail has stood absorbing his presence, wide-eyed.)”

By the end of the play I did not like Abigail at all. Through indirect characterization she seemed like a manipulative person who only cares about herself.

2. When John Proctor is talking he is more serious and logical. When one of the Reverends or the Judge is talking they seem ignorant and abuse their power somewhat.

3. The protagonist John Proctor is static. His ideas and actions do not change throughout the play.

4. I feel like I met Abigail. If I had ever had to have a conversation with her it would be very unpleasant for me because she is a very conniving, manipulative person. She is the actual witch in the play.

"Summons" vs. "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

The poem “Summons” by Robert Francis describes a man trapped inside a darkness and wants someone to take him to the light. He desires to escape the darkness that he was persuaded to go into but needs another to help him. This like the poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein are both poems about someone trying to be somewhere in life where they are not.

            “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is instead someone wanting to get out of somewhere is someone wanting to go somewhere. “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends.” Silverstein is saying that when people grow up they start to lose their sense of innocence and pure-heartedness and that we need to start going back to that. Both authors use symbolism to show a greater power helping the narrator escape from the darkness they are in. “Tell me the northern lights are on and make me look.” The northern lights are a symbol of worldly awe that is often related to the heavens. The narrator wants God to show him the light so he can escape the darkness. “For the children, they mark, and for the children, they know.” Children are thought up to be miracles of life and so Silverstein is saying that this miracle can help people leave the place of dull dreariness and instead go somewhere where full of joy where “the grass grows soft and bright.”

Silverstein is providing us an instance of how people need to find themselves and escape from the darkness they are in. Francis is giving a broader sense of how we are all trying to escape but sometimes we need a little help along the way. The help in “Where the sidewalk ends being a child showing us the innocence again. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a metaphor to the allegory that is “Summons”

Literature Analysis

Literature Analysis: Lord of the Flies

1. Plot Summary:

The story begins with a plane crashing onto an island. It seems that the only people to survive the crash are two children. The first introduces himself as Ralph and the second one, Piggy. Piggy quickly finds a way to find the other boys by using a conch shell as a signal. More of them come. When they are trying to elect a leader both Ralph and Jack, leader of a choir are both candidates. Ralph wins and Jack is upset about it. A little boy states that he saw a monster on the island which he called “beastie.” The group splits up while Jacks group being the hunters and everyone else to try and start a fire or build huts. Jack and Ralph argue about who is actually doing the real work and they become hostile towards each other. Things become routine on the island in a few short days. Jack being bent on killing a pig paints his face and goes on the hunt with several other kids. Ralph and Piggy see a ship but they see the fire is out so they run up but can’t relight it in time. Ralph is angry with Jack because he was supposed to be guarding the fire. The hunters return chanting a song because they had killed a pig. A dead pilot flies down to the island having the parachute caught in the tree and two of the boys see it at night and think it’s the monster. While looking for the monster the boys start to track a boar as well. Ralph throws a spear and it just misses the pig. The boys still in the mindset of the hunt reenact it using a boy, Robert, as the pig. They almost beat him to death until they come to their senses. The group splits into two, one being Ralphs group and the other being Jacks. While Ralphs group tries to start a fire, Jacks group kills a pig and put its head on a stake. As they look at the pigs head they are frightened and run away. Simon deciding to get a moment to himself wonders off and stumbles upon the pigs head. The pig talks to Simon saying that there is no escape from him. Simon faints. As he wakes up he goes and sees that the monster was just a man and goes back to the rest of the group to explain. When he gets there however the boys are in a savage chanting frenzy and decide he is the monster. They quickly kill Simon and his body falls into the ocean. Ralphs group grows thinner. In the middle of the night Jacks group comes down and forcefully steal Piggy’s glasses and with it the ability to make fire. Ralph and Jack fight and in the midst of everything one of Jacks members pushes down a huge boulder and Jack dodges it but Piggy does not. Soon the entire tribe is attacking Ralph so he runs off. Ralph stumbles upon the sows head and takes it and smashes it to the ground and decides to use its spear to kill Jack. Ralph hides and in the morning the boys set out to kill him setting the whole island ablaze. Ralph runs to the beach and falls down but as he looks up he sees a naval officer and so do the other boys. They quickly come to their senses and begin to cry.

2. Theme:

The theme of the novel is Good vs. Evil or Civility vs. Savagery. One by one the boys turn from civil minded children into savage killers due to the loss of hope and survival instinct.

3. Tone:

The tone of the story is despair and desolation.

 “The ground beneath them was a bank covered with sparse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar.”

4. Literary Techniques:

Symbolism – Piggy’s glasses as hope.

Foreshadowing – When the boys reenact the hunt for the first time was foreshadowing of them murdering Simon.

Allegory – Many things in this book can relate to the inner fight of evil and how “The Lord of the Flies” is really the devil trying to consume you.

Foils – Jack and Piggy. Jack only thinking of savagery and basic primal instincts while Piggy tries to be civil and create order.

Characterization

1. Indirect/Direct

Indirect (Jack) – He snatched the knife out of his sheath and slammed it into the tree trunk.

Direct (Jack) – “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister head boy and I can sing a C sharp.

2. When talking about Piggy or Simon, Golding’s tone is a lot lighter in mood. But when he is talking about Jack or the sows head the tone is dark and grave.

3. The protagonist (Ralph) is fairly static in the sense that he fought very hard to keep things in order from start to finish and he tried to not resort to violence to do so.

4. I feel like I read a character, that being The Devil as the sows head and the island as hell.

Hamlet Act I Scene I

Link to Hamlet Act I Scene I video. Embedded video in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nfr-m5S5rQ&feature=youtu.be

Vocab Fall List #6

1. Abase - cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
2. Abdicate - give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
3. Abomination - an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust
4. Brusque - marked by rude or peremptory shortness
5. Saboteur - someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
6. Debauchery - a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
7. Proliferate - cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
8. Anachronism - an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
9. Nomenclature - a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
10. Expurgate - edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
11. Bellicose - having or showing a ready disposition to fight
12. Gauche - lacking social polish
13. Rapacious - excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
14. Paradox - a statement that contradicts itself
15. Conundrum - a difficult problem
16. Anomaly - position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule
17. Ephemeral - lasting a very short time; anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
18. Rancorous - showing deep-seated resentment
19. Churlish - having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish
20. Precipitous - characterized by precipices; extremely steep;done with very great haste and without due deliberation

Hamlet: Act 1 Scene 1

- Bernardo, Fransisco, Horatio, Marcellous

- Horatio and Marcellous went to the castle to see the ghost because Horatio thinks it's poppycock.

- The two meet with Bernardo and Fransisco but Fransisco leaves his post.

- After they are there for a little bit the ghost appears and it looks exactly like The King Hamlet (not to be confused with young Hamlet). 

- Horatio confronts the ghost and the spirit leaves.

Unphotographable

Everyone was circled around the crackling fire. Most people were tired from playing frisby in the sand, the rest just enjoying the sound of the ocean and the last rays of sunlight as it was disappearing beyond the horizon. The smell of hot dogs and marshmallows filled the air, not only from our pit but from all the other groups on shore. Every body was enjoying the last bits of summer because it was coming to an end.

GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET

1. What do you know about Hamlet?
     - The only thing I know about it is that there is the "To Be or Not to Be" speech in it.
2. What do you know about Shakespeare?
     - I know that he was the author for Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
3. Why do so many students frown when they hear "Shakespeare?"
     - In my experience it's usually due to the different style of writing and the students are just sort of thrown into it. This makes it harder to cull all of the information from the text.
4. What can we do to make studying this play unforgettable?
     - Simply see a live version (after reading it of course).

Vocab Fall List #5

1. shenanigans - secret or dishonest activity or manuevering.
2. ricochet - spring away from an impact
3. schism - division of a group into opposing factions
4. eschew - avoid and stay away from deliberately
5. plethora - extreme excess
6. ebullient - joyously unrestrained
7. garrulous - full of trivial conversation
8. harangue - address forcefully
9. interdependence - a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities
10. capricious - determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
11. loquacious - full of trivial conversation
12. ephemeral - lasting a very short time
13. inchoate - only partly in existence
14. juxtapose - different things placed side by side
15. perspicacious - acutely insightful and wise
16. codswallop - nonsensical talk or writing
17. mungo - low grade wool
18. sesquipedelian - using long words 
19. wonky - turned or twisted toward one side
20. diphthong - a compound vowel where it starts with one vowel and moves to the other

Vocab #4

Vocab Fall List #4

1. Obsequious (adj.) – attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery.

2. Beatitude (noun) – a state of supreme happiness.

3. Bode (verb) – indicate by signs

4. Dank (adj.) – unpleasantly cool and humid

5. Ecumenical (adj.) – of worldwide scope of applicability

6. Fervid (adj.) – extremely hot; intense emotions

7. Fetid (adj.) – offensively malodorous

8. Gargantuan (adj.) – of great mass

9. Heyday (noun) – the period of great prosperity/productivity.

10. Incubus (noun) – someone who depresses of worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream.

11. Infrastructure (noun) – the basic structure or features of a system or organization.

12. Inveigle (verb) – influence by gentle urging

13. Kudos (noun) – an expression of approval and commendation

14. Lagniappe (noun) – a small gift

15. Prolix (adj.) – tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length

16. Protégé (noun) – a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron

17. Prototype (noun) – a standard of typical example

18. Sycophant (noun) – a person who tries to please someone for a person advantage

19. Tautology (noun) – useless repetition

20. Truckle (noun) – try to gain favor by cringing or flattering.