St. Patrick's Day, Part 2

First, the soliloquies:  Review all five of them,  in order, with an eye toward how they reflect Hamlet's thinking about both the world around him and those events "closest to home" as well as his evaluation of his own attitudes and responses to these situations. Using the line numbers from the Kennedy/Gioia text, here are the soliloquies:

• 1.1.129-15  "O, that this tto, too sullied flest would melt . . ."
• 2.2.474-533 "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I"
• 3.1.57-91  "to be or not to be, that is the question"
• 3.3.73-96 "Now might I do it pat, now 'a is a-praying
• 4.4.33-67  "How all occasions do inform against me"

As indicated to all classes, the review of these study questions is largely a do-it-yourself project.  Some of them are straightforward review--marshall the facts (the textual "data") and you will figure out the answer--but others are very much the heart of all critical discussion about Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play. You obviously need to have knowedge of the play to have an "informed opinion," but ultimately there is room for critical discussion and disagreement.  (See the previous post for the link to these questions if yours got lost.)  Again, I'm not requiring written proof of your intellectual engagement with these questions, but I do suggest putting some effort into the thought process.  And some of you might do better with some companionship--I heard some good ideas and interaction going on in 1st and 2nd today, but we barely had time to scratch the surface.

Here is another link you might be interested in--evidence for a "missing" Shakespearean play. It's always fun to speculate . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-8-Y6xc61esAkeUFSHT-hS9jVZgD9EFQFTO2

To summarize what's happening between now and Spring Break:

• Scene Analysis due Friday, March 19
• Hamlet objective test, also Friday, March 19
• Monday--Crime and Punishment Intro material/some Question 3 set-ups  HAVE YOUR  C & P BOOK!! (And if you haven't started C & P at all, it would be best to get into it over the week-end)
• Tuesday--Hamlet in-class Question 3 essay (closed book)
• Wednesday--Shakespearean sonnets
• Thursday and Friday--Crime and Punishment

Over break--Yes, you definitely need to be reading Crime and Punishment--on the beaches, on the planes, on the family room couch . . .