Tuesday– Hamlet Act I-III Motifs

Due today: FOS sheet from Act I-III if you still have it in your hot little hand.

Task 1– Choose a motif from the following: Ears/Hearing, incest, misogyny, pairs/couples, or loyalty.  Track this concept from act I to act III and record the language that is used in reference to these motifs.  Goal– start to develop an idea about a theme that can be developed as we read act IV and V.

HW: Read act IV for Thursday.

Thursday– Act IV, FOA Chats, WT#2 FD Info

Task 1– WT#2 (one of the 6 prescribed questions) is due in Final Draft on December 22. You will have TBE attempt returned and you need to edit it.  Please submit BOTH WT#1 (you gave me a hard copy already) and WT#2 in ELECTRONIC FORM before the end of the day December 22.  Please name the file like this with your own name: CJohnsonWT1final.doc or this CJohnsonWT2final.doc.   

Task 2– Act IV study guide.  You will have some time to work on this while…

Task 3– Small group meetings regarding FOA #2.  Goal– set up topic and task for FOA #2 to be delivered week of January 12-16 or January 19-23.

Task 4– WT#1 for Hamlet.  Epistle conversation between Ophelia and someone outside of the story.  Please write a minimum of 6 letters, (3 from Ophelia and 3 from your created character).  Each letter should be from a differet act in the play (one from Act I/II, one from Act III, and one from Act IV).  You have freedom to create the second character. I would suggest a good friend, an advice columnist (ala “Ask Amy” or “Miss Manners”), or even the never mentioned mother.  Your letters should reveal your understanding of the plot, Ophelia’s struggles, and her fate within the play.

This is due Friday, December 19th, 2014– 800-1000 words, typed and in MLA format.  You should also include your rationale (200-300 words).

Friday– Hamlet

Today we are watching Act IV of both the Mel Gibson version and the David Tennant version of “Hamlet”.  We will be watching to see how things are staged, how the major characters are portrayed, and how the motifs we are focusing on show up.

There was a little discussion that followed about the depiction of Ophelia specifically in terms of her madness and a comparison of her madness and that of Hamlet.

HW: Read Act V for Thursday next week.  Continue to work on your Hamlet paper, WT#1 (epistle conversation), and corrections made to WT#2 that was returned on Thursday.

Tuesday, December 16th, is career day and many of you are involved.  Those of you who will join me for class will have time in the library to work on the Hamlet paper with my assistance (lucky you).