Commentary on oral assessment - Hamlet.

Lana Stock 1W2 ~ Commentary on oral assessment ~ ~ HAMLET ~ To begin with in the play, Hamlet is faking his madness but as the play goes on it is questionable to whether he slips into real madness. To look at Hamlets changing state of mind in the play we focused on three soliloquies, as this is where what is going on inside his head is expressed. We also looked at the characteristics of other central characters such as Claudius and Ophellia. The three soliloquies we looked at were 2.2.101, 3.1.56 and 3.2.348. To help with our presentation we had a visual aid to help us, we used a large sheet of coloured sugar paper and wrote key notes about the three soliloquies on it in clear thick pens so it could be easily read by the class. On our table before our presentation we discussed the three soliloquies and for our final presentation informally discussed our ideas and what we thought the three soliloquies showed and how we would stage them with movement, tone of voice, props, lighting and actions. We did some wider reading and research, using the library and Internet, to back up our thoughts on the soliloquies - especially on the Oedipus Complex, that we believe is demonstrated in the third soliloquy. The Oedipus Complex is the theory that a young boy is sexually attracted to his mother up until puberty, this is like Hamlet because he is jealous of his mother and doesn't

  • Word count: 558
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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With reference to the play's context explore the techniques used by Shakespeare to establish the mood and plot of Hamlet in scene one.

With reference to the play's context explore the techniques used by Shakespeare to establish the mood and plot of Hamlet in scene one. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses many techniques to establish the mood and plot of the play in scene one. In the early sixteen hundreds when the play was written, all performances of plays had to be in the daylight and theatres such as the Globe were roofless. This proved very difficult for Shakespeare as he had many scenes, such as scene one of Hamlet, set in the night and really had to convince the noisy crowds that even though there was sun streaming through the roof, it was actually night time. The techniques Shakespeare used to engage his audiences attention during the night scenes included things like costume, props and dialogue. With the dialogue, Shakespeare would have his characters constantly referring to the time or describing the dark and coldness. "Tis now struck twelve." And "Tis bitter cold." Also, Shakespeare would usually have his characters walking around with props like candles and torches in order to emphasize the night and darkness. In addition to scene one being set in the dark, the characters, Barnardo, Francisco, Horatio and Marcellus all show similar emotions like anxiety, wariness and nerves. All this is mainly because at that time, war was a constant threat and an attack on the

  • Word count: 797
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Consider the part the Ghost plays in Act 1 scene 1 of ‘Hamlet’. How does his presence intrigue both the characters and the audience?

English Coursework - Shakespeare Consider the part the Ghost plays in Act 1 scene 1 of 'Hamlet'. How does his presence intrigue both the characters and the audience? 'Hamlet - Prince of Denmark' is a tragedy. The king Hamlet is dead and the new king Claudius is on the throne. He is married to the old king's wife, Gertrude. Hamlet is devastated by the fact that his father is dead and his mother married so soon after her husband's death. Meanwhile, Norway and Denmark are at war. Horatio, Hamlet's best friend sees a ghost of the old king Hamlet and tells Hamlet. Hamlet then goes to watch that night with the guards. He speaks to the ghost and finds out that Claudius murdered his father. The Ghost wants Hamlet to take revenge by killing Claudius. Hamlet plots too see if the Ghost was right by showing a play of the Ghost's death and feigning madness. During the play Claudius does look guilty and Hamlet overhears Claudius confessing to killing the ghost. Ophelia, who likes Hamlet, is driven mad by Hamlets madness and that he keeps telling her different views on how he feels. Hamlet mistakes Polunius, Ophelia's father for Claudius and kills him. Ophelia then kills herself. Claudius arranges for Hamlet to be killed by putting him on a boat and killing him in England. Hamlet foils the plot and escapes back to Denmark. Laertes, who is devastated by his sister's death, wants revenge on

  • Word count: 1936
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1, and to what end?

Drew York How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1? And to what end? Williams Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'- written in the early 17th century - still carries as profound a message in modern times as it did when it was originally written. It tells of a young Danish prince- hamlet- who is struggling to come to terms with his father's sudden tragic death. The sense of anomie Shakespeare weaves into the play comes in many forms in act 1 alone; emotional, spiritual, physical, political and relational. Throughout the play, hamlet struggles to articulate his feeling of inner-turmoil and insignificance, but Shakespeare uses anomie in all of its forms to allow the audience to empathise with the main characters by asking poignant and timeless questions such as ' to be or not to be'. Before we start, we should take a look at what "anomie" actually means. Mainly used in sociological context, anomie is when social norms are broken down, or a state of social instability. To fully understand the word's meaning, we have to look at it's roots. The word "anomie" is derived from the ancient Greek word anomos. The word anomos has two parts; the first - "a" - means without (as in a - theist, without god), and the second, - nomos - means law. So literally the word anomie is derived from the Greek word for lawlessness. We can now define "anomie" as being without law, rules or

  • Word count: 4426
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Vendetta

A VENDETTA A Vendetta is a cold harsh story about a widow who avenges her son's death by training her dog to become vicious and attack her son's murderer. The writer creates a harsh atmosphere by firstly describing the eerie scene of the cottage where the old widow lives, he uses lines like "The town, built on a mountain spur, in some places actually overhanging sea, faces the low-lying coast of Sardina across the straight with its bristling reefs". And also "On the white mountain side the collection of hoses makes a whiter patch. They look like the nests of wild birds clinging to the rock looking down on this dangerous channel, into which few ships venture". The writer also adds character to the story by describing it in more detail e.g. -'The wind HARASSES the sea REMORSELESSLY' and also "The widow Saverini's house, clinging to the very edge of the cliff, had three windows opening on to this wide desolate view." When the writer brings out detail from the character of the old woman, you can make out that she is quite a dark character by the way he writes "She shed no tears" this is when her sons body has been brought to her .He also writes that she has wrinkled hands and cold lips, the writer also states that vowed vengeance, refused anybody to stay with her and shut herself up with the body of her deceased son and the howling dog. This might show that she only cares

  • Word count: 517
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Is Hamlet Mad or Faking It?

IS HAMLET MAD OR FAKING IT? Shakespeare' s masterpiece "Hamlet" is really a complex play, which concerns on many different themes. One of the major themes of "Hamlet" is madness, which is reflected through the protagonist, The Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. His madness is always a question and suspicious throughout the play. It is not answered certainly in the play, but both answers have strong evidences. Despite the fact that Hamlet's madness seems to be clear during the play, it seems slightly more logical to me that Hamlet is acting that he is mad. In order to understand Hamlet's "maddish" behaviours' real reason, the evidences from the text could be examined. The conundrum of Hamlet's madness starts with Hamlet seeing his father, Ghost, who asked him to get his revenge from his "beast uncle". The first proof, for Hamlet acting madness, is the reality of Ghost. If Hamlet was the only person to see the Ghost, we could be sure that he is really mad, but in Act I Scene I, the sentry, Barnardo and Fransisco sees the Ghost entering the Elsinore Castle three times, as they see together with Horatio, Hamlet's best friend, as Marcellus explains the appearance of the Ghost in these lines: "Horatio says 'tis our fantasy/ And will not let the belief take hold of him/ Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us. / Therefore I have entreated him along/ With us to watch the

  • Word count: 1369
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Which Was The Best And Which Was The Worst Roman Emperor? A good emperor is someone who makes the right decisions, doesn't kill people and has a good army

Nicolle Glover 7c Which Was The Best And Which Was The Worst Roman Emperor? A good emperor is someone who makes the right decisions, doesn't kill people and has a good army. A bad emperor is someone who makes all the wrong decisions, kills everyone and has a rubbish army. First of all we have Caligula now Caligula was mad because he had a brain disease. His first sign of madness was when he started making funny faces at himself in the mirror, then he went and told all the senators that he was a god and if they don't worship him they will be fed to the lions. After this he made his horse a senator, he had to answer everybody's questions. And it still got worse next he decided there was something wrong with bald people so they got fed to the lions. His uncle Claudius came up with a sneaky plan, he pretended to be mad as well so that he wouldn't get fed to the lions. Finally he asked his army to pick up all the shells of the beach, in the end his guards got fed up so they just stabbed him. Next we have Claudius now Claudius was lame and had a problem with the nerves in his bottom lip this made him dribble. As Claudius was lame everybody thought he was weak. He conquered Britain and proved them wrong. This was a very big achievement for him because when Julius Caesar tried he failed. Even though he was lame he was extremely clever. His wife Agrippina made him disinherit

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'Hamlet is primarily a personal rather than a political tragedy

'Hamlet is primarily a personal rather than a political tragedy" Would an Elizabethan audience have agreed with this response to the play? As a member of the 21st century audience, is this how you respond to the play? Watching Hamlet, an Elizabethan audience would feel many resonances with their own world. England, like Denmark, was a troubled country with much drama surrounding its political situation. Therefore, an Elizabethan audience would probably have responded to Hamlet as essentially a political tragedy. Through studying the contextual background-surrounding Hamlet, we can understand their immediate response, however, with the gift of hindsight, the 21st century audience can see through the political aspect and analyse the personal one. Therefore, as a member of a 21st century audience, can see both sides that this argument proposes. Thus, posing a fundamental question to us: How far is Hamlet a personal tragedy, and how far is it a political one? More educated members of an Elizabethan audience may even have seen Hamlet as an attack on the monarchy and the worrying political situation in England. It is arguable that Shakespeare intended to use Hamlet to show his views without the possibility of being labelled treacherous. From the very beginning of the play even the most ignorant, unperceptive member of the audience would find it impossible to ignore the

  • Word count: 1686
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Hamlet Soliloquy Act 3 Scene 3 Hamlet has just watched Claudius praying for forgiveness in the church and has been hiding

Hamlet Soliloquy Act 3 Scene 3 Hamlet has just watched Claudius praying for forgiveness in the church and has been hiding and waiting for his chance to kill him. "Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:" Hamlet is saying that if he kills his uncle while he is praying, will his father be avenged because as he is confessing his sins to god if hamlet killed him then he would go straight to heaven and his father would not be avenged "A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven." He says now how he being his father's only son and that only he because he was chosen by his father to avenge his death, but if he does do it while his uncle is praying then he will go to heaven instead of hell and all of hamlets troubles will be in vain. "O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. He took my father grossly, full of bread; With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;" Hamlet tells of how his uncle killed his father by killing him when he was sleeping and full of bread this could also be interpreted as a shamanic tradition, a sin eater would be employed by the family of a deceased person, or sometimes by the Church, to eat a last meal of bread and salt from the belly of the corpse as it lay in state. By so doing it was believed that

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Shakespeare's presentation of Hamlet

It was a popular belief during Elizabethan times that if a man had been wronged and the state failed to see that justice was done, a son's duty was to take it into his own hands and seek revenge. Shakespeare presents Hamlet as a typical revenge play of the time, where the central character, Hamlet, has a duty to avenge his father's death. In Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes are also seen as revenge heroes, but in character contrast Hamlet in how he acts on his duty. This contrast highlights that whereas Fortinbras and Laertes are simplistic conventional revenge heroes, Hamlet on the other hand has the conventional features of a revenge hero, but is also seen as so much more. This is due to his awareness of religious principles and despite being Protestant, at times makes slight transitions to Catholic ideas. It is also due to his constant contemplation of the effects of his actions, rationalising the situation he is put in. Fortinbras is presented as a typical king who lives up to the reputation of his father with the aim to "recover [the lands]/So by his father lost". His aim is put into practice; Fortinbras, after threatening to invade Denmark, succeeds in doing so and is thereby fulfilling his role as a revenge hero. Similarly with Laertes, in the discovery of finding his father, Polonius, being murdered by Hamlet, he immediately takes on the role of an uncomplicated revenge

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  • Word count: 1932
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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