Exam Review

Team,

In our next class we will begin the process of writing our final essay on Hamlet. Today we will use our blog to review. With a partner, your assignment is:

1. Review the following 5 postings: II 1, III 1, III 3, III 4, V 2

2. For each, identify 3 student comments that stood out to you,
ONE that you agree with
ONE that you disagree with
ONE that surprised you

3. In a notebook, make a list of these 15 entries. They will help you make sense of your own thoughts before we finish the final exam.

You have 35 minutes to complete this activity. We will discuss it during the last 10 minutes of class.

-Mr. Paul

Act V Feedback

Team,

Now that all of are postings are complete, let me reveal the answer to Act V, i.   I like the gravedigger because:

1. He is clever.  I like clever.  (Jon Stewart, the cartoon contest)

2. He is philosophical.  I like philosophy. (Voltaire, Dostoevsky)

3. He proves that life experience is just as valuable as formal education (Bear Grills, Elie Weisel, Steve Jobs)

4. He shows that social class does not define who you are, which is half of what drove me to become a teacher.  Despite what I wrote in #3, formal education does matter.  If Gravedigger #1 had had the opportunity to attend Oxford, he could have been the King of Denmark.

In fact, that's how the play should have ended.  Forget the norms of Shakespeare's day.  Forget Fortinbras...

The Gravedigger is King.

- Mr. Paul

Act IV Feedback

Team,

Reading your predictions was a lot of fun. Without giving away the ending, let me give you a few clues:

1. Don't forget that the full title is "The Tragedy of Hamlet."
2. Yet, not everyone will die. Someone must survive to tell the tale.
3. Just as Hollywood today follows certain rules (seriously flawed characters must die, you can't have a gun in a scene without it going off...) theater during Shakespeare's day did too. Think about his AUDIENCE, that is the audience for whom he was officially writing (if you don't know, perhaps Marx told you the name of his acting company? The King's Men. There's a big clue there.) Anyway, that audience determined some of what he could and could not do at the end of the play ... and explains why Fortinbras is in the story.

Good luck. We should finish by Thursday.

-Mr. Paul

PS: Oh never mind, I'll just tell you. Astrid nailed it ...

Act III Feedback

Team,

To the 80% of you who haven't missed a post yet, thank you for taking this project so seriously.  I haven't mentioned it in class, the Hamlet essay is just around the corner and participating in the blog is the best way to prepare for it.  For example, Alexa and Giselle's "argument" made me happy for the enthusiasm that it shows.  Though we don't have many entries left, feel free to fight, complain, make jokes, laugh or even cry in your posts.

However, if you're going to diss my one of my question (Lina... ;) you should be prepared to bake more brownies.  This space may resemble a democracy in its freedom, but there still is a monarch who needs to remain happy.

-Mr. Paul

Act II Feedback

Team,

I enjoyed reading your responses, especially to the second question -- parents spying on their children. In fact, I would love to print these out, seal them in a time capsule, and return them to you in 25 years to see if your ideas have changed. There's something very honest about your answers now ... that life may manipulate later.

Stay strong,

-Mr. Paul

Assignment: May 11-15

THE PLAN

 

As you already know, our course will continue online this week.  Assuming that we resume classes on Monday, May 18th, my plan simply involves re-arranging our unit.  This week you will be working on a creative writing assignment that I had originally scheduled to do right before exams.  Then, on the 18^th we will resume our study of Hamlet.

 

So, let’s get right to it.  Since March we have been studying acting and drama even though I know that very few of you will go on to become professional actors or playwrights.  So why have we spent so much time on this?  Because each of us will someday be called upon to speak in public.  And because actors are masters of skills like diction and poise that are required to do so well.  When you watch Kenneth Branagh’s deliver Hamlet’s soliloquies or Murat Dagli sing The King and I, you are witnessing models of the successful presentations that you will one day give at work.

 

To prove that learning, you will write the first draft of a speech this week, a speech that WILL be performed in class before you become 11^thgraders. 

 

PARAMETERS

 

TOPIC: Imagine that it is June, 2011 and YOU have been chosen to be the GRADUATION SPEAKER for your class.  Write the farewell speech that you would give at the commencement ceremony.

 

LENGTH: When spoken at a controlled speed, your speech should last 3-5 minutes.  As you write the draft this week, time yourself reading it aloud to best judge how many words you will need.

 

GENRE: As with so many writing assignments, your speech should follow basic essay structure.  That is, you should introduce your topic for an intelligent but ignorant audience, make a main point (thesis), defend and develop it, and finally conclude in a way that shows its importance to your reader.  Aside from this, feel free to use whatever style best reflects your personality and whatever tone best matches your audience.

 

GRADING: Points will be assigned in two categories based on the following two questions.  First, did you complete the draft a) on time and b) according to these rules?  Second, how well did you perform your speech?  The first points will be earned this week, the second when we return.

 

TIMELINE

 

MONDAY and TUESDAY: Study the directions above, watch the following graduation speech examples, and write any questions that you have on our BLOG as COMMENTS to this post (the same way you have been answering my Hamlet questions).  I want questions to be posted publicly so that they can help us all.  On Wednesday morning I will check the blog and write answers to your questions.

A very stereotypical graduation speech: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wGxf2X6dY&feature=related

 

A graduation speech that is creative in its style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niRmPBtf9fU

 

A graduation speech that is creative in it’s content (BTW, Chipotle is a Mexican fast food restaurant in the States … that I love.  They sell really big burritos.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30m-zljeJGY&feature=related

 

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY: Plan and draft your graduation speech.  EMAIL your speech to me at paul.gerber@asfg.mx by 10:00pm Thursday night.  DO NOT send your speech as an attachment.  Instead, COPY and PASTE your speech into the body of an email. I will check your emails.  Finally, bring a printed copy with you to class on Monday the 18^th.

 

I look forward to your questions and your speeches.

 

-Mr. Paul

Feedback for Act I Questions

Thank you all for contributing. Consider the questions for Act I closed. Everyone took the writing seriously so there was no need for me to assess the seriousness of your responses. If you answered at least 3 out of the 4 I have awarded you full credit. 

I also learned a lot about you from your answers.  Highlights certainly include Giselle novel for Act I, 1 and learning the name of Alexa's future son. I thank everyone for their honesty.

Couple of warnings:

1. There are at least 2 nameless entries. Don't lose points this way.
2. I will check the questions for Acts 2 and 3 later this week, so be careful not to fall behind.

Keep up the good work,

-Mr. Paul

I, 1

Even though the idea of seeing and believing in a ghost may seem absurd, most people during Shakespeare’s time did believe in them. For us, it’s like the idea of a UFO. Do you believe in the supernatural? Have you or anyone you have known ever seen or claimed to have witnessed some kind of supernatural being? Explain the circumstances surrounding it.

I, 2

What seems to be the emphasis in Hamlet’s first soliloquy--his father's death or his mother's remarriage? How is this emphasis evident: Does he spend more lines griping about Gertrude? Does he use stronger imagery for the marriage than for the death? What, if anything, dos he intend to about all of this?

And then, if you were in Hamlet’s position, what would you do?

I, 3

Summarize the advice Polonius gives to his son Laertes. Does he seem wise or a foolish? Does it remind you of any advice your parents or grandparents have ever given you?

I, 5 (and scene 4)

Chose one of the following:

In Scene 4, what facts emerge from Hamlet’s conversation with Horatio? How close are they? Do we have anyone in our lives who would stand by us like this?

OR

By the end of Act I, after Hamlet has spoken with the ghost, how would you assess the state of affairs in Denmark?

a. politically

b. morally

c. psychologically

II, 1

Have you ever had a good friend change dramatically? What was it like? Could you remain friends with them?

So, do you think Ophelia can maintain her relationship with Hamlet? Why or why not?

II, 2

To what extent do parents have the right to “spy” or check up on their children? What circumstance might allow or prevent this? Do Claudius and Gertrude have the right to spy on Hamlet?

III, 1

What is Hamlet's attitude towards women? Think of his earlier critique of Gertrude -- "Frailty thy name is woman" -- as well as the way he treats Ophelia in this scene.

III, 3

Have you ever been through a moment of severe indecision? Hamlet reproaches himself throughout the play for his inaction. Think about all the times he has mentioned it as well as his behavior at the play. Considering all he's been through, is Hamlet being too hard on himself?

III, 4

What is Gertrude’s responsibility for all that has taken place, according to Hamlet?

According to you?

IV, 5

Before the 20th Century, mental illness was not seen as a treatable medical condition, as it is today, but as a permanent problem (or worse, possession by the devil). What do you think of Ophelia's "treatment"?

IV, 7

Now, at the end of Act 4, make a prediction about how this play will end.

Act V, 1

Hamlet’s interaction with the gravediggers is one of my favorite scenes in al of literature. What does it reveal to us about Hamlet?

Also, knowing me as your teacher all year, why do you think I like it?

Act V, 2

The ending of Hamlet is very famous for it’s quantity of bloodshed. In all of this mess, is justice served?