Hamlet

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare
Reading Schedule
Complete the following reading assignments before coming to class
on the day with which they are listed. Class time will be given to
read and work on assignments, but students are responsible for
staying on schedule. Announced and unannounced quizzes may
cover any material up to the most recent reading assignment;
makeup quizzes may be for any recent reading assignments at the
time of the makeup. Readers Journals refer to Bookmark you
receive.

A Day
10/22
10/26
10/28
10/30
(1/2 Day)
11/3
11/5

11/9

11/11
(1/2 day)
11/13

(Ms. B.
in Den.)
11/17
(Ms. B.
in Den.)
11/19
11/30

12/2
12/4

12/16

B Day

10/23

10/27

10/29

11/2

11/4

11/6

11/10

11/13

(Ms. B. in

Denmark)

11/16*
(Ms. B. in

Denmark)

11/18*
(Ms. B. in

Denmark)

11/20*

12/1

12/3

12/7
12/17

Reading
Act I, Scene 1
Readers Journal
Act I, Scenes 2-3
Readers Journal
Finish Act I
Mini-Criticism on Act I
Act II, Scenes 1-2
Have Poetry Out Loud poem
picked
Act II, Scene 2 (finish)
Readers Journal
Poetry Out Loud
Act III, Scene 1
Readers Journal
Act III, Scene 2
Readers Journal--____
Act III, Scenes 3-4
Mini-Criticism Act III
Literary Criticism Assigned
Act IV, Scenes 1-4
TBD
Act IV, Scenes 5-7
TBD
Act V, Scene 1
TBD
Act V, Scene 2 (finish
Hamlet)
Prepare for the Trial
HamletThats a wrap!
Hamlet Trial/Debate
Non-fiction/ Into the 1960s
Begin Slouching
Lit Crit Draft due
Hamlet Lit Crit due

*Virtual communication will be IMPERATIVE to

maintain your grade during 11/16-11/20. Please pay
attention to your agendas on those days as to how to respond
via Edmodo OR email (ebroccolino@aacps.org).

To speak of William Shakespeare is to speak of the infinite.

Perhaps no other writer in history has mapped the human heart
as thoroughly, as profoundly, as Shakespeare did. Even 400
years after his death, he lives on as we reinterpret his work,
easily translating his words into contemporary contexts.
Shakespeare was born in the same year as Galileo, when the
warm glow of science was beginning to cast humanity in a
whole new light. The Churchs ready-made metaphysical (and
political) paradigms were losing their stranglehold. Europe was
toeing the waters of the New World. And a renaissance of
humanism blossomed under the steady rule of Elizabeth I.
Studies of motivations and emotions, introspective glances into
our feats and foibles as near-godly beings, and a renewed
interest in life on earth -- all rose to the status of artistic concern
in Shakespeares time.
For Shakespeare, art was simply a glorified soap opera. He
played both sides of the literary game, nodding to the literati
with gorgeously metered verse and sophisticated allusions,
pandering to the groundlings with all the base intrigue and
violence desirable. The result is a body of work that is
simultaneously inspired and accessible, both high art and
supermarket tabloid.
Hamlets existential doubt; Othellos misguided jealousy;
Macbeths megalomania; Lears sad self-deception; Brutus
conflicted soul; Romeo and Juliets nave passion; Richard IIIs
tormented bloodthirst. These now-ubiquitous cultural signifiers
introduced a new phase in dramatic characterization, in which
good and evil were often tragically -- and realistically -- mixed.
And it was this understanding of humanitys vulnerabilities that
separated Shakespeares work from its predecessors. Though
Shakespeare followed a prestigious line of great tragedians, he
looked to new sources for his tragic model. While Sophocles
Antigone or Aeschylus Agamemnon died for violations of god or
state, Titus Andronicus drowned in a pool of misguided
intentions, revenge, and plain-old corruption. For Shakespeare,
evil in the world was caused by human error, not the omnipotent
will of God. Power, sex, envy, and money were the great
corrupters -- and the greatest sources of human drama.
Shakespeare also knew how to soften high drama with humor.
Jilted love stings less when funneled through the witty barbs
tossed by Helena and Hermia. And though Cleopatra will soon
die, she wont depart without a wink of sexual innuendo. Even a
romantic sonnet is a little less serious when the beloved sports
black wires instead of golden curls. His comedies are
fantastical to the point of being modern in their surrealism.
Indeed, Shakespeares signature style is a fusion of tragedy and
comedy, which both tackles hard subjects and laughs at them.
Controversy still swirls around Shakespeares life. Many claim
he was a failed actor who turned to writing to make ends meet.
Others claim that the scope of his work supercedes the
capabilities of any individual man. According to one analysis of
his prolific vocabulary, the Shakespearean lexicon exceeds that
of even a genius by thousands of words.
Records at least indicate that a William Shakespeare was born
in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. And though he seems to have
taken a conspicuous leave of absence in his early life, a man of
the same name does surface in London records around 1592.
His true identity has been pinned on everyone from the Earl of
Oxford to competitor Christopher Marlowe. The controversy
seems almost irrelevant at this point, as Shakespeare has
become a larger-than-life cultural icon. We pay homage to the
mind -- whoever the man -- that crafted such telling mirrors into
the depths of our own fragile souls.
Source: http://www.artandculture.com/