Exam review, 6/1

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 III and IV Feedback

Team,

As I typed last week, the people who are taking these posts seriously demonstrate a deep understanding of the play and its themes. However, the more of these would do, the more I notice some students dropping off ... either by not posting entries or by not writing very much. Also, in this class a number of students ignored the deadline.

Don't let that be you. Remember that you receive points for both timeliness and seriousness and ... the essay is coming. Our blog is the best way to prepare.

-Mr. Paul

Act 2 FEEDBACK

Team,

It is no surprise to me that the people who are positing have been writing profound comments that demonstrate their understanding of the play and it's themes. Keep it up! However, about a third of you have not been posting ... this is a problem.

-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

Act I feedback

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

From your answers, I also learned that most of your parents give pretty good advice.  Make sure you listen to them.  Laertes is going to get in a lot of trouble later in the play ... partially because he does not follow his father's wisdom.

Couple of warnings:

1. 3 students in this class fell behind on the blog and lost points.  You know who you are... please redeem yourself in the future.  I will check the questions for Acts 2 and 3 later this week, so be careful not to fall behind.

2. In other classes there were some nameless entries. Don't lose points this way.

3. In English, "advice" is a collective noun which means that it can not take a plural form.  So, your father can give you lots of advice through out your life or perhaps he gave you an important piece of advice last night ... but he can't give you "advices."  Got it?

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, 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, 4

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?

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 criticism of Gertrude -- "Frailty thy name is woman" -- as well as the way he treats Ophelia in this scene.

III, 3

Have you ever been in a situation of severe indecision? Hamlet reproaches himself constantly for his indecision. Think about all the times he has mentioned it as well as his behavior during the play. Is he being too hard on himself or not?

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

At this point in the play, the end of Act 4, how do you think it will end?

Act V, 1

Hamlet’s interaction with the gravediggers is one of my favorite scenes in all 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?