Hamlet Blog Instructions

In addition to being one of his most widely read (and wildly misunderstood) plays, Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s longest plays. In order to encourage active reading, you’ll be keeping a reading blog.

• Acts and scenes will determine what your blog will cover. 
• You must choose TWO SCENES for EACH ACT to discuss in your blog. The choice will be yours, but be sure you are choosing what you believe are the most pivotal scenes in the play (no easy task!). You may discuss this with a partner to facilitate your decision.
• Label your entry clearly with the act and scene numbers in the Post box you see above the tool bar.
• The act should be labeled with large Roman numerals, the scenes should be labeled with small Roman numerals. (Ex. Act I, sc. iii)
• Write in your voice (but with an academic slant). Be completely honest in your response, but, of course, be appropriate for school. This is the best way for you to take hold of the text and work with it.
• Enjoy this! Make the assignment something you can be proud to share with others.

Choose three (3) of the following options per blog post. You should vary your selection of journal entries over the course of the play so that you use ALL of the options AT LEAST ONCE. 

Also, each scene must include a “critical quote” (in addition to the bullets you choose below) and a detailed explanation about why the quote is significant to a character’s development, action, thematic concerns or symbolic issues. Be sure to include the line numbers and who said it. 

• Summarize the action of the scene(s) and discuss how the scene fits into the play as a whole.

• Choose a character and write a COMPLETE characterization of him or her. What do others say about the character? What do the character's soliloquies reveal about him or her? How do the character's actions provide insight? Who is this character's foil and why?

• “Talk” to one or more of the characters in the scene a question. Brow-beat them if you wish. Or support their actions or choices. Challenge them. Yell at them. Comfort them. Keep in mind their station (they are royalty) so gauge your language accordingly. 

• Comment on 2-3 literary devices you see, such as: symbols, metaphors/similes, antithesis, personification, imagery, or others that you may know. How are the devices significant to the scene? The characters? How does it help to develop a theme?

• Hamlet can be said to be the Prince of Puns. Choose a pun and discuss what you appreciate about it and how it contributes to the scene or the act.

• Discuss the relationship between two characters. The comments can be directed towards family relationships, romantic relationships, subject/sovereign relationships, political relationships, and friendships. Are they foil characters? What U.T. could these relationships support?

• Provide and discuss an example of one or more of Aristotle's Principles of the Tragic Hero.

• Discuss a reference to any of the themes that Shakespeare is exploring in Hamlet.

• Comment on a character’s choices. Do they seem to be leading to an inevitable end?

• Paraphrase a significant speech by any of the characters. What does the speech reveal about the character? How does the speech contribute to a deeper understanding of a theme or of some aspect of the human condition?

• Discuss an allusion and analyze why you think Shakespeare chooses to use it where he does.

• Choose a passage that you find particularly beautifully worded. What stood out to you about this passage? What particular craftsmanship can you discuss? How do you think the passage illustrates Shakespeare's masterful word-craftsmanship?

• Wild card: is there something you thought of? Write it!

This blog is meant to help you deepen your understanding of, and connection to, the text. Your grade will depend on the thoroughness of your response.  Please treat this like the adademic endeavor that it is and edit/proofread your work before posting. You will be graded on the depth of your entries and the mechanics of your posts.