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Hamlet Reader Response Journals

There are several possibilities for your Hamlet reader response journals. Please keep in mind that I grade on
completeness (e.g. did you do all the assignments?) as well as the quality of your content. I am not interested in
superficial, obvious stuff; please work to make meaning, find epiphanies, and note connections between themes,
symbols, motifs, not to mention Hamlets search to understand who he really is and what he must really do. This
is a very thought-provoking play, and I plan to measure your ability to deal with it.

Each Scene requires an RRJ. Some will demand more discussion and thought than others. Therefore, I will
impose no word or page limitations. Remember, however, your grade largely depends upon your thoughtfulness.
Also, please use a variety of RRJ approaches and combine several if you like. Always using the same approach
becomes boring for you and for me. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN A SUMMARY OF THE SCENE, but rather your
insights about it.

LABEL ALL RRJS WITH ACT, AND SCENE. ALSO, LABEL THE RRJ APPROACH YOU USED.

RRJ Possibilities:

1. Questions: Ask questions about the text: what perplexes you? Do you wonder why the author said a
particular thing, in a particular way? You might begin with I wonder why. . . or Im having trouble understanding.
. . Then, in writing, propose various possible answers.

2. What strikes you: Jot down ideas, images, details, connections with other parts of the text that strike you.
Why are they there? What do they add? Why are they memorable? Do they have anything in common? Can
you make an assertion/argument about them?

3. Passages: Copy passages, long or short, which strike you for any reason whatsoever. Then explain what is
striking and why. How do the words and images work?

4. Artistic: Draw pictures in response to what you read, or make collages, adding words and quotations from the
text. Then explain what you drew and why.

5. Purpose: Discuss the purpose of a scene.

6. Other? There are jillions of things to talk about in this play. Just make sure you do not summarize last nights
homework.

Important Questions/Issues to consider while reading Hamlet:

1. There are a million relevant questions to this play. Dont be fooled into thinking that the following
questions/issues are the only important ones. Images to watch for: poison, infection, revenge, secrecy, arras,
madness.

2. Consider the ghost. Should Hamlet believe him? Is he really Hamlets dad? How does your belief I him affect
your reading of the play?

3. Is there really a ghost at all? Even if an actor portrays him (as is normally done), how do you know that he is
really there for Hamlet? Does the ghost ask Hamlet to do anything that has not already occurred to Hamlet? Is
Hamlet sane? Are we watching/reading real, historical events or simply a play within Hamlets mind?

4. What exactly does the ghost order Hamlet to do? How well does Hamlet follow orders?

5. Compare the three men of action: Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras. How successful is action versus contemplation
in this play.

6. Consider Hamlets friends: Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.

7. Consider the Claudius-Gertrude relationship. Is Gertrude innocent? What (if anything) is Gertrude guilty of in
this play?

8. Watch out for the enormous amount of play acting in the play. Many characters are forced to put on an act.
How does all this relate to the play within a play in Act III? Why (and to what effect) is this mini play at the center
(literally) of Hamlet?

9. How does Ophelia relate to Hamlet? What is her purpose in the play? Does he really love her?

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