Look carefully at Prince Hamlet’s advice to the professional players who visit Elsinore. Consider both his thoughts on “the purpose of playing” and his warning about clowns. Compare this to Shakespeare’s own method of drama. Do Hamlet and Hamlet match up?
Description
Hamlet is, without a doubt, the most popular play in history, having been adapted and acted, having been revised and written on, for over 400 years. The biggest obstacle students have in writing about Hamlet–besides reading the text in Shakespearean English–is that of not plagiarizing. As I present topics for you to write about, I do so with trepidation, one of my main goals being to get you to rely on the text Shakespeare wrote and not outside sources that have already interpreted the play for you. You may be tempted to do outside research to discover what other people have said about you topic, but I advise you to rely, first and foremost, on text itself to uncover the answers to the many enigmas that permeate this great play. All outside research must be properly documented and pass Turn-it-in’s and your instructor’s measures of originality, accuracy, and fairness. Please select one of the following topics and write a short essay of 2-3 pages, 500-750 word minimum. Your essay should thoughtfully and thoroughly analyze Hamlet, being informed with concrete evidence and support from our textbook. You will want to have an engaging introduction with an arguable thesis. Body paragraphs should be organized with topic sentences and transitions, supported with concrete, detailed, and relevant details and evidence. The conclusion should be memorable. Double-space your essay and be sure to proofread it, using Grammarly for the final proofreading, so the grammar is perfect. (Topics and questions from Literature: A World of Writing, Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays, Eds. David L. Pike and Ana M. Acosta, Boston: Longman, 2014. 340)
