Thursday, January 31, 2008

Hamlet Strands & Characters & Criticism


Throughout the whole play, you are to keep a notebook (see Reader's Notebook Rubric) on two characters and one "strand" which runs through Hamlet.
Hamlet Strands 2008
  • eye / I
  • Fortune & Fate
  • words words words
  • Water & Liquid
  • prison
  • “strumpetness”
  • Ghosts
  • Light
  • Dark
  • Flora
  • Fauna
  • Dreams

Major Characters:

  • Hamlet
  • Ophelia

Other Characters:

  • Gertrude
  • Claudius
  • Horatio
  • Polonius
  • Laertes
  • Rosencrantz & Guildenstren

Please make a post documenting which strand you are investigating and which two characters you are focusing on and why (very brief). This is a very easy homework grade.

55 comments:

Jessica S. 6 said...

The two characters that I choose for Hamlet is Ophelia and Gertrude because their the only 2 woman in the play. And I was also wondering how their role affects the storyline since in many of Shakespeare's work the women are more daring than the men.

My strain is Flora just because I like plant life and I was wondering how Shakespeare use that symbol through the play.

Chrizzy Teeny said...

I would like to follow the character Hamlet throughout the play because he is said to be a mysterious and cynical character. According to Hamlet, there is more to him than meets the eye. I choose the strand, words words words, because I want to connect Hamlet's character to the words that Shakepeare decides to use. I also choose to investigate Claudius because he is the antagonist of the play, so it'd be interesting to compare him to Hamlet.

Jessica F. 6 said...

For our new reading I want to focus on Ophelia and Gertrude because in most of Shakespeare’s plays the women are the manipulators and contribute or lead the vicious plots of the murders. I also think its interesting that they are the only two women in the play whom are main characters. My strand for the book will be Flora because I wanted that to be my strand for Portrait but it was already taken, and I believe there will be many connections with my strand and the two characters I chose to focus on throughout the book.

Ping L 6 said...

For Hamlet, I want to focus my attention on Ophelia and Polonius. I choose Ophelia because she is one of the few female characters in the book and so, would have a great influence on the plot of the story. I choose Polonius because he is Ophelia's dad and he works for Claudius. I love to learn about different relationships between different people. I choose Fauna as my strand because I believe that animal qualities should be seen throughout the characters in Hamlet.

Rodney B5 said...

The strand I will be investigating is ghosts because I wanted to look into a stand that was abstract or different. The major character I picked is Hamlet since the book's title is his name and the other character I will follow is Horatio since he is a good friend of Hamlet and I could learn more about Hamlet through him.

Ricki said...

The two characters for my strand I choose is Ofelia and Laertes because I wanted to see how brother and sister connected in the play. I also would like to study ghosts because I wanted to see how they tie into the themes.

Wendy C.5 said...

In Hamlet the two character strands that I chose to investigate are Ophelia and Gertrude because they are significant females to the play and I want to see what their roles contribute to this play. My other strand would be dreams because of the abstract ideas that people's mind pull from it.

William C5 said...

The strand and characters I would like to choose are: dreams, Hamlet, and Gertrude. Dreams are significant to my interests since I sleep a lot, and with the psychoanalytic discussions we have had recently about mother and son relationships, the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertude, might be interesting.

Angela S5 said...

The strand that I chose is strumpetness. I am really intersted in feminism and I feel that studying this aspect of females will help me. The two characters I chose are Hamlet and Gertrude. I want to study the mother son relationship between the two and see if I can detect ant oedipal allusions.

Ronald d5 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ronald d5 said...

For my strand i choose "darK." and for my two characters, I choose Hamlet and Horatio. I chiose dark because I want to observe the thoughts of darkness, sin, and loneliness found in these characters as males.

Mario R. 5 said...

the two charaters that i pick to follow in hamlet is hamlet and horatio. i choice these two charaters because they are two close friends and can give me a close look on hamlet himself.

the strain that i wish to follow is ghosts because it is different and you don't get that many chance to talk about ghosts.

Doris T5 said...

The strand I choose to follow is dreams. Dreams occur in the mind. I could use them to interpret the characters of Hamlet. The two characters that I choose are Hamlet and Claudius. I choose these two characters because it will be interesting to see how they interact with each other in the play. It would be interesting to see how Hamlet portrays himself to Claudius when Claudius is king and Hamlet is the prince.

Kristin D. 5 said...

Hi Mr Gallagher few minutes till I have your class but I would like to follow up on dreams because I think I would be able to pull a lot out of my background knowledge of psychology or my cool psychoanalytic crit skills. i would also like to pick Ophelia because she gives girl power and then ophelias father Polonius because his name is cool.

ashley S5 said...

thw two characters i chose was hmalet and ophelia based on their realtionship and the love that hamlet has for her. this will be interesting based on her betrayal towards hamlet and the stand that i am concentrating on is dreams because dreams can illustrate a person's personality

ashley S5 said...

thw two characters i chose was hmalet and ophelia based on their realtionship and the love that hamlet has for her. this will be interesting based on her betrayal towards hamlet and the stand that i am concentrating on is dreams because dreams can illustrate a person's personality

Shuyi G 6 said...

For the two characters, I would like to focus on Hamlet and Ophelia because I hope to find romance in their love. For the strand, I would like to pick Fortune & Fate because they can influence and ruin people’s lives. I want to see how they connect to each other and their major differences in Hamlet.

Amy H 6 said...

The strand I will chose will be Fortune and Fate. Mainly because I like how fate contributes to the novel.

The two characters I chose will be Hamlet and Ophelia. Because I believe they will be the most interesting characters.

Kevin Tang said...

While we read the play, I will concentrate on fauna in order to see how Shakespeare connects to animal life.

Also, I am choosing Ophelia and Polonius for my characters. It will be interesting to observe any daughter-father dynamic as well as their relations with Hamlet.

Stephanie P. 5 said...

The strand I chose for Hamlet is Flora because I would like to see how it impacts the book.
My choice for characters is Ophelia & Laertes I believe that can sometimes stick together so I would like to see how this pans out.

Alexander A.6 said...

For Hamlet, I have chosen the theme of ghosts because of my knowledge of the play reminded me that the ghost(s) is a very important figure in the life of Hamlet and to the Tragedy itself. Though it was difficult to choose between Hamlet and Ophelia I chose Hamlet because of my newfound knowledge of Psychoanalytic criticism I want to find parallels that made the Oedipal complex so important to connect to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and the character of Stephen. In relation to that selection I have also chosen to cover Gertrude and her mother connection to Stephen.

Thespina says: said...

The characters I have chosen are Hamlet and Ophelia because I'm looking for written chemistry and I believe they will deliver. The strand I have chosen is Light because the absence of it is something else, not nothing. Plus, my skin is light and I like it like that.

Shaun N 5 said...

My strand is going to be on dreams. My characters to follow will be Hamlet, and Horatio. I chose to do dreams because it interests me the most, particularly because there is a lot of interpretations of what dreams trully mean, and no complete fact.

Meaghan S6 said...

The two characters I want to focus on are Ophelia and Polonius. Throughout the feminist crit discussions, we never got the chance to look at daughter/father relationships so I thought that might be something different to follow. For my strand, I want to focus on "words, words, words," because I saw the power that words had over Stephen and the way French feminists criticized word choice, so I think looking into word choice in a Shakespeare play should be interesting. It's something I've never done before.

Unknown said...

fwagnac 6
The two characters that I would like to focus on are Hamlet and Horatio.Horatio is Hamlet most trusted friend and I would like to see the growth of this friendship and how does it affects Hamlet.
My strand will be prison.

baoxer said...

For my strand, I would like to follow dreams. The psychoanalytical essay that got me thinking on how to view texts other than Portrait in the same manner and having dreams as a strand will definitely be relevant to the same type of analysis.

For the characters that I'll focus on, I choose Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstren. I believe having interaction between multiple characters will allow me to have more material to work with.

Quan T 6 said...

The two characters I wish to focus on are Hamlet and Rosencrantz & Guildenstren because it will be interesting to see how these characters compare. For my strand I wish to choose darkness because it seems cool, yo.

Unknown said...

In the play of Hamlet, the two characters I would like to focus on would be Ophelia because she's a female and I would like to see what kind of power she has throught the play as well. The other character that I would like to forcus on would be Laertes because he is Ophelia's brother and most sibling doesn't get along and I want to see how their relationship with each other are like and how it will affect throught the play. The strand that I had pick is water & liquid because in most play water and liquid have posion in it so I thought it would be interesting to see if water & liquid in the play of Hamlet would be the same.

Katie S6 said...

The two characters i have chosen are Ophelia and Polonius because im interested in to see if there is any bond between father and daughter and if so how i flows with the story. And for my strand i would like to follow "strempetness."

michelle p said...

For Hamlet, I'd like to focus on Ophelia and Horatio because I feel that these two characters have a lot of important and indirect influences to Hamlet and the play in general, especially in the fate of the characters, so for my strand, I'd like to focus on Fortunate/Fate.

Michael R. 6 said...

The two characters that I choose to talk about are Hamlet and Horatio because I would like to see how their relationship evolves throughout the play. I want to focus on Water & Liquid for my strand because it can take many forms, literally and figuratively, yo. Big ups to Quan.

Son N6 said...

The two characters that I am focusing on are Horatio and Fortinbras. Since most of Shaekespeare's plays focuses somewhat on betrayal I would like to see how Horatio remains loyal throughout the novel. And I would like to choose a character not in the list, Fortinbras who seems to be the rival of Hamlet, but if not I'll choose Laertes the "reflective Hamlet."

The strand that I choose to study is Fortune and Fate. I want to see how everyone ends up in the novel, either dead or alive.

Kathryn W 6 said...

Greetings from Wyoming!

As our adventures with Hamlet hastily approach, I’ve come to choose Ophelia as my focus for a major character. There has always been a vague whisper about her being majorly off the eel, so I’ll sympathize. As for “other” characters, I’d like to run away with Rosencrantz and Guildenstren. Curiously enough, when I visited Aernk last weekend we were randomly bombarded by Dan Dan the British Man! (A.k.a. The Hamburglar.) - - Who did travel with him Rosencrantz & Guildenstren Are Dead. Smashing! Those princes of thieves stole my literary heart. Excuse Cary Elwes. And what better than the unbefitting strand of Fate to follow. Clotho Lachesis and Atropos have always been topic of obsession to me, and I fail to see any reason to leave them now.

So as an inconclusive conclusion to this cautionary canary, I think I’ll name my cat Tybalt.

Circle takes the square - Goodnight everybody!

Laurie's MY name said...

hey!
So for my strand I have decided to pay attention to eye/I. I chose this only because I found the eye/blindess in Portrait to be really interesting. So why not do it again? As for my characters I chose Hamlet and Horatio. I want to see how their relationship evolves throughout the play. I wonder if there is going to be some back-stabbing going on?
I guess we'll have to read it and see :)

Mark D5 said...

I will be following Dreams, Hamlet, and Polonius. Dreams because the slow descend into madness has a lot too do with dreams/visions. Hamlet because his dreams and vision are most likely what I will be paying attention to. I picked Polonius because he seems to have more layers and is more interesting than the others you gave to pick.

Emily R 6 said...

I would like to chose dark as my strand. I became interested in the idea of darkness in "A Portrait of the artist as a Young Man", I would like to see how it plays out in "Hamlet". I would like to choose Ophelia and Gertrude for my characters because I would like to see the symbolism of the women in the play.

Kathleen D5 said...

The two characters I chose was Ophelia and Gertrude because I wanted to focus on the female ascept of the play and I chose strumpetness as my strand.

Kevin Tr . 5. said...

Strand: dark
Characters:Hamlet and Gertrude

Erika R. 6 said...

For my strand I chose "Fortune and Fate" because I would really like to see how they influence a story like this one and how it affects the characters and their acts. And for the characters I chose Ophelia and Gertrude because I would like to follow the play from the point of view of the two women and how they develop in the play.

Matthew said...

The strand I will be investigating is eye/I because I find it most intriguing to me and I did this in Portrait as well. The major character I picked is Hamlet because he is the main character of the book so he will be my main focus of the book so that it will be able to understand the book better. In addition my other character I will follow is Horatio since he is a best friend of Hamlet and studying him will be more fun as I predict he will be mostly hanging around Hamlet.

Elina R 6 said...

Hi,
i want to do Flora, Ophelia, and Gertrude

Emily said...

The two characters that i plan to focus on is Hamlet and Claudius because it'll be interesting to see how the two characters will collide in the novel and the strand that i'm going to follow is Ghosts. Ghosts to me are mysterious since its hard to say if they are real or not.

sarah c 6 said...

I would like to do Fortune and Fate for my strand and focus on Hamlet and Horatio as my characters because they are good friends and I would like to see how they end up at then end of the play, as well as all the other characters.

Anonymous said...

For my strand, I choose dreams because they are a part of the unconscious, which relates to the psychoanalytic view. For the two characters, I choose Hamlet and Claudius. The two characters are play significant roles in the struggle for power.

Mista D said...

The strand I choose is "strumpetness" and the two characters I choose are Ophelia and Gertrude and hopefully they both give me something about the strand I chose to write about, yo.

Chris said...

I would like to follow Hamlet and Haratio because the two of friends have to have some kind of connection. I would also like to follow dreams because I have heard that a person can learn a lot from the dream that one has or the kinds of dreams the dream at night. It would make it interesting because they two of best friends can share each others interest when they are awake but in their dreams it could be something different

Diana P5 said...

“strumpetness”
I choose as my strand because having read and researched Hamlet already I’ve never had a chance to really look carefully at Ophelia and “strumpetness” I don’t can really go along with Hamlet. Having what I just said I guess it’s obvious that I’m going to be picking Ophelia as my Major Character of interest. Choosing her and “strumpetness” should give me something to follow along with our readings. To stay along and have everything relating I will be choosing Polonius as my secondary character. Only because without Polonius I don’t feel that Ophelia would have been such a major character.

Simon M 6 said...

For my strand I would like to choose ghosts. I find ghosts interesting and I know that they will have some influence on Hamlet. My two characters are Hamlet and Gertrude. It will be fun to follow mother and son throughout the play without their king.

Kenneth M5 said...

Dreams, Hamlet, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstren. I made all of these decisions because I am in a side project band that is using Hamlet a base for the concept album. The way the story went made dreams easiest to apply to it, as well as Hamlet's friends.

Natalia Amorim said...

The strand I will be investigating is Dreams and the two characters I will be focusing on are Hamlet and Claudius. I chose to focus on these two characters because I think that it will be interesting to find out more on Hamlet since the novel is titled with his name. Also, there must be many mysterious things I can find out about him. I chose Claudius as the other character because both him and Hamlet are kind of against each other, so I am interested to see how they will both behave through out the novel.

CasieS P5 said...

The two characters I choose for the play Hamlet are Ophelia and Polonius because I am interested in the Daughter Father relationship between them and the struggles created. The strand I chose to recognize is Dark because in the last novel I focused on light and I am curious to see the contrast between dark and light within novels.

Brian said...

For Hamlet, I would like to track the ghost through out the play because I think that it would be an interesting thing to follow . I choose Hamlet and Gertrude to follow through out the book because I would like to track the mother-son relationship through out the play because I would like to try and connect it back to other books that I have read, and perhaps I can connect it back to psychoanalytical criticism.

Amy H 6 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve T5 said...

For Hamlet, I would also like to follow the ghost through out the play, seeing how it absorbs my interest.
Aside from the ghost itself, Hamlet and Horatio are intrigued by the the ghost as well, along with many others. Though I simply find their speeches to the ghost most interesting, and it'll be great to analyze their relationship with each other as they deal with the ghost.
So, ghost/hamlet/horatio for me.

Eddie said...

I would like to focus on Hamlet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, and water & liquid. I want to see how R + G care about Hamlet, even though everyone else thinks he's mad. Will they remain loyal to Hamlet and follow him? Liquid and water strand is a topic I want to focus on since Mr. G seems to mention it a lot from other novels, and I want to see how I would interpret it in Hamlet.