Regents Week and Other Info

BRAINSTORM QUESTIONS
1. How did the character affect Hamlet? How was the character affected by Hamlet?

2. In each scene where your character appears, what is his or her motivation and objective? (Sometimes this will be difficult or impossible to determine, so you talk about the various possibilities of what he or she could want.)

3. What do other characters say about your character and how do they react to him or her? How does your character feel about other characters?

4. What questions are raised by your character’s words and/or behavior?

THE “SKELETON” OF YOUR PAPER
Paragraph 1: a description of the character
Paragraph 2: an explanation of the character’s significance in the play
Paragraph 3: your opinion about the character’s changes during the play and the importance of the changes
Paragraph 4: a comparison of your character Hamlet

We will write the actual paper when we return from Regents Exam week. Upon return, the following items must be complete:

1)Brainstorm questions above
2)Skeleton of your paper (4 paragraphs detailed above)
3)Your mini-lesson for the part of speech you were assigned. In depth details for this will follow in an upcoming post.

* All together, that’s 8 paragraphs and a page or two of writing to prepare to teach your lesson. We will watch Act V of Hamlet together in class. Some interesting films to watch clips of (or the film in full, if you can are as follows.)
-Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke (this is what we have been watching)
-Hamlet starring and directed by Mel Gibson
-Hamlet starring Lawrence Olivier (it’s the token black and white film… funny old-time costumes)
-Hamlet cartoon (youtube it)
-This American Life (podcast, so you have to listen to it… there’s no video…) presented a -Hamlet version of Act five, acted out by actual prisoners. It’s amazing. (Those of you who were here the day before winter break got to hear parts of this… the entire podcast is amazing)

I love everything Hamlet, so if you are interested in other recs, let me know!

Homework Due Friday, January 22

Complete the brainstorm packet for your character analysis. Start by answering all of the questions presented. Then find AT LEAST 3 quotes SAID BY YOUR CHARACTER and analyze them. To analyze, you must make inferences about your character and his or her behaviors BASED ON THE WORDS he or she uses. Ask yourself why the character says what he/she says and what the words reveal about him or her. Then ask yourself how these words play into the overarching themes of the play.

**For example, if your friend said, "O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew," you might say to another friend: I'm worried about my friend. He wishes that his flesh would melt! Plus, he says that his flesh is sullied! For some reason, he thinks that he is contaminated, or ruined. Maybe that's because his girlfriend's father prohibited her from speaking to him. So because her dad doesn't like him, he feels like there's something wrong with him.... hmmm.. this plays into the fact that he has an inferiority complex. I mean, he did say another time that he was not like Hercules. He sees himself as weak and contaminated. Ugh. I'm sure that the fact that his dad, the king, was killed, has something to do with this. And then his mom married his uncle. No wonder he feels sullied. His family name is sullied. His father's honor is sullied. And he is part of his father, so now he thinks he is sullied too. I wonder why he chose to say that his flesh would "melt" rather than just disappear or something. Maybe he sees himself as cold as ice, like he's thinking cold thoughts. This wouldn't surprise me, given what he is going through. He has no warmth left! Poor guy. And resolve itself into a dew? Well, when I think of dew, I think of morning. Maybe he wants to be like the residue left on the trees in the morning on a warm day. Dew is crysal clear, it's easily swept away to nothing, and it evaporates in the sun. So, he wishes he would evaporate. I would be REALLY worried about him, except for the fact that he's such a smart and witty guy. I hope that his sense of humor and wits will carry him through this. Come to think of it, when I think of morning, I think of mourning, and he's definitely mourning........ (kids, I could go on forever here, so I'm just going to stop now... I think you get the idea)....


You should be able to fill out all three pages of the packet by following these directions, this example, and the 15 page paper you read on Hamlet.

Now get to your analysis brainstorm and make it good!!!!!!!!!!!

MIDTERM REVIEW TERMS

Hello students,

TEST FORMAT: Multiple Choice and Fill in the Blanks

DATES: Period 7: Wednesday, January 20
Period 8: Thursday, January 21

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: Define the words, use them in sentences, tell which part of speech the word is, match the words to synonyms and/or antonyms

UNIT #1
ADMONISH
BREACH
BRIGAND
CIRCUMSPECT
COMMANDEER
CMBERSOME
DEADLOCK
DEBRIS
DIFFUSE
DILEMMA
EFFACE
MUDDLE
OPINIONATED
PERENNIAL
PREDISPOSE
RELINQUISH
SALVAGE
SPASMODIC
SPURIOUS
UNBRIDLED

UNIT#2
ADJOURN
ALIEN
COMELY
COMPENSATE
DISSOLUTE
ERRATIC
EXPULSION
FEINT
FODDER
FORTIFY
ILLEGIBLE
JEER
LUCRATIVE
MEDIOCRE
PROLIFERATE
SUBJUGATE
SULLY
TANTALIZE
TERSE
UNFLINCHING

UNIT #3
ABRIDGE
ADHERENT
ALTERCATION
CHERUBIC
CONDONE
DISSENT
EMINENT
EXORCISE
FABRICATE
IRATE
MARAUDER
OBESITY
PAUPER
PILFER
RIFT
SEMBLANCE
SURMOUNT
TERMINATE
TRITE
USURP

UNIT #4
ABSCOND
ACCESS
ANARCHY
ARDUOUS
AUSPICIOUS
BIASED
DAUNT
DISENTANGLE
FATED
HOODWINK
INANIMATE
INCINERATE
INTREPID
LARCENY
PLIANT
POMPOUS
PRECIPICE
RECTIFY
REPRIEVE
REVILE

UNIT #5
ACCOMPLICE
ANNIHILATE
ARBITRARY
BRAZEN
CATALYST
EXODUS
FACILITATE
INCORRIGIBLE
LATENT
MILITANT
MOROSE
OPAQUE
PARAMOUNT
PRATTLE
REBUT
REPRIMAND
SERVITUDE
SLAPDASH
STAGNANT
SUCCUMB

UNIT#6
ATONE
BONDAGE
CREDIBLE
DEFRAY
DILIGENT
DOLEFUL
GHASTLY
HAMPER
HEW
IMPOVERISHED
INCESSANT
INTRICATE
LUCID
POSTHUMOUS
PRIM
SARDONIC
SUPERFLUOUS
SUPPLANT
TAUNT
TENACIOUS