Ham on Rye Essay Topics Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

11 out of 16 people found this helpful a rationalist, by definition, is logical. And if he not his friend, not his mother, not his pastor sees a ghost, he will acknowledge as such. 4 out of 5 people found this helpful revenge, ambition, lust and conspiracy return to the heads of those that conjured them in hamlet, completely annihilating two families the innocent with the guilty. Check out my blog on the play includes current link to pbs great performance video of production of play:

study questions

1. Shakespeare includes characters in hamlet who are obvious foils for hamlet, including, most obviously, horatio, fortinbras, claudius, and laertes. How are they alike? how are they different? how does each respond to the crises with which he is faced? horatio rsquo s steadfastness and loyalty contrasts with hamlet rsquo s variability and excitability, though both share a love of learning, reason, and thought.

Claudius rsquo s willingness to disregard all moral law and act decisively to fulfill his appetites and lust for power contrasts powerfully with hamlet rsquo s concern for morality and indecisive inability to act. Fortinbras rsquo s willingness to go to great lengths to avenge his father rsquo s death, even to the point of waging war, contrasts sharply with hamlet rsquo s inactivity, even though both of them are concerned with avenging their fathers. Laertes rsquo single minded, furious desire to avenge polonius stands in stark opposition to hamlet rsquo s inactivity with regard to his own father rsquo s death. Finally, hamlet, laertes, and fortinbras are all in a position to seek revenge for the murders of their fathers, and their situations are deeply intertwined. Hamlet rsquo s father killed fortinbras rsquo s father, and hamlet killed laertes rsquo father, meaning that hamlet occupies the same role for laertes as claudius does for hamlet. Many critics take a deterministic view of hamlet rsquo s plot, arguing that the prince rsquo s inability to act and tendency toward melancholy reflection is a ldquo tragic flaw rdquo that leads inevitably to his demise. Is this an accurate way of understanding the play? why or why not? given hamlet rsquo s character and situation, would another outcome of the play have been possible? the idea of the ldquo tragic flaw rdquo is a problematic one in hamlet. it is true that hamlet possesses definable characteristics that, by shaping his behavior, contribute to his tragic fate.

But to argue that his tragedy is inevitable because he possesses these characteristics is difficult to prove. Given a scenario and a description of the characters involved, it is highly unlikely that anyone who had not read or seen hamlet would be able to predict its ending based solely on the character of its hero. In fact, the play rsquo s chaotic train of events suggests that human beings are forced to make choices whose consequences are unforeseeable as well as unavoidable. To argue that the play rsquo s outcome is intended to appear inevitable seems incompatible with the thematic claims made by the play itself. Throughout the play, hamlet claims to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and so convincing that many readers believe that hamlet actually slips into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this is true, or is hamlet merely play acting insanity? what evidence can you cite for either claim? at any given moment during the play, the most accurate assessment of hamlet rsquo s state of mind probably lies somewhere between sanity and insanity.

Hamlet certainly displays a high degree of mania and instability throughout much of the play, but his ldquo madness rdquo is perhaps too purposeful and pointed for us to conclude that he actually loses his mind. His language is erratic and wild, but beneath his mad sounding words often lie acute observations that show the sane mind working bitterly beneath the surface. Most likely, hamlet rsquo s decision to feign madness is a sane one, taken to confuse his enemies and hide his intentions. On the other hand, hamlet finds himself in a unique and traumatic situation, one which calls into question the basic truths and ideals of his life. He can no longer believe in religion, which has failed his father and doomed him to life amid miserable experience.

He can no longer trust society, which is full of hypocrisy and violence, nor love, which has been poisoned by his mother rsquo s betrayal of his father rsquo s memory. And, finally, he cannot turn to philosophy, which cannot explain ghosts or answer his moral questions and lead him to action. With this much discord in his mind, and already under the extraordinary pressure of grief from his father rsquo s death, his mother rsquo s marriage, and the responsibility bequeathed to him by the ghost, hamlet is understandably distraught. He may not be mad, but he likely is close to the edge of sanity during many of the most intense moments in the play, such as during the performance of the play within a play i.ii , his confrontation with ophelia i.i , and his long confrontation with his mother i.iv. Does he love her? does he stop loving her? did he ever love her? what evidence can you find in the play to support your opinion? 2. Why might shakespeare have created characters like this? are they there for comic relief, or do they serve a more serious purpose? why does the news of their deaths come only after the deaths of the royal family in act v, as if this news were not anticlimactic? is it acceptable for hamlet to treat them as he does? why or why not? 3.

Analyze the use of descriptions and images in hamlet. how does shakespeare use descriptive language to enhance the visual possibilities of a stage production? how does he use imagery to create a mood of tension, suspense, fear, and despair? 4. Analyze the use of comedy in hamlet, paying particular attention to the gravediggers, osric, and polonius. Does comedy serve merely to relieve the tension of the tragedy, or do the comic scenes serve a more serious thematic purpose as well? 5. Suicide is an important theme in hamlet. discuss how the play treats the idea of suicide morally, religiously, and aesthetically, with particular attention to hamlet rsquo s two important statements about suicide: the ldquo o, that this too too solid flesh would melt rdquo soliloquy i.ii.129 ndash 158 and the ldquo to be, or not to be rdquo soliloquy i.i.56 ndash 88. Why does hamlet believe that, although capable of suicide, most human beings choose to live, despite the cruelty, pain, and injustice of the world? write an essay describing how henry's father treated henry throughout the novel.

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Did this change? why do you believe it has changed? use information from the text to support your answer. How does he relate to other children? why is this the case? how does henry's father's employment affect his childhood? write an essay explaining why you believe the author often provides no explanation for words or actions. Do you believe first graders today act like henry? why or why not? write an essay describing why henry would say that he doesn't hate his father and is too confused for that. The ham on rye lesson plan contains a variety of teaching materials that cater to all learning styles.

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Inside you'll find 30 daily lessons, 20 fun activities, 180 multiple choice questions, 60 short essay questions, 20 essay questions, quizzes/homework assignments, tests, and more. The lessons and activities will help students gain an intimate understanding of the text, while the tests and quizzes will help you evaluate how well the students have grasped the material. View a free sample target grade: 7th 12th middle school and high school length of lesson plan: approximately 115 pages.

The word file is viewable with any pc or mac and can be further adjusted if you want to mix questions around and/or add your own headers for things like name, period, and date. The word file offers unlimited customizing options so that you can teach in the most efficient manner possible. View a free sample the lesson plan calendars provide daily suggestions about what to teach. They include detailed descriptions of when to assign reading, homework, in class work, fun activities, quizzes, tests and more.

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Use the entire ham on rye calendar, or supplement it with your own curriculum ideas. Determine how long your ham on rye unit will be, then use one of the calendars provided to plan out your entire lesson. Chapter abstracts are short descriptions of events that occur in each chapter of ham on rye. They highlight major plot events and detail the important relationships and characteristics of important characters. The chapter abstracts can be used to review what the students have read, or to prepare the students for what they will read.

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Hand the abstracts out in class as a study guide, or use them as a key for a class discussion. They are relatively brief, but can serve to be an excellent refresher of ham on rye for either a student or teacher. Character and object descriptions provide descriptions of the significant characters as well as objects and places in ham on rye. These can be printed out and used as an individual study guide for students, a key for leading a class discussion, a summary review prior to exams, or a refresher for an educator. The character and object descriptions are also used in some of the quizzes and tests in this lesson plan. Daily lessons each have a specific objective and offer at least three often more ways to teach that objective.

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