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So that was epic. We wrapped up Hamlet in class today. Give yourself a pat on the back; you’ve just annotated one of the greatest works of Western literature. Now comes the fun part: telling others what you’ve learned.
We’ll be sharing our knowledge via the essay, because this is a high school English class and that’s how we roll.
A few have asked why I haven’t given you a topic to write about. There are plenty of reasons ((I want you to be interested in your topic, I want you to write over something you know well, I don’t want to read 50 papers over the same connections, to name a few.)) I haven’t, but the primary one is this: coming up with something to focus on and understand well is (possibly) the most important skill you can master in high school. Your paper will be an answer to a question (I know you’ve got tons in your journals) about a theme in two or more of the works. For example:
Now, each of these questions should have “as represented in Hamlet and these poems,†but I hope that makes it a bit more clear—each question can be answered through patterns and themes/motifs within the play and poems. Discovering how two or more works approach a problem can give us clearer insight into the question and propose possible solutions. We’ll discuss more of these tomorrow as we move forward, as well as other methods of invention.
The following is our plan of attack, complete with computer lab times, what you should bring with you to class, and daily benchmarks. I have planned for most of the work to be done in class (where you’ll have the support of your peers and doting teacher), but do note that you’ll need to put in a few hours at home, as well. Of course, if you don’t finish a step in class, you’ll need to finish up at home (marked if necessary in the chart below). Please plan accordingly if you foresee any hangups (no computer access at home, have to work one evening, etc.)
Note: Always bring your copy of Hamlet, your notes/journal, and any other sources you wish to use.
| Bring this to class | on this day | so you can do this in class | (followed by this for homework). |
| Wed (15) | Watch Hamlet V.ii | In your journals, bring together support for all discovered connections between poetry and play | |
| Thurs (16) | Discuss (hypo)theses and connections, continue exploring works for connections/support | If necessary, continue search for connections/evidence and work out hypotheses | |
| Fri (17) | Begin drafting/ typing proposal (see below for details) | (Over the weekend) type up proposal and continue bringing together connections and evidence | |
| Proposal | Mon (20) | Present proposals to group for feedback, connections, and further evidence | If necessary, continue search for connections/evidence and begin organizing |
| Tues (21) | Organize connections and evidence | If necessary, continue to organize connections and evidence | |
| Organized evidence (if outside of journal) | Wed (22) | Type outlines in comp lab | If necessary, finish typing outline |
| Outline | Thurs (23) | Peer review of outlines | Write rough draft from outline |
| Rough draft | Mon (27) | Peer/teacher review of rough drafts, revision | If necessary, revise rough draft |
| Revised rough draft | Tues (28) | Continued peer/teacher review, revision | If necessary, revise rough draft |
| Revised rough draft, all sources | Wed (29) | Type works cited page in comp lab, final review, final revision | If necessary, final revision |
| Final drafts | Thurs (30) | Presentation of papers, discussion of process |
Proposals should contain the following: