By the time you begin working on this assignment, you should have read all the w
By the time you begin working on this assignment, you should have read all the way through Hamlet at least once. For this week’s Original Post (part A), you’ll be asked to share your experience with and thoughts on the genre of drama, your thoughts on Shakespeare, and your initial response to Hamlet.
First, briefly discuss your experience with the genre of drama: Have you read any other plays? Have you ever seen a live play in a theater? Have you ever been involved in a production (as an actor, stagehand, etc.—high school counts!)? Do you have a favorite – or least favorite – play, or a play that elicited a strong reaction from you? Please feel free to share any other relevant thoughts pertaining to your experiences and feelings regarding drama.
Second, tell us a bit more about your experience with and thoughts on Shakespeare: Have you read any of Shakespeare’s other plays? Have you, perhaps, even seen a live production? What about film adaptations? Do you find the language makes it difficult to read and understand? Please feel free to share any other relevant thoughts pertaining to your experiences and feelings regarding Shakespeare.
Third, and finally, share your initial reaction to Hamlet: What are your thoughts on the play? What do like about the play? What do you dislike about it? Do you have a favorite character? Is there a motif or symbol that you find particularly interesting? What do you think the theme (or themes) may be? Please feel free to share any other relevant thoughts pertaining to your experiences and feelings regarding Hamlet. Be sure to develop and substantiate your thoughts on the play with specific examples from the text documented with MLA style in-text citations and a corresponding list of Work(s) Cited.
Textbook source:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, Portable 12th ed., W.W. Norton & Co., 2017, pp. 1101-1211.