...Hamlet's Delay The question of why Hamlet does not immediately avenge his father's death is probably the best-known critical problem in Shakespeare studies. The most obvious reply to this inquiry is that if the Danish prince moved at once upon the Ghost's report of foul "murther" and killed Claudius straightaway, then there would be no further story for Shakespeare to tell after the start of the play's second act. From this simplistic (if valid) standpoint, Hamlet's delay is essential to the tragedy's narrative progression. More important, while there is plenty of action in Hamlet (a stage work in which all of the major characters suffer untimely deaths), the play's plot is plainly subordinate to the tandem development of Hamlet's character and certain philosophical themes such as the knotty issues of mortality and chance. Absent his deferral of action, there would be no need for Hamlet to grow into his role as "scourge and minister," and no dramatic occasions at hand for his (and our) consideration of the deeper issues that Shakespeare poses in this tragedy. A second response to this question challenges its underlying premises. It proceeds from the counter-assertion that Hamlet does, in fact, act forcefully long before the play's final act. By Act V, Hamlet has invented the "mousetrap" of the play-within-a-play, slain Polonius and dragged his corpse away, persuaded the off-stage pirates to release him from captivity, and cleverly arranged the demise of his erstwhile...
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...Hamlet Act I Literary Devices English IV AP / Mrs. Ramos Use the text of Act I to find examples of the literary devices below. Quote the examples using proper notation (quotation marks, Act, scene, and line numbers). Then, explain the effect of the use of the device in the example. Use your own paper. There are clues for locating an example of each in the parentheses, but top points will be given to examples other than the ones pointed out in the clues. If you are not familiar with a device, use a literary dictionary to define it for yourself. Regular dictionaries will be hit-or-miss on these terms as they are highly specialized. Poetic Devices 1. couplet (Hamlet explains to his mother that his behavior is not an act, scene 2) 2. elision (Bernardo describes the movement of the stars, scene 1) 3. syncope (Horatio describes the sunrise, scene 1) 4. masculine rhyme / ending (The last two lines of Hamlet’s response to his mother’s concerns about his behavior, scene 2) 5. feminine rhyme / ending (Claudius presents the court with his appraisal of Fortinbras’ advance, scene 2) 6. diacritical accent (all over the place) Language / Rhetorical Devices 7. allusion (Hamlet contrasts himself with Hercules, scene 2) 8. antithesis (Claudius explains the death of his brother and his marriage to the widow, scene 2) 9. oxymoron (Claudius explains the death of his brother and his marriage to the widow, scene 2) 10. polysyndeton (Hamlet responds to his mother’s question...
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...Cause and Effect Essay – Elizabethan Target Audience “Always mystify, torture, mislead, and surprise the audience as much as possible (Roff).” Hamlet is a dramatic production written by William Shakespeare. “The play, set in the Kingdom of Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering the old King Hamlet, Claudius's own brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and marrying Gertrude, the King Hamlet's widow and mother of Prince Hamlet ("Hamlet”).” Shakespeare’s main objective was to impress his Elizabethan audience because entertainment through theater was extremely important to everyone in the era ("Elizabethan Theater"). Shakespeare successfully captivated an Elizabethan audience with this production (“Hamlet”). This essay will explain how an Elizabethan audience was targeted by Hamlet’s final monologue (act 4, lines 32-66). This speech effectively targeted and engaged an Elizabethan audience because its format, mentions of revenge and exciting nature caused the audience to sympathise with Hamlet’s decisions and feelings, and become enthusiastic and involved in the play. The format of this speech is a key factor which explains why the Elizabethan audience is effectively targeted. This speech is written and delivered in the form of a soliloquy. This means that it is an “uninterrupted speech delivered by a single character to the audience but not to other characters” (Jaber Al-Ogaili 48). Soliloquies are a...
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...Trevor Thompson The meaning of life has been a topic of discussion throughout history that has sparked interest within the philosophical world. People wonder whether every person has a certain role that they are destined to play or whether they instead have the free will to choose for themselves. The discussion about life’s meaning prompted the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialists believe that life is inherently without meaning until an individual creates the meaning of his or her own existence. Many pieces of literature have been examined and declared as existential pieces, with a lot of them falling into the realm of The Theater of the Absurd and therefore absurdism itself. These texts contain illogical reasoning, nonsensical dialogue, cyclical plots, and no horizon of significance. In this paper, I will argue that if one looks at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead through an existential lens, they will see that it embodies the existential ideals of instability and that "existence precedes essence”. Instability is a key factor in an existential world. The stability that exists within most pieces of literature, namely created from the horizon of significance and the fulfillment of certain goals, does not appear. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead embodies the theme of instability because nothing that Rosencrantz, henceforth Ros, or Guildenstern, henceforth Guil, do actually allows them both advancement within the story. After flipping coins and landing on...
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...saw and try to understand what happened from another perspective. The words he uses and the way he ties them together are full of passion. Only through a thorough reading of the novel can one appreciate the work and sincerity of this memoir. Furthermore, the reader comes to the conclusion that through the situations presented to these military men, vicious inhumane behaviors become inevitable. Caputo does an amazing job at capturing the dynamic changes in behaviors, mental states, and attitudes, within individuals as well as within the platoon as a whole. "Most of all we learned about death at an early age when it is common to think of oneself as immortal. Everyone loses that illusion eventually, but in civilian life it is lost in installments over the years. We lost it all at once and, in the span of months, passed from boyhood through manhood to premature middle age. The knowledge of death, of the implacable limits placed on a man's existence, severed us from our youth as irrevocably as a surgeon's scissors had once severed us from the womb. And yet, few of us were past...
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...Born in 1915, Miller grew up in Harlem as the son of working class Jewish Immigrants who, like many others, faced financial struggle in pursuit of the “American Dream”. At the age of fourteen, Arthur Miller’s family lost nearly everything due to the recent Wall Street Crash of 1924. Miller experienced some of the same struggles while growing up that the Loman family deals with in his hit play Death of a Salesman. Living on paycheck to paycheck and working odd jobs to save up for college had perhaps motivated much of the material in his plays....
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...doublespeak are smart, witty, intelligent and sophisticated in the use of language enough to use words to manipulate the persecution of their audience. In Lutz’s example, he references Thucydides who, during his time, reflected the Peloponnesian war to significantly alter the perception of events. It was recognized that actions and their connotation had changed which was supported by the change in language that presented events; for example, committing a cowardice act would mimic that of bravery. For William Lutz’s job, his responsibility and goals were only achievable through the use of doublespeak. To receive more funding, and effectively propose ideas, it was necessary for Lutz to use “doublespeak of bureaucracy” towards the successful progression of his job and to validate his position. Becoming aware of the usage of doublespeak allows for audiences to be able to defend themselves, clarify their understanding of events and concepts, and to not be mislead by the manipulation of words. Knowledge of wehn doublespeak is used aids in the intellectual competence of an individual as their ability to communicate (speak and listen) expands. Doublespeak often misleads and manipulates the original message which inherently inhibits the ability to further conversation and ideas between audiences and speakers, coherently. That instance would severely impact social and political institutions with our democratic country; the democratic behavior (actively participating in our country) would decrease...
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...Xavier Jones Professor Brenda Stephens Eng 101 25 November 2015 Social Inequality and Racism: How We Have Killed the Dream. On August 28, 1963 The March on Washington called for more jobs and all around freedom. It remains one of the most popular mobilizations ever created. It was planned and birthed by a union of civil rights activist and people of feminist support, in which most were African Americans. The protest drew nearly a quarter of a million people to our nation’s Capital. One of, if not the most memorable moment of The March on Washington is Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (“The Forgotten Radical History of the March on Washington”). The entire speech was an ascending oratory that still speaks volumes today just as it did fifty plus years ago. The speech commanded social and racial neutrality, and looked to a desegregated society. The main idea behind Dr. King’s famous speech was very simple; equality for all mankind was necessary for the future. It was 1963 but yet Dr. King was so far down the line in terms of the next generation and what was needed for the nation and all people of different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. He had the formula; the very last portion of the speech summed it all up when he said: “This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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...Existentialism - Do we matter. Do we seek personal happiness in life. These are questions from existentialism. The dictionary defines existentialism as an individual’s experience filled with isolation in a hostile universe where a human being attempts to find true self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Hamlet is an existentialist character who believes that he is forced to avenge his father’s death and the hatred builds in his heart because of the many betrayals which direct him towards a senseless life and constant thoughts about suicide; this ultimately leads to his demise and he is left with naught.... [tags: Existentialism] 872 words (2.5 pages) $14.95 [preview] Life Value vs. Existentialism in Grendel - A main theme in John Gardner’s Grendel, is the constant competition of the ideas of meaning in life versus existentialism. Throughout the novel, Grendel makes a steady spiritual decay to the point of denying any value or significance in life itself. He believes the world is nothing more than “a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears”(16). This progression starts at a young age, and...
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...Kunslerroman c)Stream of conciousness c)Focus on inner time rather than outer time d)Search for identity e)Treatment of religion f)Treatment of sexuality Conclusion James Joyce (from February 2, 1882 to January 13, 1941) was one of the most preeminent Irish authors of the 20th century. He is known for his literary innovation strictly focused narrative and indirect style. James Joyce matriculated from University College of Dublin in 1903. After moving to Paris, Joyce planned on studying medicine. The lectures were conducted in a technical French but Joyce’s education had not prepared him for it. Despite his mother’s attempts to get him to return to Catholic Church, Joyce remained unmoved even after her death. Joyce studied at Clongowes Wood College from 1888 until 1892. When the family’s financial state devolved, Joyce had to leave the school. After a brief time at Christian Brothers School, Joyce was enrolled at Belvedere College in 1893. In 1898, Joyce began studying Italian, English and French at University College Dublin. At this time, Joyce also began his entry into the artistic life of Dublin. His literary reviews appeared in Fortnightly Review. His review of Henrik Ibsen received a positive personal response from Ibsen himself. In addition to his reviews, he also wrote some pieces of drama that have since been lost. The writings of James Joyce include Chamber Music, Dubliners, The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, Exiles...
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...with the Junior Secondary Curriculum Principles of Curriculum Design Chapter 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 1 Introduction Literature in English Curriculum Framework Strands and Learning Targets Learning Objectives Generic Skills Values and Attitudes Broad Learning Outcomes Chapter 3 5 7 9 10 11 11 13 Curriculum Planning 3.1 Planning a Balanced and Flexible Curriculum 3.2 Central Curriculum and School-based Curriculum Development 3.2.1 Integrating Classroom Learning and Independent Learning 3.2.2 Maximizing Learning Opportunities 3.2.3 Cross-curricular Planning 3.2.4 Building a Learning Community through Flexible Class Organization 3.3 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross KLA Links 3.4 Time Allocation 3.5 Progression of Studies 3.6 Managing the Curriculum – Role of Curriculum Leaders Chapter 4 1 2 2 3 3 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 21 Learning and Teaching 4.1 Approaches to Learning and Teaching 4.1.1 Introductory Comments 4.1.2 Prose Fiction 4.1.3 Poetry i 21 21 23 32 SECOND DRAFT 4.1.4 Drama 4.1.5 Films 4.1.6 Literary Appreciation 4.1.7 Schools of Literary Criticism 4.2 Catering for Learner Diversity 4.3 Meaningful Homework 4.4 Role of Learners Chapter 5 41 45 52 69 71 72 73 74 Assessment 5.1 Guiding Principles 5.2 Internal Assessment 5.2.1 Formative Assessment 5.2.2 Summative Assessment 5.3 Public Assessment 5.3.1 Standards-referenced Assessment 5.3.2 Modes of Public Assessment 74 74 74 75 77 77 77 Quality Learning and Teaching Resources...
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...Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism Introduction A very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider important. For example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, s/he might focus on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. If a critic is working with post-colonial theories, s/he might consider the same story but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean. Hopefully, after reading through and working with the resources in this area of the OWL, literary theory will become a little easier to understand and use. Disclaimer Please note that the schools of literary criticism and their explanations included here are by no means the only ways of distinguishing these separate areas of theory. Indeed, many critics use tools from two or more schools in their work. Some would define differently or greatly expand the (very) general statements given here. Our explanations are meant only as starting places for your own investigation into literary theory. We encourage you to use the list of scholars and works provided for each...
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...When American schoolchildren are educated about Europe between the years 1936 through 1975, they are taught about the aftereffects of World War I and about World War II. Europe, in high school history classes, ceases to exist after 1945 and the close of World War II unless, of course, one is learning about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall may be mentioned. They do not learn, however, that World War II era Spain—because Spain was neither an ally or a foe during the war—went through enormous conflict of its own. The three-year Spanish Civil War and the fascist dictatorship that followed are largely kept out of the American history books. Yet, the world is privy to much of its legacy through literature, art, film, and personal memory. Spain certainly remembers three hellish years of war and thirty six years of repression under Generalisimo Fransisco Franco, but how is General Franco remembered by the rest of the world? What legacy did he leave internationally? 2 It is a confused and varied one: to those closest to him he was a husband, father, and statesman; to Hitler, he was an obstacle on the road to world domination; to the Jews who fled from Hitler he was a hero; but to the many Spanish minorities and to his opponents in the Spanish Civil War he was a monster. 3 The answers to the questions posed are addressed in a variety of sources. One of these sources is the book Hitler Stopped by Franco, by Jane and Burt Boyar, who write a relatively straightforward book that explores many...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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