Act II Scene II

Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate an understanding of Hamlet by choosing a prompt from below, developing a thesis statement out of it, and answering the thesis statement by analyzing and using direct evidence from the text.  

QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP THESIS STATEMENTS ABOUT AND ANSWER

1. Polonius is sometimes played as a senile old fool, sometimes as a shrewd and worldly old man.  Which interpretation do you agree with and why?
2. Pick one character who could, at some point, have changed the whole chain of events.  Discuss.
3. Analyze the three appearances of the ghost seen in the play.  Where did he appear; to whom did he appear?  How does the third appearance differ from the first two?  What is the significance of this?
4. Discuss the reasons for Hamlet’s apparent delay in seeking revenge for his father.  What is your opinion regarding his procrastination?
5. Compare and contrast Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras as avengers.
6. What is Hamlet’s attitude towards life and people?  How does it affect his actions?
7. Apply the following quote to Hamlet: “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good.  Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how to not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.”  -- THE PRINCE, Machiavelli
8. Examine the reoccurring pun on sun and son.  How does this symbol work in the overall meaning of the play.
9. Was Ophelia pregnant with Hamlet’s child?
10. Did Hamlet slip into madness?
11. It is Hamlet who causes the downfall of Denmark.
12. What is the meaning of the pirates?
13. Is Hamlet Jesus Christ?  How is Horatio either John the Baptist or an apostle.
14. Why or how is Denmark the Garden of Eden?
15. Gertrude knows about the murder?
16. The meaning of prostitution in Hamlet?
17. Can Hamlet be compared to our current society?  If so, how?
18. Perhaps others—as we read or when we finish
    

    
    Scale/Rubric relating to learning goal:

    
    4 – The student is able to combine more than one question into a thesis statement, and answer it by evaluating the text and using specifics to back up his/her position.

    3 – The student can choose a question, develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

    2 – With some direction/help from the teacher the student can choose a question, develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

    1 – Even with help from the teacher the student is unable to choose a question, or develop it into a thesis statement, and analyze the text using specific evidence to back up their position.

Vocabulary # 1
1)    Countenance

2)    Perilous

3)    Sullied

4)    Apparition

5)    Portentous

6)    Calumnious

7)    Prodigal

8)    Discourse

9)    Canon

10) Imminent

1)    What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II?  How does he plan to trap his son?

2)    What does this say about Polonius?

3)    What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?

4)    Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?

5)    What does Hamlet ask the players to recite?  How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?

Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6)    “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”

7)    “More matter less art”

8)    “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,

9)    “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia? 

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  How does this relate to Hamlet.

14) What is a fishmonger?

15) Who was Jephthah?