Open Prompt Revision (october 10)

1973. An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

        The relationship between the opening and closing of Stienbecks, "Of Mice and Men" is one of the most symbolic and beautifully crafted parts of the book.The final scene brings the book full circle and appropriately leaves the reader with a sense of closure, and plenty of food for thought.
        The novel opens up to a serene clearing in the woods as Stienbeck describes the scene in long graceful phrases that create a peaceful tone. This last scene has the same setting as the first, but its mood is completely different, although it is clearly reminiscent of the very first pages of the novel. Instead of a a beautiful, innocent meadow, the setting is described with a much harsher tone. Lenny watches as "a motionless heron that stood in the shallows...lanced down and plucked it [a water snake] out by the head"(Stienbeck). Stienbeck transforms the scene we once saw as a beautiful ecosystem of wildlife into something much more violent. We also see that a "a pleasant shade had fallen", unlike the water from before that had "slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight". This contrast in imagery is certainly not designed to be subtle, and foreshadows Lenny's murder--an innocent man about to be killed for his ignorance. He watches this snake, innocent just like him, about to be eaten by the heron. Both creatures of nature who, for some reason got the short end of the stick when nature chose who will survive. Death comes quickly to both who are very unaware of their fate, even right up to the very end.
        Just before Lenny's murder, George assures him that everything is fine, and forces himself to talk with his best friend one last time about their dream. Stienbeck poses the question of morality as soon as the reader realizes what's about to happen. This last question of justice before the bitter ending wraps up the book into a heart wrenching but satisfying novel due to Steinbeck's beautiful description of nature and his ability to bring the book full circle.

Response to course material Feb 10

We finished Hamlet and have moved on to Rosencranz and Guildenstern. I love the idea behind this play, but it's very confusing and I can't really see what the author is trying to get at. Seems more philosophical. It's very different from the rest of the plays we've read so far, but I really like some of the ideas it brings up, like when the characters address the audience. It reminds me of a play I just went to see with my family called "The skin of our teeth". The character in that play also addresses the audience. It also reminds me of Shakespear's "As you like it" (this is also where I got my name from hehe), when Shakespear writes, "all the worlds a stage". We havn't talked about the issue of identity much in class but so far that's seems pretty important. I mean r and g are practically interchangeable. That has to mean something, right!?

Hamlet Summary and Analysis

Summary and Analysis of Hamlet

Author

Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare. He is the author of 38 plays and dozens of sonnets. It's unknown when exactly Hamlet was written.

Setting

The play takes place in the castle Elsinore in Denmark. The time period isn't certain.

Summary

 The play starts off at Elsinore with the changing of the guards and the mysterious appearance of the ghost. Horatio comes.  Later Hamlet explains to his friends that if he begins to act crazy, to take no notice of it. Other characters are introduced along with Claudious, the king, and his wife, Hamlet's mom. Hamlets feelings for Claudious are made apparent to the audience. We meet Ophilia, who is supposedly Hamlet's lover, but who turns "crazy", after Hamlet rejects her. Ophilia was directed by her father to help manipulate Hamlet, and Hamlet is sick of all this betrayal. Hamlet stabs polonius. Laertes and Hamlet duel. Hamlet is poisened, his mom dies, pretty much everyone dies, fortinbras comes to attack Elsinore, but sees the chaos. He is left with the castle.

Characters

Hamlet

The prince of Denmark, beloved by the people. He is 30 years old and highly intelligent but distressed by the death of his father. He is driven to the point of madness by his desire to avenge his father, and constantly debates if he should kill the king although he sees moral problems with it. He also contemplates suicide throughout the play. He's very philosophical.

Horatio

Hamlets best friend! He's known to be very trustworthy.

Claudius

The kind of Denmark! His brother is Old Hamlet and shortly after his death, Claudius married Hamlet's mom. The people don't really like him, and as we find out later, he murdered his brother.

Gertrude

The queen of Denmark and the wife of Old Hamlet. Married Claudius shortly after her former husbands death. She is fond of her son Hamlet and of her new husband. Though she feels guilt about the dishonor that comes from marrying her dead husband's brother when Hamlet accuses her of it. 

Polonius

The advisor of the king. He's very involved in his children's lives and is very manipulative. He's murdered by Hamlet.

Laertes

Polonius's son. He's manipulated by his father and the king and is angry when Hamlet kills his father. He's very close with Ophelia.

Ophelia

Polonious's daughter. Young, innocent and claims to love Hamlet. May be pregnant.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Were friends with Hamlet when he was a kid. The kind brings them in to help take down Hamlet.

Fortinbras

Son of the old king of Norway. Foil to Hamlet. He is decisive and acts quickly. Attacks Elsinore at end of play. 

Style

The play has lots of lines that can be interpreted in multiple ways. For instance, Ophelia's madness/pregnancy. The audience never knows for sure what is true. This leaves much for interpretation.

Tone 

The plays tone is sort of hard to identify, but I would say it's sort of ominous. From the first scene with the ghost, and as characters are killed as time goes on.

Imagery

The plays tone is acheived through its imagery thats sort of haunting with the ghost and the large castle.

Symbolism:

Yorick's Skull

The skull Hamlet finds in the graveyard represents his fear and wonder about death. The skull represents everything that he has philosophized about death throughout the play and what remains of someone's body  and soul after death.

Flowers:

Flowers symbolize innocence in the play, especially when relating to Ophelia, who is commonly associated with violets. She is frequently compared with a flower, and describes for herself what the different flowers symbolize during the flower scene.

Quotes

"To be or not to be." The most famous quote from the play is a symbol for Hamlet's constant question of the mystery of death and his inability to decide whether he wants to be dead or alive.

 

Theme

The mystery of death

This to me was the most significant theme of the play. Hamlet's character in itself represents the mystery of death as he is constantly questioning it and speaking to other characters about it. His "to be or not to be" soliloquy is a prime example of this.

Course Material Jan 13

Lots and Lots of Hamlet...(Hey, I'm not complaining...)

I've actually really enjoyed these past few weeks. I would say now that Hamlet is my favorite of the...five Shakespeare plays I've read over the course of my high school career. I know his character has a bad rep but I think he's rather clever and interesting. As for the movies, I would say I liked the second one very much and I think it left more room for interpretation, which I liked, especially in a play with so much ambiguity that I myself have trouble deciding what to think. I think I now have a strong hold on the characters and motifs in the play and I'm definitely looking forward to this final...hahah

We also recently got back our essays from a while ago. I was satisfied with my essay, but what worries me is the time it takes me to write them. I need to practice setting a time limit for myself so I'm not caught off guard during the AP test.