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Lesson 5

We will read Act 4, Scene 6 and explore how the scene contributes to the structure of the play. We will read Act 4, Scene 7 and examine its use of verbal irony.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I analyze how Act 7, Scene 6 contributes to the overall structure of the play and the aesthetic impact it has on the play’s meaning?

  • Can I analyze the use of verbal irony in Act 7, Scene 7?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Simon and Schuster, 2003
  • Multimedia
    • Hamlet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition, William Shakespeare, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon and Schuster, 2014

Materials

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

As a class, we will review our answers to the guiding homework questions for laertes and claudius’s exchange in Act 4, Scene 5.

In groups, discuss your responses to the guiding homework questions about Act 4, Scene 5.

Passage 1: Act 4, Scene 5 Lines 122-175

  1. What is the cause of Laertes’s rebellion (Line 136)? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

  2. How do Laertes’s motivations mirror Hamlet’s? How do they differ? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

Passage 2: Act 4, Scene 5 Lines 225-245

  1. How does Claudius calm Laertes down? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

  2. What do you predict Claudius will tell Laertes? Will it be honest or deceitful?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will read Act 4, Scene 6 and examine its role in the structure of the play.

Read and annotate Act 4, Scene 6. Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. How does this scene contribute to the structure of the text?

  2. Is it an effective choice by the author? Why or why not?

Discuss your answers with your group.

Activity 3: Read

We will read lines 1–144 of Act 4, Scene 7.

Verbal irony is a literary device where what is said is the opposite of what is meant. As you read, pay attention to Claudius’s use of verbal irony as he speaks with Laertes.

Read and annotate Lines 1-144 of Act 4, Scene 7.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

We will discuss claudius’s use of verbal irony in Act 4, Scene 7.

In groups, find at least three instances in which Claudius uses verbal irony in the scene.

Complete the following steps:

  • Appropriately cite the instances.

  • Paraphrase Claudius’s lines.

  • Explain how they are ironic.

  • Explain the effect of the irony on you, as a reader.

Together, respond to the following question:

  1. What verbal irony is present in Hamlet’s letter to Claudius? What is its purpose?

Activity 5: Read

We will read lines 145–221 from Act 4, Scene 7.

Read and annotate Lines 145-221 from Act 4, Scene 7. Use the following questions to guide your reading:

  1. What is the plan for killing Hamlet? What is Laertes’s role? What is Claudius’s role?

  2. What news does Gertrude bring?

Activity 6: Write

For homework, we will answer questions about lines 145–221 from Act 4, Scene 7 in our Learning Logs.

For homework, respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. What is the plan for killing Hamlet? What is Laertes’s role? What is Claudius’s role?

  2. What news does Gertrude bring?

  3. How do Gertrude and Laertes react to this news?

  4. How does Claudius react?

  5. What ideas about politics and power does this scene address?

As you read for homework, write down new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal. If necessary, revisit the Vocabulary in Context Tool to assist you with words or phrases you struggle with.