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Lesson 3

We will discuss our initial ideas with others and select the critical essay that we will respond to. We will read and annotate the essay for the author’s claims.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I revisit, refine, and revise my understanding and knowledge based on discussions with others?

  • Can I determine the primary claims of a literary essay?

  • Can I analyze how the author’s ideas interact and develop over the course of the essay?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Simon and Schuster, 2003
  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from “Discovering Feminism through Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet,” Zamila Abdul Rani, Siti Hawa Muhamad, and Siti Masitah, 2nd International Conference on Economics and Banking, 2016
    • Excerpt from “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet,” Simon Augustine Blackmore, Stratford Company, 1917
    • “The Claudian Globe,” excerpt from Hamlet and the Distracted Globe, Andrew Gurr, Sussex University Press, 1978

Materials

Tools

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will meet in groups to discuss our initial ideas for our selected lens.

In groups, discuss your written response to the guiding questions for your selected lens.

Psychological: For the Section 2 Diagnostic, you examined Hamlet’s sanity and madness.

  1. Has your initial perspective on Hamlet’s sanity changed after reading the final scenes of the play?

  2. If so, why? If not, why not?

  3. What textual evidence supports your interpretation?

Feminist: For the Section 3 Diagnostic, you examined the character Ophelia through a feminist lens.

  1. Based on your reading of the entire play, how do you think Shakespeare intended audiences to view the female characters in the play?

  2. What textual evidence supports your interpretation?

Political: You have examined the ideas of power and control throughout the unit.

  1. Who is more skilled at maintaining control, Claudius or Hamlet? Why?

  2. What textual evidence supports your interpretation?

Be sure to do the following:

  • Elaborate and clarify your ideas.

  • Support your ideas with specific textual evidence from the play.

  • Ask clarifying questions.

  • Build on or challenge the ideas of others.

  • Take notes on intriguing ideas.

Activity 2: Read

We will read and annotate our selected essays.

Locate the selected essay for your focal lens. Individually, read and annotate your selected essay. Use the Delineating Arguments Tool to identify the author’s claims and counterclaims.

Finish the tool for homework.