Hamlet Act II Scene I, II

ACT II

Scene I

• Polonius tells Reynaldo to go to Paris to check on Laertes
• Can you get a sense of his character by the company he keeps
• Reynaldo doesn’t want to dishonor Laertes
• Polonius lost train of thought
• talks more than he thinks
• “your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth”
• “by indirections, find directions out”
• fake it til you make it

·         Ophelia talks to Polonius

o   Hamlet came in lost, half dressed, for a brief minute

o   Like he’s in this dark and she’s in the light

o   There in misery

o   Polonius asks if he’s lovesick because Ophelia hasn’t let herself be seen by Hamlet since the convo^

·         Hamlet could be faking it,  could be grieving, could be lovesick like Polonius said…

o   Shakespeare leaves open

Scene II

·         Claudius is telling people to do the same that Polonius told Reynaldo

o   Talk to elicit information

o   Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

o   They’re going to be paid

·         Implied that Claudius knows (thinks) Hamlet’s going crazy

·         Polonius is back, the other two leave

o   False humility

·         Older Fortinbras (who’s alive actually) didn’t like what young Fortinbras was doing so he arrested him. They want to peacefully come through Denmark to fight the Polish

·         “brevity is the soul of wit”

o   confirms Polonius’ and Claudius’ …

·         they’re wondering what’s up with Hamlet

o   Gertrude was right I her assumption that Hamlet’s acting weird because of their quick marriage and king’s death.

o   Polonius thinks it’s bec he can’t see Ophelia

·         Hamlet Enters

o   Calls Polonius a fish monger

§  Insult

§  Throws off Polonius,not on his guard if he thinks Hamlet has lost it

·         “though this be madness, yet there is method in it”

o   Polonius breaks the fourth wall

o   He sees how Hamlet’s responses have double meanings

·         Enter Rosencrantz and Giuldenstern

·         “What a piece of work is a man”

o   Hamlet

o   cliché

o   theme of the play

§  man can do so much great in creating and being genuine and everything else awesome that humans can do

§  man can also destroy and be evil and do awful things

·         Hamlet to his friends

o   “Denmark is a prison”

§  he’s not allowed to leave

o   he knows that the two were sent for by the king and queen and they admit it

o   Hamlet tells them that he’s not his usual self

o   He tells them that he’s sort of mad

§  Testing whether or not they are going to tell the king and queen what he says and if they can be trusted

·         There’s a play coming to the castle

o   The friends tell Hamlet that the actors don’t take things seriously anymore

·         Polonius enters

o   He wants the play to be a lighthearted comedy, for fun

o   He exits

·         Hamlet tries to get the first player (actor) to tell a story about a king who gets caught in a scandal

o   Aha

o   Murder of Gontago

o   He wants to insert 16 of his own lines

o   “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”

§  if the king and queen make it visible in public their guilt, then Hamlet has something to build from in credibility

·         Hamlet’s soliloquy #2

o   Hamlet’s beating himself up

o   Compares himself to the actor

§  He can’t make himself act on what he needs to do

o   Feels like a coward being private

o   Nobody’s giving him tough love

o   If he could speak out, talk is cheap

§  Actions speak louder than words

§  Doing the deed is required

o   Integrity = integrating word, action, & deed

o   The play within the play

§  When he wants the players to act out his father’s death and prove it by the king and queen’s reactions

·         Evidence

·         He wants everyone’s guard’s down

o   That’s why he’s acting crazy

Hamlet Act I Scene III, IV, V

ACT I

Scene III

• Hamlet likes Ophelia
• "toy in blood" feeling, feels good,but not a good idea
• Laertes is giving Ophelia advice
• watch out ,he might like her now, but he's a prince and has a duty to the state 
• brotherly love, but he understands this
• She'll follow his advice as best as she can, but he can't do whatever he wants
• Polonius comes to give advice to Laertes
• he's giving good advice
• think before speaking
• quality over quantity friendship
• integrity
• cautel = caution

Scene IV

• King is having a party and Hamlet knows that they're looked down upon by other kingdoms
• they're all at night watch, ghost comes back, Marcellus, Hamlet, Horatio there
• the two won't let him go
• they think he'll be crazy for going with/following the king's ghost
• "something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

Scene V

• King speaks to Hamlet
• he's in purgatory for his misdeeds, if he told the specifics, Hamlet would freak
• he was murdered
•  poison poured in ear while he was sleeping in the garden
• it was a "snake", the snake wears the crown

• Claudius seduced Gertrude before old Hamlet was killed
• he wasn't allowed last rights (confession) and died in a state of sin, therefore purgatory
• not young Hamlet's decision to punish Gertrude
• Old tells young to get revenge
• "I have sworn't" Hamlet
• Hamlet, for the rest of the play has to be a man, keep to his morals, kill his uncle, inner turmoil to balance all
• Horatio and Marcellus are made to swear not to remember this, or whatever they saw
• "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dream't in your philosophy"
• nothing will make him say it, say nothing at all
• "the time is out of joint; o cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right"
• His reason for being,purpose in life from here on out, Hamlet kill Claudius
• Revenge itself is self-destructive
• every day he doesn't do it, he feels lesser

Success... How Bad Do You Want It?

Thank you Elizabeth for reminding me about this video! I heard it once last year at the Latinos Unidos Conference when Mr. Soto talked to us about goals. Last night Liz told me to watch it again and I managed to push through at 1:00 a.m. to get my homework done. It really makes you question yourself and all that you're about; why am I doing what I'm doing? Watch it when you need to be motivated to get your work done, it really helps!

"How to Better Prepare"

Shout out to Nesper for putting this on his board earlier today (much earlier) because almost everyone failed the test. It's going to help me in a few classes this year and even with college apps and stuff. I've got to take initiative and go in to ask for help- even if I have to sacrifice other things to do so. "Life lessons from Nesper" :)

Hamlet Act I Scene II

• Claudius is the king and was old Hamlet's brother, now he married the widow queen (young Hamlet's mother)
• he tells everyone to grieve, but move on from the king's death
• "[aside] A little more than kin, and less than kind."
• Hamlet's first line of the play
• situational irony
• audience knows something to be true when other characters don't
• like when Julius Caesar went to the place to be killed
• Claudius is his uncle but not his dad
• he's not too crazy about Claudius
• Hamlet isn't going to let Claudius in
• Hamlet says what actually happens isn't what it seems
• you can act sad but aren't
• he's calling other people out for going through the motions and not really caring
• you cant understand his feelings by looking at him
• visage: facial expression
• Claudius tells him that he's next in line for the throne, but he wants him to stay home and not return to school
• he had just told Lairtes that he could
• Hamlet's first monologue
• "Hyperion to a satyr"
• he doesn't want to be there
• he's really, really angry
• he'd kill himself out of wanting to leave the situation because he's so mad having to see it all- not sadness
• angry at his mother for marrying his uncle
• too quick
• means that she didn't love older Hamlet that much
• betrayal to old and young Hamlets
• he's judging Claudius and his mother
• "Within a month" repeated
• Horatio and Marcellus come to tall Hamlet about the ghost
• Hamlet is very investigative
• dispassionate and interested in details
• logical and matter of fact
• as a prince he approaches them mature and humble
• shows his character, indirect characterization
• he's trusting of their information
• this shows how Hamlet can go from a monologue full of his emotions, rage and anger, to hiding that and being cool and calm
• he wants to see the ghost
• Polonius is maulipulative
• The queen's allegiance is with powe
• Hamlet can by portrayed in so many different ways

Does he not like his mother anymore? Did he before?
Was Hamlet somewhere before returning to the castle? Did he leave school for his father's funeral?
Is Hamlet going to have to adjust being back in the castle?

I really like young Hamlet. I can connect with how he can say a lot and feel a lot on the inside, but change gears. At the moment I'm not doing too well at hiding it.

Hamlet Act I Scene I

• Bernardo relieves the other guard
• Horatio and Marcellus come
• Horatio didn't believe that the king's ghost had come before
• the king's ghost did come in the presence of all three
• the king is dead for going to war with Fortinbras,
• who is also dead and had to give up his land to king Hamlet
• young Fortinbras is old, dead F's nephew
• this kid is butt hurt and won't give up the land and is trying to keep it
• Hamlet (old one, the king) 's ghost came back and won't speak
•  Horatio thinks that he will speak to Hamlet

What exactly happened to the king? Did he die in battle with old Fortinbras who also died at that war?

Vocab #6

abase - verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
"Do not abase your siblings."

abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
"She abdicated her throne to the son of her uncle."

abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust
"He was an awful person, such an abomination."

brusque - adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness
"My conversation with her was brusque, she had nowhere to go but left."

saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine 
subversive organization who tries to help a potential invade
"We read "The Saboteur" sophomore year."

debauchery - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
"I will not include myself in any debauchery."
proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
"The water hole proliferated the animal's population" 
anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
"The time traveler was an anachronism."


nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
"Is Latin a nomenclature?"


expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
"I expurgated the sentence of my essay, it was unnecessary."


bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight



gauche - adj. lacking social polish


rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey


paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself


conundrum - noun a difficult problem


anomaly - noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule


ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form


rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment


churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish


precipitous - adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep;done with very great haste and without due deliberation

the story of a dollar bill

Okay, so I saw this yesterday after purchasing something and getting change back. I couldn't help but be curious about it. Who is Cindy? Who is Mr. B? Why is he thanking her? Where has this dollar been and why? Did he borrow money and pay her back? Why did he want to write on the money? Are we even allowed to write on money? This is freakin' cool. It's a complete mystery to me what this is all about, but imagine all of the possible stories that could be told just from looking at this. I wonder if we can ever trace it back.

Unphotographable

This is the picture I did not take of 

last evening. I was sitting in a chair while watching my favorite show in one of my best friend's room. I sat in front of the left half of the screen and the wall was right behind the monitor. Behind me was Elizabeth laying in her bed. I thought that I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than there. Homecoming couldn't have compared. It was peaceful. The air was still and the house was dark and quiet. I was full of joy and there was a delicate balance of true, intimate friendship and the outside, secular world. I thought about taking a selfie of that exact moment, but decided that a photo would kill it. It was a perfect homecoming night. 

A Tale of a Canterbury Tale

The Student's Tale (full text)

• the marquis (Walter) is loved by the townspeople. they wdon't want him to die without an heir so they really want him to marry. he agrees but if he :can pick her.
• village's poorest man = Janicula, Griselda is his daughter, she is very good and virtuous
• vocab:
• steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering
• reverence: deep respect for someone or something
• he asks Janicula's permission first and kept him in the convo then asked her to marry him.
• she was loved by all. she became even better. baby girl
• walter tests her and says that the baby needs to be killed. his servant comes to pick the baby girl up and girselda is loving and accepting of walter's will. wlater's plan was to send the baby to live with hi sister in hiding
• he tests her the same way four years later with their son. she says when she came to live there the left her will and liberty and took his clothes. he had the same plan for the boy
• "her love would grow, more pains she took to please."
• the people heard how he murdered his kids bec he married a commoner and began to dislike him
• he told someone that he's divorce griselda but it wasnt true, she heard and was sad
• wlater's plan to end the letter fetching his kids saying that theyre to come fancy and he'll wed the girl
• he says she has to go nd she says how she was never deserving and wants to please him.her speech is heartbreaking, but solemn
• scholar inserts that scholars rarely praise women and that men's humbleness can't compare 
• he asks griselda to come to prepare the castle as the boyu and girl come. everyone thinks they are prety kids
• he talked to her about the girl trying to get a response, hers was like the rest abd he told her the whole truth. her steadfastness was proved time and time again after she was mistreated
• sse was united with her children and they lived prosperous
• "everyone in his degree should be steadfast when in adversary as was Griselda"
• God sends tests and we have to endure

Canterbury Outline

• The structure as a whole helped to get the theme and main points across in the end. 
• Each part (I, II, III, IV, V,VI) had a purpose and usually a problem: first needing a wife, he asks her to marry, taking away the kids-twice, divorcing her, the end of the story and a closing. 
• Chaucer used heavy use of direct characterization for Griselda throughout the story then proves it through indirect characterization in her reactions to Walters tests
• The ending flat out states what the storyteller wants you to get out of the story: no matter whatever life throws at you, you can't complain and have to be accepting and endure. This is projected toward everyone, not only women under the obedience of their husbands. This theme is always going to be relevant. 
• "Everyone in his degree should be steadfast when in adversary as was Griselda

Green Eggs and Hamlet

1. I really don't know anything about Hamlet. There's something about his father dying, I think he has a mother and maybe an uncle, and he has to make decisions. I think of that part of Freaky Friday when the teacher quizzed them on who Hamlet was.
2. Shakespeare. He lived in Victorian England, I believe. All of the pictures that I've seen of him are with the big white collar. He married a young cousin of his, I think. (Update: I've been informed from Alec and Matthew that Edgar Allen Poe was the one who married his cousin.) He made up his own style of writing (not positive) poetry and invented a bunch of words, to fit that exact style, that we still use today, including many names. I am not sure if it's iambic pentameter or not that he wrote in. He wrote a ton of plays and is like the most famous author/poet ever. He writes a lot of funny stuff that you don't always get. I feel like I should know more to write.
3. I think so many kids frown at the sound of his name because they associate it with stories passed down of other bad experiences with hos work. Those probably came from old-school sit and read and figure it out on your own. Shakespeare's work is so, so, so, difficult to understand without someone guiding you along the way! I like Shakespeare because after reading a piece and understanding it, it's true, you feel like you're in this club of people that have something in common. I like his hidden messages and humor. 
4. I think that we need to talk a lot about the text in class to be able to comprehend what's written. This stuff is written hundreds of years ago and hasn't been translated into the vernacular language that we use. The teacher's knowledge of what things mean will be very helpful. I'm not saying that he's going to just tell us what everything means, he's there to guide and assist us on the way to reading this. I think laughter and smiles is important, too, so that we can have positive memories associated with Hamlet, so if we can have fun with it, I'd be ecstatic. 

The Point of Canterbury Tales Is...

Chaucer creates characters who portray certain groups of people in the medieval social cast. These characters' stories reflect on the particular class's collective views on life and what is important to them or what is of valued to be shared. Each story shines light onto the group's background and lifestyle that has influenced the speaker's choice of tale. The themes, morals, and lessons that can be taken away from these tales reflect the social class's differences in tastes, lifestyles, and persona.

Acute definition

Okay, so I was looking at the vocab list #5 and one of the last words had 'acute' in the definition and I didn't know what this word mean, to be honest, after looking it up I still don't understand. I associate it with the geometrical acute angle but obviously it's not the same. I have a dilemma. If anyone can further describe the definition so I can understand I'd be grateful.

via Google

a·cute

əˈkyo͞ot/

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation or phenomenon) present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.

   "an acute housing shortage"

   synonyms:

   severe, critical, drastic, dire, dreadful, terrible, awful, grave, bad,serious, desperate, dangerous "acute food shortages"
2. 2.

   having or showing a perceptive understanding or insight: shrewd.

   "an acute awareness of changing fashions"

   synonyms:

   astute, shrewd, sharp, sharp-witted, razor-sharp, rapierlike, quick,quick-witted, agile, nimble, clever, intelligent, brilliant, keen, smart,canny, discerning, perceptive, perspicacious, penetrating, insightful,incisive, piercing, discriminating, sagacious, wise, judicious; More

Vocab #5

shenanigans - noun. secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering. silly or high-spirited behavior; mischief.
"You kids and your shenanigans, when I was your age we behaved in public."
ricochet - noun a glancing rebound; verb spring back; spring away from an impact 
"The tennis ball ricocheted off her racket and to my forehead."
schism - noun division of a group into opposing factions; the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences
"The great schism between the church is how I remember this word."
eschew - verb avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
"Eschew the woman, she isn't very nice."
plethora - noun extreme excess
"Look at the plethora of umbrellas in stores right now."
ebullient - adj. joyously unrestrained
"The ebullient girl couldn't help but rush to the candy counter."
garrulous - adj. full of trivial conversation
"The garrulous student was annoying to his peers, but adored by his teachers."
harangue - noun a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion; verb deliver a harangue to; address forcefully
"Is that speech that Mr. Banks makes about the bank in Saving Mr.Banks harangue?"
interdependence - noun a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)
"The interdependence of the creatures of an ecosystem depends on several factors."
capricious - adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; changeable
"The capricious day trip was not on my to-do list for this weekend."
loquacious - adj. full of trivial conversation
"He was a loquacious young man, there was never a dull moment when talking to him."
ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
"Emotions are ephemeral most of the time."
inchoate - adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
"The drawing I'm working on is inchoate."
juxtapose - verb place side by side
"Juxtapose is one of my favorite lit term words because it's fun to say."
perspicacious - adj. acutely insightful and wise; mentally acute or penetratingly discerning
"Perspicacious doesn't sound like a positive attribute."
codswallop - noun nonsensical talk or writing
"Don't produce codswallop during your AP exams."
mungo - noun. cloth made from recycled woven or felted material.
"My pancho is made from mungo."
sesquipedelian adjective. (of a word) polysyllabic; long. characterized by long words; long-winded.
"Some of my teachers are sesquipedelian speakers while instructing."
wonky - adj. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect; turned or twisted toward one side
"The wonky puppy had a rough day in the shelter."
diphthong - noun a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another
"A diphthong was something that I learned about in elementary school grammar lessons but have no idea what it's about now."