DO YOUR READING LOG FOR HAMLET!






How to Do the Reading Log
for
HAMLET

In an attempt to help you understand your nightly readings I am asking that you please do a reading log. You will read about five pages past the point we leave off each day in class. The reading log should include the date, the act, the scene and the page numbers; a brief synopsis of that section of the play; unfamiliar words and phrases; any metaphor or literary tropes you notice and anything interesting you notice regarding plot, characters, theme, etc.

Example of a Good Reading Log:

Sunday, December 2nd: Act 2, Sc.2; (pages 81 - 87): Claudius and Gertrude welcome ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN (Hamlet’s childhood friends) to court to spy on Hamlet. Polonius enters and announces to the King and Queen that he has found the reason for Hamlet’s strange behavior. Voltemand returns from Norway with the report that the Norwegian king (Old Norway/ Fortinbras’ uncle) investigated Fortinbras’ war preparations and discovered to his distress that his nephew was preparing to invade Denmark. Old Norway made Fortinbras promise not to invade and overjoyed with his nephew’s compliance, gave him money and an army to attack Poland instead. Old Norway does request permission for his nephew to cross Denmark to invade Poland.

Vocabulary:

Sith: since

Vouchsafe: give

distemper: illness

Polonius:

“Or else this brain of mine / Hunts not the trail of policy so sure / as it hath use to do”

The above is a metaphor in which Polonius is saying his mind is a quick, shrewd hunter that is still able, despite his age, to track down answers to problems.

Claudius:

“...Sith so neighbored to his youth and havior...”

Since you Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been so close to him as a child and know his behavior.

Wow, that's really sad - Claudius is using Hamlet's friends to spy on him and what's really sad is that they're going along with it, too. What's with these parents (Polonius sending Reynaldo to spy on Laertes) spying on their kids? Polonius is so off the mark about why Hamlet is acting the way he is - he thinks it's b/c Ophelia is no longer speaking to him. The parents are really annoying - Old Norway is rewarding Fortinbras for not invading Denmark by giving him lots of money, his own private army and permission to invade another country?! What a great way to teach values and morals - encourage your nephew to go warmongering!!!!

Please scroll down to the next blog entry for this week's agenda.

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