Hamlet Journal Assignments
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
AP English Literature
Journal Assignments
The following are journal entries for our reading of Hamlet. Each entry should be completed after we have finished reading and/or viewing that scene in class. The purpose is to prepare you for class discussion; therefore, you should have something written for each entry before we discuss it in class (even if it’s only a question). See Ms. M with questions ahead of time – don’t expect to be given answers in class! Be sure to cite textual evidence to support all your answers – remember to record act, scene and line numbers.
Entry 1 – Act I scene i
Consider Horatio’s account of the battle between old Hamlet and old Fortinbras and the descriptions of the late king and young Fortinbras beginning, “Our last King,/Whose image even but now appeared to us…” (I.i.90-107; 107-119). What picture of old Hamlet is constructed in Horatio’s speech? Compare the description of young Fortinbras later in the speech (I.i.107-119). What reading of this character is invited by Horatio’s description?
Entry 2 – Act I scene ii
Consider Claudius’s speech in I.ii.90-116, beginning, “Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet/To give these mourning duties to your father”: how do you read this advice knowing it is given by the murderer of Hamlet’s father? Remember that Hamlet does not yet possess this information about Claudius. If these lines were spoken by Horatio to Hamlet, how might they be read?
Entry 3 – Act I scene ii
What seem to be the relationships between the following characters after reading I.ii? Claudius and Gertrude Gertrude and Hamlet Hamlet and Horatio Claudius and Hamlet
Entry 4 - Act I scene ii
Make a note of the images used in Hamlet’s soliloquy of I.ii.133-164 that could be put in the following categories: sickness or disease; blemishes of the body; nature; images from everyday life; references to acting (“playing”). Also make note of any images that might form the basis of
AP English Literature
Journal Assignments
The following are journal entries for our reading of Hamlet. Each entry should be completed after we have finished reading and/or viewing that scene in class. The purpose is to prepare you for class discussion; therefore, you should have something written for each entry before we discuss it in class (even if it’s only a question). See Ms. M with questions ahead of time – don’t expect to be given answers in class! Be sure to cite textual evidence to support all your answers – remember to record act, scene and line numbers.
Entry 1 – Act I scene i
Consider Horatio’s account of the battle between old Hamlet and old Fortinbras and the descriptions of the late king and young Fortinbras beginning, “Our last King,/Whose image even but now appeared to us…” (I.i.90-107; 107-119). What picture of old Hamlet is constructed in Horatio’s speech? Compare the description of young Fortinbras later in the speech (I.i.107-119). What reading of this character is invited by Horatio’s description?
Entry 2 – Act I scene ii
Consider Claudius’s speech in I.ii.90-116, beginning, “Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet/To give these mourning duties to your father”: how do you read this advice knowing it is given by the murderer of Hamlet’s father? Remember that Hamlet does not yet possess this information about Claudius. If these lines were spoken by Horatio to Hamlet, how might they be read?
Entry 3 – Act I scene ii
What seem to be the relationships between the following characters after reading I.ii? Claudius and Gertrude Gertrude and Hamlet Hamlet and Horatio Claudius and Hamlet
Entry 4 - Act I scene ii
Make a note of the images used in Hamlet’s soliloquy of I.ii.133-164 that could be put in the following categories: sickness or disease; blemishes of the body; nature; images from everyday life; references to acting (“playing”). Also make note of any images that might form the basis of