Hamlet

1. Hamlet Redraft Tips

2. Positives • Good understanding of the play • Most responses were consistently relevant to the task • Some excellent analysis

3. Areas of Improvement • Far more analysis and evaluation required in many essays • Less retelling of plot • More discussion of theme required • Properly introduce quotations • Spelling • Audience- not reader • Do not write ‘This quote shows’

4. Each Main Body Paragraph: • Clear topic sentence, which is relevant to the task. Topic sentences form paragraph 3 onwards should contain linkage. • Brief expansion/ explanation of point • At the most, six/seven lines before a quotation. • Analysis of techniques used by Shakespeare • Evaluation of techniques used by Shakespeare • Discussion of theme

5. Topic Sentence • In the play’s most famous soliloquy, Shakespeare depicts the conflict between the passive and active aspects of Hamlet’s character.

6. In the play’s most famous soliloquy, Shakespeare depicts the conflict between the passive and active aspects of Hamlet’s character.

7. Brief expansion/ explanation of point • When he asks ‘To be, or not to be’ Hamlet is reflecting on the painful nature of the human experience and why so many of us accept suffering instead of taking our own lives. Unlike the other soliloquies, Hamlet does not refer directly to his own situation here; indeed, he does not use the first-person at all in this famous speech.

8. Analysis /evaluation of techniques used by Shakespeare • Identify techniques used by Shakespeare- imagery, soliloquies, plot, characterisation, irony, etc. • Explain the effect of these techniques • Say that they are effective

9. Shakespeare’s use of imagery here is particularly effective in highlighting the impossible and unbearable nature of the situation in which Hamlet finds himself. In this first metaphor, the experience of life is compared to being on a battlefield while painful weapons are fired through the air; hurt is inevitable and unavoidable it suggests.

10. Shakespeare’s brilliant metaphor suggests someone attempting to do battle with the sea- a futile and impossible task that would surely lead to their death. This helps to convey Hamlet’s worry that attempting to take action against Claudius will lead to his own death.

11. Discussion of Theme • This relates to the theme of the impossibility of certainty. Consideration of the uncertainty of the afterlife leads to excessive moral sensitivity, which makes action impossible. This mirrors Hamlet’s own situation where uncertainty over the Ghost’s identity leads him to contemplation and prevents him from acting.

12. Introduce Quotations • Do not simply throw in longer quotations • Ensure that you make clear who said them and in what context.

13. Introduce Quotations • His powerful rhetoric is presented by Shakespeare early in the play when he attempts to convince Hamlet that continuing to grieve over his father’s death is unnatural and an offence to God:

14. Activity • Read the exemplar essay. • Annotate all the analysis, evaluation and discussion of theme.