Hamlet Takes the Final Exam

Read Hamlet, Acts 4.5-5 (the rest of Act 4 and all of Act 5). (Available online here and here, as well as in the Humanities course book.)

As you read, watch for moments that stand in sharp contrast with earlier events in the play. Highlight your chosen passage and paste it into a comment below. Then reply to that comment with a 2-¶ deepening analysis of your quoted passage. Use the first paragraph to outline the speaker’s rhetorical intent, and the second ¶ to call attention to how the speaker’s words stand in contrast with words or events from earlier in the play. Feel free to briefly quote an earlier line or two in developing this analysis. Be sure to explain what you think the contrast suggests—has a character changed? Has the situation changed?

As you consider what passage to quote for this assignment, take note of what other students have already covered, and try to focus on a passage that no one else has covered. Or, if someone has covered it but you have a different take on the passage, reply to their passage with your (different) account.