Hamlet - Database Resources AND Texts in Library

Hi, class,

In anticipation of your short paper on Hamlet, I am pasting below the instructions for you to access critical essays on the play.

To access The Literature Resource Center, and Contemporary Authors/Literary Criticism Select/Dictionary of Literary Biography, go to:

 http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/essexcc

The password is: county

Click on Literature Resource Center - LRC

1) When you get to the search box, just type in your search terms:

EX: hamlet AND ophelia; hamlet AND ghost; hamlet AND gertrude

2) under "publication century," click "21st century A.D. 

3) under "by content type," UNCHECK all the boxes EXCEPT "Literature Criticism"

4) Make sure "All electronic sources" is highlighted (it is the default)

5) then go back to "Basic Search" (with your search terms entered) and click "Search.

Several articles will likely come up--skim through to see if you find some suitable articles. Click on the ones you think might be suitable, and email them to yourself, or download them.
   
Also, below are titles of books that are accessible in the Essex County College Library. I have put the title of the book and the author/editor. I have put in bold type the call letters for you to find the texts in the stacks. If the book is not in the stacks, ask the reference librarian for access, as it may be on reserve.
  
Hamlet's Mother and Other Women/Carolyn G. Heilbrun. PR111 .H45 1990

Hamlet/edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. PR2807 .H26237 1990

Shakespeare Reread: the Texts in New Contexts/ed. by Russ McDonald. PR2976 .S3383 1994
  
Critical essays on Shakespeare’s Hamlet/David Scott Kastan. PR2807. K33 1995 

Critical responses to Hamlet, 1600-1900/edited by David Farley-Hills. PR 2807.C75 1996
  
Readings on Hamlet/ Don Nardo, ed. PR2807 .R4 1999 

Shakespeare: The Basics/Sean McAvoy. PR2976 M.34 2000 

 

Henry V - Questions for Post-Screening Discussion

Hi, class,
 

Please finish reading Henry V (Acts III - V). We will complete our viewing of the film on Wednesday, and I will return your papers. Here are a few questions to think about for our discussion after we finish watching the film.

1) As we have seen in the film thus far, King Henry V is much different from the “Prince Hal” character we saw in the flashbacks (carousing, drinking, hanging with the “low-life” commoners—Falstaff, Bardolph, Pistol, etc.). He now wears the mantle of “King,” although his past is a cause for concern by the Church, and is thrown into his face by the Dauphin, who mocks Henry with the tennis balls. Henry discards his old friends, and is blamed for the death of Falstaff. Is his rejection of his past a necessary evil, as he now must be responsible for the kingdom, or should he have maintained his true friendships (if, indeed you think they were true friendships)?

2) Henry delivers two soliloquies in Act IV, Scene I. In the first (“Upon the king!”), he speaks about the burdens of being king. In the second (“O God of battles! Steel my soldiers’ hearts;”), he prays for his men to remain brave for the upcoming battle and begs God not to hold his father’s sins against him. We will discuss these scenes.

3) “Aristotle taught that a speaker’s ability to persuade an audience is based on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos. Considered together, these appeals form what later rhetoricians have called the rhetorical triangle.”* In Act IV, Scene III, Henry delivers a speech to his men (known as the St. Crispin’s Day speech) right before they head into battle. Identify the lines in Henry’s speech which you think fit the three types of appeals in the rhetorical triangle. *Definition courtesy of Indiana University

4) Below is a definition of the term, “Machiavellian,” followed by quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli’s 16th century political treatise, The Prince. Read the quotes and be ready to discuss whether you think Henry V is a Machiavellian character (much like Richard III). Or, make an argument that, although he certainly may utilize some Machiavellian aspects, he is not a true Machiavel, in the sense that Richard III was.

Machiavellian: a) being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli’s The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described. b) characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty.

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”

“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”

“It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.”

“To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.”

“Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.”

“War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.”

“Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.”

“Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.”

“War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.”

“The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.”

 

Quiz Tonight/A Note on Essay #1/Henry V screening

Kenneth Branagh as Henry V

Hi, class,

Just a reminder about the scheduled quiz. It will be given at 7:00 pm SHARP and you will have 30 minutes to complete it. As it is an in-class quiz, NO MAKE-UPS are allowed. Please be on time.

Regarding Essay #1, please note that I will not be accepting any late essays after Tuesday, 10/21. 

Also, regarding the grading of these essays, they are worth 15 total points, not 20. I inadvertently gave the wrong breakdown of points. This should be helpful to you. Here is the proper breakdown (which I will also post on our course blog):

Clear thesis statement, well-organized supporting points and conclusion: 8 points

Cited adequately and correctly from the texts (primary and secondary): 3 points

Demonstrated writing strength (sentence structure, spelling, grammar): 4 points

Finally, we will be working on Henry V this evening--your assignment was to read the first TWO ACTS. Think about these questions:

What themes are you seeing emerge in the opening of the play?
Who are the major characters?
What is the major conflict?

What does it mean to be a king?

Henry V - Act I

Hi, class,

For tonight's class, I asked you to read Act I of Shakespeare's Henry V. What themes are you seeing emerge in the opening of the play, who are the major characters, and what is the major conflict. Below is a brief excerpt about Henry V from the official website (click here) of the British Monarchy:

Soon after his accession, Henry V laid claim to the French crown. Stern and ruthless, Henry was a brilliant general who had gained military experience in his teens, when he fought alongside his father at the battle of Shrewsbury.

In 1415, Henry set sail for France, capturing Harfleur. His offer to the French Dauphin of personal combat (Richard I and Edward III had made similar offers in their time) was, like those of his predecessors, refused; he went on to defeat the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

In alliance with unreliable Burgundy, and assisted by his brothers (the Dukes of Clarence, Bedford and Gloucester), Henry gained control of Normandy in subsequent campaigns. By the Treaty of Troyes (1420), he gained recognition as heir to the French throne, and married Charles VI's daughter Katherine.