Read the excerpt from Act I of Hamlet . Horatio: Our last king, Whose image even but now appear’d to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick’d on by a most emulate pride, Dar’d to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet— For so this side of our known world esteem’d him— Did slay this Fortinbras; who, by a seal’d compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit with his life all those his lands To view the excerpt through a historical lens, which questions should the reader ask? Choose two correct answers.
Read the excerpt from Act I of Hamlet. Bernardo: ’ Tis now struck twelve ; get thee to bed, Francisco. What is the meaning of the underlined phrase?
A student analyzing the appearance of the ghost in Act I of Hamlet includes this sentence in the analysis. Death conquers everyone. The student identified a
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Claudius: Why to a public count I might not go, Is the great love the general gender bear him; Who, dipping all his faults in their affection, Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, Convert his gyves to graces; so that my arrows, Too slightly timber’d for so loud a wind, Would have reverted to my bow again, And not where I had aim’d them. Which conclusion about Claudius does the excerpt support?
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet . Claudius: I ha ’t: When in your motion you are hot and dry,— As make your bouts more violent to that end,— And that he calls for drink, I’ll have prepar’d him A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, If he by chance escape your venom’d stuck, Our purpose may hold there. By viewing this excerpt through a historical lens, the reader can conclude that Shakespeare uses the promise of violence to
Read the excerpt from Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii. Hamlet: O! that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew; Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Fie on ’t! O fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! By evaluating the dramatic conventions in the excerpt, the reader can conclude that Hamlet will
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: O! that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew; Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Fie on ’t! O fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! Which phrase from the excerpt best reflects Hamlet’s state of mind?
Read an excerpt from an analysis of Act III of Hamlet . Rosencrantz and Guildenstern follow orders without question throughout the play. In this scene, Claudius tells them his life is in danger from Hamlet, and they must take Hamlet away. They agree immediately. Shakespeare uses the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to develop which theme?
Read the excerpt from Act III of Hamlet . Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I’ll do ’t: and so he goes to heaven; And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge. He took my father grossly, full of bread, With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May; And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? But in our circumstance and course of thought ’Tis heavy with him. And am I then reveng’d, To take him in the purging of his soul, When he is fit and season’d for his passage? No. Which statement best describes Hamlet’s complexity in the excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: Let me see.—[ Takes the skull .]—Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? Which analysis is most justified by the excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it; as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam, and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turn’d to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away Shakespeare makes allusions to the great rulers Alexander and Caesar to
Read the excerpt from Act V of Hamlet . Gertrude: Sweets to the sweet: farewell! [ Scattering flowers .] I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. Shakespeare included this plot event to help show that Gertrude, over the course of the play, has changed from
Read the excerpt from Act II of Hamlet . Ophelia: Alas! my lord, I have been so affrighted. Polonius: With what, in the name of God? Ophelia: My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell To speak of horrors, he comes before me. What is the most likely reason Shakespeare included this passage?
Which passage from Hamlet, Act II, Scene i is an example of setting?
Read the excerpt from an analysis of Hamlet’s "To be or not to be” speech in Act III of Hamlet . Shakespeare begins the speech with the line "To be, or not to be: that is the question” and then proceeds to ask multiple questions throughout the speech. When viewed through a formalist lens, the point of Shakespeare’s structure is to
Read the excerpt from Act III of Hamlet . Hamlet: Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. Which phrase from the excerpt most adds a tone of self-loathing to the speech?
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet. Hamlet: Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour’s at the stake. What is the most likely reason Shakespeare repeats "great” and "greatly”?
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet . Danes: [ Within .] Let her come in. Laertes: How now! what noise is that? Re-enter OPHELIA. O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt, Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye! By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May! Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia! O heavens! is 't possible a young maid's wits Should be as mortal as an old man’s life? Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine It sends some precious instance of itself After the thing it loves. Which statement best describes how this plot event shapes Laertes?
Read the passage from Hamlet, Act IV, Scene v. Laertes: How came he dead? I’ll not be juggled with. To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand, That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let come what comes; only I’ll be reveng’d Most throughly for my father. Based on the passage, which best describes how Laertes feels about his father’s death?
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