Response to Course Material Blog (4/27)

Oh My God! We're almost done. AHHH!

So since the last blog post I feel like there hasn't been too much we've done, at least in variety.

We finished Ceremony. Overall I didn't think it was a bad novel and I liked it as a whole but looking closer at it was not fun for me. I got frustrated because I wasn't picking up the little nuances that Ms. Holmes wanted us to be picking up and I just didn't have much to say about the novel in general, which was not good for discussion. This has been the piece of literature that I've struggled with the most this year. I think the last time I struggled so much with a piece of literature was Of Mice and Men back in English 10, but for different reasons.

We've done some odds and ends things. There was the Woman Hollering Creek forum post, that wasn't too bad. It was definitely an interesting thing to read and then looking for symbols was sort of fun since they didn't scream symbolism, they were more subtle so you really had to read into the piece to find them. I wasn't there the day we did the poetry stuff so I don't really have anything to say about that. The different criticisms of Ceremony were fun to read. My criticism examined the deer, mountain lion, yellow woman, and bear in the text. As cool as it was to read at times it was a bit weird, like when Tayo was compared to the Sun God who is sometimes the lover of the Yellow Woman and sometimes the brother or son (I don't remember which it was, sorry). That sort of incest idea reminded me of Hamlet and scared me for the next few paragraphs. I think the class discussion of those articles was a little strained, for my class it was sort of a "just summarize the main points of your criticism and sit back and listen to what everyone else has to say about their own article", there wasn't a lot of discussion involved. Oddly, it reminded me of classes where the teacher gives a lecture and no one is really paying attention or when people give presentations and really you're only thinking about the one you have to give. We also have done some more multiple choice and prompt practice, which I've found helpful, I only wish we had more time to practice before the test.

Last week we spent a lot of time working on the Weebly site essay. While I liked the idea I feel that in practice it may not have been the most practical way of getting us to work across classes. I understand that in college we will have to work with people outside of our class completely in an online situation, but I think for what this assignment was it made it very difficult. Or maybe I was just stressed about the amount of work that needed to be done in the time period we were given, I don't know. In the end I liked the finished product my group created. My group did an analysis of Ophelia's role in Hamlet and how her relationships with Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet drove the play to its tragic end. Doing this essay reminded me of the huge research essay we did in Brit Lit with Patnoude, where we had to use a literary criticism to examine a book from book circles and write an essay about it.

So we have like 2 weeks until the AP test? While I'm excited for the wait to be over and the test to be done with I'm nervous for the test. I feel like I'm only really starting to understand how to write the essays to get high scores and with the multiple choice I just never know. Hopefully these problems resolve themselves before the test.

Open Prompt Blog part 2 (4/20)

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range 

of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, 

or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay 

analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or 

themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

     In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Yoric's skull plays a key role in helping Hamlet determine who he is and whether or not he will kill Claudius. Yoric's skull is discovered late in the play during a scene that is meant to give some comic relief. Despite the lighthearted nature of the scene, the weight of Yoric's skull is the key turning point for Hamlet in the play. Through the discovery of Yoric's skull, Hamlet decides who he is and and the path he wants to take, all while showing that things work themselves out when you leave everything to providence.

     Since the beginning of the play, Hamlet struggles with killing his uncle to avenge his father. His duty to avenge his father stirs up conflicting feelings that are not resolved until Yoric's skull is discovered. Upon discovering the skull, Hamlet realizes that the court jester, Yoric, was more of a father to him than his biological father ever was. By deciding that Yoric was in reality his father, Hamlet no longer feels the need to avenge Old Hamlet's death. This decision takes away the conflict of killing Claudius and when Hamlet went to fight Laertes he had no intention of killing his uncle. 

     Avenging his biological father's death brought up a moral conflict within Hamlet. He became caught between the duty to avenge his father and leaving everything to providence like his religion says. In the moment he decides on who his father really is Hamlet also decides to leave everything to providence. Hamlet had no intention of killing Claudius when he went to duel Laertes, but that is where his uncle died. Since Hamlet left Claudius' death up to providence, providence intervened to have Claudius killed. Yoric's skull led Hamlet down a path not of killing but of having faith that his god would do what is right. 

     Yoric's skull reveals a key theme of Hamlet. Throughout the play Hamlet struggled with choosing between what society and tradition stated and what his religion stated. Hamlet's epiphany, caused by the discovery of Yoric's skull, led him to leave Claudius' death in God's hands. By deciding to side with his religion's ideas rather than society's, the scene with Yoric's skull revealed that when things are left in God's hands they work themselves out. Discovering Yoric's skull is a symbolic event that reveals things work out for the best when they are left in the hands of a higher, divine being.

     The scene involving the discovery of Yoric's skull is a small scene that has a major impact on the rest of the play. Symbolizing Hamlet's real father and the choice to leave things to providence, Yoric's skull leads Hamlet down a new path. Yoric's skull helped Hamlet see that his real father was not his biological father, thus erasing Hamlet's need to kill Claudius and in effect letting him leave everything to be worked out by providence. This also reveals the importance of providence in the work as Claudius dies after Hamlet gives up the desire to avenge Old Hamlet's death. By revealing the importance of providence in the work and helping Hamlet decide who his father really was, the symbol of Yoric's skull helps Hamlet forge his own path.

Ceremony Summary and Analysis Blog

     Ceremony was written by Leslie Marmon Silko. Silko is part of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and she was part of the first wave in the Native American Renaissance. Her mixed nationalities (Laguna Pueblo, Mexican American, Anglo American) can clearly be seen in Ceremony.


CHARACTERS:
     Tayo: a World War Two veteran, Tayo struggles with being mixed race (Laguna Pueblo/Anglo American) and balancing his Laguna culture and the ideals of white society. He is aware of how the world really is towards natives. He is tasked with stopping the destroyers/witches. Tayo mourns the deaths of Rocky and Josiah, is friends with Harley and Leroy, does not get along with Emo. He blames himself for the drought and is determined to get Josiah's Mexican cattle back.

     Betonie: Medicine man who helps guide Tayo towards curing himself and stopping the witches. He is sort of an outcast due to his contact with whites and struggles to change and create a new ceremony to help the modern world.

     Auntie: Tayo's aunt, a Laguna Pueblo who has chosen Christianity over her culture. She thinks of Tayo as an embarrassment to the family and is a constant reminder of her sister's (Tayo's mom) trist with a white man. Auntie runs the household and is a proud and spiteful woman.

     Josiah: Tayo's uncle who died while Tayo was in the Philippines fighting. He taught Tayo about Laguna Pueblo traditions and fell in love with Night Swan (a Mexican) who convinced him to by hybrid cattle which he then tried to raise.

     Harley: a World War Two veteran, Harley is one of Tayo's friends. Unlike Tayo, Harley seems to be less troubled but is an alcoholic. He seems to only want to remember the good times and not accept that those times are over.

     Rocky: Tayo's cousin/adoptive brother who dies in the Philippines during World War Two. He was a football star, smart, and the "perfect" integration of Laguna Pueblo and White culture.

     Grandma: Tayo's grandmother who is old and wise. She takes Tayo to a medicine man and supports/protects him from Auntie.

     Night Swan: Josiah's girlfriend who also seduces and sleeps with Tayo. She is a Mexican and former cantina dancer but she is very self-aware. Night Swan helps Tayo begin to accept his differences and change.

     Ku'oosh: an old Laguna medicine man who is very traditional. He tries to cleanse Tayo of killing with the Scalping Ceremony (though Tayo had never killed anyone before) and proceeds to send Tayo on to someone else.

     Emo: a World War Two veteran, Emo degrades Tayo  for his mixed race status. He likes killing, drinks a lot, and is constantly trying to relive his glory days. A destroyer, Emo has had a few altercations with Tayo (including being stabbed in the stomach by him). He carries around the teeth of a Japanese colonel he killed during the war.

     Robert: Tayo's uncle and Auntie's husband, Robert is mild-mannered and quiet who truly cares for Tayo and welcomes him home from war. Robert is the one to warn Tayo of Emo's attack.

     Ts'eh: Helps Tayo complete the ceremony, find the cattle, and evade his pursuers. She has sex with Tayo.

     Descheeny: Betonie's grandfather, he began the creation of a new ceremony years before and recognizes the need of Native Americans and Mexicans to work together.

     Leroy: a World War Two veteran, a friend of Tayo's, and Harley's drinking buddy.

     Pinkie: a childhood friend of Tayo and Emo's drinking buddy/sidekick. He is later betrayed and killed by Emo.

     Laura: Tayo's mother and Auntie's sister who has an interracial relationship. She is unable to care for Tayo which leads to him staying with Auntie.

     Helen Jean: a woman Harley and Leroy pick up in a bar. She is representative of young Native American women looking for jobs but end up turning to prostitution and alcoholism.


SETTING:
For most of Ceremony, the setting is the Laguna Pueblo Reservation; the Philippines during World War Two; the 4th and 5th worlds. Ceremony is mainly set shortly after World War Two but also contains flashbacks to before and during the war.


PLOT:

• Tayo is laying awake in bed, unable to sleep due to the voices he is hearing in his head. He remembers being in the Philippines to fight in World War Two and how he was unable to shoot and kill Japanese soldiers. Tayo's cousin Rochy had to reason with Tayo when he believed that one of the Japanese soldiers was his uncle Josiah.
• Tayo gets up and begins working on feeding the animals on the ranch and tries not to think of Josiah. We learn there is a drought going on that Tayo blames himself for as he had cursed the rain while in the Philippines.
• The story of Iktoa'ak'o'ya-Reed Woman going back down below and taking the rain with her is told.
• Tayo remembers returning home from war and being "white smoke." He was taken to a doctor who eventually pulls him from the smoke. He remembers being at the train station and seeing Japanese persons walking around. Tayo faints and when he wakes asks a depot man why the Japanese are not imprisoned anymore to which the man responds that they were freed shortly after Pearl Harbor. Tayo vomits.
• Tayo is hanging around outside when Harley rides up. Harley tells how he tried to help tend the livestock but his family wont let him. Tayo recalls the last time Harley tended the livestock and how it ended up with Harley in jail and 30 sheep and 1 sheep dog killed by wild animals. Harley remarks that his mom tried to keep him farthest away from the bars but by going to Tayo's he unintentionally went to the place farthest from the bars. It is mentioned that Tayo stabbed Emo in the stomach at one point.
• Tayo and Harley begin to make their way towards a bar and on the way there, Tayo remembers coming home after the war and old Grandma using Rocky's insurance money to buy an old heater. This leads Tayo to thinking that Rocky should have been the one to live. Tayo begins crying and they stop traveling as Harley believes Tayo has sunstroke.
• Tayo recollects coming home from war and how he was only a burden to Auntie, a way for her to play the martyr. He laid around sick due to "battle fatigue." Tayo told Robert he'd help him in the fields when he got better.
• Old Grandma believes Tayo needs the help of a medicine man and after a brief argument with Auntie, calls in old Ku'oosh. Ku'oosh tries to cure Tayo with the Scalp ceremony by cleaasing him of those he'd killed in the war. The ceremony did not work as Tayo had never killed anyone.
• A poem about the Scalp Society for warriors is told.
• At the Dixie Tavern, Tayo is isolated form the other veterans who are having a good time. He remembers how in uniform things were different. White women wanted him and old white women "blessed" him. Tayo is aware that these things are happening only because of the uniform he wore.
• Tayo tells the other veterans a story about how their glory days are over now that the uniforms are gone. He goes on a rant about how things had changed, their money was gone, and they were looked down upon again. Tayo significantly brought the mood down in the bar.
• Tayo and the corporal are carrying Rocky on a stretcher when the corporal stumbles. A Japanese soldier comes over and smashes Rocky on the head with a rifle butt, killing him. We learn that Tayo was in a prison camp at some point during the war.
• Tayo remembers a drought when he was little and how Josiah explained the drought happening because people have forgotten.
• The story of Pa'caya'nyi, a Ck'o'yo medicine man who showed the people magic and how they forgot about their mother corn alter, is told. As punishment the plants and grass were taken.
• Tayo remembers when he and Rocky killed a deer and how Rocky scoffed  a the old traditions. Tayo also remembers what happened the last time her went to a bar (i.e. stabbing Emo in the belly).
• The now starving people find Hummingbird who tells them there is plenty of food three worlds down (continued from the Pa'caya'nyi story).
• Emo accuses Tayo of believing himself to be superior because he is half-white. Harley, Leroy, and Emo tell stories of their conquests of white women. Emo once again accuses Tayo of believing himself better than them and begins playing with the teeth of a Japanese soldier that he took. It is clear that Emo enjoys killing and Tayo calls him out on it. Emo responds by saying Tayo loves the Japanese and makes a comment about Tayo's mother, causing Tayo to lunge at him and the cops to take Tayo away. 
• We learn that Tayo joined the army because of Rocky, especially since he called him his brother for the first time.Auntie always made sure that Tayo knew he was different when he was younger.
• Humming bird offers to help the people by passing along messages if they gave him a special jar and sang a special song. 
• The story of Josiah buying the Mexican cattle is told. While Rocky and Auntie didn't like the idea of the Mexican cattle (or that it was Night Swan's idea), Tayo loved the cattle because Josiah included him in the plans. Unfortunately the raising of cattle did not last long as they became lost a week after being delivered ( Josiah does brand his cattle though).
• Fly and Hummingbird agree to help the people and travel to the beautiful and flourishing world four worlds down.
• Josiah meets Night Swan and falls in love with her and spends every night with her. Auntie is upset when she finds out but Grandma doesn't mind.  
• Tayo takes a trip up to the canyon and prays for rain. He watches a spider drink, sees a hummingbird, and the next day the drought is ended as it rains.
• Tayo takes a note to Night Swan for Josiah and while he is there to deliver it has sex with Night Swan. She says that she had been watching him because of his different eyes and she tells him that change is everywhere and that it is okay.
• Fly and Hummingbird visit their mother asking for food and rain. She tells them to have old Buzzard purify the town.
• While Tayo wants to help on the ranch, Robert informs him that other members in the community want him to get help; Tayo starts feeling low again.
• Old Buzzard requests more offerings to help the town when Fly and Hummingbird ask for his help.
• Tayo is sent to see Betonie who scares him at first. After listening to Tayo speak about the war, Betonie tells him that he needs to complete a ceremony but that parts of the ceremony must change. Shush, Betonie's helper, enters and Betonie assures Tayo that Shush is not a witch as witches dress up in animal skins. Betonie tells that whites were the invention of Indian witchcraft and let loose on the world. Together the three go to the foothills of the mountains where Betonie begins performing the ceremony the Bear People used to say a young man captured by Coyote on Tayo.
• Betonie tells the story of men bringing a strange woman to his grandfather Descheeny who ended up taking the woman as one of his wives. Due to his other wives' jealousy, the strange girl had to be moved to a winter house below the mountains. The girls past and heritage is discussed.
• Fly and Hummingbird return to the town to get tobacco for old Buzzard but the people have none so instead they must go see caterpillar.
• Betonie tells Tayo that for the ceremony to truly work and be complete it will take a long time, even though Tayo is already beginning to feel better. 
• When walking home, Tayo is picked up by Harley and Leroy who have been drinking with a woman they picked up named Helen Jean. Tayo reluctantly joins them and they go to a bar where they continue to drink until Harley and Leroy are completely drunk. Helen Jean leaves to join another man she had been flirting with but Tayo, the only sober one, is the only one to notice.
• Helen Jean had been searching for a job to help her family out. She found a very low paying job cleaning a movie theater but when her boss began expecting sexual favors she left and ended up turning to working the drunk men at bars. This eventually leads to prostitution.
• Leroy and Harley get into a fight and Tayo is forced to get them into the truck and home while they piss and throw up on themselves.
• The story of Ck'o'yo Kaup'a'ta the gambler is told. He was so good that he even managed to catch the rain clouds. When the sun (the rain clouds' father) came to save them Spider Woman told him out to beat the gambler and the rain clouds were won back.
• Tayo finds one of the star signs that Betonie told him to watch for when he rests at a woman's house overnight.
• Hummingbird and Fly find Caterpillar who gives them the tobacco they need for Old Buzzard to purify the town.
• Tayo and his hostess have sex and in the morning Tayo leaves. He goes and begins looking for Josiah's cattle in hopes of bringing them home to fulfill Josiah's plans with the cattle. He finds the cattle on another farmer's farm. After a brief encounter with a mountain lion, Tayo finally finds the cattle and begins directing them through a hole in the farmer's fence. Tayo is caught by two patrol men but when they notice the mountain lion tracks they chose to go after it instead of Tayo. The tracks and evidence of Tayo taking the cattle are covered in snow.
• Tayo stays with a hunter and his wife who has secured Josiah's cattle. Upon returning with Robert and a cattle truck, they see that the cattle have been well cared for but they hunter and his wife are gone.
• Grandma believes Tayo is cured but Auntie is still skeptical. He helps Robert on the ranch during the day and decides to live on the ranch for good. There, Tayo meets the woman, Ts'eh, again. Tayo sees another one of Betonie's signs and begins bringing the cattle back to his people. 
• Tayo stays with the woman for the summer and she shows/teaches Tayo about various plants. Robert comes to wan Tayo that Emo is convincing people that Tayo is crazy and advises him to come home. Of course Tayo ignores this and the woman tells him that Emo and the white police are after him. After evading the men, the white police give up on Tayo like Ts'eh said they would. He is then picked up by Harley and Leroy who betray him and take him to Emo. When they take him to an abandoned uranium mine, Tayo sees the last of Betonie's signs.
• Emo and Pinkie arive, beat up the car, and torture Harley for letting Tayo go. Tayo almost jumps in to kill Emo but is stopped by a gust o wind that builds up the fire, sending Leroy and Pinkie to the ground.
• Tayo plants the seeds the woman needs and Old Buzzard gets tobacco. Once Old Buzzard purifies the town the rain returns. 
• Tayo, Ku'oosh, and the elders talk and Tayo tells them about the ceremony. They perform one final ceremony on Tayo. 
• Harley and Leroy are found dead and are buried with with full military honors. Tayo is treated like a full member of the family by Auntie finally. Emo kills Pinkie and in punishment is sent to California.

ANALYSIS:

The point of view in Ceremony switches between first person and third person. A good amount of the novel is told for Tayo's perspective, first person, and gives the reader insight into what Tayo is thinking at those moments. At the same time the third person perspective gives the readers a look at how an outsider might see everything that is occurring. When the traditional poems are being told it is a little harder to tell what the point of view is, but it is reasonable to say that the perspective for the poems is also third person.

The tone in Ceremony comes across as serious and, at times, almost desperate. The most basic tone that comes through is the gravity of the novel; there is a serious problem that needs to be fixed and the person who is supposed to fix it is struggling with his own internal demons. PTSD or "battle fatigue" is a very serious issue and is not something that should be taken lightly, neither is the alcoholism and prostitution seen throughout the novel. The almost desperate tone comes through a lot when Tayo is remembering things. When he remembers the corporal slipping and Rocky coming out, Tayo's panic and distress are evident. When Tayo is in the bar telling the other veterans his "story" (which is really fact), he seems desperate to make them understand. 

The imagery in Ceremony is dominated by nature and colors. Colors are brought up many many times and it is more than just detail. The color of different things; eyes, the cat, skin; play a huge role in the novel as Tayo's eye color is one thing that singles him out among the Laguna Pueblo. All the greens, yellows, blues, and browns mentioned throughout the play give a very natural feel to the imagery as they are colors often found in nature. That said, the description of landscape and various plants is also very prominent throughout the novel. As this novel deals a lot with returning back to a more natural state, all of the nature imagery fits well and helps give the reader a picture of what's around Tayo as well as emphasizing the importance of nature.

There are two major symbols in Ceremony. The first is the spotted cattle. For Tayo, the spotted cattle are representative of his bond with Josiah who included Tayo in all his plans for the cattle. Not only do the cattle represent Josiah to Tayo, but they also represent what is keeping away the rain. In the gambler story, the storm clouds are hidden in white spotted leather bags. When Tayo finds the cattle he finds the rain. On a broader scale, the cattle are hybrids and are symbolic of the better adaptive nature that hybrids have when it comes to surviving. Like Tayo, the cattle are hybrids and they show that being a mix is not a bad thing, sometimes it's the best thing. The second major symbol is bellies. Brought up many times throughout the novel, bellies are representative of where the stories are held and kept. A lesser symbol is the atomic bomb which is symbolic of the false light created by the whites.

THESIS:
Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko, warns that both good and evil are present in every culture but only by balancing personal and foreign cultures can evil be ended.

Throughout Ceremony the idea of the conflicting cultures is seen many times. The main conflicting cultures, especially for Tayo, are his family's culture, Laguna Pueblo, and society's culture, white. When one culture would try and dominate the other, evil arose and the people of the non-dominate culture were looked down upon. An example is how the rest of the world treated and saw the Laguna Pueblo people. Tayo and the other veterans were only able to get the white women when they had the uniform, they were only considered human when they had that uniform on and it appeared they were conforming to the white culture. When that was gone, that honor and respect were taken away, leaving only the degradation that was originally there behind. Also the setting of World War Two displays the idea as Americans fought the Japanese and the Japanese Americans back at home were interred.

Within Tayo this idea is also seen. Tayo himself is a mix of the two conflicting cultures in the novel. Half white and half Laguna Pueblo, Tayo struggles to accept himself just as much as the people around him. His personal animosity towards his mixed heritage makes it a sensitive subject for him, especially when Emo is around, and that animosity is only released when Tayo learns that being different isn't bad. Being part of two cultures, Tayo can see both sides, something no other character can. It also makes him the best suited to complete a ceremony fit for modern times, which combines both the old and new and works for both cultures. 

QUOTES:
"He could feel the words coming out faster and faster, the momentum building inside him like the words were all going to explode and he wanted to finish before it happened." pg. 42 (Tayo)
     I feel this is a significant quote because it shows that Tayo is not disillusioned about his place in society like some of the other veterans may be. But I like that it is described as building, that Tayo can't hold it in, that other veterans' ignorance bothers him. It shows that Tayo is a good person who cares about others, making him the perfect person to complete the ceremony.

"Indians or Mexicans or whites--most people are afraid of change. They think that if their children have the same color of skin, the same color of eyes, that nothing is changing." pg 100 (Night Swan)
     This is an important quote because Tayo has finally found another person who is not one thing like everyone else around him. He's found someone else who is also different and Night Swan's words help lead him down the path to curing and accepting himself. She is the first person to point this out, even though we may have known it was true, and just hearing the words helps Tayo. I also think this is an important quote because it people will do anything, isolate anyone, to try and keep things the way they've (always) been.

"Their highest ambition is to get human beings while they are still breathing, to hold the heart still breathing so the victim will never feel anything again. When they finish, you watch yourself from a distance and you can't even cry--not even for yourself."  pg 229 (Ts'eh)
     I believe this quote is important because it shows the inhumanity of the witches, how other people and how they feel don't matter to them. They will roll over anyone and anything to get what they want and not care about the destruction they leave behind. More than anything, I think this is the perfect description of the destroyers, how they feel about the world, and what they are capable of.

Response to Course Material Blog (3/16)

We've been pretty busy since the last Response to Course Material Blog we had to do. A lot of discussion and new ways to look at everything.

So we did some more multiple choice practice. Apparently that was the last time we will get to work in groups for multiple choice practice. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I like being able to talk through my thought process with other people on what I've thinking. On the other hand when the answer that I think is right differs with the answer the other people in my groups thinks is right I question my judgement and I'm unsure what to chose. Hopefully I will be successful on my own. Who knows, maybe I'll do better because I wont question my judgement as much.

We finished Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and finished up our discussion of the play. Personally, I loved this play and the idea that maybe there isn't a deeper meaning like we expect there to be. There are so many little things with this play and in any other class if we had a play this simple and yet so complex, the teacher would be telling us exactly what it means and what to take from it. I love that Ms. Holmes let us decide what the play means and letting us form our own opinions.

Ceremony has been our most recent piece of literature and we're still working on it. I've read little over a third of it and while I find it very interesting, it is definitely confusing. The way Tayo jumps into flashbacks and into his own head then back to reality is a bit difficult for me to follow. It reminds me a little of when Willy would switch into flashbacks in Death of a Salesman. Tayo's story is interesting to me, and what he goes to I often find myself relating back to what I've learned in history classes. When Tayo flashed back to marching through the jungle I immediately thought of the island hopping in World War II or the Vietnam War. I was close, it was WWII. I'm interested to see where else Tayo's story takes us and how it will progress.

Lately we've done a lot with looking at literature thorough different lenses. Our first day of discussion my class really went into The American Dream and the second day we really dove into Death of a Salesman. I'll admit the first day I was fairly quiet, I was still trying to wrap my head around the different lenses. My opinions on the literature were pretty set, I didn't exactly want to look at them in different ways and potentially change how I felt. Maybe if I had been more exposed to such varying lenses this would have been easier for me. Last year was really the first time I had ever been introduced to different lenses, but we didn't go very deep with them in Brit Lit. This was a good experience and by the second day I was ready to open my mind to different perspectives. Looking at Northrup Frye's way of critically analyzing a work also gave me a new perspective on the literature we've read.

I hope that there will be more discussion of the literature we've read through different lenses. This has been one of the more interesting things we've done this year and I would very much like to continue it. It was also great to hear how other people were seeing the works through the different lenses.

Open Prompt Blog part 2 (3/9)

*Please ignore all the hyperlinks that have been added. My computer randomly added them and I don't know how to fix it.


2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that

emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main

character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight

the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor

character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how

the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of

the work.

In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Miss Havisham is used as a foil for Pip to illustrate that money does not mean happiness. Miss Havisham is an old rich lady who has had money in her family her entire life and yet is one of the most bitter and mean characters Dickens ever wrote. Pip is poor and young and so naturally he wishes for a better life, one where he has a gentleman's status and fund. What Pip fails to acknowledge is that all her money has made Miss Havisham's life miserable and has caused her to be unable to trust people and their motives. By letting Pip into her house and her life, Miss Havisham inadvertently shows Pip that money can't buy you happiness in life.
    
Pip's greatest dream is to be a gentleman and have all the perks that come with it: the title, the respect, and the money. With the help of Miss Havisham and his mysterious benefactor, Pip begins to attain that dream. He goes to school, he studies, he gives himself a lavish lifestyle that he begins to become accustomed to. Some time after leaving for school he returns to visit Miss Havisham and is confronted with one other of his desires: Miss Havisham's former maid Estella. When he was younger Pip had fallen for the unattainable Estella, unattainable in the fact that he was not a gentleman and so not good enough for her. It's not a coincidence that Pip fell for Estella under Miss Havisham's roof; the bitter aged woman took great joy in watching Estella crush Pip and his love for her. She would constantly through Pip at the young girl only to have the young girl reject him per her orders. By constantly keeping Estella just out of his reach and telling him he was not worthy of her, Miss Havisham made Pip want her even more, further increasing his drive to become a gentleman. When he returned, Pip found that even his gentleman's status and money could not buy him the one thing he wanted more than anything: Estella's love. Having to watch Estella go off and marry another man who also had status and money crushed Pip, his efforts had been in vain as he could not have the one thing he wanted most. By introducing Pip to Estella and keeping her just out of reach, Miss Havisham unintentionally showed Pip that even money could not buy him the one thing that would have made him happy.

Miss Havisham's bitterness and disregard for the state of her property always confused Pip. How could she be unhappy when she had so much money? How could she leave her estate to rot and ruin? Years after meeting her, Pip finally heard Miss Havisham's story. He learned that she had been in love with a man whom she believed loved her as well but who was really just conning her for her money. Devastated she locked herself away from the world and let her bitterness and anger fester along with the condition of her house. Finally the dirty, musty rooms made sense. Money had destroyed her life and her belief in the good of humanity. She detested fortune seekers and men, both of which contributed to making Pip's life extremely difficult while under her roof. The story of Miss Havisham had quite an impact: Pip had been believing that money could only make his life better, that everyone would love him if he was wealthy. Now he can see the other side, that money can also ruin your life and that those people who you thought loved you might just love your money. This personal story of Miss Havisham, though not told to Pip by the woman herself, gave Pip insight into the corruption money can cause and how it also has the ability to strip your life of happiness.

Miss Havisham is the exact opposite of Pip. She has wealthy where he does not. He sees the beauty and potential in the world, she sees the cruelty and greed in it. Pip believes money is his ticket to happiness, Miss Havisham knows the opposite to be true. Through her constant belittling of Pip and taunting him because of his affection for Estella, Miss Havisham added to Pip's desire to be a gentleman. But her dangling of Estella in his face and her own personal story served to show Pip that money is not the key to happiness. Money cannot buy the love of another and it can cause people to use you for your money. By having her story told and Estella taken from Pip, Miss Havisham unknowingly showed Pip that money cannot buy happiness.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary and Analysis Blog

     Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, was first performed on April 11, 1967. In 1946, Stoppard moved to England with his stepfather and family, but felt out of place which he says reflects in his characters who get mixed up and whose "jokes and false trails [have] to do with the confusion of having two names", something that Stoppard himself had experienced. This idea, being mixed up with the confusion of having two names, comes through quite often in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.


CHARACTERS:
     Rosencrantz: main character; "nice enough to feel a little embarrassed at taking so much money off his
                            friend", a bit naive, gets switched/mixed up with Guildenstern a lot.

     Guildenstern: main character; "aware but not going to panic about it", constantly philosophizing and
                             trying to understand everything. gets switched/mixed up with Rosencrantz a lot.

     The Player: leader of the Tragedians, attempts to show Rosencrantz and Guildenstern their deaths
                         multiple times; likes to please others, possibly a pimp; possible "all-knowing" character.

     Tragedians: Traveling actors, possibly prostitutes, all male; "some of them kill even better than they die.
                          The rest die better than they kill." (Stoppard 83).
          Alfred: Tragedian who plays many of the female roles, young, offered up to Rosencrantz and
                       Guildenstern when they are betting with the Player.

     Hamlet: Prince of Denmark; slightly less angsty than the character from Hamlet, sends Rosencrantz and
                   Guildenstern to their deaths who are trying to figure out why he is acting strange.

     Claudius: Hamlet's uncle, king, summons Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths who are trying to
                      figure out what's wrong with Hamlet.

     Gertrude: Hamlet's mother, seems to genuinely care for her son but goes along with her husband
                      Claudius' plan anyways.

     Polonius: King's adviser, shifty, unafraid to spy on Hamlet.

     Ophelia: Polonius' daughter, spends the entire play in a state of shock


SETTING:
The play has three settings: the middle of nowhere, Elsinore, and on a boat. Supposedly this play is taking place during Elizabethan times.


PLOT:
     Act 1:

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are flipping coins and betting on the outcomes. The coin repeatedly comes up heads and Rosencrantz continues to win.
• Guildenstern begins to theorize the law of probability and averages, wondering how heads can be flipped so many times in a row.
• They remember that they were summoned and that it was a royal summons.
• Guildenstern goes on a rant about unicorns and the thinness of reality.
• The player and tragedians arrive and offers their "services" to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. the player tells that they perform tragedies of all types. While Guildenstern understands what they really do, Rosencrantz does not and asks about seeing a performance.
• The player lets slip they playing at court that night and once again offers up the tragedians for services. Disgusted, Guildenstern calls them out as a "comic pornographer and a rabble of prostitutes." (Stoppard 27). Rosencrantz, who now understands, is curious about their line of work but is shamed and angry when he offers 1 coin as payment.
•  Guildenstern steps in and begins betting on the outcome of a coin toss with the Player. The coin continues to show heads so Guildenstern bets the Player that the year of his birth doubled is odd. As the Player takes the bet, the tragedians realize they've been tricked because no number doubled is odd. When the Player has no money left to gamble, he offers up Alred as paymen.
• Guildenstern instead asks about a play, an idea which the Player jumps on and the tragedians get ready to perform.
• The last coin flipped showed up tails and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are "transported" to Elsinore where they see Hamlet chasing Ophelia and being overly dramatic.
• Claudius and Gertrude enter and task Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with finding out what is wrong with Hamlet and why he's changed. Polonius enters and begins informing Claudius about state matters. They leave.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern begin debating whether there were always questions or always answers. Getting frustrated, they decide they want to leave but are unsure which direction they came from and so do not leave.
• They begin discussing the task Claudius gave them and what to do.
• Guildenstern comments on the appalling business of being a spectator.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern begin playing at questions, taking turns going back and forth with statements, synonyms, rhetoric, repetition, and non sequiturs being fouls. Guildenstern ends the game and they try to figure out their names and identities.
• Rosencrantz pretends to be Hamlet and they act out how to figure out his problem through questioning.
• Guldenstern instructs Rosencrantz to go look for Hamlet who he finds coming towards them with Polonius. Polonius is also trying to figure out Hamlet's problem but when he's blown off he leaves the task to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern like old friends and together they walk to the back of the stage.

     Act 2:

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discuss their failed attempts to question Hamlet, applying the rules from their earlier question game to what has happened. Evidently they ended up answering more questions than he did.
• Guildenstern begins trying to figure out where they came from again, this time with the sun as a reference. Unfortunately he is unsure which direction the sun came up and which way is which direction.
• Guildenstern tells Rosencrantz to "lick your toe and wave it around a bit" (Stoppard 59) which leads to an awkward conversation where Rosencrantz offers to lick Guildenstern's toe for him. Guildenstern declines as he is afraid someone will walk in on them.
• Guildenstern philosophizes that things are in motion that they cannot control to which they will be subject to.
• Rosencrantz tries to engage the audience by telling them there is a fire.
• Rosencrantz plays a game with Guildenstern where Guildenstern has to guess which hand contains a coin except Rosencrantz didn't put a coin in either hand.
• Hamlet, the Player, and the Tragedians enter. Hamlet is discussing the performance the tragedians will put on and if they could add in a few lines.
• When Hamlet leaves Rosencrantz and Guildenstern begin baiting the Player and cautioning him to watch himself. The Player chews Rosencrantz and Guildenstern out for leading him and his actors to believe they had an audience while they performed. he tells them how they had searched for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern but when they found themselves alone they were humiliated, so they packed up and continued on to Elsinore.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern mock the Player and Rosencrantz warns the Player he cannot perform his usual filth as royals are above normal people.
• The three speak of the play to be performed, The Murder of Gonzago, and the Player says he has been to Elsinore before.
• The Player helps Rosencrantz and Guildenstern work through what they know about Hamlet and what is going on at Elsinore. The Player tells that Polonius thinks Hamlet is acting strange because he is in love with Ophelia. When they're done discussing, the Player leaves.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern begin thinking of the future and Rosencrantz  begins to wonder about death and being asleep in a box. During his rant about death, Rosencrantz questions eternity and when it first occurred to him that eventually he will die.
• Gertrude and Claudius enter and ask about the progress with Hamlet. After the report, they leave and Hamlet enters, soon followed by Ophelia.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern observe the scene with Hamlet and Ophelia and when they leave the Player and Tragedians come on to begin a dress rehearsal.
• The dress rehearsal, narrated by the Player strangely mimics the plot of Hamlet. They are soon interrupted by the entrance of Hamlet and Ophelia, shortly followed by Claudius and Polonius. Claudius renounces Polonius' belief that Hamlet's strange behavior is in response to his love for Ophelia.
• Once the king, queen, and adviser leave, the Player and his actors resume their rehearsal and narration.
• The Player says that they "aim at the point where everyone who is marked for death dies" (Stoppard 79) and that they have no say in the matter as everything is written.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are unhappy with the nature of the play and believe it is too sordid but the rehearsal continues, even foreshadowing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's deaths, though they don't know it.
• Guildenstern criticizes the Tragedians' marketing of death questioning the reality of it. He tells the Player what death "really" is.
• Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that Hamlet has killed Polonius and that they are to retrieve both men. They are unsure of how and where to exit and in the end they remain in pretty much the same spot. Coincidentally, Hamlet (with Polonius' body) stumbles onto the stage and they confront him. Hamlet calls them both sponges.
• Claudius asks for Hamlet, who is brought in captured and they leave.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find out they are to take Hamlet to England and they leave to take him.

     Act 3:

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern awaken on a boat but are unsure if it is day or night. Guildenstern begins to discuss the freedom of being on a boat. Rosencrantz discovers Hamlet on the boat as well.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play the game where Guildenstern has to guess which hand is holding a coin, but this time Rosencrantz has a coin in each hand.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discuss their payment from the king and how they are always being mixed up.
• Guildenstern gets mad that Rosencrantz doesn't say original things.
• Guildenstern has to explain what they're doing to Rosencrantz and how they are taking Hamlet to the Kind with a letter that explains everything. Rosencrantz panics when he doesn't have the letter but calms down when Guildenstern shows that he has it.
• Rosencrantz claims England is a conspiracy of cartographers as he cannot picture what it is like there.
• They talk about death again.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enact how their meeting with the King of England will go and in the process read the letter instructing Hamlet's immediate execution. Both feel guilty but Guildenstern justifies that they cannot "interfere with the designs of fate or even of kings" (Stoppard 110) so they can't do anything.
• Hamlet overhears the two talking and switches the letter out with another under the cover of darness.
• Rosencrantz goes to check out some weird noises coming from a bunch of barrels and out pops the Player and Tragedians who were run out of Elsinore without being paid.
• Guildenstern claims that they are unrestricted on the boat and they summarize everything that they know so far.
• Pirates attack, and in the chaos, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet, and the Player each hop in a barrel. When the coast is clear Hamlet and his barrel are gone. The Player informs them that Hamlet is not coming back which upsets Guildenstern because of their mission to deliver Hamlet to the English King.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern reread the letter and realize it is now calling for their immediate executions. They are, understandably, upset. Guildenstern is especially upset over being denied any explanation.
• Guildenstern goes on another rant about death and how the Player really knows nothing about it. His rant ends with him stabbing the Player in the throat who dramatically dies.
• The Player pops back up to the applause of the Tragedians and Rosencrantz. The Player speaks of all the deaths they can do and the Tragedians act out the major death seen from Hamlet.
• Guildenstern continues to struggle with the Tragedians version of death.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are alone. Rosencrantz breaks down a bit before he disappears, leaving Guildenstern alone. Guildenstern breaks down a bit as well when he realizes he's alone before he too disappears. 
• An ambassador enters and announces to Horatio that "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead" (Stoppard 126).

ANALYSIS:
The point of view in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is that of an outside viewer looking in as it is a play, though some of the characters seem to be aware they are on a stage and are being watched.

The tone in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is humorous but with a serious, slightly dark, underlying tone. Guildenstern's philosophizing that goes in circles paired with the many sexual innuendos and double entendres give a light, comical tone that fully covers the surface of the play but if one were to look closer at the dialogue and read between the lines a bit, they would see the serious tone poking through. The constant discussion of death and control add to the dark tinge in the serious tone. A mocking tone also arises in regards to Shakespeare, art, and the people who idolize it.

A lot of the imagery in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is seen in descriptions and stage directions, especially with lighting which is often used to help illustrate a change in setting. Sounds (drums, recorder, lute), lighting, and actions are the most prevalent forms of imagery, but Stoppard also creates detailed images when describing specific scenes from Hamlet and the play the Tragedians perform (The Murder of Gonzago).

There are a few important symbols in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Pirates are an important symbol that represent unforeseen events that come out of nowhere and can drastically change one's plans or path. Coins symbolize duality (life/death, Rosencrantz/Guildenstern, heads/tails, night/day, audience/performers) and breaking the confines of reality (the coin flipping heads 92 times in a row). The Boat represents life and the boundaries around us in life. Boxes represent the cultural and personal confines set on us and also represents death. The Letters symbolize an inability to control death.

THESIS:
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead suggests that people have power over themselves though they have no power over what happens to them.

Throughout his play, Stoppard constantly stresses that it is a work of fiction, that the characters in the play are characters. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have no control because their entire lives in the play have been planned out: who they talk to, when they talk to them, and what they say. The title characters struggle with this fact because they feel they should have control, they constantly question why the don't and are unsatisfied with the answers they receive. Stoppard's point in illustrating their lack of control and specifically saying things like "It's written" is to show how fictional characters do not have control over their lives. People are not fiction characters and so the rules binding Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do not apply.

One symbol in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is that of pirates, of unforeseen events coming in and completely changing someone's plans. Such pirates happen to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in an effort to illustrate the point of unforeseen events causing a change of plans. This aspect of the play is similar to real life in that unforeseen circumstances happen to everyone and no one has control over them.

Stoppard combined both of these aspects to make a point about life. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern experience unforeseen events that throw them off their original path, but as fictional characters they are unable to respond by their own free will. The reality of the situations combined with the restraints of characters illustrate that real people have the ability to respond to such situations. Real people have the power to decide how they respond, they have power over themselves and can deal with the metaphorical pirates that life throws at them.

QUOTES:
"Wheels have been set in motion, and they have their own pace, to which we are...condemned." (Guildenstern speaking to Rosencrantz)
     I feel this quote is significant because it is Guildenstern saying that they have no control, and in a way saying he knows his future is already written and there's nothing he can do about it. Most other times in the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are told that they have no control by another character, rarely do they say it themselves and even though it was relatively early in the play, I feel it was a very insightful, philosophical thing for Guildenstern to say.

"Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true." (Player talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern)
     I like this quote because the truth in it is astounding: what is true is decided by the individual, everyone must decide what they believe to be true but many times we only have to go on the word of another. It's an interesting relationship, that the only things that are true are what we believe to be truth, and I feel it is an interesting thing for the Player to be saying. If everything is written, their dialogue included, can they trust anything that is said? Do they have the power to decide if it's true or not?

"It's a man failing to reappear, that's all--now you see him, now you don't, that's the only thing that's real: here one minute and gone the next and never coming back--an exit, unobtrusive and unannounced, a disappearance gathering weight as it goes on, until, finally, it is heavy with death." (Guildenstern speaking to the Player)
     This is by far one of my favorite quotes from the play, though it is a little long. I feel Guildenstern perfectly captures the essences of death with this quote and I love how it relates back to staging and acting. Death is talked about many times throughout the play and there is the contrast between what Guildenstern believes about death and what the Tragedians portray as death. While I agree that the Tragedians have the dramatic representation of death down, I think Guildenstern has the (or a) true representation of death.

Response to Course Material Blog (2/16)

Finally! We've moved on from Hamlet only to become immersed in the world of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I'll be honest, this is my favorite play that we've read so far. I love all the innuendos, how naive Rosencrantz can be, and how Guildenstern is always trying to be all knowing and philosophical. The craziness and immaturity seen in this play made it extremely entertaining to me and also made it my favorite thing I've read in any Lit class I've taken.

Another great thing about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is what Stoppard has (or hasn't) done with this story. In 2nd hour we were talking about the meaning of this play and if Stoppard was mocking Shakespeare with his play. To me, both questions are tied together in that Stoppard is mocking Shakespeare to a degree. He points out the silliness of some of the elements and Hamlet and ho nonsensical it is (finally someone else who is mocking Shakespeare other than a high school student). But what I think Stoppard was really trying to point out was the difference between fiction/fantasy and real life. There is the undeniable poking fun at Shakespeare and the way everything tied up nicely in the end but Stoppard's doesn't, making it more real. There is no real plot, it's more a series of incidents.

Ms. Holmes really challenged my thinking with this play. Usually teachers have asked, "What is the author trying to say? What is the meaning of x, y, z? What does blue represent?" (thanks for that last question Mr. Crocker). This time I was challenged with "Is there even a meaning to this?" and similar questions. I've looked at this play differently because of these new questions and have come to realize that Stoppard is making fun of the people who are constantly looking for a deeper meaning in plays. With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead it's almost like Stoppard is saying, "Haha, keep looking for a deeper meaning; there isn't one. And you paid money to come see this, haha, the joke's on you!"

Earlier in the week we got a lesson on how to write intros for our essays. I'll be honest and say that this was not fun and I grumbled a lot through the process. Yes I realize it was necessary. Yes I realize it will help me in the long and short runs. Even with this knowledge I found it difficult for myself to really get into writing these intros. I've never had a teacher focus so much on the intro of the paper before, the thesis perhaps, but never the intro as a whole. This was all to evident to me when we did the mega in-class intro writing assignment, which just about killed me. Having to come up with two prompts and then respond to two others was a lot for me to handle and my brain just wouldn't work fast enough. It didn't help that everything that I've read that could possibly be applicable to the prompts suddenly was forgotten; I even read only books off the AP list last for the independent reading projects in Brit Lit last year so that I would have more to pull from. I know intros are the part I have the most problems with in essays, hopefully I won't struggle with them as much now thanks to the two days devoted to open prompt intro practice.

I can't wait to see where we go when we get back to our Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead discussion. There is so much there that we can dive into and I'm excited to see where it takes us. Hopefully the next Open Prompt part 2 blog that we have to do goes better so that Ms. Holmes does not need to devote more time to teaching us how to write like AP students should.

Open Prompt Blog part 2 (2/9)

2004: Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose

a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze

a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the

author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid

mere plot summary.

      Hamlet is arguably one of William Shakespeare's most iconic plays. Despite being in his 30s, the title character Hamlet has as much angst in his life as most teenagers, more so than some. Now this angst is not unwarranted; tasked with avenging his father's murder, Hamlet must decide on a course of action, one that would change his life and the lives of those around him. Hamlet's struggle to choose his path is inherently tied to a lack of identity and leaves the audience questioning, when will Hamlet decide who he is?

     Throughout the play it is shown that Hamlet is expected to be a replica of his deceased father, Old Hamlet. He doesn't even have his own name! In Hamlet's introductory scene, he asks his uncle (and king) Claudius if he may return to Wittenberg and his schooling rather than stay in Denmark. Immediately his request is shot down; his uncle believes it best for him to stay home and in Elsinor, he's needed there. Hamlet attempted to forge his own path in life but was turned back by a denied request. His refusal to fight for returning to Wittenberg brings in to question how much he wanted it and how easily he can be pushed around. Here, it is shown that despite Hamlet trying to be his own person he is forced back into his predetermined role as a prince.

     Along with the pressure to follow directly in his father's footsteps, Hamlet is tasked with avenging his father's murder. Commanded by the supposed ghost of his father, Hamlet is ordered to kill his Uncle. This is a task that Hamlet really struggles with: morally he doesn't think the murder would be right but who but he feels the weight of his father's command. So the question is, will Hamlet be his father's son and kill his uncle or will he stick to his values and leave everything to providence. As this struggle is established early on in the play it lasts almost the entire play with Hamlet making a few futile attempts at taking Claudius' life. Hamlet's inability to choose a path caused his struggle to to last through almost the entire play.

     The struggle to establish an identity is not a new conflict in literature, even in the time when Hamlet was written. It's a universal theme that is identifiable even within the audience themselves. As the audience can relate to Hamlet's inner struggle a new perspective is gleaned throughout the play. Readers can see the weight of his struggles more, can see the development of his character from not having an identity to when he decides who he is. When his struggle is understood, Hamlet looses some of his perceived arrogance and becomes more human. His story is more understandable and his struggle becomes real; suddenly a story of kings and betrayal is much more universal.

     It is clear that a major part of Hamlet's identity crisis stems from having to choose between being his own person and being his father. Not until Hamlet's epiphany at the sight of Yorick's skull does he decide who he is. With the realization of who was really his father, the jester who raised him vs. his never-there biological father, Hamlet's decision on avenging his father is made. By realizing that Yorick was really his father for all intents and purposes, Hamlet no longer feels the need to avenge Old Hamlet's death. His decision made, things fall into place quickly. Hamlet and Laertes fight and both men, along with Claudius and Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, die.

     "Literature is the question minus the answer". Hamlet poses a great question that is universally applicable, but despite an answer seemingly provided, remains unanswered. Hamlet's turning point is the decision of who his father really is was only the first step in deciding who he was. Events followed so quickly (including Hamlet's death) that he never really got to develop who he was and explore what this new realization meant for him. It can never be known for certain who Hamlet would have become had he lived longer; all that can be said is that he was on his way to deciding who he was.

Hamlet Summary and Analysis Blog

Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, was first performed sometime in the late 1590-early 1600s. Close to the time Hamlet was being written, Shakespeare experienced two deaths in his family. The deaths of his son Hamnet and his father are believed to have significant influence on the play.

CHARACTERS:

Hamlet: Title character of the play and Prince of Denmark, Hamlet is the son of Gertrude and Old Hamlet and nephew to Claudius. There is a sort of relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia, though the strength of their relationship and love is disputed. Throughout the play he struggles with following in his father’s (Old Hamlet) footsteps and being his own person, especially when the Ghost charges him with killing Claudius to avenge Old Hamlet. Hamlet accidently slayed Polonius (in a moment of mistaken identity), sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, dealt the fatal blow to Laertes, and killed Claudius after discovering his treachery. 

Claudius: King of Denmark as elected by a council of elders. Currently married to Gertrude and both uncle and father to Hamlet. While assumed to be a good king, it is revealed that Claudius killed his own brother (Old Hamlet) for his crown and his wife. Claudius schemed with Laertes to kill Hamlet which backfired and ended in his death by Hamlet’s hand.

Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, formerly married to Old Hamlet but currently married to his brother Claudius. She is accidentally killed by Claudius when she drinks the poisoned wine that was intended for Hamlet. 

Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes, Ophelia is a lady-in-waiting to Gertrude. She has a sort of relationship with Hamlet, though the reality of it is often questioned. Following her father’s death, Ophelia begins to go a little crazy and the possibility of her being pregnant comes up. In the end, Ophelia committed suicide by drowning herself, an act usually committed by single pregnant mothers during the time. 

Polonius: Chief counselor to the King and father to Laertes and Ophelia. Polonius is a prime example of private versus public face and likes to work behind the scenes. He was accidentally slain by Hamlet due to a case of mistaken identity.

Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother to Ophelia. Up until his father is killed, he spends a majority of the play in France. When his father dies he returns to Denmark and schemes with Claudius to kill Hamlet. While he succeeds in delivering the fatal blow to Hamlet, he also receives a fatal blow dealt by Hamlet and dies soon after.

Ghost: Supposedly the ghost of Hamlet’s father Old Hamlet. It instructs Hamlet to avenge him and kill Claudius.

Horatio: Close friend of Hamlet’s; smart and logical; is one of the only characters who does not die in the play. He is most (and perhaps only) reliable character in the play.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Hamlet’s childhood friends but when they are employed by Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet turns his back on them, even sending them on to their deaths in England.

Fortinbras: Prince of Norway. Unlike Hamlet, he does not pursue avenging his father’s death (who was killed by Old Hamlet). With his dying breath, Hamlet passes the throne onto Fortinbras in the final scene.

SETTING:

Elsinore, court in Denmark in the 13^th century, though the survival of the story throughout time lends to its universal nature.

PLOT: (as stated in the semester 1 final exam collaborative review)

ACT 1:

Scene 1

·         Horatio is told that the Ghost of the old king of Denmark, Hamlet, has been seen

·         Horatio sees the Ghost and attempts to talk to it, but it does not answer Horatio.

·         King Hamlet led a conquest against old Fortinbras

Scene 2

·         Claudius is introduced and makes a speech about his marriage and how young Fortinbras demands the lands taken by King Hamlet. Claudius sends ambassadors to stop an attack.

·         Laertes is given leave to go to France, with permission of Polonius.

·         Hamlet is introduced and is mourning his father, Claudius and Gertrude tell him to get over his father’s death.

·         Hamlet is not given permission to leave and go back to Wittenberg.

·         Hamlet is forced to stay in Denmark. He is upset about his mother’s marriage to his uncle. (Took place “within a month”)

·         Horatio and friends tell Hamlet about the Ghost and he agrees to join them.

Scene 3/4/5

·         Laertes (leaving for France) warns Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet and not to trust him.

·         Polonius says the same thing and orders her not to see Hamlet.

·         Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus are visited by the Ghost.

·         The Ghost wants to only speak to Hamlet.

·         The Ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. The Ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his murder.

·         Hamlet makes his friends swear to secrecy.

Act 2:

Scene 1

·         Polonius does not trust Laertes in France and sends someone there.

·         Ophelia was visited by Hamlet, who seemed crazy.

·         Polonius thinks that Hamlet is crazy because Ophelia will not see him.

Scene 2

·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to spy on Hamlet by Gertrude and Claudius.

·         Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet is crazy with love for Ophelia. They go to spy on Hamlet.

·         Hamlet knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are spying for Claudius.

·         Hamlet decides to prove his uncle’s guilt by staging a play, The Murder of Gonzago.

Act 3:

Scene 1-To Be or Not To Be

·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot find why Hamlet is mad.

·         Polonius makes Ophelia to find out about Hamlet’s madness and goes to spy with Claudius.

·         Hamlet sees Ophelia and is nice, but then he changes his attitude.

·         Hamlet says he never loved her.

·         After Hamlet leaves Claudius does not think that love is the cause of his madness. He decides to send Hamlet to England.

o   Polonius says not to and wait until Gertrude talks to him.

Scene 2

·         The play occurs. Hamlet and Horatio watch for a reaction from Claudius.

·         The Player King is killed by having poison poured in his ear.

o   Claudius gets upset and leaves

·          Hamlet is asked to go see Gertrude.

Scene 3

·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ordered to take Hamlet to England.

·         Polonius plans to spy on Hamlet and Gertrude.

·         Claudius starts to pray and Hamlet wants to kill him there, but cannot because then Claudius would go to Heaven.

Scene 4

·         Polonius hides behind a tapestry in Gertrude’s room.

·         Hamlet enters and scares Gertrude, who calls for help. Polonius then calls for help.

·         Hamlet, thinking that Polonius is Claudius, stabs the tapestry.

·         Hamlet is then upset at Gertrude for marrying Claudius, when the Ghost appears and he is the only one to see. Gertrude thinks he is mad.

·         The Ghost reminds Hamlet to avenge King Hamlet’s death.

Act 4:

·         Gertrude tells Claudius that Polonius is dead. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet, and the body.

·         Hamlet does not say where he put the body.

·         Claudius orders Hamlet to leave immediately for England. Claudius tells the audience he plans to have Hamlet killed in England.

·         Hamlet sees Fortinbras and his army.

Act 5:

Scene 1

·         Two clowns (gravediggers) dig up poor Yorick’s bones to make room for Ophelia.

Scene 2

·         Hamlet has his “fall of the sparrow” speech.

·        He then duels with Laertes, is mortally wounded, kills Claudius, then relinquishes his control to Fortinbras

ANALYSIS:

The point of view in Hamlet is that of an outsider looking in like many plays. There is no central narrator or character that gives the audience information; this allows the audience to look in on the characters and know everything.

The tone in Hamlet is solemn and dark as it is a tragedy. Two prominent motifs throughout the play are death and betrayal, both dark topics within themselves, but the constant re-occurrence of the motifs adds to the solemn feel. Characters contemplate killing one another and suicide is brought up multiple times, both by Hamlet and Ophelia. Betrayal by friends and family alike affect the characters as they go about living in Elsinore. Despite the dark nature of the play’s tone, a humorous feel comes through from time to time. One such time is when two gravediggers are conversing with one another, one of whom consistently screws up legal jargon.

In Hamlet, imagery plays an interesting role as it is often representative in the play. Rotting, spoiling, or decaying imagery was often used by Shakespeare to help demonstrate the decay of Hamlet’s family and Denmark. Imagery based around surveillance and spying helps show the distrust amongst the characters. Natural imagery also plays a role in the play and can be seen when Ophelia is handing out flowers and Gertrude is vividly describing Ophelia’s death.

In Hamlet, there are a few important symbols. Yorick’s skull is symbolic in two ways: 1. it represents the fact that death is inevitable, everyone will fall prey to it regardless of who they are 2. it represents a shift in Hamlet’s perception (will be further explained in the thesis section). Ears are also an important symbol in Hamlet as they represent deception and gossip, a key motif in the play.

THESIS:

Shakespeare’s Hamlet suggests that you should be cautious of whom you allow yourself to be influenced by, because a lack of identity leads to immoral decisions. 

While this theme statement is great at encapsulating pretty much the essence of Hamlet, it is difficult to explain how elements such as setting, the title, point of view, tone, and imagery support this theme. The best way to show support for this theme statement is through one important piece of imagery and the plot.

Yorick’s skull, while symbolizing the inevitability of death, is very symbolic in the character Hamlet’s growth. Up until the graveyard scene, Hamlet had been struggling with being his father or being his own person. This dilemma is worsened when the Ghost instructs Hamlet to murder Claudius. It really isn’t a surprising request for the time, avenging one’s father was fairly common, yet Hamlet struggles with the immorality of the act and avenging his father. Here is where Yorick’s skull comes in. When Hamlet picks up the skull and realizes whose it is he also realizes that Yorick was more of a father to him than his biological father, Old Hamlet, ever was. This completely changes Hamlet’s perspective because he doesn’t feel the need to avenge or become his father anymore; the man Claudius murdered wasn’t really a father to him. While Hamlet struggled to discover who he really was he was led down a immoral path of vengeance and murder which he was able to remove himself from when he realized who was really a father to him. 

The plot in this play is very intricate, multiple story lines woven into one, yet certain points can be highlighted that support the theme statement. In the play, Hamlet blatantly admits that he sentenced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths by sending them to England with a forged letter instructing their deaths. A key detail during this confession is that he sealed the letter with a wax seal inscribed with his father’s signet ring. Here Hamlet is still trying to be his father while trying to be himself. His lack of identity and feeling of betrayal by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern led him to killing his friends, though not by his own hand. Another instance is when Hamlet is speaking with Gertrude and slays Polonius. At this point in the play, Hamlet is trying to fight the call to avenge is father but when speaking with Gertrude in her closet he hears “a rat”. Believing the rat to be his treacherous and murderous uncle, Claudius, Hamlet stabs through the closet’s curtain and into Polonius, killing him. Though Hamlet did not give himself much time to think before he acted, the fact remains the same: if Hamlet did not have to struggle between being his father and being himself he would not feel the need to avenge his father and so would not have stabbed and slayed Polonius.

QUOTES:

“Die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there’s hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half a year.”(Hamlet speaking to Ophelia)

     I feel this quote is significant for a couple of reasons. First it shows that Hamlet is affected by his father’s death and the way the people around him are reacting to it. To him, everyone has moved on, it’s like his father meant nothing they moved on so quickly, especially in regards to Gertrude, Hamlet is feeling a bit betrayed as is evident through the sarcasm used in this quote. The second reason this quote is significant in my mind is that it is showing the importance of a person’s legacy. There are a few other points where such a point is demonstrated (i.e. burying Ophelia in sacred ground vs. outside the churches graveyard) but I feel this is one of the clearest. Hamlet is obviously worried with what lies ahead and what it will mean for him, but is also concerned that such a great man can be so quickly mourned and dismissed.

”Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away.” (Hamlet speaking to Horatio)

     I personally love this quote and find it very significant to the growth of Hamlet’s character. He is finally accepting that it doesn’t matter how great you are in life because no matter what, you will die and then what do you become? If a man so great as Caesar is reduced to nothing more than a stopper in a hole, what is there to be said for the rest of man; for those not so great or notorious? This quote makes me think, which I love, but I feel it also addresses a question that wasn’t addressed much in Hamlet: what’s the point of life? If all we are going to end up as is dirt and clay then what meaning does greatness even hold? This quote really puts in perspective what is important in life.

“Even while men’s minds are wild, lest more mischance on plots and errors happen.” (Horatio speaking to Fortinbras)

     I think this quote does a very good job summing up Hamlet. It’s an imperfect world that we live in so even the best planned out plots go awry. Up until the graveyard scene, Hamlet planned on killing Claudius but something always got in the way. Claudius and Laertes’ plan was perfection complete with backups, but when the swords got switched around in the duel, all their careful planning went out the window. One might be able to argue that this quote also lends itself to the idea of providence; that no matter how well you may plan something out, God may have other plans for you. As this quote can be tied into so many parts of Hamlet, I feel it was a perfect quote to end the play (even though Fortinbras briefly speaks afterwards).

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**In regards to symbols in Hamlet I chose not to include mirrors as the symbolism of mirrors was mainly seen in the movie productions of Hamlet and I was focusing on the written play.