Hamlet SAC, please help a literature newbie

I have been given this as a SAC from my teacher.


Use the following passage as the basis for a discussion of 'Hamlet'.

KING
62 Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine,
63 And thy best graces spend it at thy will!
64 But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son—

HAMLET
65 A little more than kin, and less than kind.

KING
66 How is it that the clouds still hang on you?

HAMLET
67 Not so, my lord; I am too much i' the sun.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
68 Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,
69 And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.
70 Do not for ever with thy vailèd lids
71 Seek for thy noble father in the dust:
72 Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,
73 Passing through nature to eternity.

HAMLET
74 Ay, madam, it is common.

QUEEN
74 If it be,
75 Why seems it so particular with thee?

HAMLET
76 Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not "seems."
77 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
78 Nor customary suits of solemn black,
79 Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
80 No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
81 Nor the dejected havior of the visage,
82 Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
83 That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
84 For they are actions that a man might play:
85 But I have that within which passeth show;
86 These but the trappings and the suits of woe.

and a Criteria sheet that has:

- Discussion of the significance of key passages in the text
- Forming conncections between selected passages, moments in the text and the text as a whole
- Discussion of key features of the text, using appropriate terminology
- Interpretation of the text
- Selection and use of textual detail to support the interpretation
- Discussion of the effects and nuances of language and form in the text
- Organization of ideas and effectiveness of expression.



How do I string it all together and make an essay?!
What exactly am I supposed to do with this?
Do I discuss the whole of 'Hamlet'? Or Just certain themes that the passage consists of?!
My heads going to explode!
Can anybody guide me through a step by step way of how to do this, anything would be appreciated. I just really feel all over the place with this.
Thanks guys,
Elizabeth.

Quote:

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How do I string it all together and make an essay?!
What exactly am I supposed to do with this?
Do I discuss the whole of 'Hamlet'? Or Just certain themes that the passage consists of?!
My heads going to explode! :rage:

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You just want to base your reading on the given extract and maybe relate one particular theme to the whole text. You don't have to talk about the whole play! For example you might want to comment upon disguise here, Hamlet hides his true thoughts and feelings behind "actions that a man might play" in order to get to the truth about his father. You could relate this outside of the extract to support this argument. Or take the theme of loss, of the passage of time, whatever, just support your argument from the given extract mainly, with a little from outside of it, no problems!

Hi Thirst,

I don't blame you for being confused or overwhelmed. From the material you provided, your instructor's criteria are so diverse that each one suggests its own thesis.

Is there any more information you can provide that explains the assignment? If not, I would go to the instructor and ask for guidance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thirst

Use the following passage as the basis for a discussion of 'Hamlet'.

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Your Criteria Sheet requires you to use your quoted "passage" to shed light on the "text": Hamlet, the play . I suggest that your teacher has asked for nothing more than a close passage analysis of the quotation. The instructions given amount to that.

I would use the Outline feature of Word to add detail to the following:

1. Introduction
   
   
2. The regicidal Claudius generously farewells a naive Laertes
   
   
   On return from France, Hamlet has murdered his father, and Laertes' his 'best graces' laid waste.
   
   
   A regal Claudius empathises with sad Hamlet.
   
   Ever gracious, Claudius is beneficent to "my cousin Hamlet, and my son". After the 'mousetrap' play, Claudius tolerance evaporates and he plots to kill Hamlet.
   
   Hamlet, his father dead and mother remarried so soon and to an incestuous brother-in-law is, inconsolable.
3. Gertrude abjures her son, Hamlet, to cease his mourning
   
   
   The innocent Queen is ever gracious and poetic.
   
   Gertrude talks in poignant metaphor: of 'nighted color ', 'friend of Denmark', 'vailèd lids', 'in the dust'.
   
   But to no avail: she has married too soon and too close.
4. Hamlet's mourning is all consuming
   
   
   Hamlet has 'that within which passeth show', a passion which his father's ghost incites to vengeance.
   
   But the scholar Hamlet has misgiving about his calling as God's scourge, merely 'actions that a man might play'.
   
   With a passion, Hamlet resents his own royal place in 'a sea of troubles'
5. Conclusion