Objectives
This unit will address several of the objectives of an AP English Literature course. The first objective this unit meets is C1. This states that "the works selected for the course should require careful, deliberative reading that yields multiple meanings." Our reading of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet clearly meets this objective. In fact, the multiple meanings of the text will be highlighted by the various films we use in class as well as our own discussions in class.
The second objective met will be C2. This requires that students write an "analytical essay in which students draw upon textual details to develop an extended explanation/ interpretation of the meaning of a literary text." This objective will be met by the final essay which examines the effect of the portrayal of Gertrude or Ophelia in one of the films on the interpretation of the actual Shakespeare text. Students will examine all three Ophelias and Gertrudes in the films, and we will also discuss the characters created through the written text. Their analysis will require them to use textual information from not only a written text, but from film as well.
Students will also meet objective C3 which states that "The student draws upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values." This is one of the central ideas of this unit. Students need to consider the societies that created the works we are reading and viewing in order to make informed decisions about a director's particular vision. The students also need to do this when they consider what led the director to decide to make a film of Hamlet at that point in history. When they consider the culture and the society from which the film came, they may gain insight into why the director changed or interpreted Shakespeare's text the way he did.
We will also work on objective C4 which asks that "students have frequent opportunities to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses." Clearly while working on their essays the students will go through several drafts. During the writing process I offer to meet with my students individually after school or at lunch to go over a rough draft with them. Once they hand in the final copy, I write comments on the essay, grade it, and give them the opportunity to revise their essay for a better grade if they are unhappy with their grade or wish to develop their paper further.
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