Explaining Character in Shakespeare

Strategies and Activities

Purpose of the Unit

The purpose of reading Hamlet with my students is two-fold. As a matter of mandated learning, I would want my students to become stronger, more fluent, analytical readers. Shakespeare, because of his language and complex array of themes, fosters the type of learning I am looking to bring about. A close reading of the play, its characters, and other literary elements, galvanizes rigor and good “struggle” in my classroom. For these purposes, I think Hamlet would be the best text to use. Prince Hamlet undergoes such bewildering changes due to the vast number of of events playing on his mood swings--there is just plenty to work with! He is also surrounded by enough characters to provide character study for all. My desire would be for students to read and interpret the play and identify characteristics found in various characters. Through various activities, students would dissect these characteristics or traits and find ones that relate to them as people. They would then come up with ways to dissolve the negative characteristics in an effort to further their selves as people, professionals, and public figures. My students are so warped by social media and facades, they lose sight as to who they are or who they were before an event or another person changed that. Helping them find their way back through a project called “To Thine Own Self Be True” will enhance the personal pursuits of this unit. The academic end assessment will consist of a Critical Lens Response arising from a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “a person is a person through other persons.”

My Class

My school is set on a Block Scheduling System, meaning: I meet with one class every other day for 80 minutes. Unfortunately, this prolongs the time spent on the unit due to inconsistencies, holidays, and any senior related absences (ie, college visits, excusable job interviews, community service requirements). This unit is designed for High School Seniors ages 17-20. As in most inner city schools, my students are as varied in reading levels as they are in age. I also have Special Education students included in my class with varying degrees of needs and/or deficiencies. Thus, the degree of difficulty and the variation of given tasks will depend on those elements. In one class I could have students who read at a second grade level in the same room with those who read well and read a lot. I have students who’ve read Shakespeare since Middle School and students who think Leonardo DiCaprio is the writer and star of Romeo and Juliet. This is why the focus on character is important. No matter the level of these students or their amount of knowledge, discussing character and character traits is worthwhile.

Plans

The best way for me to communicate the idea of Character Development and discuss the ways in which Shakespeare uses characterization to shape central ideas (death, life, action vs. inaction, revenge, etc.), is to do a close reading of the dialogue, soliloquies, and monologues. In my plans, students will perform the following every class day:

• Read for details and understanding
• Annotate speeches of various kinds for comprehension and analysis
• Support analysis through textual evidence using exit slips

The list includes necessary skills for reading fluency and is required by the Common Core State Standards (see Appendix for a list of the standards and their description).

PreRead

Before the actual reading of the play, students would examine the title: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. After reading the title, students would answer following:

• What do we already know about this play?
• What is a tragedy?

At this point, depending on my population of students, I would elicit definitions of tragedy and ask for examples. Since my students tend to read well below level, it is important to make terms as accessible as possible.

Continuing with prereading strategies, students will then turn to the list of characters and read through in pairs. This will help them identify characters and plot before the play even begins. By the time they have finished work in pairs, all students should be able to tell me:

• There is a ghost in the play.
• Hamlet’s father is also named Hamlet and he is dead.
• Hamlet’s mother (named Gertrude) has remarried Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius.
• Claudius is the new King
• Hamlet is a Prince

This is usually the point where I ask for predictions of what will happen. If, at this point, students are not yet aware of the strange love arrangement between Gertrude and Claudius (which they almost always are), I would ask direct questions.

• Who is Hamlet’s father?
• Who is Hamlet’s Mother?
• Who is Hamlet’s mother married to?
• Who is he to Hamlet?

Once we get past the “ewww’s” and “what???”, we will begin reading.

Close Reading

The first 5 lines in Act I begin with the very important question, “Who’s there?”[]

Act I. Scene i: Elsinore. A platform before the castle.

FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO

BERNARDO :Who's there?

FRANCISCO :Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.

BERNARDO :Long live the king!

FRANCISCO :Bernardo?

BERNARDO :He

I would do a close reading of these lines, including the information given. These lines are easy enough for students to understand, but it’s the greater theme of “Who” that encompasses the play and my end goal for this unit. This opening gives us a setting, a part of the plot, a prevalent tone, and will introduce students to the reason for this entire play. We now know that there are guards necessary for a watch at the castle. We know that it is dark and might be scary (Who’s there?). I would pay particular interest to the “stand and unfold yourself” line, as it has a connection to my students and the unmasking that they must do in order to identify their true selves.

As we continued with reading, students will maintain a reading log in order to keep track of characters that “appear” and how those characters are linked. Later, they will use this log to create a character map in groups. An example of a Character Log can be seen below:

The log would be filled until all characters of Act I are identified. Students will use these logs as study guides for their assessment on each act of the play. We will only do a close reading of the first five lines. After that, either I or a recording will continue reading the rest of scene one. Students will read along silently, marking vocabulary that may need to have explained.

Scene 2 offers a great Close Read on the development of Hamlet’s character through the words of Claudius. In lines 90-110, Claudius is reprimanding Hamlet for mourning his father. Students will read and analyze Claudius’ words and explain how it could impact the development of the Prince. (See Appendix for reading)

There are other soliloquies that we will read closely and analyze for character development or theme. Below is a list of soliloquies and the Acts and scenes they can be found in:

• Laertes to Ophelia 1.3
• Hamlet’s feelings about his father’s death and mother’s marriage 1.2
• Hamlet meets the ghost 1.5
• Hamlet action vs. inaction 2.2
• “To be or not to be…” 3.1
• Claudius’ prayer 3.3
• Hamlet stalls again 3.3
• Hamlet’s final soliloquy 4.4

Close reading gives the students a chance to focus on specific parts of the text. I am flexible enough to have questions for students to answer while they read; characteristics to identify in each soliloquy; character development through words given by the character; or even questions concerning figurative language, denotative and connotative language, etc. A close reading is a way to analyze a passage for a more in depth interpretation and analysis.

Another strategy would be questioning. Questions would be prepared before the lessons to assist while students are reading alone or in groups. Known as “guided questions” this task is absolutely essential in a room where there are varying levels of reading abilities. Students can also use these questions as a study guide for assessments.

Warm-ups or “Do Now’s” are a great way to engage students when time has passed since your last classroom encounter. During the Warm-Up, students will see posed questions on the board (no more than two) and begin to answer those questions in groups or as individuals. This will allow students to immediately engage in the curriculum, access prior knowledge, and stay abreast of any occurrences in the play. The question would not have to be “How was Polonius murdered?” It could be a reflective prompt: “If you were Hamlet’s mother, would you have reported your son as a murderer? Why or why not?”