I have been so excited all year for this play as it is one of my absolute favorites. However, the move to the online schooling format has brought about some difficulties regarding this book. William Shakespeare has a writing style that is different for many 9th graders and involves language and wording that is unfamiliar. However, I hope with the following resources we can still enjoy it together!
We will be starting our new book, the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. I have provided a PDF version for you to read, and also recommend using the "No Fear Shakespeare" adaptation on Sparknotes. "No Fear" provides modern commentary and wording parallel to the original text to help you understand what is being said. This particular PDF version has fantastic notes at the bottom of each page that help explain the setting and strange words used by Shakespeare.
I am also linking an audio performance of the play on Spotify. I understand Spotify does require a subscription in order to listen to the tracks in order. This is the best performance I've found and the best quality sound-wise.
Lastly, I am asking all students (if at all possible) to watch the 1996 movie adaptation of Hamlet, produced by and staring Kenneth Branagh. This is available to purchase on Amazon Prime, Youtube, Vudu, itunes, and Google Play. It is a fantastic performance, but due to its length, it's best watched in portions. Below, I am laying out the assigned reading and corresponding time stamps for both the movie and the audio performance for each day. As we go along, I will add helpful videos and additional resources as review and recap tools. ***If you do not have the resources to purchase the movie, please contact me asap.
There will be a review quiz when we finish Act 2.
At the end of the quarter, there will be a project due on this play. At the bottom of this page, I am putting a full description of the project and the grading rubric.
While the Assignment Calendar tells you what to cover for each day, I am putting here my recommended format for how to do that assignment. You are not obligated to do it this way, but you must read/listen to the portion of the play assigned each day.
Use either the PDF or No Fear Shakespeare on Sparknotes or the audio performance available on Spotify. When you are finished, you may watch the corresponding portion of the movie or you can save it till Friday and watch everything from the week if that works better (I encourage watching the movie as I believe it will help you make sense of the story, but as long as you are also doing the reading, I'm flexible about when you watch the movie). I have found it beneficial myself to read along the text while watching or to turn on subtitles. It helps you understand the dramatic interpretation of the text and how performing the play puts different emphasis on words than merely reading it.
Tuesday, April 14th:
Read Hamlet Act 1, Scene 1.
Spotify: Tracks "Act 1 Part 1" and "Act 1 Part 2 till 4:14"
Movie: From the start till time stamp 10:13.
Wednesday, April 15th:
Read Hamlet Act 1, Scene 2.
Spotify: Tracks "Act 1 Part 2 at 4:14 till the end" and "Part 3," "Part 4, and" Part 5."
Movie: From 10:13 - 27:28.
Thursday, April 16th:
Read Hamlet Act 1, Scenes 3, 4, and 5.
Spotify: Tracks "Act 1 Part 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10."
Movie: From 27:28 - 51:37.
Monday, April 20th:
Read Hamlet Act 2, Scene 1.
Spotify: Tracks "Act 1 Part 11 and 12." (I know it's Act 2, but the format of the tracks is weird.)
Movie: From 51:37 - 58:36.
Tuesday, April 21st:
Read Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2 Part 1
Spotify: Tracks "Act 2 Part 1, 2, 3, and 4 (till 3:45)."
Movie: 58:36 - 1:18:14
Wednesday, April 22nd:
Read Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2 Part 2
Spotify: Tracks "Act 2 Part 4 at 3:45 till end of track, Parts 5, 6, and 7."
Movie: 1:18:14 - 1:30:46.
Thursday, April 23rd: Review and Recap Day
Monday, April 27th:
Read Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1.
Spotify Tracks: "Act 2 Part 8 & 9"
Movie: 1:30:46 - 1:44:42
Tuesday, April 28th:
Read Hamlet Act 3, Scene 2.
Spotify Tracks: "Act 2 Part 10, 11, 12, & 13"
Movie: 1:44:42 - 2:04:19
Wednesday, April 29th:
Read Hamlet Act 3 Scenes 3 and 4.
Spotify Tracks: "Act 3 Part 1, 2, 3, & 4"
Movie: 2:04:19 - 2:24:47
Thursday, April 30th:
Read Hamlet Act 4 Scenes 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Spotify: "Act 3 Part 5, 6, 7, & 8"
Movie: 2:24:47 - 2:38:15
Monday, May 4th:
Read Hamlet Act 4, Scenes 5 & 6
Spotify Tracks: "Act 3 Part 5, 6, 7, & 8"
Movie: 2:38:15 - 2:54:56
Tuesday, May 5th:
Read Hamlet Act 4, Scene 7
Spotify Tracks: "Act 3 Part 9 & 10"
Movie: 2:54:56 - 3:07:35
Wednesday, May 6th:
Read Hamlet Act 5, Scene 1
Spotify Tracks: "Act 3 Part 11, 12, 13, & 14"
Movie: 3:07:35 - 3:24:27
Thursday, May 7th:
Read Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2 (The last!)
Spotify Tracks: Act 3 Part 15, 16, 17, 18, & 19"
Movie: 3:24:27 - End.
Alright! For our final project on Hamlet (and for the year!) we will be delving into our creative sides. We will have time directly reserved in the lesson plans for this project, but students are free to work on it in their own time and may start whenever.
There are FIVE different options for your project. Time to flex some creative muscles and show what you've got!
Art Piece: Students may use ANY medium, format, or fashion as long as it is NOT digital. This option must be hands on. Use the story of Hamlet and create an interpretive piece based on the story. You can choose any aspect of the story to work with. This will be graded partially on quality, so please don't pick this one as a "last ditch effort" to turn something in. The other part of the grade will involve how you have and how much you have incorporated the story of Hamlet.
Rap or Song: Students will create an original song or rap (or both!) based on some part of the story of Hamlet. They will need to create music to go with it and will have to perform it (Social Distancing will determine whether this will be in person or via recording). When performed, it must be a minimum of two minutes long. This will be graded based on how the story of Hamlet is used and the performance.
Tabloid Cover: Hamlet is a dramatic story that is perfect for those crazy magazines you see in the check-out line! Students will use a designing site or program (Photoshop, Worddoc, Adobe Spark, etc) to create a Tabloid cover based on the story of Hamlet. Original and clever headlines, topic ideas, and article names will need to be created. This will be graded on the incorporation of the story of Hamlet and on how convincing it is as a tabloid.
Hamlet in Five Minutes: More interested in videos? Students will recreate the story of Hamlet in FIVE minutes using video! This is not a retelling: students cannot just tell the story in five minutes verbally. This is to be acted out. Students can be as clever and creative as possible. It does not have to be historically accurate or use Shakespearean language. Show it to us in your "own words (or actions." If you can make a TikTok, you can do this. This will be graded on creativity and use of the story.
Revamp the Dialogue: Students can take an entire Scene from the story of Hamlet and convert it into a modern text conversation. Convert it to modern language we would use in a casual conversation, but keep the main feel and purpose of the original conversation. What would Hamlet be like as a modern young man today? This will be graded based on how you use the story and convincingly portray Hamlet as a real person today.
This video is the beginning of a playlist of videos that break down Hamlet scene for scene. Course Hero is a great resource to use to help understand underlying themes. Some of these videos may be assigned from time to time as a recap.
John Green gives great background information and character analysis with a heavy dose of humor. He recaps the whole play, so spoiler alerts.
John Green continues his analysis of the story with his usual humor, this time focusing on Ophelia.
If you actually read this entire page all the way through, draw me a penguin, take a picture, and email it to me for 5 bonus points to be applied to any grade this quarter (except tests). Don't tell anyone what you did. They need to read this for themselves.