So, today, we’re all about memorizing…After 2-3 runthroughs, I suggest some individual time trying to jam your lines into your hippocampus.

Some added resources:

• Read this article about how an anthropologist finds differences when he tells the story of Hamlet to the Tiv tribe in West Africa.
• Read the greatest commencement address ever given.
• Read why Justice Stevens thinks Shakespeare isn’t Shakespeare.
• Go hog wild with Hamlet criticism
• …and is this a picture of Shakespeare?

HW: Memorize, memorize

We’ll start, as every class should start, with a version of Hamlet as created by the Simpsons. I might even share the Facebook Hamlet piece from McSweeny’s.

Next, we’ll spend time in small groups preparing to lead short discussions on topics having to do with Hamlet.  Then, we’ll have  a 40-50 minute discussion. The Hamlet Roundtable is where we find our topic list.

From there, it’s time to assign scenes from Hamlet to create 10 minute presentations.  If we have time, we’ll start a run through and begin memorizing our lines.

HW: Memorize Lines

I want to read 1.1 in class to get started and then see the rest of the movie version of Hamlet.

Then, take a look at this Hamlet Roundtable assignment. On Wednesday, we’ll talk Hamlet in a circle and then get to work assigning groups to do the 10-minute scenes.

Also, test yourself with the following questions (I and II, III-V) about major plot points in Hamlet.

HW: Prepare for Hamlet Roundtable

So, we’ll be talking a bit about the AP Final (grades are up). I’ll be hiding behind the podium.  We may need to talk about an alternative rhetorical analysis paper based on the Arts & Letters Daily site. I hope to get the Synthetic essays graded by Friday.

Then, we’ll read Act I, Scene 1 in class and talk a bit about it before starting the movie version of Hamlet.

HW:  Read the rest of the play.

Image credit: Wikipedia