MASTERING THE LITERATURE ESSAYGRADE 12 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGEHAMLET

The soliloquies demonstrate Hamlet's character. Choose three distinct character traits to focus on. Show how the soliloquy proves that Hamlet possesses these character traits and explain how having these traits impacts his life and behaviour.

Mastering the Literature essay▪1. Analyse topic

▪2. Plan thoroughly

▪3. Write

Planning

Students write literary essays as

a response to a piece of literature they have read. Usually, they take a position on a topic and then try to prove their stance to the reader.

When writing an essay, the writer

follows this basic pattern:

SAY IT

SHOW IT

SAY IT AGAIN

Beginning = Introduction

= SAY IT

Middle = Body = SHOW

IT

End = Conclusion = SAY

IT AGAIN

‘A tragic hero is a character who comes to misfortune through a fatal character flaw.’ The soliloquies demonstrate Hamlet’s

heroic, yet tragic character. Choose three distinct character traits to focus on. Show how the soliloquy

proves that Hamlet possesses these character traits and explain how having these traits impacts his life and

behaviour.

STEP ONE: ANALYSE THE TOPIC.

The topic usually has two or more components:

1. THE STATEMENT/QUESTION:

‘A tragic hero is a character who comes to misfortune through a fatal character flaw.’

2. THE INSTRUCTION:

The ‘instruction’ tells you how to approach your essay.

…discuss to what extent the quotation is true and how do the soliloquies support the main theme

of a tragic hero

How to write an introduction:

revert your question into a statement

MakeThen, make a statement based on the instruction of the topic, showing your intention/aim in this essay.

Draw on

Draw on your understanding of the play.

MakeMake a broad statement introducing the topic based on the question.

PLANNING

• Planning is key to a successful essay

• Always make a list of for and against arguments first.

• Make sure that you have sufficient arguments for both sides of the point

• Use evidence to support your point.

YOU NEED KNOWLEDGE

• 1) It is essential that you know the analysis of all soliloquies very well.

• 2) Open your book on p 18• 3) Compares his father to a Greek God-

the sun god Hyperion.• 4) Claudius- satyr, goat, lustful

creature, half man, half goat• 5) Misogyny-Hatred of women, man

blames sin and the downfall of all men as the consequences of Eve, Mother goddess’ sin in the Garden of Eden

What Is a Soliloquy?Hamlet's first soliloquy

occurs in Act 1, Scene 2 of the play from lines 130 to

158 and is reproduced in full above. A soliloquy is a type of monologue in a play that is intended to advance the

audience's understanding of a character, including his

inner thoughts and feelings, his motivations, and,

sometimes, what he plans to do next. In this case

Hamlet's soliloquy serves the purpose of informing the

audience of his intense negative feelings toward his

mother's remarriage and highlighting the inner

turmoil those feelings create within him.

• Hamlet refers the world as an ‘unweeded garden’ in which rank and gross things grow in abundance. He bemoans the fact that he cannot commit suicide and explains in lines 130:18 that "self-slaughter" is not an option because it is forbidden by God. In the first two lines of the soliloquy, he wishes that his physical self might cease to exist on its own without requiring him to commit a mortal sin:

• “O that this too solid flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!”

• Though saddened by his father’s death, the larger cause of Gertrude’s disloyal marriage to his uncle. She announces the new marriage when barely a month has passed since his biological father's death. Hamlet mourns that even "a beast would have mourned a little longer." Additionally, he considers this marriage to be an incestuous affair, since his mother is marrying her dead husband's brother =

• WRESTLES WITH HIS OWN THOUGHTS

• This soliloquy shows Hamlet’s deep affection for the late King Hamlet. It also paints the dead king as a loving husband and a respected father and further serves to demonstrate to the audience the hasty nature of Queen Gertrude's second marriage, which she announces without mourning for a respectable period of time.

• Hamlet scorns his mother, but accuses her of weakness rather than malice with the line:

“Frailty, thy name is woman!”

• He concludes the soliloquy by voicing his frustration that he must keep his objections to himself.

IS HAMLET

A TRAGIC HERO?

• HAMLET is a tragic hero according to the definition given to us by Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, who said a good tragedy should elicit pity and fear in the audience and result in catharsis, the release of emotions. He said a tragic hero must be noble, flawed, and suffer a reversal of fortune.

Structure

• Introduction includes some wording from the question as you explain the STANCE you are taking (agree or disagree with the thesis question)

• Introduction must show the LINE OF ARGUMENT

• Introduction must give a ‘PATHWAY’.

This means the route the essay will take.

IntroUse some of the clauses to write your opening statementRemember- no marks are awarded for facts, only structure.

In the play, “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, √ the audience explores through the inner thoughts of Hamlet via his soliloquies, the tragic flaw of delaying the inevitable: to revenge his father’s murder committed by Claudius. In this essay, the supporting evidence, revealed by Hamlet’s inner thoughts, that lead to his final downfall, will be discussed. √ It will also elaborate how this noble, yet flawed character meets his final fate in death by the same man who has killed his father. √NB: TRY TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN

The Middle

(SHOW IT

and here

you gather

marks)

This middle is referred to as the BODY of the essay

Your body paragraphs need to provide specific evidence to actually SHOW or PROVE the thesis that you created in your introduction.

Use as many body paragraphs as you need to prove your thesis.

Body of Essay

O that this too solid flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!Or that the Everlasting had not fix'dHis canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitableSeem to me all the uses of this world!

Hamlet refers the world as an ‘unweeded garden’ in which rank and gross things grow in abundance. He bemoans the fact that he cannot commit suicide and explains in lines 130-135 that "self-slaughter" is not an option because it is forbidden by God. In the first two lines of the soliloquy, he wishes that his physical self might cease to exist on its own without requiring him to commit a mortal sin:

Each paragraph of the body

should have:QUOTE

ARGUMENTA LOGICAL

CONCLUSIONMAIN THEME

Though saddened by his father’s death, the larger cause of Prince Hamlet’s

misery is Queen Gertrude’s disloyal marriage to his

uncle. She announces the new marriage when barely a month has passed since

his biological father's death

Hamlet mourns that even "a beast would have mourned a little longer." Additionally, he considers this marriage to be an incestuous affair, since his mother is marrying her dead

husband's brother.

PROCRASTINATES-OR IS IT NATURAL

MOURNING?

THE FUNCTION

OF THE SOLILOQUY

This soliloquy shows Hamlet’s deep affection for the late King Hamlet. It also paints the dead king as a loving husband and a respected father and further serves to demonstrate to the audience the hasty nature of Queen Gertrude's second marriage, which she announces without mourning for a respectable period of time.

Hamlet scorns his mother, but accuses her of weakness rather than malice with the line:

“Frailty, thy name is woman!”

He concludes the soliloquy by voicing his frustration that he must keep his objections to himself.

OTHER possible ideas that you can use

He wishes that it was not against the laws of God to commit suicide.

He is saying that all the joy has gone out of life and its pleasures.

Hamlet likens life to a garden that has been allowed to run wild and grow gross and disgusting things in it as a result of a lack of tending.

The person he is speaking of (his father, King Hamlet) has been dead for less than two months.

Hamlet says his father is a great king and compares him to Hyperion (one

of the mythological Titans, a god of light and wisdom) and his uncle

Claudius to a satyr (a mythical part-human-part-animal monster with a

constant, exaggerated erection). He goes on to say this his father has

been so loving to his mother that he would stop the very winds from

blowing too hard against

CONCLUSION: DILLUSIONAL, UNREALISTIC VIEW OF HIS FATHER, OWN

INCOMPETENCE

her face.

LIT ESSAY TOOLBOX

THE ESSENTIALS YOU NEED TO KNOW

PLOT/TIMELINE CHARACTERS

THEMES KNOW THE ABOVE WELL. USE THEM AS PROOF FOR YOUR POINTS FOR YOUR

ESSAY.

WRITE THEM OUT, MEMORISE THEM AND REGULARY

TEST YOURSELF ON THEM.

THEY ARE YOUR TOOLS TO ANSWER ANY QUESTION ON THE SPECIFIC TEXT.

Some points to consider…

• Always write in the present tense.• Do not use the FIRST OR SECOND PERSON

i.e. I think that Hamlet is ... XIt is evident that ... √

• PEEL Method – Point, Evidence, Explain and Link.• Link all the paragraphs Do not RETELL the story. Select only the evidence

which is relevant.

• PLAY, not book or novel

• QUOTE ACCURATELY. If you cannot remember a quote then rather paraphrase. Misquoting is out.

• Use CONNECTORS between sentences & paragraphs to link ideas, for e.g. However, similarly, in contrast, therefore, thus, nevertheless, unfortunately, despite...

• Include 1 main idea or point per paragraph. This forms your TOPIC SENTENCE.

• Do not use contractions.• FORMAL LANGUAGE: no contractions, no abbreviations, no slang

• INTRO & CONCLUSION are crucial

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

When quoting how may quotes is sufficient to include in essay and do we have to add the scene/act/chapter etc.? Can we write the quote in modern English? NO, YOU ANSWER QUOTES IN THE SAME TEXT AS IN THE PLAY OTHERWISE STATE, FREELY QUOTED...(TRY NOT TO DO IT, STUDY YOUR WORK WELL)- FOR EACH FACT, TWO QUOTES

For the conclusion of a literary essay, do you basically just restate the intro and add no more facts?YES, NO NEW FACTS ARE INCLUDEDWhat tense do we use in the lit essay and do we write in Present or past tense?AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, THE PRESENT TENSE. AVOID AT ALL COST PERSONAL PRONOUNS AS WELL EXCEPT WHEN YOU NEED TO STATE YOUR OPINION AND THEN IT ONLY HAPPENS IN THE SECOND LAST QUESTION.