Friday, September 28, 2012

"Pre-Will" Questions

a)     Hamlet was the prince of Denmark who lived a life of grief, hence the nickname "Melancholy Dane." His father died and his mother remarried Hamlets uncle. A ghost in the Castle (Hamlet's father) told Hamlet that it had been the uncle himself that had killed his own brother and the death had to be avenged. Hamlet took on the challenge and although he was a bit skeptical about following the orders of a ghost, he ended up proving it was true. Towards the end Hamlet and his ex-friend had a sword fight but the uncle (now king) tries to kill Hamlet by cheating. At the end Hamlet, the uncle, and the friend end up dead. (the mom had died before them from poisoning) ------ (yes I researched it:)
b)     William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon . He was an English poet and playwright. his work has been translated into  every major language. Oh, and he writes in iambic pentameter. okay, that's all I know.....
c)     Humans are fear what they don't understand. Shakespeare's writing is one of those things people don't really take the time to understand so they live fearing it. Most students are not fond of reading and when they read Shakespeare they have to work twice as hard for now they are reading but they are also having to look up what they don't understand. When a reader  reads modern English, they can skip over some words they don't understand and still understand the text fairly well, but when reading Shakespeare, it is crucial for the reader to understand the language and what is being said for if they don't then they miss the meaning of the writing.
d)     A simple summary of the text as we read along would be of great help in the understanding of the play. I think that's all that is really needed to take the stress off of reading any one of Shakespeare's intricate plays.

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