Black Arts Movement

1960s-1970s

The Black Arts Movement (BAM) is the artistic branch of the Black Power Movement. It started in Harlem by Amiri Baraka. It was one of the most controversial moments in the history of African American literature. The movement was triggered by the assassination of Malcolm X (an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist). Artists within the movement looked to create politically engaging work that considered the African American culture and historical events.

Characteristics:

Poems built around:

-       Anthems

-       Chants

-       Political slogans

Used in organizing work

Intent:

-       Awaken black people to the meaning of their lives

 Major Themes:

Black Power
Liberation

Styles:

Vernacular dialogues

Employment of Lit Devices:

Authors:

Amiri Baraka

Gwendolyn Brooks

Nikki Giovanni

Gill-Scott Heron

Etheridge Knight

Poem:

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka

Lately, I've become accustomed to the way


The ground opens up and envelopes me


Each time I go out to walk the dog.


Or the broad edged silly music the wind


Makes when I run for a bus...



Things have come to that.



And now, each night I count the stars.


And each night I get the same number.


And when they will not come to be counted,


I count the holes they leave.



Nobody sings anymore.



And then last night I tiptoed up


To my daughter's room and heard her


Talking to someone, and when I opened


The door, there was no one there...


Only she on her knees, peeking into



Her own clasped hands

Black Mountain Poets

A group of poets from the Black Mountain College (BMC). The college was started in 1933 and lasted until 1956. It was one of the first schools to stress the importance of teaching creative arts. The college was started by John A. Rice, a scholar who left Rollins College.


Characteristics:
"Projective verse", a term coined by Olson, was the type of "open field" poetry composition that was centered at BMC. Projective verse centered around process rather than product. The "composition by field" urges poets to at the same time remove their personal emotions from their works and cast the energy of the poems to the reader directly. Spontaneity and "the act of the poem" then take the place of reason and description.

Distinctive style of poetic diction - 'yr' for 'your'

 Major Themes:
Human Experiences
Love
Nature
War
The Environment
Mysticism


Styles:
Open long-forms

Projective verse - based on the line and each line was to be a unit of breath and utterance. The content was to consist of one perception and lead directly to a further perception. It created a distinctive style of poetic diction ("yr" for "your").

Employment of Lit Devices:


Authors:
Charles Olson - taught at BMC from 1948-1956 and was its last Rector
Robert Creeley - student; teacher for two years at BMC; editor of the Black Mountain Review, became a link between the Black Mountain poets and the outside poets

Robert Duncan 

Denise Levertov 

Jonathan Williams 

Poem:
A Form of Women by Robert Creeley

Robert Creeley

I have come far enough
from where I was not before
to have seen the things
looking in at me from through the open door

and have walked tonight
by myself
to see the moonlight
and see it as trees

and shapes more fearful
because I feared
what I did not know
but have wanted to know.

My facd is my own, I thought.
But you have seen it
turn into a thousand years.
I watched you cry.

I could not touch you.
I wanted very much to
touch you
but could not.

If it is dark
when this is given to you,
have care for its content
when the moon shines.

My face is my own.
My hands are my own.
My mouth is my own
but I am not.

Moon, moon,
whn you leave me alone
all the darkness is
an utter blackness,

a pit of fear,
a stench,
hands unreasonable
never to touch.

But I love you.
Do you love me.
What to say
when you see me. 

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance was a literary and cultural movement that began right after the end of WWI. Large numbers of African Americans moved North in search of jobs and of new opportunities.




Characteristics:
Intent
   - to improve and uplift African Americans through historical awareness 
   - "The New Negro"
         - term introduced by Alain LeRoy
         - described a new wave of African-American intellectuals who used poetry and other forms of artistic and cultural expression to subvert racism


Influenced by African American folk poetry and oral traditions 


Reflected new found pride in black culture 


Major Themes:
Migration
American Identity
AMerican Dream




Styles:
Varied from each poet
Repetitive Structure
Recurring themes of blues music
Jazz songs impacted the structure of poems
Free Verse




Employment of Lit Devices:
References to black American past and the experiences of slavery 




Authors:
Langston Hughes 1902-1967 ~ The Weary Blues (1926)
Countee Cullen 1903-1946 ~ I Have a Rendezvous With Life (1920s)
Claude McKay 1889-1948 ~ Birds of Prey
Effie Lee Newsome 1885-1979 ~ The Bronze Legacy (To a Brown Boy)
Jean Toomer 1894-1967 ~ Blue Meridian



Example:

My People by Langston Hughes




The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

The Odyssey

Major themes:
Loyalty - Telemachos searching for his father who has been gone for 20 years.
             - Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return
Disloyalty - Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter
Pride/Arrogance - When Odysseus blinds the Cyclops he yells out something like "You have just been blinded by Odysseus, prince of Ithaca!"
Coming of Age - Telemachos starts out with good intentions and a naïve spirit but faces many barriers and eventually prevails 
                         - Odysseus grows in wisdom and judgement, making him a better king
Forgetting (or the evils of drugs and women) - The lotus eaters
               - Circe made the men forget 


What type of questions would this be good to answer?
Questions dealing with loyalty
Questions dealing with storytellers
Questions dealing with family dynamics


List of Major Lit Devices:
Motifs -
Storytelling ~ Telemachos and Meadelails are very good at this


Symbols - 
Birds ~ owls, falcons, sea ravens, eagle - Zeus watches in the form of an eagle. Eagle symbolizes the gods




Important Scenes or Favorite Scenes:
Favorite: When Odysseus wants to hear the sound of the siren's voices, he is told that he can hear them only if he shoves wax in his men's ears and if he is tied up tightly to the mast.




Important: Telemachos beginning his journey. (Backs up the Coming of Age theme)











List of Characters:

Odysseus
Telemachos
Agammenon- sacrifices his only daughter. He is murdered by his wife and her new boyfriend

Achilles – only weak in is his ankle. We see him in the Underworld, and he says he would rather be a slave in the living rather than a hero in the Underworld.

Helen – she was considered the most beautiful girl alive- reason the trojin war happen

Menelaus- Goatherd who insults Odysseus and taunts the swineherd and the beggar.

Aias (Ajax): The greater Ajax of the Iliad. He dies an early death after the war and is mentioned when Menelaus asks Proteus about his companions and when Odysseus goes to the land of the dead.

Orestes- Agamemnon’s son who killed his mother and her lover to get revenge

Nestor: Old king of Pylos who entertains Telemachus and advises him to go seek news for his father from Menelaus.

Mentor: the servant left in charge of Odysseus things 

Nausicaa: Daughter of Alcinous who finds Odysseus in the thicket near the river where he washed up on the island. She was prompted to go to the river by Athena.

Alcinoos: King of the Phaiakians who welcomes Odysseus and hears his long tale. He presents Odysseus with great treasures and gives him secure passage to Ithaca.

Arete: Wife of Alcinoos. Odysseus had to approach her to get to

Eumaios: swineherd

Theoclymenos: Seer who Telemachus brings with him from mainland Greece.

Melanthios: Goatherd who insults Odysseus and taunts the swineherd and the beggar.

Arnaios: (Iros) The beggar who comes into the house and taunts Odysseus and they fight and Odysseus kicks his butt

Eurycleia – Housekeeper and Telemachos's nanny

Tityo:

Sisyphus: rolls rock up

Amphinomos: One of the suitors who is opposed to killing Telemachus.

Telemachos- Odesseus son

Laertes: Odysseus' father. He appears only at the end of the poem and prepares to stand with his son against the Ithacan mob.

Penelope- Odyssies wife, mother of Telemachos

Antinoos: he head suitor, son of a man Odysseus saved from death. He is the first of the suitors to speak at all times and plans to kill Telemachus. He is also the first of the suitors to be killed by Odysseus.

Eurymachos : The second suitor, Eurymachus always speaks after Antinous or in place of him. He is the second suitor to die.

Lotus Eaters

Ciconians: Cyclops son of Poseidon who is blinded by Odysseus. Polyphemus is a shepherd who refuses to be a host to Odysseus and eats some of his men. He curses Odysseus and asks his father for revenge.

Polyphemos: Cyclops son of Poseidon who is blinded by Odysseus. Polyphemus is a shepherd who refuses to be a host to Odysseus and eats some of his men. He curses Odysseus and asks his father for revenge.

Scylla: Six-headed beast who inhabits the cave parallel to the whirlpool Charybdis. Scylla eats six of Odysseus' men.

Charybdis: swallows water to create a whirlpool and then spits the water back out

Aiolos: King of the winds who entertained Odysseus at an early part of his journey. He presents Odysseus with a bag of the winds so that he may get home safely. When Odysseus' men release the winds and the ship is blown back, Aeolus has no pity.

Elpenor: Young sailor who dies on the island of Circe from falling from her roof. He appears to Odysseus in the land of the dead and asks him to come bury him.

Teiresias: dead seer in hades that tells Odysseus how to get home

Eurylochos: Blind prophet who Odysseus goes to find in the land of the dead. He tells Odysseus how to get home and that he must appease Poseidon once he gets there.

Cassandra: raped and murdered by Little Ajax on Athena’s alter.

Tantalus: from hades. 

Structure: 
24 books (like chapters)
Chapters 1-4 ~ Telemachos and his journey to find his father to Phaiacia
Chapter 5-8 ~ Odysseus and his escape fromCalypo's island and his travels/adventures
Chapters 9-12 ~ Odysseus telling his back story of how he ended up on Calypso's island and how he got to Phaiacia to King Alcinoös.
Chapter 13-16 ~ Odysseus and Telemachor return to Ithaca
Chapters 17-20 ~ Odysseus returns home
Chapters 21-24 ~ Odysseus and Telemachos get revenge against the suitors and disloyal servants


Brief Summary:


Odysseus is trying to get home after being gone for 20 years (10 fighting the Trojan War, 10 trying to get home). His son Telemachos goes out looking for him because he is afraid that one of the suitors that is trying to woo his mother will actually woo her. And he misses his father. The entire book is the story of how Odysseus fought his way home and how Telemachos becomes a man.


Lots of monsters!


http://www.shmoop.com/odyssey/summary.html

Odysseus’s tragic flaw is his PRIDE

Brave New World

·      Major Themes:
d  Freedom - or lack thereof 
        From the beginning everyone is conditioned to be the same. They all think they are free to do what they want, but they really aren't. 
    

\

·      What type of questions would this be good to answer?
    Questions about isolation
    Questions about denial

·      List of major literary devices:  
    Allusions:
    Lots of allusions to Shakespeare's works because the only book that John has ever read contained Shakespeare's completed works.
   Title comes from The Tempest
   Lenina - Vladimir Lenin
   Polly Trotsky - Leon Trotsky
   Mustapha Mond- Alfred Mond,
   Bernard Marx - George Bernard Shaw, Karl Marx
   Benito Hoover - Benito Mussolini
   Helmholtz Watson - Hermann von Helmholtz
   
   

\

·      Important scenes OR favorite scenes:
   Important: 
   The description of social classes
   The introduction of John and Linda
   


   

·      List of characters:

   Bernard Marx
   Benito Hoover
   Polly Trotsky
   Lenina Crowne
   Henry Foster
   Helmholtz Watson
   Mustapha Mond
   Director (Thomas/ D.H.C.)
   John the Savage
   Linda - John's mother
 
   

·      Structure:
   3-part structure

·      Brief summary:
          From the time they are newborns, until they are adults, they are conditioned to be successful in society according to their caste. Everyone is put into a category. The people in the highest cultural level are Alphas, and then Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons are the bottom. Alphas are strong, tall, smart, and extremely attractive. Epsilons are short, stupid, and most of them are deformed.

     As they get older, another way the citizens are controlled is with soma. Soma is a pill that makes people happy. People are supposed to take the drug whenever something goes wrong and they start to feel depressed.
     As the story progresses we meet two characters that are very different. The first is Bernard, an Alpha, who is abnormally short and hates soma. He refuses to take it. He would rather be unhappy than have a false bliss.
     Another character that is encountered is Lenina. Lenina loves soma. She takes soma all the time. In our society she would be considered an addict, but in their society, it is completely normal. 

      There is one similarity between these characters; they like each other. They go on an awkward date, which ends in them having sex, which is also normal for the society. They move past the gawkiness and decide to go to the Savage Reservation together.
      Once they are there, they meet a man named John. John's mother is from the outside world, but he was born in the reservation. Bernard and Lenina meet his mother, Linda. Linda came to the reservation 20 years ago and was accidentally left at the Reservation. Since Linda has been in the reservation she has gotten old, fat and ugly. Bernard finds this all every interesting and calls the World Controller. Bernard and Lenina bring John and Linda back to the New World with them.
     Once they are brought to the New World, Bernard takes Linda and John to see the Director, John’s father.  Linda throws herself at him but he doesn’t remember or doesn’t allow himself to remember who she is. John comes in, drops to his knees, and yells, “My Father!” The Director ends up quitting his job.
     Bernard is put in charge of John, and shows him around the city. John was very excited to see the new world because his mother had told him wonderful things. He begins to hate the New World very quickly.
     So, ever since John laid eyes on Lenina, he has liked her. Lenina also starts to develop feelings for John. In one part of the novel, Lenina goes to see John to confess her feeling for him. She takes off all her clothes and throws herself at him. He pushes her away and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t go away. Lenina runs and hides in the bathroom and John receives a phone call and rushes out of the apartment.
      The call is from the Hospital for the Dying. Linda was taken there to die. She was so old, fat and ugly that the society wanted nothing to do with her. So, when Linda was brought back to the New World she was put on a twenty-four hour soma intake. The soma was slowly taking away her lung capacity until she could no longer breathe and ended up dying right in front of John.
      John is so upset that when he sees a group of Deltas getting their soma rations, he flips out. He starts quoting Shakespeare and lecturing them about how soma is not only poisoning their bodies, but their souls as well. When the Deltas look at him puzzled, he begins throwing their soma pills out the window.
     Then, John, Bernard and their friend, Helmholtz, get in trouble with the law and are going to be exiled to an island. John has to go to a different island than Bernard and Helmholtz. So, John chooses to live in a lighthouse.
      John needs to feel like he is worthy of something. This is because of his upbringing and having the only book he has ever read be The Complete Works of Shakespeare. He was raised in the Savage reservation, where when a man wanted to marry a woman he had to prove himself commendable.
     To prove that he is worthy; the first night John is in the lighthouse he stretches out his arms in a mock crucifixion style.  After doing that all night, he is still unsatisfied, but he tries to get over it and goes to start a garden. He also decides that he needs bows and arrows. He falls down a tree and starts carving out a six-foot bow and some arrows. He realizes that he is actually having a good time and immediately starts thinking about his dead mother.
      John continues the masochistic routine of brutalizing himself on a daily basis. One afternoon, John starts to think about a naked Lenina and starts whipping himself. A reporter catches this on film and makes a movie out of it. People from all over London, flock to see John whip himself like an animal. John grabs his whip and starts advancing at people as if he were going to beat them. Lenina shows up and sends John over the edge. He runs at her and whips her. The crowd loves the ‘show’, and starts imitating John’s actions and chanting ‘Orgy-Porgy’.
      After he regains consciousness from the soma-induced orgy, John remembers everything. Some reporters go to see him that afternoon and find him hanging from the rafters of the lighthouse. 

Really Important Info:

World State's Motto: Community, Identity, Stability

The government has the power to create a community of like-minded people. In a community of like-minded people who would all have the same beliefs and same identity, there would be no fighting and therefor create a stable environment.


"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition, we want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history that we make today" - Henry Ford

Hamlet Act 5 Questions

HAMLET ACT 5: Questions

1) What do you feel is the point of the gravedigger’s riddles and song? How does it fit into the play?
The riddles are comic relief, but they also show that the gravedigger probably knows Hamlet. The songs reinforce the themes of love and death, which is ironic because the gravedigger is talking to Hamlet and digging Ophelia's grave. 

2) In what ways do Hamlet’s reactions to the skulls in the graveyard seem to suggest a change in his outlook? Compare Hamlet’s attitude towards Yoric to Hamlet’s attitude to Ophelia or even his father? How is it different? How is it similar?
He is more open with his emotions. When the gravedigger tells him that it was Yoric's skull he remembers a time when he was happy, when he didn't have to worry about looking over his shoulder. His father reminds Hamlet that his father his dead and his uncle Claudius murdered him. Ophelia reminds him that the king and Polonius are using the woman that he loves to spy on him and he feels betrayed.

3) How old is Hamlet? How do you know this?
30 years. The gravedigger says he has been working for the king since Hamlet was born 30 years ago. (The same day King Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras)


4) What does the violent argument between Hamlet and Laertes add to the play?
Action! He says that he is the Dane. This is one of the only times that Hamlet shows interesting in being king.

Hamlet and Laertes are also saying that they both love Ophelia. Laertes is also a little crazy because he jumps into his sister's grave.


5) What developments in Hamlet’s character are presented through the story of what happened on the boat? (V.ii 1-62). How has Hamlet changed?
He is willing to get rid of his childhood friends. He dishonesty and betrayal totally offends him, he thinks it is the worst thing that a person could do. He finally starts taking actions.

6) How do Hamlet’s motives in killing Claudius seem to have shifted according to his speech beginning “Does it not, think thee…” (V.ii. 63)
He says that not only has Claudius killed his father and married his mother, he has also taken the throne from Hamlet. Now he will stop at nothing to avenge his father; he is finally going to take actions.


7) What concerns of the play are reinforced in the Osric episode? (V.ii. 80-170)
Osric talks is large words and speaks a lot. Osric is trying to impress Hamlet because he is in a position of power. Osric doesn't need to though because Hamlet doesn't care.


8) Why does Hamlet ‘defy augury’? (V.ii. 204)
He believes that he has to go fight. This is going to happen sooner or later, might as well be now.


9) What does Laertes say is his motive in still resenting Hamlet? How has he already lost this? How does this contribute to the presentation of revenge in the play? (V.ii 216-223)
He wants to protect his honor to be protected. Hamlet kills his father and buries him very quickly and then his sister drowns, Laertes doesn't have much going for him except his honor (what little hasn't been stained by his family's blood).

10) How might the dying lines of Gertrude, Claudius and Laertes be viewed as typical of the way their characters have been presented throughout the play?
Gertrude is saying good bye to the one thing that she actually cares about: her son. I think that she knew the drink was poisoned and was trying to right her wrongs by saving Hamlet.


Claudius is trying to reach out to his friends to get them to help him, but the people don't care. They only respected him because he is the King. He tries to make it all about him again.


Laertes realizes that what he has done is wrong. He isn't a bad guy, he just goes a little crazy when his father dies and his sister drowns.


11) Who “wins” in Hamlet? How and why do you think this?
Fortinbras. He is the only person in the play that is seeking revenge that lives. 

Act IV

Act IV, Scene 1


1. What is Claudius' main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius' death? 
He could have been killed (or he will be next). And that he will be blamed for Polonius's death because he couldn't keep Hamlet under control.


Act IV, Scene 2


1. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? 
The whereabouts of Polonius's dead body.


Act IV, Scene 3


1. What image does Hamlet use (ll. 19-29) to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily? 

A man may fish with a worm that ate a king and then eat the fish that he catches with said worm. Which may mean that Claudius can be replaced quickly.


2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter: to whom, and what order does it contain? 
He writes to the English King and plans to have Hamlet killed when he reaches England.


Act IV, Scene 4


1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland (l. 20)? What will the invasion itself cost (l. 25)? 
Land = 20,000 ducats (The Captain wouldn't pay over 5 ducats though)
Invasion - 2,000 men & 20,000 ducats


2. Hamlet's soliloquy (ll. 32-66) is self-critical; summarize his main fault. 
He is afraid of taking action. His cowardly hesitation is holding him back. You don't need a good reason too fight if your honor is at stake. He admires Fortinbras's will to fight for his honor. 


Act IV, Scene 5


1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. Why? What do they tell us about her at the moment? What might they reveal about Her, Hamlet and Polonius?
Her songs after Claudius enters are strange because they hint that Hamlet took Ophelia's virginity and refused to marry her because she was not longer 'pure' (Hamlet tricked her into bed by making a promise to marry her but won't marry her). She has gone crazy and there are two probable reasons: her father died, and Hamlet, the love of her life left her during her time of need.






2. Why is Laertes a danger to Claudius' throne (ll. 98-103)? (Actually two or three related reasons.) 
~ Laertes has a large group of followers that want him to be King
~ 


3. What does Claudius offer as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death (ll. 190-9)? 
He tells Laertes to find his most trusted friend to hear both sides of the story and decide who is telling the truth. If Claudius isn't, he will hand over his kingdom, crown, life and everything he owns to Laertes. 


Act IV, Scene 6


1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How did he? 
He was captured by pirates! Their ship was attacked but Hamlet talks to the pirates and ends up being the only one taken captive by these friendly buccaneers. 


Act IV, Scene 7


1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius (ll. 1-4)? 
Hamlet was trying to kill Claudius instead of Polonius


2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder (ll. 9-24)? 

~ The Queen loves Hamlet very much and she is part of his life so he doesn't want to offend/upset her

~ The public also loves and respects Hamlet

So by punishing Hamlet, it would make Gertrude and the public hate Claudius

3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon) and that Hamlet is envious of this fame. 
Good for Laertes? =)


4. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge (ll. 126-38)? 
Have a fencing competition!! He thinks that Hamlet will never be able to beat Laertes! Hamlet and Laertes will fence in a duel, but Laertes will actually have a sharpened sword.


5. How does Laertes refine the plan (ll. 138-147)? 
Not only will he have a sharp sword in their duel, he will dip his sword in poison. Claudius says he will put poison in a glass of wine for Hamlet so they will kill him one way or another. 


6. What announcement does Gertrude make to end Act IV?
Ophelia has drowned. =(

Additional Act 3 Questions

1) What does Claudius plan to do with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hamlet?
To England they must go! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern must go to keep an eye on Hamlet.

2) What is Polonius going to do while Hamlet speaks with his mother?
Hide and listen in on the conversation. But then Hamlet kills him.


3) List three important things about Claudius’ soliloquy.

a) He is feeling guilty. He feels guilty for killing his brother and stealing his crown and wife.




b) He cannot pray though it appears he is. He cannot pray because cannot be forgiven of his sins because he has committed a crime but is living with all the benefits of it (crown and his queen) and he isn't willing to give them up. 



c) He wants to be able to pray because other wise he is going to Hell. 



4) Why is it odd that Hamlet sees the king praying?
Its odd that Hamlet believes the King is praying even though he knows that because of Claudius's crime, he cannot.


5) Why doesn’t Hamlet take this opportunity for revenge?
Because he thinks the King is praying which would mean that he is being forgiven of his sins. This means that he would go to heaven if he were to die, and Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer like Old Hamlet is in Purgatory.


Scene IV



1) Describe Polonius’ advice to Gertrude.
He wants Gertrude to tell Hamlet to own up to his actions. His 'pranks' have gone to far and she has taken most of the fall for it. 


2) What is the significance of the following quote: “How now, a rat? Dead! For a ducat, dead!
Hamlet realizes that Polonius is spying on them and he stabs him. People who do dirty deeds (such as sneaking around and spying) or commit minor felonies are often called 'dirty rats'. Hamlet could also be making fun of Polonius (again).


3) What is odd about the following quote: A bloody deed; almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother.
Hamlet  compares his act of killing Polonius to Claudius killing Old Hamlet. He basically calls her out and tells her that his murder is not as bad as his fathers murder (which he makes it sound like he thinks she was in on the plan)


4) Why might Gertrude say, “What have I done, that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me.”
She wants to know what she did to Hamlet that has made him act  so rude all of a sudden. She is his mother and demands some respect!


5) What descriptions does Hamlet use to compare his father and his uncle?

King Hamlet
~ Kind and Gentlemanly
~ Curly hair and a forehead of a Greek God
~ An eye that could command like the God of War
~ A body as agile as Mercury's (Roman God)
~ Every God had a part in creating this man


Claudius
~ Mildewed ear of corn that infects the healthy one next to it




6) What point does Hamlet make by comparing the men?
That his father is far more superior than Claudius and he can't understand why his mother would give up his magnificent father for his dirty arm-pit of an uncle. 


He seeks answers because it couldn't have been out of love because they are too old to fall in love, and their actions are driven mostly by their minds.


7) What is disturbing about the following: Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; stewed in corruption; honeying, and making love over the nasty sty.”
Everything. He talks about his mother's sex life and tells her that's its disgusting that she would have sex with Claudius because Hamlet considers it incest. 


8) What stops Hamlet’s ranting and raving at Gertrude? What does this figure tell Hamlet?
The Ghost!! He tells him rethink his revenge tactics. He is frightening his mother with horrible images. 


9) By the end of the act, Hamlet has made many statements about humanity, in general. Explain a few of his points. Do his opinions reflect his madness?


Help!?




10) Explain the differences between the ghost in Act I with the ghost in Act III. Why might these differences reflect Hamlet’s insanity?
The ghost in Act I is hell-bent on revenge. But the ghost in Act III see how frightened his former wife is and feels sympathy for her and tells Hamlet to take it easy on his mother. This is odd because he also tells him to stay focused on revenge. The ghost wants Hamlet to get revenge but also wants to Gertrude left out of it. He only wants Claudius to pay for the murder.