Diction

“To be or not to be that is the question.” So begins one of the most famous monologues in the whole of Shakespeare’s portfolio. The monologue did not win fame purely by chance. It is a deep, moving monologue that is written with such eloquence that a simple speech helps to convey several of the central themes behind the play. If a few words were replaced with others which could easily serve the same purpose, the monologue would have easily lost all of its strength.

Imagery

In Hamlet, imagery of disease, poison and decay, are used by Shakespeare for a purpose. The descriptions of disease, poison, and decay help us understand the bitter relationships that exist in the play and Hamlet’s own cynicism. We see Hamlet’s pessimism in his soliloquy when he contemplates suicide. The resentful relationship that exists between Claudius and Hamlet is heightened with the use of imagery when Claudius asks about Polonius.

Theme

The notion of avenging the wrongful killing of another was one commonly recognized in Elizabethan times and Hamlet takes this concept to extremes. Hamlet must seek vengeance for his father's murder. This becomes his sole purpose and he seems to forget all other aspects of his life, even his love for Ophelia. His actions become inconsequential to him, even though they mean the ruining of his own life. During his quest for revenge, he accidentally murders his lover's father, Polonius, sparking Polonius' son Laertes to seek vengeance against him. A circle of retribution with Laertes begins, as he teams-up with Claudius to avenge Polonius and Ophelia while Claudius is also anxious to be rid of the  Prince. If for every murder someone must die the vicious cycle would never end. This is a notion that Shakespeare may have been commenting upon in the writing of Hamlet.

Setting

The setting in Pride and Prejudice is important for only two reasons: to set up the distinction between sophisticated city folk and provincial country folk thus explaining the snobbery of the Bingley sisters, and to set up the distinction in class between,  Pemberley and Longbourn, which is a considerably more humble location. Also Mr. Collins’s parsonage is on Lady Catherine’s land, and that Elizabeth is related to Mr. Collins while Darcy is related to Lady Catherine. These distinctions help us realize the size of the class distinctions that Elizabeth and Darcy cross by marrying each other. In Oklahoma! the opposite is shown where the setting seems vastly empty and rough land. What is important about the setting is the horrizon and the nostalgic sense of community while the hope having the territory become a state.

Character (Hamlet vs the Laertes)

No two individuals are alike, regardless of similar upbringing. It is reasonable to assume that even twins brought up in exactly the same environment, sharing the same daily activities, and living practically the same life, will act differently when faced with the same situation. Each individual evolves with his or her own uniqueness, style, and way of life. The audience witnesses this phenomenon in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Laertes experienced similar childhoods and shared similar family attributes. They were both born into royalty. What differs between these characters is how they pursue revenge. Hamlet is indecisive about carrying out revenge while questioning his own existence while Laertes rushes to avenge his father without any hesitation.

Plot

  The first difference between drama and literature lies in the fact that drama is meant for a live performance which is directed at a live audience . This is better portrayed in some words associated with drama such as words like play and show . On the other hand , a prose fiction is directed by the author to a single person at a time- the person reading the work. Another difference is that drama communicates in the present while prose does not. Also , in drama , the personality of the playwright is mostly hidden in the sense that there are several characters in the work while in the case of prose fiction , the author selects the character and therefore, this personality might reflect in his work . In the sense of the two novels the plot of Hamlet is driven through the theme of revenge and the decision that Hamlet must make on whether to avenge his father or not, while in Austen's novel the plot is based on the interaction between several character that provide commentary on the notion of love.

Hamlet Essay Analysis

Overall I thought my essay was well structured the ideas were there. The one thing I need to work on is keeping my essay more on topic

Poetry Essay Intro

What is Love? Is it the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired, or is it the soul’s realization of its counterpoint along with another’s. Whatever it is the world may never know, but we probably can draw a good conclusion of it after reading “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvel and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot.  “To His Coy Mistress” presents a familiar theme carpe diem meaning seize the day. The poem is basically a young man’s declarations of love for a young lady; the lady is playfully hesitant, artfully modest. But dallying will not do, he says, for youth passes quickly. He and the lady must take advantage of the moment. Thus it is in seizing the time that one is given that life has meaning and that where these two poems differ in the sense of their speakers.

As I walked vs Ponder

 In Auden's poem the poem is essentially about how 'Time' will eventually 'conquer' us all and the naive lover introduced in stanza 2 is warned by a personified Time that the promises. The lover’s song promises unending love and devotion as the lover says his love will last until impossible things occur such as the ocean drying up and the stars "squawking like geese". While in Cummings poem the speaker is using time as a justification to seduce the woman into "horizontal business".

Ozymandias

In Percy Shelly's Ozymandias irony and sarcasm appears when the speaker says, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains." This negative connotation shows that there once was a vast kingdom, but now that kingdom has disappeared. Neither property nor the king himself is immortal which is indicated. Also it is obvious that the King of Kings spoken of in the poem is actually nature itself. Nature never disappears and nature represents the immortality.

Performance Choices

The scene that my partner and I chose to analyze was the first meeting between the ghost and Hamlet. I felt that ghost even though still was enraged about his murder had to convey to Hamlet a fatherly tone addressing his son about Claudius' true nature. Hamlet in this exchange must come across as in awe or shock at seeing his father, but also take all of his words into consideration as final requests that he must fulfill as his son.

Hamlet Discussion Question #9+p 833 #7

9. In Hamlet's famous soliloquy “To be or not to be.” the character at that moment is an important question, literally one of “life and death”, but the general terms in which it is phrased gives it a resonance that reaches out past Hamlet. Hamlet poses the question on the level –  “shall I kill myself?”, or “can I live like this?” but “to be or not to be”. It is existence itself that is up for debate in this speech. The form of words guarantees that Hamlet’s question will be interpreted in a literal sense. the line uses one of the most basic verbs in the language. The verb is then phrased in the infinitive, “to be”, rather than attaching it to any specific noun or pronoun
7. The theme of deception is the most dominant theme in Hamlet because both the antagonist and protagonist use this attribute to manipulate others into believing every statement they say as truth and to have their motives covered from the people surrounding them.

Hamlet Discussion Question #7+14

Hamlet's madness seems to be a deliberate strategy. In this ambiguous play the reader passes his or her own judgment on Hamlet’s mentality, which in turn causes much confusion as to what the correct diagnosis is. As the reader puts the pieces together and begins to unfold the true feelings and actions of Hamlet, it becomes obvious that this madness just is a clever way to discover who murdered his father. When Hamlet says "I am but north-north-west when the wind is southernly I know a hawk from a handsaw" he implies that he can be rational at any given time, but only when he feels the circumstance permits him to be rational. Thus Hamlet’s “antic disposition” is a reality, and his rationalization for his “mad” behavior is nothing more than a clever deceit.

Hamlet Discussion Question #1

The circumstances in this scene is that both men express their ideas of how Ophelia must not marry Hamlet because she must remain chaste because purity must be fundamental in all women. Perhaps Ophelia shows her unhappiness with all of this, because Laertes stating his argument that, saying, "perhaps he loves you now," but then he goes on to point out that Hamlet, as a prince of Denmark, can't marry just anyone. Hamlet is a prince, but Ophelia is not a princess, and Hamlet needs the approval of "the main voice of Denmark." What Laertes means is that Hamlet must have the permission of the King.

So, for whatever reason, Laertes is convinced that Ophelia cannot marry Hamlet. And if she can't marry him, then the relationship can only harm her. She could "lose heart, or chaste treasure open" (1.3.734). He doesn't stop there, and as he goes on, it becomes clear that although he may love his sister, he doesn't have a very high opinion of her, either. He compares her to springtime flowers, which may be diseased even before they start to bloom. Finally, he reminds her that she is young, and "youth to itself rebels, though none else near" (1.3.735), meaning that young people do stupid things, even without being tempted.

Get out of the room: The dysfunctional family

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play in which the central conflict results from a disruption in social order. Hamlet portrays how the upset of natural order within a family unit causes the gradual decay of the family. Although the scenarios in the play are extreme, involving murder and revenge, the point of chaos within a family is still made. The causes for the decay are the murder of King Hamlet, the short-lived grief of Gertrude, and the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude. Firstly, the patriarch of the family, the providing and authoritative figure, is removed to create an unstable family unit. While the mother is criticized for her display of a short-lived grief for her deceased husband and therefore ultimately criticized as a female.

Prufrock Analysis

When looking at T.S Elliot's modernistic poetry the theme  of indecision and its role on the speaker's psyche. A line that stands out "for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions,/Before the taking of a toast and tea" In essence Prufrock would be unable to go anywhere, however hard he tried. Open space has been implanted into his mind, and would be movement in the same place, like a man trapped in a dream. There is no way to distinguish between actual movement and imaginary movement. However far Prufrock goes, he remains restricted in his own mind, and all his experience seems imaginary. It seems to be some perception of this which keeps him in his mental state, content to imagine himself going through a limbo, aspiring to obtain a woman, and telling her "all," like Lazarus back from the dead. There is no resurrection from the death, and this is one meaning of the epigraph from Dante.

Mini Essay

      Marvel's Poem To His coy Mistress is strictly a seductive poem that focuses on theme of Carpie Diem the idea of seizing a moment in time. Lines that stand out are  "For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate". Sexually speaking our older lover could take things slowly with her; if that is what she wants, then, that, is what she should have; he is committed to the conquest, a conquest that can only come about as a result of him fully satisfying her; and, no doubt it is his goal to satisfy her, though it may take thousands of years; and, he would take pleasure throughout the long wait, if, if, only if, there is some prospect of sexual fulfillment. At this point that there appears the most dramatic shift in tempo that I have ever felt in a passage of poetry. The speaker claims that there battle for love can not last forever since they at some time will die. To finish his conquest the speaker states "Thorough the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run". his man wants this woman, this central focus point of his sexual passion. He cannot wait, he begs her not to put off sexual union. He eloquently points out that the cares of the moment do not much matter as time is slowly absorbing them both, as it does all things.

To His Coy Mistress

Marvel's Poem To His coy Mistress is a seductive poem that focuses on theme of Carpie Diem. Lines that stand out are  For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. Sexually speaking our older lover could take things slowly with her; if that is what she wants, then, that, is what she should have; he is committed to the conquest, a conquest that can only come about as a result of him fully satisfying her; and, no doubt it is his goal to satisfy her, though it may take thousands of years; and, he would take pleasure throughout the long wait, if, if, only if, there is some prospect of sexual fulfillment. Now, take a breath, for, it is at this point that there appears the most dramatic shift in tempo that I have ever felt in a passage of poetry. Also the speaker claims that there battle for love can not last forever since they at some time will die

Collins: The Best Comedian

Mr. Collins although he expresses sexist notions about the nature of women specifically Elizabeth when he proposes to her, Austen mainly uses Collins as a tool of comic relief in her novel. Austen creates situations in which Collins evidently is making a fool of himself and every moral that he upholds. Harding in his article claims that Mr. Collins is a "caricature," expressing the idea that Collins is in one sense one-dimensional and is present for the readers enjoyment and analysis of the typical aristocratic male, which Collins truly is. If one were to state that Mr. Collins was a nightmare that observation would be false because in the novel Mr. Collins never truly interferes with the alteration of society and has little impact on most character's ideals. Hence due to Mr. Collins' egotistical behavior, the reader can perceive him as more of a funny character than a nightmare related character.

Nice Attempt For A First Essay

After looking over my essay again I noted some positive attributes that it had and also the negative attributes. First I feel my intro was strong because it set up the context of the topic I was going to elaborate on about the concept of the ideal man. Another strong attribute my essay had was quote analysis where I used relevant quotes and tied them into my discussion. On to the negative. First of all my quotations were too long and I would give plot summary leading to the quote, I didn't use concise topic sentences that related back to my thesis and made a hasty conclusion. Overall my essay was just decent

Truly what is the most important aspect of an essay?

It is the thesis. Without a clear thesis and rationale set up for the essay the writing will lack the clarity and the main focus of the writing. Also another aspect needed to have a strong essay is having supported examples that back up your claims in the essay. D2's essay was by far the strongest out of all the essays I read because the writer emphasizes that Mr. Hurst is the epitome of triviality of Austen's aristocracy and, while also claiming wealth should not be the sole indicator of one's worth in society. D2 uses strong quotes to back up these claims in a way that also makes the reader ponder about the society in the novel as a whole.

Analysis of Essays pt 3

I read essays A, D and H. I personally liked H because the writer introduces complexity in the very first sentence, while the thesis is clear and gives the reader insight to what the rest of the essay will discuss. The structure of the sentences at some points are run-on. On the other hand the writer is clear in discussing the different techniques used by each author in portraying characters. Overall it is a consistent essay that focuses on the main point and backs up their thesis.

Analysis of Three Essays #2

I read Alfi, Beatrice and Cecilia's essays. I feel Alfi's thesis was clear, and showed complexity that he could discuss later in his essay. The structure of each paragraph remains consistently the same, with the exception of #3 that starts with an elaboration to the second paragraph. The writer also clearly portrays their point trough the thesis and is backed with clear quotes and examples. the only part of the essay I would change is that each topic sentence was very lengthy and sometimes wordy, so I would either split the topic sentence in two or clearly state the main point in as few words as possible. Overall I would give this a B+.

Analysis of Three Essays

I chose to read B2, C2 and D2 . Personally I like D2 the best because the writer has an effective thesis claims that sets up their essay discussing how although Mr. Hurst is a minor character he is the epitome of the triviality of of the class-conscious aristocracy. The writer also uses quote that relate to the topic and is discussed and analyzed in a way that strengthens the writer's main point. The only aspect that i would change in this essay is at points the writer was vague on starting each paragraph and it was hard to hone in in what idea was going to be discussed.

Pride and Prejudice: Paper thesis and example

Thesis: when one succumbs to pride and intolerance they are blinded about their own nature and become mere jokes to both the other characters in the novel and the reader.

Example:  Darcy tells Bingley “Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.” (7) These words convey Darcy’s reaction at the Meryton ball to Bingley’s idea that he should dance with Elizabeth. Darcy sees the people of Meryton as his social inferiors, and refuses to dance with someone “not handsome enough” for him. Moreover, he does so within range of Elizabeth, thereby establishing a reputation among the entire community for pride and bad manners. His sense of social superiority, proves that he is incapable of acknowledging any potential form of love and true sense of happiness.