Compare and contrast Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies. What are their main differences, and do they have any similarities?

Question #1 (3-4 sentences)

Compare and contrast Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies. What are their main differences, and do they have any similarities?

Question #2 (1 paragraph)

Compare and contrast aspects of modern theater performances to the theater of Shakespeare’s time.

Question #3 (3-4 sentences)

Read act I of Hamlet. Then explain how the setting of act I, scene I, contrasts with the setting of act I, scene II. Use details from the text to support your answer.

Question #4 (short paragraph)

Read act II of Hamlet. Then explain how Shakespeare uses indirect characterization in act II, scene I, as a device to develop Hamlet’s pretended insanity?

Question #5 (4-5 sentences)

Read act III of Hamlet. Then describe the scene in which Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius. Why is it significant that Hamlet finds his uncle praying during act III, scene III?

Question #6 (about 1 page)

In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet announces that he will pretend to be insane, but some scholars have argued that Hamlet ends up not just pretending to be insane and posit that he may actually descend into madness at certain points in the play.

What do you think? Was Hamlet’s insanity entirely fake? Or did he actually become mad at times? Cite evidence from acts I, II, and III to support your answer.

Question #7 (3-4 sentences)

Describe your experience reading Shakespeare in terms of the language used. Do you find it surprising that we have so many words in common given that Shakespeare’s language feels very different? What aspect of Shakespeare’s language seems most challenging? What technique helps you make sense of unfamiliar passages?

Question #8

Shakespeare created many words that we use every day. Use a dictionary, thesaurus, paper, pen, and your imagination to create your own new words. For example, you can transform nouns into verbs by taking a noun and making it an action word, such as changing the noun noodle to the verb noodling. You can combine two nouns to make a compound word, such as frogmud. You could also take two adjectives and form a new adjective that describes one idea using parts of the two words. For example, if the two adjectives are tired and old, you could make up a new adjective: tirold. Notice that it is not too difficult to look at one of these words and guess its meaning. The word frogmud must be mud in which frogs live. There are no right or wrong words here. Create 10 new words and state what they mean. Have fun!

Question #9

Part A (3-4 sentences)

Read about soliloquies, and then answer the questions.

What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?

Part B (2-3 sentences)

What is the purpose of a soliloquy?

Part C (2 sentences)

Is a soliloquy always a truthful representation of a character’s thoughts?

Part D (3-4 sentences)

Read the “To be or not to be” solioquy spoken by Hamlet in act III, scene I, of Shakespeare’s play. What may have been Shakespeare’s purpose behind this soliloquy? Be sure to use examples from the text to support your answer.