Hamlet Journal Questions Back to Assignments Back to Literature Links
These journal questions are to be answered in a thoughtful and thorough manner. Though they are essentially rough drafts and will not be graded on organization, mechanics, or even focus, they will nevertheless be graded on style, insight, content, and thoroughness. If you undertake to consider a question, do it completely--making substantial reference to the text. Demonstrate that you have really thought about the question and that you are not simply answering it as quickly as possible in order to watch TV or talk on the phone (or leave homeroom). If you ramble a little bit and add things as an afterthought, that's fine. At least you HAVE afterthoughts. Good writing!
Group 1
| What is the nature of the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia? You might want to consider the relationship between Hamlet and his mother too. |
| In the first couple of acts, what kind of a king is Claudius? We know what our perspective is; we're reading the play. But what if you were a citizen in his country? |
| Analyze the Ghost's speech with some care. What, exactly, is he instructing Hamlet to do and not do? |
| So, is Hamlet really crazy by the end of Act II or is he actually putting on a performance? |
Group 2
| Explore Hamlet's strange behavior towards Ophelia as she reports it to her father. What could have caused it, and do you agree with Polonius that it is Ophelia's rejection of Hamlet that is behind it? |
| Hamlet, at the end of Act II, seems unsure now that the ghost was really his father. Is he actually uncertain, or is there some other cause at work? |
| Hamlet declares, in the same soliloquy, that he is a coward. Do you agree? Why? |
| Explore the relationship between Hamlet and his two friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Do they truly like one another? What kind of history do they have together? How will the fact that R & G were "sent for" affect this relationship? |