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studying for Hamlet? (1 Viewer)

shalysse

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i hate hamlet so much, can someone please let me know how i could go about studying it because i honestly have absolutely no idea. )::(
 

ashleighjade

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Well, there's no specific WAY to study as it is YOUR understanding and interpretation of the text, but ...
Read the text if you haven't already. IN DEPTH. It would also pay to pick up a pen and highlighter to make notes throughout.
Consider all the themes present throughout the play. Google "hamlet themes" if you need too. Connect these themes to the techniques used by Shakespeare in Hamlet. Google this too, if needed.
RESEARCH. Gather information on context! Context is evident beneath the themes and should be discussed in your essays?
Furthermore, you'll need a thorough understanding of "textual integrity" - VERYYY important part of MOD B. Should/must be discussed in some form in every essay you do?
Also, you SHOULD look at the rubric - now. Summarise/simplify. Rewrite into terms YOU will understand, if needed.
Email your teacher and ask for help! And if your teacher is a prat, hit up your friends for their English teachers emails.

And, remember, this is YOUR understanding of Hamlet. Discuss your thoughts on Hamlet in relevance to whatever question you get/your argument, IN DEPTH/DETAIL! You, honestly, cannot go wrong.

If you justify your ideas and so on with quotes/themes/etc, they pretty much can't tell you that you are wrong.

Finally, google for some Hamlet practice questions and just get stuck into them! The more you write, the faster you'll learn and the easier things will be to remember come exam day.

So. That's about it, I think?
Good luck with Hammie!
 

shuttle_bus5

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Best way to study for Hamlet is first pick an idea. Hamlet is such a broad topic so you need an idea ie, that corruption affects our psychological processes. You would then argue this idea in your response. Give exampls of when corruption occurs, then link this too Hamlet's thoughts/feelings which are often best expressed in his soliloquy's.
Thats obviuosly a very summarised reply but yes. Main point is to have an idea then develop it.
 

Tastegud

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I don't want to sound like a fag.
But shouldn't you have started studying for Hamlet 6 months ago?

The easiest way now, and it's not very good, is to just memorise a preprepared essay.
Just write a basic essay with 3 issues and try and put as many soliloquys and character relationship reference as you can to cover yourself at least minimally for the HSC.

gluck anyway
 

ryan3

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i'm with you i hate hamlet with a passion but i hate all english anyway. i think i'm just going to remember the main quotes the soliloquies etc and be able to relate them to a theme and see how i go
 

dii. x

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how would you talk about context and textual integrity?

like, i know what they are, but i just can't write about it =(

and in my essay, i only used quotes from hamlet. should i use quotes from other characters too, or is that not important?

also, how to talk about readings/interpretations?

any help will be greatly appreciated!
 

cassiecocaine

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how would you talk about context and textual integrity?

like, i know what they are, but i just can't write about it =(

and in my essay, i only used quotes from hamlet. should i use quotes from other characters too, or is that not important?

also, how to talk about readings/interpretations?

any help will be greatly appreciated!
About the quote thing - I used one from Claudius, one from Kenneth Branagh, one from the Gravediggers, and the rest were Hamlet's. It doesn't really matter WHO your quotes are from, as long as they provide evidence for what you are saying.

Readings/interpretations - You must of watched the Laurence Olivier or Kenneth Branagh films of Hamlet - compare these with your understand of Hamlet, and compare them to eachother (for a few aspects, this should not be your whole essay). Or if you saw the latest Bell Shakespeare production, do that one (because it was just freaking amazing)

I'm having a little trouble with textual integrity myself - it came up in our trial question and I didn't fully understand the term or know how to talk about it in depth, can anyone give me a heads up/tips?
 

sordatsoy

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do you have to use a production....can't you just use critics???
 

waycoolsteve

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my plan is to state what i think hamlet is about, back it up with quotes of techniques.
then go on to say that the ritchie/harlos one was about... techniques used to say this.
then say the branagh one focused on...........
thoughts on this?
also, what are main techniques used by shakespeare
 

copeys

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I also say the Ritchie production; I am just going to go in there with several quotes, and say how things changed over the 3 productions (original, Zeffirelli and Ritchi) based on certain points (techniques, setting, characters etc)
 

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