Wednesday, September 14
We held a "Socratic Seminar" using as our text Hamlet's first soliloquy, "O, that this too, too sold flesh would melt," with students seated in two concentric circles. Students in the inner circle -- using the notes they had added to their copies of the soliloquy == discussed the speech while the outer circle observed and filled out feedback forms, after which the outer circle commented orally on how the inner circle had done. Then the students in the two circles swapped places, and the procedure was repeated.
Students turned in their annotated texts along with their feedback forms.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, September 13
We watched part of Hamlet, Act I, scene i, in the classic 1948 Olivier film and all of the scene in the most recent film version with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius, and briefly discussed differences between them. We looked at ways in which any Hamlet -- even a scholarly edition of the text, let alone a stage or film production is of necessity an interpretation and a modernization.
Students were given a handout of Hamlet's first soliloquy ("O, that this too, too sullied/soid/sallied flesh would melt"), and asked to annotate the text in preparation for a "Socratic seminar" to be held in class Wednesday.
HW due Wednesday:
Please write numerous notes on the handout, explaining what it means and what you think precisely has Hamlet so upset.
We watched part of Hamlet, Act I, scene i, in the classic 1948 Olivier film and all of the scene in the most recent film version with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius, and briefly discussed differences between them. We looked at ways in which any Hamlet -- even a scholarly edition of the text, let alone a stage or film production is of necessity an interpretation and a modernization.
Students were given a handout of Hamlet's first soliloquy ("O, that this too, too sullied/soid/sallied flesh would melt"), and asked to annotate the text in preparation for a "Socratic seminar" to be held in class Wednesday.
HW due Wednesday:
Please write numerous notes on the handout, explaining what it means and what you think precisely has Hamlet so upset.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, September 12
Students took a quizlet over Act I, sene ii of Hamlet and the handout on Shakespeare's Language. We graded it together, going over in detail a passage analyzed syntactically in the handout which displaying inverted word order and lengthy interruptions.
Then we reviewed the first scene of the play (read in class Friday) and began reading together the assigned second scene.
HW due Tuesday:
Reread carefully Act I, scene ii.
Students took a quizlet over Act I, sene ii of Hamlet and the handout on Shakespeare's Language. We graded it together, going over in detail a passage analyzed syntactically in the handout which displaying inverted word order and lengthy interruptions.
Then we reviewed the first scene of the play (read in class Friday) and began reading together the assigned second scene.
HW due Tuesday:
Reread carefully Act I, scene ii.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 9
Students received a handout discussing Shakespeare's language.
We listened to two different recordings of the first scene of Hamlet, then began to compare the two. How do they differ? Which do you suppose is more "Shakespearian"?
HW due Monday:
Review Act I, scene 1.
Read Act I, scene 2.
Read carefully the four-page handout.
Prepare to be quizzed over the material on Monday.
Students received a handout discussing Shakespeare's language.
We listened to two different recordings of the first scene of Hamlet, then began to compare the two. How do they differ? Which do you suppose is more "Shakespearian"?
HW due Monday:
Review Act I, scene 1.
Read Act I, scene 2.
Read carefully the four-page handout.
Prepare to be quizzed over the material on Monday.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Thursday, September 8
Dr. P reviewed with students the unit objective of studying Hamlet as literature, theater, and film, and spoke briefly of the different resources each medium has to work with, from printed words to cinematic images and sound.
We began at the cinematic end, by watching the first few minutes of a film of the play without words, or at least without words that anyone in the class, teacher included, could understand. The film was the famous 1965 Russian Hamlet with a musical score by Dmitri Shostakovich. After watching the beginning (which is not actually the beginning of the play as written) students discussed what they had gleaned about what has happened before the play opens, what is happening at the moment, and how the mood of the film's opening might best be described.
HW due Friday:
Email Dr. P your FEW assignment (which was turned in Tuesday).
Dr. P reviewed with students the unit objective of studying Hamlet as literature, theater, and film, and spoke briefly of the different resources each medium has to work with, from printed words to cinematic images and sound.
We began at the cinematic end, by watching the first few minutes of a film of the play without words, or at least without words that anyone in the class, teacher included, could understand. The film was the famous 1965 Russian Hamlet with a musical score by Dmitri Shostakovich. After watching the beginning (which is not actually the beginning of the play as written) students discussed what they had gleaned about what has happened before the play opens, what is happening at the moment, and how the mood of the film's opening might best be described.
HW due Friday:
Email Dr. P your FEW assignment (which was turned in Tuesday).
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Wednesday, September 7
Students took a brief (five question) quiz over yesterday's handout on the history of the English language. We graded the quizzes together, using the occasion to review and amplify what students knew about the subject.
Afterwards we pursued the subject further by stepping back from English to survey (from a great height) the history of the entire Indo-European language family, by means of the chart inside the back cover of our classroom dictionary (American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.).
Students took a brief (five question) quiz over yesterday's handout on the history of the English language. We graded the quizzes together, using the occasion to review and amplify what students knew about the subject.
Afterwards we pursued the subject further by stepping back from English to survey (from a great height) the history of the entire Indo-European language family, by means of the chart inside the back cover of our classroom dictionary (American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.).
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tuesday, September 6
Students turned in their FEW (Frequently Encountered Words) homework, after which we
(1) examined a few older English forms still current in Shakespeare's day, such as the second person singular informal (thou, thy, thine, thee);
(2) discussed more broadly the unending process of change in the English language (as in all other languages) and the role that plays in producing “contested usages.”
Students turned in their FEW (Frequently Encountered Words) homework, after which we
(1) examined a few older English forms still current in Shakespeare's day, such as the second person singular informal (thou, thy, thine, thee);
(2) discussed more broadly the unending process of change in the English language (as in all other languages) and the role that plays in producing “contested usages.”
Dr. P passed out a handout containing “A Brief History of Old English.”
HW due Wednesday:
Read the handout and prepare for a brief quiz thereover.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)