Essay Writing-Hamlet MLA format Roughly 4 pages double spaced, 1000-2000 words Write a structured five paragraph essay Use three quotes per body paragraph for a total of nine quotes. No outside sources-unless it is in the introduction or conclusion. Make a works cited page, listing Hamlet as your source, as well as any other sources. Hamlet is a play-NOT a novel or a book Use the original text-not the interpretation of the movie It is suggested that you focus on three characters or three scenes The most important character goes last. Write about scenes in chronological order Don’t summarize the play Give the context of what is happening in scene. What is happening in the scene? Who is speaking to whom? Short quotes. Explain what the quote means in plain English, then explain the significance Essay Topics-With Suggested Scenes/Characters 1. Does Hamlet love Ophelia? (letters, spying scene, graveyard scene) 2. As Hamlet progresses throughout the play, he seems to actually become insane. Is he insane? 3. Discuss the role of suicide in the play. (Hamlets views and other peoples views of Ophelias death) 4. Compare the three young men in the play. How are they similar? How does each react to their situation? (Laertes, Fortinbras, Hamlet) 5. Examine incest in the play. (i.e.-Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet and Gertrude, Laertes and Ophelia) 6. Look at the theme of everything being equal in death. (eg-The Queen telling her son every man loses her father, man delights not me, Polonuis at supper, gravedigger scene, others) 7. Examine Hamlet as a tragic hero with the inability to take action
