Comp & Lit 12
Hamlet Close Reading Response 1
50 points
Choose one of these passages:
1. Polonius’s advice to Ophelia in 1.3: “Affection? pooh!...” through “…you’ll tender me a fool”
2. Hamlet’s promise to the ghost in 1.4: “O all you host of heaven…”
3. Polonius, on Ham’s madness in 2.2: “My liege, and Madame, to expostulate…”
4. Hamlet’s “quintessence of dust” speech in 2.2: “I have of late…”
5. Hamlet’s warning to Ophelia in 3.1 :Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be…”
6. Ophelia’s description of Hamlet in 3.1 :O what a noble mind…”
7. Hamlet’s plan for his mother in 3.3: “tis now the very witching hour”
8. Hamlet’s decision NOT to kill Claudius at prayer in 3.3 “now might I do it pat”
9. Hamlet’s explanation of his madness to Gertrude in 3.4 “Ecstasy?/My pulse as yours…”
10. Claudius’s manipulation of Laertes in 4.7: “Not that I think you did not love…”
11. Hamlet’s speech to Laertes in 5.2: “give me your pardon, sir…”
Steps 1 and 2 are done simultaneously – use your CLOSE READING packet to do these steps.
1. Annotate the passage. Copy and paste a passage from an electronic version of Hamlet into a
Word document (http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/ is a good one). By hand or using Word’s
comment function, annotate the passage. A quality annotation will have 50 or more comments—
see the close reading handout for more details.
2. Do all of the steps in the CLOSE READING notes packet. If you want a fresh copy, print one from
my webpage.
3. After you have made your notes on the passage and on the worksheet, construct a thesis
statement, (using the Magic Thesis Statement Formula) and then develop this into a short
response (2 pages) in which you expand on and prove your thesis.
4. Essay Paragraph Requirements:
 REQUIRED: Introduction/passage overview: Here, you will cite the Act, scene, and line
numbers of the passage, put it in the context of the action of the play, and give a BRIEF
summary of the action of the passage. Should be 3-4 sentences.
 You may choose ANY of the following for your body paragraphs. Remember: the paper
is to be NO MORE THAN TWO pages, so you will need to choose carefully and be
succinct. Choices include paragraphs on:
Diction and connotative language: Here you will discuss all the word choice in
the passage that is pertinent to your thesis. Look for patterns in word choices—lots
of color, animal, religious words, for examples. Look for action vs. “state of being”
verbs, concrete vs. abstract nouns, connotation vs. denotation of words,
puns/double entendres, etc. Work line-by-line through the passage.
Figurative Language and imagery Figurative language includes simile,
metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. Work line-by-line through the passage.
Sentence structure and rhetorical devices (i.e. parallelism, chiasmus,
antithesis, etc.). Work line-by-line through the passage.
Sound Strategies and Versification : (alliteration, assonance, consonance,
rhyme, etc.) or versification—does Shakespeare follow strict iambic pentameter or
not? Does he break the lines at natural pauses with punctuation, or are there a lot
of enjambed lines? If all of these fail, you can even look at punctuation! Work lineby-line through the passage.
Comp & Lit 12

REQUIRED: Conclusion/Relationship to the rest of play: In this short paragraph, you will
analyze how this passage—the tone, imagery, diction, etc.—fits into and is important to
understanding the rest of the play. Be sure to tie it to whatever you chose for your body
paragraphs. You should show how this passage reveals important aspects of character or
theme, develops an important motif, or symbol, or perhaps fulfills a part of the tragic
pattern. Also, this is the only paragraph in which you may “step outside” the passage and
use examples from other parts of the play.
Research Requirements:
 You are not required to do research for this essay. However, if you do consult ANY other sources
to help you understand the play or the passage, you must cite them—this is true for information
that you summarize or paraphrase as well as quote. And OF COURSE, you have to cite the play,
so that will be on your Works Cited page, as well. At the very least, it is a good idea to look up
archaic words, allusions, Elizabethan slang, etc—just make sure you cite your findings. There
are also great SCHOLARLY sources out there—instead of reading dumbed-down study guides,
try checking out journal articles by folks with PhDs in Elizabethan literature. Google scholar,
Google books, and Infotrac have excellent resources—and I have some links on my class
website. Also, I have a folder of articles that you are welcome to check out.
 This is the essay on which I catch the most plagiarism—do not be tempted to pass off other’s
ideas as your own. We will go over some examples, and you will be given a handout on the
Magic Thesis Formula
Some final remarks:
 To cite quotations or paraphrases from the play:
o (Act:Scene line numbers)  (I:IV 40-41)
o use the line numbers FROM YOUR BOOK
 When you quote more than one line, indicate the ends of lines with a /
o Example: Hamlet makes his doubts about the ghost explicit when he cries “be thou a spirit
of health or goblin damn’d/ Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell” (I:IV 4041).