Blog Post 14

Final Three Paragraph Reflection:

This semester, I have learned so much from literary terms to poetry formations.  It has truly been a pleasure, and I cannot wait to dive deeper into learning next semester!  When it comes to my Kentucky Derby hat, I am proud to say that I accomplished a lot of it.  One goal of mine was to learn all of the poetry formations, what they are called, how to write them, and how many syllables go into each line.  It was difficult at first to be able to write each poem with the exact amount of syllables that it was supposed to have, but I figured it out eventually and was able to do it precisely in our group poem, "Ode to Winter."

Another goal of mine was to learn at least 15 literary elements that I did not know before.  This was hard because AP Language and Composition taught me so many, but I managed to learn 10 new ones.  Two of my favorites were Litotes, which is a word that implies an understatement or a double negative, and Metonymy which is a figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a different thing that it is closely associated to.  It's been very interesting adding new words to my vocabulary personally, but also extremely helpful in my writing of essays and in analyzing literary works.  My thesis statements have become undoubtedly better.

Furthermore, my idea of concrete nouns has changed completely.  Before this course, nouns were- just nouns.  But after diving into concepts of how nothing is truly "good" nor truly "bad" has made me think of nouns in an entirely different way.  Even nouns that are concrete can be put in an abstract way, such as male and female.  Many males have female aspects and many females have masculine attributes.  This realization has widened the horoscope of complexity for me and made me realize that in literary works and writing you can question, challenge, persuade, or interpret anything the way you want to.  There are no limits.  I've learned so much over the semester and I can't wait to discover more mind-blowing ideas about literature in the months to come.

Blog Post 13

Final Socratic Seminar

PART #1: AP OPEN QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION TOPIC

AP PROMPT: (2001)  One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote

Much madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye—

Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel or play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Discussion Topic:  The role of performance in everyday life, particularly in the sense of taking on certain roles or  disguising true personalities in order to assimilate to mainstream society.

PART #2: THREE SENTENCE THESIS STATEMENT

In Hamlet, William Shakespeare juxtaposes Ophelia’s grief--induced madness-- with Hamlet’s feigned insanity.  Though Ophelia begins to communicate only in songs and folklore, she reveals deep-set truths about her relationships with Hamlet, her father, and her brother, even as her fellow characters deceive one another.  Hamlet also practices deceit by intentionally acting mad; however as he delays killing Claudius and represses emotions towards his mother that he’s had since birth, his act becomes closer and closer to reality.  Through situational irony and illusion, Shakespeare creates a fervent tone to imply madness is the only sane response to tragedy.  

PART #3: HAMLET 3X3 PLOT EXERCISE AND SHIFTS. ALIGN WITH HERO’S JOURNEY, AND BE SURE YOUR CHART REINFORCES YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.  

FIRST THIRD	Quotation Support:
HERO’S JOURNEY STEP Hamlet Fakes Madness	Quotation:  “Excellent Well.  You are a fishmonger.” (2.2.190).   The speaker is Hamlet and he is referring to Polonius Quotation:  “Let her not walk i’ th’ sun.  Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive, friend,  look to’t.” (2.2. 201-203).  The speaker is Hamlet talking to Polonius, telling him that Ophelia is promiscuous. Quotation:  “Hark you, Guildenstern, and you too -- at each ear a hearer!  That great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling clouts.” (2.2.405-407).  The speaker is Hamlet, insulting Guildenstern and calling Polonius a baby when he enters the scene once again.
SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS -- Hamlet shifts from traditional grief over his father’s death to madness when he discovers that his Uncle Claudius has killed his father.  “O all you host of heaven...So, uncle, there you are.  Now to my word.  It is ‘adieu, adieu, remember me.’  I have sworn’t.”  (1.5.99-119).  After everything from this point,  Hamlet either feigns madness or dips into real madness.
SECOND THIRD	Quotation Support:
HERO’S JOURNEY STEP Hamlet Dips into Real madness	Quotation:  “Get thee [to] a nunnery...Where’s your father?” (3.1.131-141).  Hamlet disses Ophelia and calls her names, pushing her around,  physically assaulting her.   Quotation:  “How now, a rat?  Dead for a ducat, dead.  [He (kills Polonius)  by thrusting a rapier through the arras.]  (3.4.28).  Hamlet speaks these lines and accidentally kills Polonius when he thought he was the king. Quotation:  “In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty!” (3.4.104-106).  Hamlet pushes around his mother and physically assualts her, while disgracing Claudius and Gertrude’s relationship.
SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS -- Hamlet dips into real madness when he becomes physically abusive and insults women.  Shakespeare proves this to us by allowing only Hamlet to see the ghost in this scene, and Gertrude being unable to.  “Save me and hover o’er me me with your wings, You heavenly guards!-- What would your gracious figure?” (3.4.118-120).  Hamlet says this when he sees the ghost, and the queen replies with, “Alas, he’s mad.” (3.4.121), because she cannot  see the ghost.
LAST THIRD & HERO’s JOURNEY	Quotation Support:
Hamlet Has his Downfall	Quotation: “Stay, give me drink. -- Hamlet, this pearl is thine.  Here’s to thy health. [He drinks and then drops the pearl in the cup.] (5.2.306-307).  Claudius states this to Hamlet and places poison into his drink.    Quotation:  “Have at you now!”  [Laertes wounds Hamlet.]  (5.2.330).  Laertes says this when he stabs Hamlet with the sword dipped in poison.  This will cause Hamlet to die.   Quotation:  “O, I die, Horatio!...the rest is silence.” (5.2.390-395).  These are Hamlet’s last words as he dies from the sword Claudius poisoned.  Hamlet delayed too long, which led to his downfall.
FINAL SHIFTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE “CLOSING” AS IT RELATES TO ALL OF THE SHIFTS WITHIN THE TEXT: “Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage...Go, bid the soldiers shoot.”  (5.2.441-448).  This quote represents the downfall of Denmark, and how Norway will now take them over.  Hamlet’s Madness and ultimate death has contributed to the rot of Denmark, making the final shift and line of the play, one that symbolizes Hamlet’s end.

PART #4: CRITICAL ESSAY

Critical Reading Component	ESSAY TITLE:  “A Psycho-analytic Study of Hamlet” by Ernest Jones
Argument or thesis – can often be stated as a question or a statement, introduced and elaborated on. Ask yourself the following questions: Why does the author write the piece? What does s/he seek to convey? Does the writer address some kind of complexity? Look for idea/example pairs, moments when the author introduces an idea and then offers an example that solidifies that idea. With regard to the author’s subject position, look for identifiable word choices or verb form choices. What assumptions does the author make?	Ernest Jones’s argument is that Hamlet’s reason for Madness and quest to murder Claudius was because he longed to be romantically involved with his mother and was jealous that Claudius was able to take his father’s place and not him.  Jones writes this piece to convey to the audience that there was more to Hamlet’s madness then just his indecisiveness.  He adds complexity by describing artwork and artists that Ophelia and Gertrude are both apart of and how similar they look to each other.  On page 269, Jones brings up how Hamlet has this physical disgust with his mother, which the author describes as a characteristic of sexually repressed feelings.  The author proves this by incorporating the quote in Hamlet, “Let the bloat king tempt you into bed; Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse; And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, Or paddling in your neck with his damn’d fingers, Make you to ravel all this matter out…” (3.4.185-189).  The author also assumes that Hamlet feels this jealousness towards Claudius, which is why he never denounces him like he does with Polonius or with other male characters.  He assumes Hamlet does not hate Claudius as much as the audience has thought so far because he wants to be in his place.
Does the essay offer “clues” as to the author’s subject position, i.e., with regard to gender, race, class, intellectual orientation? Does it demonstrate how the author intended the essay to be used?	Yes, the author definitely believes that Hamlet had a romantic lust for his mother according to his psychology perspective.  He believes that it wasn’t his father’s murder and seeking revenge that caused his madness and downfall, but this want for his mother that had been repressed his entire life and now is disgusting to him, and feels trapped in this Oedipus Complex.  Also, the author believes he delayed this process because, “it links itself with the unconscious call of nature to kill his mother’s husband, whether this is the first or second; the absolute “repression” of the former impulse involves the inner prohibition of the latter also.  It is by no chance that Hamlet say of himself that he is prompted to his revenge ‘by heaven and hell’” (pg 270, paragraph 2).
Look for examples which support the primary argument; try to determine if they are effective or ineffective. Does the writer use ETHOS, PATHOS, or LOGOS to develop the argument?  Type in FIVE MAIN POINTS (DIRECT QUOTES) RIGHT HERE.  INCLUDE THE PAGE NUMBERS. What do you think are the key passages in the text? How do they work with the rest of the text to convey the author's meaning? *By their nature, academic papers utilize ETHOS, as they build their arguments using other credible sources. There are a lot of other quotations that would fit within these categories, and some quotations may fit into more than one category.	Ethos	Pathos	Logos
	Jones builds credibility by incorporating other sources into his work besides just Hamlet.  He discusses the “Oedipus Complex” from a work of greek tragedy where it was spoken of boys that they would “wring their father’s necks,” and “sleep with their mother’s.”  Because the critic incorporates this we credit him with comparing a greek tragedy to Shakespeare- with textual evidence.   Furthermore, Jones also discusses writings that follow Goethe to be Gertrude having very similar appearances to Ophelia, showing that Hamlet tried to show interest in someone who at least reminded him of his mother.  Because Jones found artistic and written examples he is credited with evidence that both Gertrude and Ophelia were liked by Hamlet and were similar.	The critic also plays on our emotions when he discusses Hamlet’s repressed feelings and makes us feel sorry for Hamlet.  The author states, “Without his being in the least aware of it these ancient desires are ringing in his mind, are once more trying to find conscious expression, and need need such an expenditure of energy again to ‘repress’ them that he is reduced to the deplorable mental state he himself so vividly depicts.”  This shows to us that Hamlet has become made due to these urges that he could not help, and makes the audience feel sorry for not being able to love someone else, and to be truly happy with someone he loved.  He also proves this claim further and suggests his inner conflict and indecisiveness by stating and by penning, “His own evil prevents him from completely denouncing his uncle’s, and in continuing to “repress” the former he must strive to ignore.”	Ernest Jones also incorporates a great deal of logic into his critic in order to further prove to the audience that Hamlet’s reasoning for madness and his ultimate downfall has been caused by the sexual feelings towards his mother.   He states this is why Hamlet never “denounces” Claudius like he does Polonius, for the simple fact that he is jealous of him.  Jones writes, “It will be seen by the foregoing that Hamlet’s attitude towards his uncle-father is far more complex than is generally supposed.  Ernest uses text (and absence of the text) to prove points about his assumptions of Hamlet.
Is the essay persuasive? Does the argument and points of support as a whole make sense? Does it support, challenge, unseat what you know about the topic? Write a paragraph answering these questions.	The essay is extremely persuasive, before reading I found this claim to be somewhat ridiculous, but Ernest Jones has so much evidence and reasoning to backup his claims it is a very solid argument that Hamlet did have repressed lust towards his mother, Gertrude.  It challenges what most already know about this topic because it is largely believed that His uncle’s murder led to Hamlet’s madness and downfall, but as we see here, it is a different approach that finds this madness to be caused by these repressed feelings and disgust with himself for thinking this way towards his mother.  It makes clearer sense now as to why Hamlet would never denounce his uncle but would do regularly to Polonius, and adds complexity to the belief that Hamlet’s madness was caused by something even deeper than the audience could see initially.

PART #5: COMPARISON/CONTRAST CHART:

DISCUSSION QUESTION: What is the role of performance in everyday life, particularly in the sense of taking on certain roles or  disguising true personalities in order to assimilate to mainstream society?

	Hamlet	Hamlet Literary Criticism	Greek Tragedy or Contemporary Novel	Poem 1:	Poem 2:	Poem 3:
POINT 1	Hamlet feigns his madness at first, in order to convince his family that nothing peculiar is going on.  He wants to get revenge on Claudius and doesn’t want anyone else to know that Claudius has done this deed so that he can seek vengeance for his father.  He puts on a mask in everyday life to carry out this goal.   “Excellent Well.  You are a fishmonger.” (2.2.190).   The speaker is Hamlet and he is referring to Polonius. “Let her not walk i’ th’ sun.  Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive, friend,  look to’t.” (2.2. 201-203).  The speaker is Hamlet talking to Polonius, telling him that Ophelia is promiscuous.	Hamlet feigns his madness at first, yet also never denounces his uncle, never calls him a fishmonger like he does to Polonius or insults someone Claudius loves as he does to Ophelia (Polonius’s daughter).  This proves that Hamlet is faking his madness and disguising his love for his mother by pretending to hate Claudius for his murderous reasons, when he in reality is jealous of him.   “His own evil prevents him from completely denouncing his uncle’s, and in continuing to “repress” the former he must strive to ignore.”	In the greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, and other Greek tragedies, we find the Oedipus Complex.  It is seemed that the family connection is normal on the surface, but son’s put on a mask and hide the reality of lust towards their mothers.   “If we were left to ourselves and our bodily strength only came up to that of our phantasy we would wring out our fathers’ necks and and sleep with our mothers.”  This attitude is seen repeatedly in the Oedipus Legend and in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus marries his mother and accidentally kills his father.	In the poison tree, the narrator puts on a mask to his foe by describing how he hid is wrath to his friend, which caused turmoil and death.  Because he doesn’t put honesty forth and disguises his anger, his foe is led to death of a poisoned apple.   “I was angry with my foe:  I told it not, my wrath did grow.  And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears:  And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft, deceitful wiles.”	Ophelia throughout the play, has put on a mask of thinking and doing whatever her father and brother want her to do.  She never has thought for herself until she becomes mad.  As a result her thoughts are jumbled but she still has this truth about her that no one else does.  She wore a mask previously, but now it is lifted.  This is best expressed by the Poem “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath.   “I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.  (I think I made you up inside my head.)	In Sonnet 94 by William Shakespeare, it is discussed that a summer flower appears to live only for summer, when in reality it only cares about itself  and deceives you into thinking it truly cares about summer. It grows on its own for its own, and only lives in summer, but if it could live without the summer heat it would truly do so.  The flower puts on a deceitful performance.    “The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet Though to itself it only live and die.”
POINT 2	It is also brought up throughout Hamlet, that Claudius performs in his everyday life to hide the fact that he murdered his brother, Hamlet Senior.  In parts of the play, Claudius feels guilty and repents to God, but never takes action and continues to deceive his other characters.  It is a common theme throughout humanity for people to lie for their own benefit and Claudius proves this multiple times in the play.   "O, what form of prayer Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?' That cannot be; since I am still possess'd Of those effects for which I did the murder --My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen" (III, iii, 55-58).	Humanity is known for lying and hiding further proven by the psychoanalytic literary criticism.  It discusses how Hamlet feels disgusted with himself and creates his own madness to  deal with himself.  This is a common lying to oneself that all of society would do if they felt the way Hamlet did.   “Without his being in the least aware of it these ancient desires are ringing in his mind, are once more trying to find conscious expression, and need need such an expenditure of energy again to ‘repress’ them that he is reduced to the deplorable mental state he himself so vividly depicts.”	In the contemporary Novel, “Life of Pi,”  Pi also conveys how humanity puts on a face to put out a persona of themselves and make others around them feel a certain way.   The last line Pi states is, “And so is with God.”  And he is referring that whether that God is real or not, it is better to live with him because it makes your life more meaningful. Pi uses this  religious persona to imply that whether the stories were true or not about how he survived, it did not matter.  He deceived the audience and distorted what was actually true.	In Ozymandias, by Percy Shelley, he writes of a traveller from an antique land who is trying to perceive his audience that he is this amazing and powerful person.  Though we don’t know who he truly is, it can be argued that he is being deceitful and putting on a performance of his everyday life of the reality of who he truly is.   “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”	In the poem, Ode to Solitude,  by Alexander Pope, he writes that it is better to live in solitude so that people will not deceive you and so that you are able to live honestly.  He says throughout the poem all the joys of being alone and living for yourself, because people cause pain and can trick you, cheating you. “Happy the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air, In his own ground.”	In the poem, “Their Lonely Betters,” by George Gascoigne, it is brought up that plants are not capable of lying or knowing they are going to die, and how that is better because they cannot deceive or trick one another, and have no decisions on how to live their lives, which makes their lives much more simple and easy.  Language can be left to their lonely betters who trick, hurt, deceive, put on masks, harm one another, and put on performances. “Not one of them was capable of lying.”

Blog Post 12

Act 4 Madness:  Hamlet's Perspective

I, Hamlet here, have just discovered the most amazing literary criticism I've ever laid my eyes on.  This news that Peter J. Seng addresses relates to not just me but my lovely Ophelia as well.  God, rest her soul.  Her spiraling madness following my absence and horrible drowning has left me quite shaken, but Seng's article has brought me deep comfort in knowing at least someone is on my side.

One thing he does wonderfully is pinpointing the blame on Laertes and Polonius, rather than just whining over me like other literary critics do.  Come on people I clearly am not as savage and cruel as those roaches.  Laertes basically bossed Ophelia around when he said, "Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain If with too credent ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open To is unmast'red importunity," and Polonius basically crushed her dreams and soul when Ophelia spoke of our affection.  He replied to her and he said, "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.  Do you believe his tenders as you call them?."  Even Seng described Polonius's words to be, "The very diction in which he couches his warning is a slander."  My poor Ophelia stood no chance against them.  

Let me remind you, I loved Ophelia.  Her brother and father may have been too stupid and blind to notice but that is the fact of the matter.  I admit that at times I did not give her the love she so much deserved, but you must understand I was grieving my father's death at the time too.  Let me refresh your memory to Ophelia's funeral when I said of her, "I lov'd Ophelia.  Forty thousand brothers could not (with all their quantity of love) Make up my sum."  Seng even describes this language of mine to be, "...not the language of trifling, beguilement, or seduction."  So sorry Polonius and Laertes, but you got my love for Ophelia way wrong.  

Even in her madness, Ophelia hints to Laertes that he is to blame for her downfall.  Remember when he described my attention for her as, "A fashion, and a toy in blood; A violet in the youth of nature?"  Well,  Seng describes Ophelia getting payback by saying, "Now she pays him back in verbal kind:" when she replies in her insanity, "I would give you some violets, but they wither'd all when my father died."  I am not going to blame all of Ophelia's madness on Laertes and Polonius, but clearly those two had a detrimental effect on her.  My poor Ophelia had disgraceful family, yet I'm Glad Peter J. Seng set all back to normal in my life by describing me as I truly was, A kind man who loved Ophelia and caused her no purposeful harm.