HAMLET interlude april 17, 19, 20
On the first day this week, we’ll begin the second act of Hamlet. It’ll be a quick return to the play, however, as I’m leaving on Tuesday to go on a Kairos retreat. While I am gone, you will have the opportunity to work on my yearly poetry project. The link to the assignment is found to the right, but I will also post the poem types below. You are to use the two class periods that I am out to work on your poems. A first draft of the poems will be due in class next Monday.
OPTION 1: Write a poem of about 20 lines in which the speaker expresses an easily definable emotion. You may not manipulate the appearance of your text in any way (italics, bold, CAPS, changed font), but must rather convey that emotion with tone, detail, and image—the stuff of good poetry. No exclamation points. Remember I’m looking for language that is direct, powerful, and full of vivid imagery. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own. No further instruction than that.
OPTION 2: Write a minimum of 10 heroic (iambic pentameter) couplets (20 lines rhyming aa bb cc, etc.), in a retelling of the first Act of Hamlet. You may organize these couplets as you wish. At least half of the rhyme-pairs should be made up of different parts of speech (that is, nouns cannot be rhymed with nouns, or verbs with verbs; but a noun with a verb or a verb with an adj. is fine). At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
OPTION 3: Write a minimum of 10 heroic (iambic pentameter) couplets (20 lines rhyming aa bb cc, etc.), in a retelling of (1) the pilot episode of The Office, (2) All the Pretty Horses or Things Fall Apart, (3) any episode of Stranger Things, or (4) the entirety of your favorite movie or episode of television. You may organize these couplets as you wish. At least half of the rhyme-pairs should be made up of different parts of speech (that is, nouns cannot be rhymed with nouns, or verbs with verbs; but a noun with a verb or a verb with an adj. is fine). At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
OPTION 4: Write a poem of about 20 lines that consists of a single sentence. Experiment with clauses and phrases and parallel structure. It MUST be a single sentence, properly punctuated. Keep in mind that the longest single sentence in the English language is 3,687 words long (the soliloquy at the end of James Joyce’s Ulysses), so it can be done. Keep the sentence moving forward, breaking it at the ends of lines in different ways. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own. This is a monumentally challenging option, but one that will be rewarding to those up to the task. Adapted from Evans, English 92.
OPTION 5: Write a poem of about 20 lines that begins and ends with the same line, such that the reader feels differently about the line the second time around because of what happens in the poem. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
OPTION 6: Write a poem that replaces all the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs with other words that are, in each instance, the same parts of speech. The goal of this poem is to maintain logic and sense while moving closer to an affinity for the sounds of words and their associations. The poem you will be replacing is either “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden or “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
OPTION 7: Look up the year you were born on Wikipedia. There should be a list of events. Copy down 10-12 things that happened that year. You may have to read articles or research more about the events. Pick one or two events to focus on. Using the events should serve as a jumping off point, write a poem of about 20 lines about what these events say about you, your personal history, and who you are. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
OPTION 8: In ancient Greece, the term "ekphrasis" referred to a work of art in one medium that was produced as a reaction to a piece of art created in another medium. For example, a sculpture may depict a character in a novel, or a poem may describe a well-known painting. Choose a work of art that you find inspiring and try to capture its essence in a poem of at least 20 lines. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own. Make sure to consider all mediums when choosing your subject—not just paintings, but also film, music, or architecture.
OPTION 9: Write a poem of at least 20 lines from the perspective of Calypso that convinces Odysseus to stay with her. At least one line must be enjambed, having a meaning of its own.
PRODUCTIONS WE’RE WATCHING
To access these productions remotely on Drama Online Library, use the following credentials:
Username: strakejesuit
Password: crusaders
2009, Hamlet, with David Tennant
2010, Hamlet, with Rory Kinnear
2015, Hamlet, with Benedict Cumberbatch
2016, Hamlet, with Paapa Essiedu
2018, Hamlet, with Andrew Scott
STUDYING HAMLET
The RSC Shakespeare's scene-by-scene analysis
enjoying literature
“In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally—picks them apart and weaves them back together to make meaning. This narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is. A life story doesn’t just say what happened, it says why it was important, what it means for who the person is, for who they’ll become, and for what happens next.”
