Missed Class?

If you're absent while we are studying Hamlet (until CWW) you are responsible for watching as well as reading the scenes that you missed.

Check the Hamlet calendar to find the text studied. You can find it one link bar on the right as well.

Every day of Hamlet study will require one scrapbook entry.

Block 2 Hamlet Characters

Post your character photos here.

Block 6 Hamlet Characters

Upload your Hamlet pics here.

New Semester, New Opportunity Day Times

My new days of the week for help afterschool this semester are Wednesdays and Fridays.

Hamlet Scrapbook

Rather than maintaining a blog during thisHamlet, we're going to go paper - and keep a Hamlet scrapbook. The scrapbooks will stay in our classroom.

For every scene we'll study you'll create aHamlet scrapbook entry.

There are some requirements that we'll discuss first.

- cite text specifically following MLA format
- note the date and the scene and lines covered
- deal with at least one word in detail

In addition, you must choose minimum two of the following creative strategies to deal with text. Remember: the entries should be a reflection of your understand of the scene. It should also be a creative representation of your thinking:

- create a collage of a character
- demonstrate inference by animating/illustrating text
- comic book style illustration of dialogue
- paper circuitry
- summarize the scene in a paragraph written in different colors (color-coding)
- write a journal entry as a character in the scene (narrative)
- play what if: create a what if scenario and imagine what the consequences would be
-depict a close reading in illustrations of a small piece of text
- translate a series of lines to emojis (stickers)
- justify cutting the scene out of a production of Hamlet
- justify not cutting the scene out of a production of Hamlet
- re-write the scene as a children's story or children's illustrated book
- imagine the scene without Hamlet and think about its effects

Here is the rubric I will use to grade your scrapbooks (once every two weeks - formative). Be sure to keep your scrapbook up to date. If you miss class you must either come to Opportunity Day or study the scene on your own with the help of scenes on youtube.

Want some examples? While it's not exactly like what we're doingthis is more or less the same idea only with The Great Gatsby. Ours make look a little different as they'll include work with text and more traditional written approaches in addition to the visual work. 

Another place you might go to get an idea of what a scrapbook can look like is Lynda Barry's books, in our classroom and library.



While I have a booklet for each of you, you may bring in your own, if your prefer it. Just know that the book will only be dedicated toHamlet. Think of the book itself as a work of art - in progress!

Hamlet Pictures from Block 5

Post your pictures here. 

Poetry Quiz

We´ll be having a quiz on the Friday 2nd and Monday the 5th. It will be on ¨The Forerunners¨ by George Herbert. While the language is somewhat different than Shakespeare, it has many similarities. As such, it makes sense we assess our ability to interpret this kind of poetry (Hamlet is written in verse).

Vocabulary in questions:

sermon
lament
summons
refrain
an aside (theater)
epilogue
tetrameter
light verse

Model Author Study Papers

Here are some model papers from our Author Study this year. These are superior to the models I first showed, so for those revising their papers this might be a good place to get some ideas.


The papers are hyperlinked by the author that the student focused on.

Chimanda Ngozi Adichie

Suki Kim

Edwidge Danticat

Octavia Butler

Kurt Vonnegut

Writers Workshop Mini-lesson: Block Quotations

Hamlet Trailer

Here´s a trailer too if you missed our Hamlet intro class today.

For Juniors who have missed class today, be sure to watch this TEDtalk with the intention of answering: How should we study Shakespeare? Why should we study Shakespeare?

A Dramatization of John Donne's "The Flea"

Today's Work

After today's quiz, we'll be reading "Love in LA" by Dagoberto Gilb.

Please answer the corresponding questions in our textbook.

For the Adichie Readers

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has recently been interviewed by the New Yorker. It´s a brief podcast that could be useful in your papers.

Writing Center Is At Your Service

Please don't forget that if you need extra help with your paper, you can go to the Writing Center.  Email  thewritingcenter@cng.edu to set up an appointment.