Hamlet

-A series of events develop the plot’s central conflict.
-Suspense builds gradually as the plot progresses.

>Which statements describe the rising action of a tragedy’s plot?

-Hamlet wants to kill Claudius, but he wants to be sure Claudius will suffer.

>Which statement best describes Hamlet’s complexity in the excerpt?

-His erratic behavior confuses his friend.

>Hamlet’s character is complex in the excerpt because

-A visit from his deceased father.

>In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, what plot event prompts Hamlet to become suspicious and resentful?

-Polonius is sacrificing his daughter to trick Hamlet.

>In the excerpt, Hamlet calls Polonius Jephthah, after the priest in the Old Testament who sacrifices his daughter to God. What does this allusion suggest about Polonius’s treatment of Ophelia?

-Although she is queen, Gertrude is caught between her powerful husband and bitter son.

>Which statement is a feminist analysis of these lines?

-Which words does the actor emphasize?
-What gestures and movements does the actor make?
-What emotions does the actor convey?

>What should audience members ask themselves when they evaluate how an actor interprets a character?

-Diction

>To analyze tone, the reader should study word choice, which is also called

-Time period it was written in

>Historical criticism considers a text’s relationship to the

-The character experiences a variety of human emotions.
-The character possesses a complex personality.
-The character grows or develops over the course of a play.

>Which ideas describe a round character?

-In contrast to Gertrude, Hecuba is the ideal image of a grieving widow.

>Which statement best explains why Shakespeare alludes to Hecuba throughout Act II, Scene ii of Hamlet?

-How do the parts of the text relate to the whole?

>Which question is most likely asked by a reader analyzing a text through a formalist lens?

-Become a tragic hero and the story will have an unhappy ending.

>By evaluating the dramatic conventions in the excerpt, the reader can conclude that Hamlet will

-He is distraught and unsure.

>What does this part of the soliloquy reveal about Hamlet?

-Cautious

>Shakespeare’s word choice in the passage creates a tone that is