Quick Notes from Hamlet.

Found these saved in my drafts. Might as well post them, right?
These notes were written in no particular order.





Ophelia  - "you are as good as a chorus my lord"

Chorus doesn't take part in play but sings. Ophelia is comparing Hamlet to the Greek chorus. 

- it isn't enough to just kill Claudius. Hamlet wants to send Claudius to hell, which is why he doesn't kill him while he's praying. 

- The ghost doesn't want Hamlet to kill Gertrude, rather let her live with her guilt.

-Hamlet seems clear of his want and ability to murder Claudius once he stabs Polonius on accident. Even after stabbing Polonius, Hamlet seems to have no regret of having acted without thinking. Come to think of it, I think this may be the first time in the play Hamlet has acted before thinking, or even acted before giving us some massive speech about his failure and what-not. Anyway, 

Hamlet, after killing Polonius...

Savagely angry. Verbally attacking his mother. Hamlet has transformed from a character of words to a character of action.

-Claudius confesses for his sins and asks God for forgiveness. He also asks if there is a way to be forgiven but keep all of the things he gained for these sins. I think the answer is no, and Claudius would not be forgiven in the eyes of God. 

Transmedia Poetry

Summons
by Robert Francis

"Keep me from going to sleep to

Come wake me up. Come any houro soon" Like this:

"Or if I go to sleep too soon
Of night." Sounds like he wants this:

"Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door."
wikiHow: How to Kick Down a Door
"Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.

Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. 

Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.

See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all."
Why Do We Need Sleep?
"Tell me the walking is superb.
Quotes about walking:
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, Or, How to Philosophize With the Hammer
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” 
― John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
"My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the heck she is."
― Ellen DeGeneres
"Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded." 

Hamlet ( The Madman?)

Hamlet often comes across as an insane, delusional teenager who can’t seem to make up his mind. People call him crazy, indecisive, and some will go so far as to say Hamlet is a madman, but how can you call mad a man who faces such extensive trauma so early in his life and still manages to follow through with such well thought out scheme for revenge? Hamlet is clearly far from crazy and should be interpreted as a genius struggling after the death of his father and the swift remarriage of his mother.

It is obvious that many of the characters in the play think that Hamlet is crazy, and for good reason. Hamlet has been putting on a show for the majority of them ever since he learned the truth of Claudius and his father. Beginning in the second act of the play, Hamlet begins his plot to lower the defenses of King Claudius and Gertrude by pretending to be insane. After first going through these first few scenes, some may come to the conclusion that Hamlet isn't acting, and may very well be insane. Upon further insight, however, you can see that Hamlet is just using these interactions with Polonius and others to deceive the King. We can make this deduction when Polonius exits the scene, leaving Hamlet alone with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet immediately turns back into the witty prince he is, recognizing them both and having quick conversation. Not only is he able to have normal conversation, but he is able to see through Rosencrantz’s lie that they weren't sent by the king. Hamlet’s ability to trick Polonius and others is nothing but brilliance on his part.

It’s argued that Hamlet is delusional, because, after killing Polonius, Hamlet is confronted by the ghost, whom Hamlet can see, but Gertrude cannot. Shakespeare’s decision to make the ghost only visible to Hamlet could mean a number of things, but it definitely wasn't meant to portray Hamlet as mentally ill. First of all, Hamlet is not the only person in the play to have seen the ghost. In fact, a number of characters have witnessed the ghost first hand: Francisco and Bernardo to name a few. By this logic, not only is Hamlet mentally ill, but the entire castle guard is mentally ill as well, including the scholar, Horatio. This argument that Hamlet’s ability to see the ghost represents his insanity is outrageous, as there is no reason for Shakespeare to make this decision in his writing. Another theory, one with slightly more weight, perhaps, is that Hamlet is able to see and interact with the ghost because he has morals. He is able to see both good, represented by the ghost, and evil, represented by Gertrude. With this knowledge, Hamlet is able to make his decisions. Gertrude, however, has lost her morals (assuming she had some to lose.)

Hamlet may seem to be indecisive for a good majority of the play, but is it really indecisiveness that keeps him from exacting his revenge? When Hamlet sees Claudius praying, he has a clear chance to finish him, though he chooses not to. At this point, Hamlet is not being indecisive. He’s actually doing just the opposite. From the moment he confronts the ghost for the first time, Hamlet makes his decision. His decision, however, isn't just to slay Claudius. His decision is to exact revenge in the best manner he can come up with. In this sense, striking down Claudius and presumably sending him to heaven isn't enough. Hamlet needs to be sure that Claudius spends his eternity suffering in the depths of hell. He chooses not to strike down Claudius while he is praying lest Claudius is forgiven for his sins and gains the luxury of eternity in the afterlife. It becomes obvious to us that Hamlet intends to finish the job when he stabs Polonius in the curtain. Hamlet doesn't hesitate once he believes he has his chance to kill Claudius. By this point in the play, there’s no questioning that Hamlet has made his decision.

Though commonly referred to as a madman, Hamlet’s genius and wit is exemplified throughout the course of this play. Though it’s not always clear to the audience, Hamlet is a brilliant young prince that cleverly and patiently goes about avenging his murdered father and getting his own revenge against that man that killed him.

Notes from reading/in class conversations

-The story of Hamlet is sometimes described as the play about a man who cannot make up his mind

- according to deBoer, Hamletis a play about a man who could not make real what was found in his mind

- for much of the play Hamlet is able to speak but not do

- when instructing the players on how to act, Hamlet is insistent that they do not overact. He wants the passion to be smooth and sound unscripted. 

- this exemplifies the use of self performance to create a social context which supports a visage of sincerity. 

- to over do a self performance would be to undercut the socially excepted notion of a sincere emotional state, taking away your power to create a performative utterancethat relies on a context of emotional appropriateness 

- as Hamlet is instructing the players to not overact he needs to be mindful to not overact himself, as he is putting on a show of madness. According to Hamlet, madness is defined by the kind of exaggerated actions in movements associated with poor acting or overacting

- Hamlet suggests that the goal of the theater has been to "hold up a mirror to nature"

- perlocutinary= relating to an act performed by a speaker unto a listener by act of speaking

- words have the effect of force and action. 

- Hamlet is creating a reality.

- in his soliloquies, Hamlet progresses into thinking that he is not a good guy, and realizes his sins. 

- what enables him to evolve from a man seemingly incapable of giving his stated aims physical expression. 

- 

LITERARY FICTION AND EMPATHY

By reading literary fiction, one can experience many situations and circumstances that they would never have gotten to in their real lives. This can help them understand those around them, who may be experiences something similar, if only slightly, to a character in a novel. The article seems to focus mainly on ones ability to read facial expressions and body language, and how the skills to do that can be improved by reading certain kinds of literature. 

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Notes

-Start with Francisco and Bernardo

-Bernardo relieves Francisco from his post

- Marcellus shows up with Horatio and Francisco exits.

- Ghost appears, which the men speculate to be the ghost of the former king, Hamlet. Not to be confused with his younger son, also Hamlet.

- Horatio says that the ghost is warning that the nephew of Fortinbras is looking for revenge while the kingdom seems weak, after the death of a king. Fortinbras (older) was king of Norway and was killed in battle by King Hamlet.

- The characters make an allusion to Julius Caesar, which I can't say I fully understand.
- After the ghost disappears a second time, the group decides they will bring it to the attention of Young Hamlet, whom they are confident the ghost will be willing to communicate with.

Hamlet Act I Scene II

Vocab List #3

accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner
attrition - noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice; erosion by friction
bromide - noun any of the salts of hydrobromic acid; formerly used as a sedative but now generally replaced by safer drugs; a trite or obvious remark
chauvinist - noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind
chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering
expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state
factionalism - noin the existence of or conflict between groups within a larger group
immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error
imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation
ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"
mercurial - adj. relating to or containing or caused by mercury;relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change
palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data
resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor
stigmatize - verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
sub - noun a submersible warship usually armed with torpedoes; a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States; verb be a substitute
rosa - noun large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses
vainglory - noun outspoken conceit
vestige - noun an indication that something has been present
volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

Vocab List #2

accoutrements - noun a piece of clothing or equipment that is used in a particular place or for a particular activity
apogee - noun apoapsis in Earth orbit; the point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth; a final climactic stage
apropos - adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time
bicker - noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things
coalesce - verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements
contretemps - noun an awkward clash
convolution - noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain; the shape of something rotating rapidly
cull - noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather
disparate - adj. including markedly dissimilar elements;fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind
dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
licentious - adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained
mete - noun a line that indicates a boundary
noxious - adj. injurious to physical or mental health
polemic - adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)
populous - adj. densely populated
probity - noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles
repartee - noun adroitness and cleverness in reply
supervene - verb take place as an additional or unexpected development
truncate - adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane
unimpeachable - adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame

Poetry #1

1. The commercial borrow's a poem called The Laughing Heart written by Charles Bukowski.
2. The use of this poem by a corporation is ironic because the purpose of the commercial is to convince you to do a certain thing, while the meaning of the poem is to have an open mind and free will.
3. I don't think the poem reflects the reputation of the author. After a good amount of research on Charles Bukowski, all I can tell is that he was a depressed drunk who wrote about alcohol, sex, and how much he hates his job. This poem, on the other hand, feels much more upbeat. I was surprised when researching Bukowski to find out how dark the majority of his works are.
4. For #1, I searched the first few words of the poem using Google. For #3, I used Google to search "Charles Bukowski." I read from Wikipedia and a site I found called Goodreads.