VALUE OF LIFE GROUP PROJECT

*Activities 3 through 6 completed by Dale Bebeau (http://dbebeaurhs14exposcomp.blogspot.com/)

Activity 3:

  1. What prior experiences have you had reading plays?

     - I've read many plays by Shakespeare as well as George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde.

  2. What did you notice about the front page format and annotations?

     - It was very creative and informative.

  3. What did you notice about the text's structure?

     - It's a monologue, it's a collection of text that one character says. It's like a poem and has lines like one.

Activity 4:

  1. What is a tragedy? What themes and outcomes would you expect to find in a tragedy?

     - A tragedy is a type of story in which bad things happen to a character, sometimes resulting in death to some, many, or all.

  2. What do you know about the language in plays written by Shakespeare?

     - It's written in "Elizabethan" or an older style of English including many words we don't use today.

  3. What have you done in the past to help yourself read Shakespeare effectively?

     - I read the sentences many times to understand what is being said. It's not always easy to understand. The text often has many meanings and it takes time to understand them in context.

  4. The soliloquy here begins with a famous quotation: "To be or not to be - that is the question." What do you think is "the question" Hamlet is asking? How do you think he might answer it?

     - Whether to act or not to act. He'll make a decision and find the results.

Activity 5:

  Oppression - Promotion

  Action - Stagnant

  Endurance - Periodic

  Mystery - Oblivious

  Life - Death

  1. Action: to, be, become

  2. Thought: consider, weigh, contemplate

  3. Suffering: bear, live, unwillingness, fear

  4. Mortality: life, person

  5. Fear: uncertainty, competence

  Action = doing, moving, progress

  Thought = cognitive, develop

  Suffering =  pain, unwanted, unwanted, unliked

  Mortality = life, bodies, being

  Fear = scared, afraid, worried

Activity 6:

  I believe Hamlet is a pessimist. He thinks that under these circumstances, bad things will happen. He thinks that things will go badly based on past events. Is he right? It's a personal choice, and he chooses to believe it is not for his benefit that these things are occurring. He constantly debates whether to act and bring upon him the unknown, or not to and bear the burden of his situation.

*Activities 7 & 8 by completed by Shane Cheverez (shanecheverez.blogspot.com)

Activity 7: Considering the Structure of the Text

1) Where does Hamlet first ask the central question of his soliloquy?
     - Hamlet first introduces the central question of his soliloquy in line one. This is not, however, when he truly asks the question. As famous as it is, the simple line "To be, or not to be" would have very little meaning/relevance if it were not elaborated on by the rest of the text. Because of this, I do not feel that it is fair to identify any portion of the soliloquy as the single deliverer of Hamlet's central theme/question.

2) Where does he restate this question in greater detail?
     - Hamlet uses the entire remainder of his soliloquy to expand on his initial line. The following excerpts are especially critical:

"Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,"

"To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause."

"For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely,
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin?"

3) Does Hamlet ever answer this question?
     - Whether or not Hamlet directly answers his central question really depends on which level of meaning the reader draws from the text. When interpreted at face value (whether or not Hamlet should take action) the question is answered before the soliloquy even begins. Deeper levels, however, such as Hamlet's of fear of the unknown and the turmoil it causes, are never truly resolved.

4) Does he ask any other questions in this speech?
      - Hamlet doesn't necessarily ask any other questions, but there are multiple levels of meaning to his central question that give it multiple effects.

5) Who or what interrupts Hamlet at the end of his soliloquy? Do you think he was finished talking?
     - I have not read the entire play, so I cannot say who or what (possibly) interrupts Hamlet. What I can say is that, for such an obscure piece, the soliloquy seemed to come to a close fairly well. Because of this, I would say that he was most likely done speaking (or at least Shakespeare was). The issues that were addressed in Hamlet's soliloquy were never meant to be entirely answered, after all, so I do feel that an early ending was appropriate.

Activity 8:Noticing Language

• Identify the main clause (subject and verb) in the following sentence. Then paraphrase the main idea this sentence in your own words: "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/ When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/ Must give us pause." 

Main clause: "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come"

Paraphrased sentence (my interpretation of the main idea): One must consider what change might befall them once their former self has died.

*Activities 9 & 10 completed by Dale Bebeau (http://dbebeaurhs14exposcomp.blogspot.com/)

Activity 9: Annotating and Questioning the Text

  To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune-

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--

No more--and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks-

That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--

To sleep--perchance to dream+: ay, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,+

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,-

Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,-

But that the dread of something after death,+

The undiscovered country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills-we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?-

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,-

And thus the native hue of resolution-

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprise of great pitch and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry

And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now,

The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remembered.

-Hamlet seems very pessimistic about his current situation.

Activity 10: Analyzing Stylistic Choices

  1. What happens after death:

     - "The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns"

  2. Fate:

     - "Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"

  3. The unknown:

     - "[What] makes us bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?"

  1. The mysteries of the afterlife are like uncharted lands, no knowing what you'll encounter.

  2. Being alive is compared to being shot at and attacked.

  3. Why would you choose to face unknown threats rather than known ones?

  Hamlet chooses to describe his emotions in this way to give complexity and depth to characters. He allows them to put their feelings into words and treat the situation as their own. Everyone experiences events differently, and explaining them to anyone else isn't always straightforward.

*Activities 11 & 12 completed by Shane Cheverez (shanecheverez.blogspot.com)

Activity 11: Summarizing

• What is the big issue in Hamlet’s soliloquy?
• What claim or argument about the value of life does Hamlet make?
• What do you think about Hamlet’s claim?

- The “big issue” in Hamlet’s soliloquy is the inner turmoil that Hamlet is confronted with after his life takes a turn for the worst. He knows what he must do if he is to have even the slightest chance of improving his situation, but a much deeper issue skews this seemingly easy decision. Hamlet is afraid of undergoing the change that such a course of action (killing his uncle) could bring about. Thus, the main issue of the soliloquy: should Hamlet accept the risks and do what he knows is right, or should he shy away from the unknown and keep his familiar, yet terrible circumstances. This issue, in turn, generates Hamlet’s “claim” about the value of life. That is, life only has as much value as one gives it. An individual’s decisions and the initiative that he/she puts forth are often directly proportionate to the value that that individual will observe in his/her life. This is the outlook that I’ve always had myself so, if this is indeed Hamlet’s claim, I agree 100%.  

Activity 12: Thinking Critically

1) Does the soliloquy form seem to favor the expression of emotion (pathos)? Explain your answer.

     - The purpose of a soliloquy is to provide insight into the thoughts and feelings of a character. Therefore, yes—by creating an emotional connection with the reader—the soliloquy form does exceedingly well at delivering an emotional appeal.

2) Does Hamlet’s soliloquy use emotion (pathos) to create a specific effect on the reader? If so, describe how emotion is used.

     - Like most of Shakespeare’s work, Hamlet’s soliloquy uses heavy doses of emotion-charged figurative language to create a dark and dismal effect on the reader.

3) Does Hamlet’s soliloquy use logic (logos) to create a specific effect on the reader? If so, describe how logic is used.

     - I did not observe any sort of logical approach being utilized by Hamlet’s soliloquy. The text seemed to focus 100% on eliciting an emotional response from its readers.

4) When Hamlet speaks his soliloquy, he is in crisis. How do his circumstances position Hamlet to speak with authority (ethos) about the value of life? Does Hamlet seem to be speaking about his life in particular or about the quality of life in general?

- Being in the midst of a worst-case scenario that was crafted by the most notoriously renowned tragedy writer of all time, Hamlet is definitely deserving of some authority in speaking on the value of life. That being said, everything that he says should be taken with a grain of salt. While enduring an experience that is far worse than any that most people will ever have to undergo, it is doubtful that he will have anything positive to say about life. In his soliloquy, Hamlet seems to speaking about his life in particular, though the themes that he conveys are applicable to life in general.

5) As careful readers, we are, of course, aware that it is not really Hamlet speaking, but a character created by Shakespeare. Does Shakespeare seem like someone whose opinions and attitudes are worth considering? Why?

     - Given the depth and complexity of Shakespeare’s work, I would say that it is definitely worth at least considering whatever the master play-writer is saying through his characters. However, to be perfectly honest, I imagine that he was a deeply troubled individual and, again, I would take whatever he says with a grain of salt.