Using a Double-Entry Journal with

Shakespeare's Hamlet

Ice Breaker•Why are you here today?

•If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

•If you were a cartoon, which one would you prefer

being?

•What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?

•What's the worst thing you did as a kid?

•What do you do to have fun?

•Have you been told, you look like someone famous?

•What is that one thing which makes you different?

•If you were the Miss World, what would your message

for aspiring models be?

1.

Students

will read

Shakespea

re's play.

The

Tragedy of

Hamlet,

Prince of

Denmark

and use a

double-

entry

journal to

reflect

upon the

characters

and their

actions.

2.

Students

will use a

graphic

organizer

to

improve

their

reading

comprehe

nsion of

literary

character

s.

DemonstrationExplain to students that although

Shakespeare's plays were written more

than 400 years ago, the themes that run

through his plays are timeless. Hamlet is

one of the characters that has been

interpreted and played many times on

many different stages. Point out that the

language of Shakespeare's plays and his

complex characters sometimes confuse

students and prevent them from enjoying

his plays.

Explain that one of the key ways to truly

understand the depth of a Shakespearean

play is to understand the characters and

why they act the way they do. A double-

entry journal is one way in which students

can keep track of and respond to the

characters and their actions in each act.

Before beginning to read Hamlet, discuss

the characteristics of a tragedy and explain

that Shakespeare's plays are broken into

five acts. Discuss exposition, rising action,

climax, falling action, and denouement.

Explain to students that they are going to

use the double-entry journal as they read

Hamlet. They are going to have a separate

double-journal entry for every act to help

them respond to and understand the

characters, and therefore better

understand the play.

Explain that in Act I, students will learn some

background knowledge about the characters

and what has happened to them up to that

point. Have students take turns reading Act I

aloud. Distribute the blank double-entry journal

form, or have students copy it into their

notebooks. The title of the first journal is

Double-Entry Journal for Act I of Hamlet. In the

left column, have students write Quotations as

the head. In the right column, have students

write Reflections and Analysis.

As a class, select some of the most important quotes from the major characters

in Act I and have students write them in the left column. In the right column,

have students identify the speaker and what they have learned about the

speaker from what the speaker says. Encourage them to try to relate to the

characters and to voice any questions they have about what will happen to the

characters in subsequent acts. Point out that many of the characters' lines are

quite long, so students can simply pick out several of the lines that add to the

overall developing plot and best support what the character is trying to convey.

Use the double-entry journal below as an example. Note that these are only a

few examples of important quotes from Act I. Students can also include quotes

from Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia.

"If there be any good think to

be done/That may to thee do

ease, and grace to me,/Speak

to me." (I, i, 130-2)

Horatio; he doubted the existence of

the King's ghost, but then he sees

the ghost himself and begs the ghost

to explain his presence. The ghost

leaves, and Horatio wants Hamlet to

see the ghost because he thinks the

ghost will speak to Hamlet.

Horatio’s seems like the ghost is a

good friend.

"...But to persevere/In

obstinate condolement is a

course/Of impious

stubbornness, 'tis unmanly

grief,/(I, ii, 92-4)

The King; he thinks that

Hamlet has been mourning

his father's death too long. He

wants Hamlet to recognize

him as the new King and

Hamlet's mother as the King's

wife. This seems strange. Why

would the king rush Hamlet's

mourning? I don't think a

child can take too long in

mourning a parent's death.