First Staple Center Game

Hamlet: Act II Scene I & II

• Lord Polonius tells Reynaldo to spy on Laertes:
• “tell the people that Laertes talks, fights, drinks...also tell the people that you know him a little bit, but don’t overdo it” [rough interpretation]
• Foreshadowing → “By indirections find directions out” [Lord Polonius]
• Polonius assumes that Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia

• King Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Goldenstein:
• spy on Hamlet because they are closer to Hamlet’s age than he is
• Voltimand: allusion to the bigger problem
• Norway wants to ask (Denmark) for passage through in order to get to Poland

“...brevity is the soul of wit...” //Lord Polonius

“...method in the madness...” //Lord Polonius

“...to me it is a prison...” //Hamlet

“...for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so…” //Hamlet

Hamlet: Act I Scene IV/V

[Hamlet] - rough interpretations

• → yes, it’s a custom but they should respect the old King and not celebrate it (his death)
• the drinking and partying makes us look bad; the other nations think us drunkards
• [Claudius] should be taking this seriously and should be mourning

“King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!” - Hamlet

• Hamlet recognizes the ghost as his father; gives credibility to the ghost
• Remember: ghost is an omen (reinforces it) → unfinished business; shows something wrong with the balance of the kingdom

• Horatio and Marcellus warns Hamlet that the Ghost will trick him into doing something terrible

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” - Marcellus

• moral and political corruption → foul play; Claudius’s misguidance as king

• Hamlet’s father (ghost) is in purgatory going to hell
• readers find out that he was murdered → king was sleeping in the garden when Claudius pours poison (snake venom) into his ear causing his blood to clot
• [rough interpretation]  Gertrude was seduced by Claudius even before the murder occurred
• giving over to lust
• (to Hamlet) “let God judge her and let her guilt consume her [Gertrude]”
• don’t let emotions rule you (act of revenge) → do it for your country and of your birth

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Hamlet: Act I Scene III

Laertes and Ophelia are siblings → Polonius is their father

• Laertes warns Ophelia of Hamlet
• “...the trifling of his favor...”  
• → Laertes calls Hamlet young, mentioning how his emotion towards her are brief and trivial; something that won’t last long as he grows older and gains more responsibilities
• “His greatness weighted, his will is not his own//For he himself is subject to his birth”
• he warns that Hamlet can’t own up to his emotions → he is birthed into a life that requires him to put aside his own wants and needs for the obligations he has to complete
• he tells Ophelia to think about her honor/status → falling for his seduction and opening her legs to him would result in controversy
• “keep you in the rear of your affection”
• Crudely translated to: “Dude, Ophelia. Control your emotions!”
• Ophelia tells Laertes that she’ll keep his warnings in mind → but to also practice what he preaches

• Polonius enters the scene
• talks to Laertes → gives him last minute advice
• he shifts gear and questions Ophelia about the talk she had with her brother
• Ophelia tells her father about Hamlet’s show of affection → he belittles her; essentially calls her stupid for falling for his “show of love” and warns her to keep out of Hamlet’s affections  

Literary Fiction and Empathy

"Maybe popular fiction is a way of dealing more with one's own self, maybe with one's own wants, desires, needs."

 "...there is no single, overarching authorial voice...each character presents a different version of reality, and they aren't necessarily reliable..."

Literary fiction can be an essential resource in understanding other literary works. It helps the readers imagine the world they are put into; the readers are given a visual to the work they're shoved to. By use of literary fiction, the reader gets propelled into the world of the character they are trying to analyze. It ultimately gives them a better sense of understanding the feelings, thoughts, ideas, and wants to character evokes. The reader is given a silver lining, a connection, to the character thus resulting in a better understanding of the work.

In Hamlet, the reader gets to feel the emotional turmoil that Shakespeare evokes out of the characters. We are thrust into Prince Hamlet's world, the pain, anger, and disgust he feels towards his own family. This show of emotions allow us to connect more with the story, and to Hamlet himself. As a teenager myself, I see myself in his shoes. The betrayal I would feel if my own mother did something as heinous as Queen Gertrude did, I'd see myself acting like Hamlet.  

Hamlet: Act I, Scene II

• King Claudius mentions that:
• Young Fortinbras → wants to take back the land that King Hamlet won over during the war
• King Hamlet recently dead, roughly 1-2 months
• although it is an unfortunate event that King Hamlet has just recently died and grieving is essential, he wants the kingdom to move on in order to focus more on Fortinbras whom he calls “the enemy”
• Cornelius to give a message to Fortinbras
• “Suck it Fortinbras” - King Claudius
• Claudius → Prince Hamlet’s uncle, and now “father”
• Claudius marries his brother’s wife, Queen Gertrude, for the throne
• always calls to attention the fact that Hamlet is “too young with no experience”
• Queen Gertrude remains the queen because she marries her ex-husband’s brother; she’s in-between as she’s both the wife and the sister-in-law  

• [ASIDE] “A little more than kin, and less than kind.” -Hamlet
• rough interpretation: “Yes, we are cousin, but don’t call me kin or son”
• “don’t call me son; I don’t really like you”
• Hamlet wants to go to university, but Claudius doesn’t let him
• Claudius uses counterargument → calls him weak
• not letting Hamlet leave indicates a lack of trust
• “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” scenario
• everyone can put a mask on, pretend → Hamlet insinuates that although Claudius is grieving on the outside, it doesn’t make it real  

• 1st of 6 soliloquy: [Hamlet]
• doesn’t really want to be where he’s at right now → Hamlet is essentially cursing everyone (especially Queen Gertrude and King Claudius)
• Alludes to Greek mythology → calls his father “Hercules” to signify a strong (titan), dignified person; basically calls Claudius a worthless person
• he calls his mom a promiscuous woman

• We see three sides to Hamlet:
• 1st → diplomatic prince: regal, noble, intelligent, observant
• 2nd → by himself (soliloquies): dramatic flares; we see a distraught teenager; bursts of emotions;    
• 3rd → private eye: asks a lot of direct question; can deduct logic through reason

Other Learning Communities + Hamlet

I emailed three English Professors, and one high school teacher teaching British Literature about a possible Hamlet collaboration. Like Lupe, I talked about OSL and the idea of combining Literature with transmedia outlets. I included a link to my blog and Dr. Preston's blog as well.

Vocab #6

abase - verb to belittle or degrade (someone)

• The bully abased the nerd into giving him lunch money.

abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

• The teacher accused the student of abdicating her studies.

abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust

• Henry looked at his colleague with abomination as the colleague spread false rumours about him.  

brusque - adj. abrupt or offhand in speech or manner

• She brusquely walked past him as she hurried to her next class.

saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks

• He calls himself THE saboteur, always deliberately causing havoc to the tourists.

debauchery - noun excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures

• Plague by dream’s of his fiancee, Jason’s debauchery led to his downward spiral.

proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly

• The proliferation of babies during the ‘20s was a result of WWII.

anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred

• Looking around the ancient Greek artifacts, she noticed an anachronism, Nestled by the swords was an out-of-placed gun.

nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline

• Nomenclatures are necessary to distinguishing the different subdivisions of biology.

expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate; to censur  

• Some countries expurgate internet access in order to monitor the things that “come in and out” of there.

bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight

• He is angry and lost, a bellicose man with a drinking problem.

gauche - adj. lacking social polish; socially awkward

• Gauche and inept, the girl accidently hit her hip on the table when put into the spotlight which caused the $5,000 vase to crash onto the floor.

rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping

• Mr. Krabs is rapacious, the type of person that will backstab his friends for a measly 2 cents.  

paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

• “Wise fool” and “Bittersweet”
• “Deep down, you’re really shallow”

conundrum - noun a difficult problem

• The physics homework was a conundrum; one problem took ½ hour to finish.  

anomaly - noun a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule

• The extra limb was an anomaly.

ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived

• The 100m race was ephemeral, but felt like it lasted longer than 20 seconds.

rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment

• Rancorous disputes between the woman and her partner caused the two colleagues to talk it out in front of the CEO.

churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish

• She has a churlish attitude, always snapping at people that try to talk to her.

precipitous - adj. extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation

• Running away from killer, the boy almost fell into a precipitous drop.  

Hamlet: Act I, Scene I

• There's a change in guard; Bernardo relieves Franciso of his post
•  Horatio and Marcellus enter the scene to accompany Bernardo 
• The three talk about something that has been lurking around

•  "What, has this thing appear'd again to-night?" 

•  "That if again this apparition come..."

• They've seen the "apparition" for the past two nights 
• Ghost enters the scene; he appears to look like the old king 
• They make Marcellus talk to the Ghost but it disappears
• The three talk about the similarities of the Ghost and the old king

• Ghost wearing the same armor that the king wore during combat
• Horatio tells the story of Fortinbras of Norway 
• Hamlet, the old king, slays Fortinbras of Norway; Fortinbras wants to take back the land from Hamlet  

• Ghost re-enters the scene; Horatio tells the "illusion" to speak, but the Ghost remains silent
• Bernardo thinks that the Ghost would've answered back if the crow hadn't croaked thus scaring it away
• The three want to tell Prince Hamlet all that has occurred 

Unphotographable Phiction

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe

The chant kept ringing through my ear, reverberating to my head. I walked right up to the tracks, muscles strained and my mouth set tight, jaws clenching. I took a breath of fresh air as I reached my lane. Looking around, it was inevitable not to judge the competition. Flashes of spandex, jerseys, and neon shoes were being paraded. It was the voice of the Proctor that eventually led me out of my musings. I shifted in my spot as he droned about the rules, a plethora of “can’t and can do’s.” As I shifted my eyes to each and every one of the girls, I noticed how eerily similar they all looked. Everyone had a glint in their eyes, an almost feral look, and their mouths all strained like mine was before. I know now that it was probably just the adrenaline pumping through my veins that made me see them like dogs clawing to be on top. After the customary pre-race talk, the Proctor told us to get on our lanes. He smiled cheekily at us, told us to loosen our muscles. Easier said than done.

My eyes looked around the field, at the audience watching over us like hawks. That moment before a race is the one that you keep with you forever. It's the flurry of people getting ready, your heightened senses, the blurry mess of the audiences watching over, and the pounding of blood you hear as it courses through you that makes it THE moment.

It is at that moment that an athlete feels complete.

It is how athletes thrive.

A moment of complete fullness that can never be captured by a camera.

A moment only the athletes themselves feel.

And when the bullet barrelled itself out of its coffin I ran to hearts content.  

Transmedia Essay: Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer evokes the idea that one's characteristics doesn't necessarily equate to reputation. Through the use of a satirical tone, Chaucer implies that society's expectations are barely met through quotas, or not at all. By usage of irony, frame, and characterization, the author conveys the concept of a 'two side to a coin' scenario where characteristics are far off from status. 

The story takes the tales of people of different status and creates a work unlike anything before: a melting pot. Through the tales of assorted people, Chaucer differentiates status and classes.

Chaucer creates a work that essentially portrays that of character and reputation. We see the difference between the characters and their reputation. Because of the difference in status, the characters are put in critical sub-bubbles. Chaucer implies a "fight, play, and work;" the aristocrats that fight, the middle-class that pray, and the lower class that work for the scraps tossed over.

We see an abundant usage of tone, diction, and satire/irony. The usage changes between the characters. 

Chaucer’s diction conveys that of appreciation for the monk. Unlike the others he criticized for being unlike their reputations, Chaucer uses satire to essentially tell his readers that although the monk has done something different from what he’s told to do, he has done no wrong.

“He let go by the things of yesterday

And took the modern world’s more spacious way...”

“....And I agreed and said his views were sound;”

The portrayal of that of the Friar, on the other hand, takes a different approach to the tone. Chaucer criticizes the Friar for doing something that harmed others: stealing. 



The characters have essentially come together to go to a Pilgrimage. Different people with completely distinct backgrounds, careers, and social status all unite in company as they complete a single task: travel to Canterbury.