Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Daily Reflection for Monday, October 28, 2013
Period 2: Manuel's group, Rebecca Segovia, Emeli Castillo, Casey Cortez, Kobe Martinez

On this day we viewed scenes Act II.ii and the Nunnery Scene. It was interesting to see how the people who played the same character as someone else took a different approach to the way they interpreted said character. For example, in the Nunnery scene the character of Hamlet had two actors. Both actors did a very good job at displaying Hamlet's emotions. One actor(Deisy) came off as nice and calm, while the other was more demanding when she(Aran) confronted Ophelia(Eric). I appreciated these two different perspectives because just as each actor has a distinct way of looking at a character, each reader has a distinct way of looking at the play or maybe even characters as well. Some people say that Hamlet is insane, while others say he is so intelligent that the people around him mistake his intellectuality for madness. We also found it interesting how in Act II.ii Hamlet speaks to Polonius in a degrading manner. The way Hamlet speaks to Polonius is demeaning and displays Polonius' blindness. The irony in this scene demonstrates Hamlet's wit. This brought me and my group members to question some things:
1) Did Hamlet kill Polonius knowingly?
2)What is the significance on "honesty" in these two scenes?
3) Does Hamlet insult Polonius and his children by calling him a "breeder of sins"?
4) Why does Hamlet repeat the topic of producing "sinned" offspring?

Daily Reflection for October 20, 2013
Period 1: Manuel's group...Rebecca Seg, Emeli Castillo, Casey Cortez, Kobe Martinez

We were assigned the "Mouse trap" scene(III.ii). When we realized we would have to perform this scene most of us thought it would be a simple read out loud and act exercise. We were wrong. We quickly realized that in order to act the scene out we had to understand the situation and thoughts that went on in the characters' minds. Hamlet was a handful. This scene is filled with sexual innuendos towards Ophelia, remarks against his mother and uncle, and mixed objectives. In order to understand the significance of Hamlet's innuendos we had to pay close attention to the way he acted towards Ophelia, upon doing so we realized that the innuendos' true purpose was to insult and possibly arouse Ophelia. The remarks Hamlet made towards his mother were simply a way of him trying to make her realize her actions and wrong doings. Hamlet's attitude towards Claudius starts as a sarcastically joyful tone, however, Hamlet uses this tone to give Claudius comfort so that when Mouse Trap goes on his reaction will be all the more shocking. Hamlet's objective in this scene seems to be to capture Claudius' conscience through guilt, however, his references towards Ophelia and words towards his mother make his objective turn into objective(s). Hamlet makes an attempt at seizing this opportunity to pin the top three people who have wronged him the most: Ophelia, Gertrude, and of course, Claudius. So, in a way this Mouse Trap is more like a... MICE TRAP!!!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Punctuation!

So--in reading the sullied flesh monologue again with Period 3,  my Jeff Dolven edition totally stands apart from students' editions, especially with regards to punctuation.  I wanted to ask how people feel about the dash versus the comma--and why you might want to use one vs. another. For example:

It is not nor it cannot come to good--
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.
(Dolven)

It is not nor it cannot come to good,
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.
(No Fear Hamlet)

It is not, nor it cannot come to good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.
(Cambridge)

I can't find my Arden at the moment. But...punctuation! Any thoughts? Preferences? Which punctuation do you think represents Hamlet the most? dash, comma or period?

Hamlet's Invasion Of Ophelia's Mind


They say that through the eyes we are able to find a person's soul or Is it that ones soul is reflected in a persons eyes? No, no, no that's not it. The eyes are the doors to a persons soul. Ahh! About my brain, what my drawing portrays is the meaning of inner textual depth. That is why my portraits focal point is directed in the eyes. These eyes tell you what you want them too. As the artist I believe that you choose to see what you want. That is why within these eyes you reflect yourself. Whether it's pain or pleasure you'll see it. I initially received my inspiration from “Frailty, thy name is woman!” and responded with “Fertility, thy name is woman?” This thought rose of a woman’s reproductive system hence the fallopian tubes around the eyes and the ovaries disguised as the eyes.  Because through the hips of a woman the world has been created and through the thought of a woman’s sexuality has Hamlet really revolved. Male characters use phases such as “unpregnant of my cause” “must like a whore, unpack my heart with words” “incestuous sheets” “are you honest (sexually pure/a virgin)” my drawing is central to the meaning of Hamlet because it describes women and their vulnerability and sexuality. Ophelia is accused by Hamlet that she is a breeder of sinners and needs to go to "a nunnery", though "a nunnery" has two connotations to it. One being a whorehouse to expose her unholiness or an actual nunnery to purify her unholy soul. All these factors are played out behind the mask because Ophelia’s character appears without a past and no other relations but to Hamlet to tie her to a larger cause. She is instead defined largely in relationship to Hamlet. Ophelia's identity is never really explicit through her own being but in fact is drawn out by Hamlets anger and insanity. That is why the arms of a man are encrypted within the fallopian tubes to represent that although women create men, men oppress women. Faith is believing what you don’t see. And Hamlet's faith has caused the fall of many.


Act V Scene i - Diana

 Our group: Rosalind, Jasmin, Emily, Christopher, Hernan and myself, are assigned to Act V scene I or the gravediggers scene. Interestingly enough the gravediggers do play significant roles as providing an age for our beloved Hamlet and such. At first reading of the scene we encountered the problem of different translations referring to the gravediggers as clowns. We quickly knew clowns and gravediggers were complete opposites in that "gravediggers" has a more negative connotation and seems to fit the mood of a funeral rather than clowns. But as we read, what these clowns/gravediggers were saying was pretty humorous and caused some good laughs between our group.
"Here lies the water - good.  Here stands the man - good. If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes. Mark you that. But if the water come to him and drown him, he drowns not himself. Argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life."
This remark seems to make no sense but the gravedigger/clown has a point on the occasion.

In this scene, Hamlet has returned with Horatio and sees this gravedigger/clown singing as he digs a hole for a corpse and throws out skulls.
Hamlet then breaks out into noble speeches of what these skulls were before "this rude nave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel".
While working on the scene we noted that Hamlet speaks and receives short answers from Horatio, as our group discussed he was just there to stand pretty and nod, likely being an indifferent Horatio. But as Ms. Barrios noted it makes no sense for Horatio to not care when in the end he is willing to die alongside Hamlet. Perspective.
Another important topic was Hamlet's supposed madness deceiving love. In Act III Scene I, specifically the "get thee to a nunnery" scene, Hamlet puts off this I never loved you, Ophelia stunt which arose questions of: Did Hamlet really love Ophelia or not? Hmmm. When Hamlet discovers it is Ophelia's body who is to be buried and Laertes leaps into the grave, Hamlet and Laertes quarrel about whose grief is bigger.
"I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ Could not, with all their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum." -Hamlet
 We learned he did love Ophelia, question answered.

As a group, we reviewed different adaptations of our scene to get a feel of it and discussed it so we all had a sense of what we were saying, even Horatio although it did not seem Horatio knew what he himself was talking about.

Friday, October 25, 2013

HamLab: The Play's The Thing!


The play's the thing!

Don't miss out on the opportunity to experience some of the best of Hamlet as it was meant to be experienced - on the stage!

RSVP right away with your name and the number of guests.



Quote-Thoughts

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" (Act I, Scene II)

Hamlet is referring to his mother when he says woman, he believes that her quick marriage to his uncle is a sign of her weakness. Hamlet felt she was weak, or not strong enough to mourn his father longer. Hamlet goes on further to say that not even an animal or beast, who has no reasoning skills, would have abandoned the mourning so quickly. In all of this he shows how angry and confused Hamlet is by his mother's remarriage. He actually indicates that nothing good can come from this action. This does foreshadow a few things, one of the things is the death of Ophelia, who succumbs to her own grief and confusion and is drowned.  Also, the death of Gertrude herself, her marriage to Claudius did bring this about, as she mistakenly drank the cup he poisoned for Hamlet.

Individual Piece for Art Gallery (Jose Perdomo)


This individual piece I have been working on, inspire me to do the theme of death; which mostly everyone is doing it, but what caught my attention was the death of Claudius and Gertrude. As M.s Barrios showed us around 20 pictures about skulls, what caught my interest was a king card that is used to play poker or any card game, representing Hamlet with a face of a skull. I wanted to elaborate on it, since the skull king card was too vague, and I wanted to connect it with Claudius and Gertrude. Claudius is responsible for killing his own brother Hamlet, by poisoning him in sleep ( poison cup in the picture) and marrying his wife and the queen of Denmark Gertrude. At the end of the play, Hamlet stabs Claudius (knife striking in the heart) and makes him drink the poison cup which leads him to his death. For Gertrude, she shows no guilt and is satisfy with her new husband Claudius( the side of heart have black edges, representing her false loyalty to her dead husband). At the end of the play, she is poisoned when she drinks the cup (poison cup in the picture) when it was intended for her son Hamlet, leading to her death. I notice that by killing King Hamlet, the new couple thought they would get the last laugh, but turns out they die for being morally corruptThe way Claudius and Gertrude dress must represent their royalty of Denmark, with elegant clothing. I chose mostly red for their clothing, since the front cover of my Hamlet book shows Hamlet dressing in red, reminding me that's how Claudius and Gertrude are suppose to dress. On the side note, the colors also represents the University of Southern California.

Mousetrap (Act 3 Scene 2)

HAMLET
The Mousetrap. Marry, how? Tropically. This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna. Gonzago is the duke’s name, his wife Baptista. You shall see anon. 'Tis a knavish piece of work, but what o' that? Your majesty and we that have free souls, it touches us not. Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung.

Questions I have: ???
Why is there a play within a play?
And why this play?
How does the mouse fall in the trap?
Too obvious of a trap??

--- Explanation of the Diagram---
Music sheet.. why?
inspiration from the last line of the scene.. 

HAMLET
Ah ha! Come, some music! Come, the recorders!
  For if the king like not the comedy,
  Why then, belike, he likes it not, perdy.
Come, some music!

I feel that this scene is like music to Hamlet's ears.. his intentions were to make Claudius feel uneasy and well that was done very well. He get up as soon as Lucianus begins to talk ("Evil thoughts, ready hands, the right poison, and the time is right too..")

We divided it into two staffs because we wanted to see and compare the shifts and beats in a)"The Murder of Gonzago" (play within play) and b)within the characters in the actual play. 
a) has four sections
the "dumb show"-> prologue ->player queen <3 player king *the two eighth notes together making a quarter note* -> enter lucianus (which is the climax that leads to the big boom) *that is why there is a breath mark right after the lucianus not, its very dramatic and we need a small and quick breath to get it all in*
b) has six sections
Ophelia and hams sexual scene (that is why it is an f # on the staff) -> intention to break of Gertrude (response: "the lady protests too much, me thinks")->intention to break of Claudius (the actual mouse trap)-> chorus Hamlet (quick questions: Does Claudius hear what Hamlet says right after Lucianus lines? right before Claudius gets up?)-> Music Plays/The End (Ah ha! Come, some music! Come, the recorders! For if the king like not the comedyWhy then, belike, he likes it not, perdy.
Come, some music!)

Mousetrap Music

"The many faces of death"

For my independent art piece/work I made papel picado in the form of many skulls.

Papel picado is a decorative craft made out tissue paper and scissors or a small chisel. Common themes includes birds, floral designs, and skeletons. They are commonly displayed for both secular and religious occasions, such as Easter, Christmas, Dia De Los Muertos as well as during weddings, Quinceanneras and baptisms.
My arts and crafts class is doing papel picados and well it fit right in with the whole sad and depressed character of Hamlet. 
Why a skeleton you might asked???
skull--> symbol for the dead
death is what Hamlet looks for and wants throughout the play.. for himself and may be for some others... 
----
connection with "sullied flesh" soliloquy
(act one scene two)

"Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the everlasting had not fixed
His canon' gainst self slaughter! O God, God!"

flesh vs bones
melting - disappear - perish - die 
How he wishes that God had not made a law against suicide because he is tired of living and so he wants to kill himself so that he won't have to deal with his problems no longer. 

continues talking about death but now about his father's death...
"But two months dead- nay, not so much, not two.
So excellent a king, that was to this.."

Death is reoccuring theme/topic in this section and even in the play as a whole..
-someone is dying.. someone was killed/murdered .. some one wants to commit suicide . death for revenge.. death in the play.. death here and there.. death everywhere and for everyone..

DEATH DEATH DEATH.. 

therefore I made many skulls to represent all the deaths in the play



Thursday, October 24, 2013

Quote-Thoughts



"I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of excises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that his goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory . . .The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals – and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me."(II.ii.280-291) 
  Hamlet delivers this speech with a very gloomy emphasis. This quote in my oppinion demonstrates Hamlet's reaction toward man kind. He expresses that they are worthless and questions the place of humanity in this world perhaps even the  universe. Hamlet delivers this quote to Rosencrantz and Guildenstrern, Shakespeare probably did this deliberately to give an example of what led to him being disappointed or feeling this way. He felt betrayed by his supposed "childhood friends" going behind his back and giving information to his uncle.Disgusted by the fact that his uncle married his mother; but mainly confused on where he belonged. I felt like Hamlet delivers this quote because he wanted to let Rosancrantz and Guildenstern that he knew that they were spying on him and wanted to inform them that they thought that they were being sneaky but in reality he knew that, that was the main reason why they would stick near him in contrast to Horacio who was actually sincere with him.

Quote-Thoughts

Act 1 Scene 4

"Something is rotten in the State of Denmark" -Marcellus

             I believe Bernardo states this because there are many different things going on in Denmark. Starting with the Death of King Claudius. Marcellus states this because he senses that something very bad is going around in the state of Denmark. This quote makes me assume that the next seen in the play will include runaway people, because of the fact that bad things are going to happen. Having Marcellus say this quote you can assume that death will continue to play a big role within the play. Some hidden things that this quote holds within is the appearance of the ghost, the murder of Polonius, and the suicide of Ophelia.
            I believe that this quote plays a major role in the play because it is the initiating suspense of it. It brings out the rising climax and action of the entire play. Making the audience expect much more than what they can think of. It makes the audience alert and eager to see what else will occur in the following scenes.Without this quote the play wouldn't be the same because it is generally the action and suspense of the play.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Collaborative Art Piece (Erika and Leslie)

Leslie and I have been working on the collaborative skull and our particular theme or inspiration is death, and while this is a very vague thing to choose we were personally inspired by the scene where Ophelia's burial is being questioned because she killed herself which is a sin as well as the most obvious, the death of Hamlet's father. While death is something all humans share every experience of witnessing death and coping with it always differs. Through Hamlet we get to see how his particular situation of mourning evolves and a questionable madness. Leslie and I don't have much experience with interpreting ideas into a canvas, its been interesting trying to put together the colors and designs we feel are right in order to bring our ideas to life. We've added smaller skulls within our skull piece to represent the grave yard and the skulls Horatio and Hamlet see, as well as flowers to represent Ophelia and dark colors to go along with death. We plan to add more shading to set a darker mood as well as more skulls within the piece.

-Erika Mollinedo-Pinon

Individual Piece for Art Gallery (Erika & Leslie)

Very rough draft of the art piece we're working on for the gallery. We plan on doing a busy background, but the main focus is still going to be the phrase. The reason we chose this particular phrase is because it's in the soliloquy where we first get a sort of explanation for all of Hamlet's feelings towards his mother. He expresses his suicidal thoughts and blames his mother for being weak and going to another man when his father hasn't even been dead for long. This quote is so central to the story of Hamlet because the entire story revolves around Hamlet's hesitation on taking action against Claudius, while at the same time longing for that revenge.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Act 2 Scene 2 ( Nemesis Salguero, Cindy Alvarez, Maria Diaz, Keidy Varela, Jahmal Taylor, and Sindy Ayala)

Our group will perform part of Act I scene ii and as we were reading the scene, we found a particular line intriguing and significant. Hamlet states, " A dream itself is but a shadow". When we first read this line, we wondered why a dream would be compared to shadow. We asked ourselves why wasn't nightmare compared to a shadow. Usually, if not always, nightmares are closer to a shadow than a dream, well that's how we saw it. We described  nightmares as unconscious thoughts concerning or dealing with anything bad, horrific, or catastrophic; something dark, just like a shadow. But then we realized Hamlet's meaning behind this verse. He isn't necessarily comparing a dream to a shadow in the sense of an actual dream but by action. And what we mean by that is a dream, just like a shadow, follows you around. It is something that you withhold everywhere you go. But why a shadow and not something else with a more negative connotation?
Well, Hamlet refers to dreams as ambitions. Previous to the line " A dream itself is but a shadow" Hamlet speaks to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz about ambitions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern both believe ambitions are " a shadow of a dream", but Hamlet explains that dreams, in general, are shadows. Explaining how ambitions do not make a person better, they are just something that follow a person, and can eventually keep them from obtaining a "substantial body". All in all, this comparison caused us to contemplate on the idea of a dream being a shadow, and brought forth a new interpretation of ambitions. So, a new question to contemplate about: how does this depict Hamlet's psychological state, this far into the play?

ART Gallery Skull Piece

The Whole Skull
Before

After

 This is my ART piece of the skull(the lower nose/upper mid teeth) and Im still working on the adding vividness and connections to Gertrude. I will let Javier write a quote based on Gertrude somewhere in the nose but besides that I added the cracks on the teeth to signify Gertrude in some sort of way.

Joseph's Group Reflection

Joseph Mora
Leslie Romero
Eric Ayala
Jose Perdomo
Hernan Lorenzo

Friday: 
Our discussion and analysis of king Claudius'  

Speech was very insightful and helpful because I didn't understand how important it was on my own. I think the speech gave us a look at the cunning and deceitful character of Claudius. His rhetorical devices emphasized his complex purposes. He tries to steer away suspicion of having killed hamlet's father by maybe creating a friendly and witty persona. He flatters them but also deceives them. I wouldn't have known the clever characteristics of Claudius if we had not gone over this speech. 
 Monday:
 We also had a discussion about Act IVScene V, the mad scene which was about how the queen, the gentlemen and Horatio believe that Ophelia has gone mad after her fathers death. Then we noticed that the shifts in this scene were usually once Ophelia would start singing from a mournful tone to a sexual or non-lady like tone which was driving the queen crazy and clarified that Ophelia has gone mad. We also noticed that another shift in this act could be when the king or queen is speaking to Ophelia, e.g. , one is talking to her as if she completely lost it and the other speaks to her as in a more serious or informed tone about her madness.
-We still question why does Ophelia sing these songs? Are the songs just considered allusions?


Monday, October 21, 2013

Karla Torres - Thoughts on Art and Horatio

Name: Karla Torres


I actually want to share out some few thoughts or a reflection about my part for the art gallery. I am doing the collaborative one and I am doing part if the center piece of the skull and the designs that I am going to be using are based on "Dia de Los muertos" and the characteristics of Horatio. Some parts will be flowery and colorful and others will be dark because I personally think Horatio has two sides, one is dark and the other one isn't. Even his name gives me a sense of ambiguity.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Abdo - Is Hamlet a Villain?

I want to bring attention to the idea that Hamlet's insanity parallels his transition from good to evil. The whole play is written to sympathize with Hamlet, in that most Hamlet's soliloquies exploit his motivations, contemplations and opinion-- only projecting one perspective of the story. I think that Hamlet challenges the audience, in that he forces us to question whether or not he is the hero or the villain. The audience is persuaded to point the finger at King Claudius and claim that he is the villain only because the perspective we are given suggests this.  But when we take the meaning of "villain" into account -- the person guilty of a crime or wickedness, whose evil action or motives are important to the plot -- we realize that Hamlet is the only one whose motives are blatantly presented, and those motives are not entirely honorable. Shakespeare oftentimes shows us the motives and perspective of his villain, as in Richard III, who needs to"prove" to be a villain. Unlike Richard, Hamlet isn't necessarily a character who aspires to be evil, or want to prove evil, but his actions and thoughts inspire evil.

Spencer - Reflections on Horatio

One aspect of Hamlet (something that extends to many of Shakespeare's other tragedies) is the significance of seemingly unimportant background characters in the larger context of the story. Horatio in Hamlet speaks with almost every character in the play, and we view the events of the opening scene from his perspective. Horatio accompanies Hamlet throughout the play, and has almost as many lines as the titular character. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have a similar lack of agency but still carry tremendous influence over the plot. Most significant is the fact that Horatio is the only major character left alive at the end of the play to tell the story to Fortinbras. As discussed in class, Horatio is not royalty, instead a friend of Hamlet's who studied with him at Wittenburg. Horatio represents the rising intellectual bourgeoisie that was emerging in 16th century England at the time. Horatio is the only one to survive the events of the play, alive to tell Hamlet's story while all the nobles and royalty have been killed through their various schemes and plots. Could this be Shakespeare's sly commentary on the foolishness of royal politics and the ultimate triumph of the educated, enlightened Englishman over the monarchy?

Emily C. - Reflections on Ophelia

I had never really looked much into Ophelia's madness. I remember merely considering Ophelia as a girl driven mad by the death of her father. However, after rereading the play, I have come to find her character and situation far more complex than what I first thought. Certainly her father's death would push her over the edge, but what brought her to the edge in the first place? Throught the play Ophelia is merely a tool. To her father (rightfully called a Jephthah by Hamlet) Ophelia is a means to gain favor with the king. To Claudius, she is a tool to work upon Hamlet's mentality. And to Hamlet, she is an outlet to unleash his anger. But instead of "what is Ophelia?" one should ask "who is Ophelia?" In her madness she sings of sxuality and the frustration of relationships, especially with women. Aside from being a tool, Ophelia is a girl, a darn repressed girl. Her father forbids her relationship with Hamlet and her brother emphasizes the necessity of keeping her chastity. These pressures are exhausting, and she, unfortunately, is pulled every which way trying to please everyone except herself. It's no wonder she goes crazy. Interestingly, in her madness, she finds a voice, and perhaps even a sense of liberation.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Leila - HamLab Reflections

HamLab has been one of my favorite moments in my academic career.  Hamlet is one of my favorite plays ever since the first time I read it in high school.  The reason this collaboration was so much fun, while also very educational, is because it brought my education around full circle.  During my senior year of high school we read Hamlet and one of our assignments was to memorize and perform a soliloquy from the play.  I chose Hamlet’s “Oh vengeance!” speech in Act II, scene ii—to this day I still have it memorized four years later and I truly do not think I will ever forget Shakespeare’s compelling lines.   

Helping Ms. Barrios' class was both sentimental and interesting, reminding me of my days in high school and thinking how frighteningly fast time goes by.  Deconstructing every word and line of our assigned soliloquy with the high school students gave me personally a better understanding of the meaning of the play.  It was very helpful to look at the text as a performance piece—read aloud and to an audience.  Obviously, it is clear that Hamlet is a play, but sometimes when reading alone to myself, I forget that Shakespeare’s words were meant to be performed to and perceived by an audience.  I absolutely loved watching Ms. Barrios’ students perform parts of their soliloquy in front of the class.  That takes a lot of bravery and courage and I was more than impressed.  I would never have been able to do that on the spot as a senior in high school, probably not even as a senior in college!  Saying the words out loud and focusing on the punctuation and different beats helped extract more meaning for me and I hope for the students I helped as well!  

 In our particular soliloquy in Act IV, scene iv, we focused on the alliterations as well as the bloody and violent language used.  By focusing on these particulars we were able to delve into the subconscious of Hamlet and see him battling with his inner thoughts and whether or not to finally take action.  By splitting the soliloquy up into different beats and units we were also able to focus on how his mind works, constantly fighting internally against his different emotions—whether to act or not to act…that is the question!  Thank you so much Professor Werlin and Ms. Barrios for designing HamLab. It was so much fun and I think everyone gained more knowledge of the art of performing Shakespeare as well as understanding his language more clearly.  I am so sad HamLab only lasted a week and I wish I got to know my students better and for a longer period of time!!  Eric, Joseph, Leslie, and Jose were all amazing!!  

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Joseph Mora First Hamlab Reflection


Joseph Mora
Hernan Lorenzo
Eric Ayala
Jose Perdomo
Leslie Romero

   The college Mentors really helped us understand the soliloquy. In the beginning   we didn't understand what it was about but they went through every line and analyzed it, until we got to understand what hamlet was saying. The "urge to kill" graph we drew also helped me to visually see how the soliloquy affected his actions and described his decision towards whether to kill or not. This Graph Also showed how Hamlet began to realize why he should kill and well towards the end of the graph he goes bizarre and finds out his urge to kill. We divided the Soliloquy into parts that our Mentors and our group thought were Hamlet began to think then lead to realizing why he should kill and finally he thoughts brake lose about the “Urge to Kill”.
During the Soliloquy on “All Occasions”, we learned how emphasis the words more loudly instead of sounding boring. Our mentor and our group were looking for repetitions and other significant words that stood out the play. For example, my group and I found “Be but to sleep and feed”, “earth exhort” and “godlike reason”. After we were done with our breathing exercises, my mentor wanted us to read parts of the soliloquy with emotion. With the help of my mentor and M.S Barrios, I was able to stress the words “kill’d”, “stain’d” and O. Finally I wanted to thank my mentor and everyone who was involved in Ham lab, I would wish if they would come back every Thursday for the end of our senior year.
  Having the USC students there to go through Hamlet with us has been especially helpful. I feel that our group learned a lot from our two assigned students. It was interesting to see their interpretation of the text and it opened my eyes to different perspectives. During the short time we spent together I really forced myself to try find different interpretations of the soliloquies in order to find which way I was most comfortable when acting it out. I was shocked that so much thought and meaning could go into performing a soliloquy and it was fun to see students from our class perform them.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Joseph Mora's Period 2 Group Reflection


Leslie Romero
Joseph Mora
Jose Perdomo
Eric Ayala
Hernan Lorenzo

1.1-Bernardo says "Who's there?". From the start of the play, you can see that Bernardo was anticipating the ghost and felt a sense of insecurity when he opens the door to Francesco This quote leads to important quote like, "Most Like. It harrows me with fear and wonder". Obviously they are scared when they have to meet the ghost, yet it sets the mood for the entire scene because they are also anxious on what the ghost have to say.

On Monday for Hamlab we began to read the very first page of Hamlet as a class. They play starts out with two simple words "Who's there?"
From the start of the play we can see how much suspense is already being built. We know that Francisco is keeping watch and it's almost midnight. So with this we can already see that people are antsy about their surrounding. We see that the perspective is already being questioned by Bernardo asking "who's there" After that the scene continues by Francisco being relieved of his duties so that Bernardo can keep watch with Horatio and Marcellus. Soon after all three friends gather and talk about a ghost that try have seen. Horatio is very skeptical of this ghost and doesn't believe that what Bernardo and Marcellus are say is true.
We stopped reading where the ghost enter but from just that small part of the scene we already see questioning of reality because both Bernardo and Marcellus swear that they saw ghost while Horatio is skeptical and doesn't believe them. We can also assume that there was a possibility that Francisco saw they ghost.
Our group discussed that because the play starts off with "who's there?" We can assume that Francisco was scarred being alone because he's not sure what's there in the forest. We also continue to ask that if that is the case that maybe the meaning of the play is about who’  s actually there and who's not? Which comes back to the idea of what is reality and what is fiction and who am I and who are you?

Monday, October 14, 2013

Soliloquys Rhetorical Diagrams!

Day 1 with Mentors from Professor Werlin's class consisted of working on close reading of four soliloquys which I copy below.  Students examined the context and content of the works, and plotted the rhetorical arc of the text in diagrams.


Some strategies for soliloquy study in performance:
*paraphrasing
*noting antitheses, repetitions, alliteration, assonance, operative words
*Actioning the Text (unit, objectives and actions)
*Physicalizing the soliloquy (props, staging)
*Uta Hagen's 9 questions


Act 1: Sc.2
HAMLET:
O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!(135)
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah, fie! 'tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!(140)
But two months dead! Nay, not so much, not two;
So excellent a king, that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!(145)
Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on; and yet, within a month—
Let me not think on't! Frailty, thy name is woman—
A little month, or ere those shoes were old(150)
With which she follow'd my poor father's body
Like Niobe, all tears—why she, even she—
O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourn'd longer—married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father(155)
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!(160)
It is not, nor it cannot come to, good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue!


*what are signals in the language of this soliloquy that give clues to Hamlet’s innermost thoughts? (Word choice, Construction of Phrases, Sequence of Thought) *Does he hide puns as he does with Claudius? *What does the antithesis reveal

Act 2: Sc. 2
HAMLET:
Ay, so, God be wi' ye!
Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,(545)
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing!(550)
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears(555)
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech;
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears.
Yet I,(560)
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing! No, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?(565)
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha!
Ha! 'Swounds, I should take it! for it cannot be(570)
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!(575)
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,

Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words(580)
And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon't! Foh!
About, my brain! Hum, I have heard
That guilty creatures, sitting at a play,
Have by the very cunning of the scene(585)
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ, I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father(590)

Before mine uncle. I'll observe his looks;I'll tent him to the quick. If he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be a devil; and the devil hath power
T' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps(595)
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.(600)

*Significance of beginning phrase, now I am alone? ,  why does Hamlet call himself a rogue and peasant slave? *What does comparison to the player reveal about Hamlet’s self perception? *”cleave the general ear”—how does this line connect to the 27 other “ear” references in this play? *theatrical terminology *lines dealing with Hamlet’s cowardice—judge..is he a coward or not?






Act 3: Sc. 1
HAMLET:
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(65)
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(70)
Devoutly to be wish'd. 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(75)
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of disprized love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns(80)
That patient merit of the 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(85)
The undiscover'd 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,(90)
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action. Soft you now!(95)
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered.
  
*Most of Hamlet’s major  soliloquys are debates, arguments, discussions and/or discovereies between the self.  Convert the speech into two voices. How does separating the soliloquys into a debate of two voices add to your understanding of the monologue? What are the antitheses in this monologue?



HAMLET:
I'll be with you straight. Go a little before.
How all occasions do inform against me
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,(35)
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason(40)
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event—
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward—I do not know(45)
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do,'
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me.
Witness this army, of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,(50)
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd,
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great(55)
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,(60)
And let all sleep, while to my shame I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men
That for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,(65)
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth

*How does the tones of this soliloquy compare to the others? What do the arguments in previous soliloquys contribute to the argument here?