Avoiding Plagiarism (YouTube video)
On the left side of the first page, include your name, class and class time, the date, and Essay#. Centered on the first page include a title for your paper. Like this:
Choose one of the topics below.
Write 5-7 pages (double-spaced, 12-pt. font).
The conventions of Standard American English should be observed.
You should incorporate the articles from your annotated bibliography into your essay.
Acceptable research sources include:
Unacceptable sources:
Google Search
Wikipedia
Spark Notes, Shmoop, and similar websites
I will deduct up to 20 points for using unacceptable sources and/or for failure to cite in text.
You will receive a "0" on this paper and possibly an "F" for the class for plagiarism. "I didn't mean to plagiarize" and "I didn't know that was plagiarism" will not excuse you.
Works Cited page, like this:
In-text citations, like this:
Types of papers:
Listicle (List Article)
Format
Introduce your topic, telling your audience ...
the impetus to write the article, or
the importance of the topic, or
the relevance of the topic
Make a list of "things" which have something in common, for example
6 Reasons not to
5 things you never knew about
4 amazing people who
Explain, describe, or analyze each "thing" on your list
You may use pictures, graphs, or videos (or video links) for emphasis or illustration.
Include a bibliography and cite your sources in your article.
Traditional Essay
Featuring an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, this type of paper is perhaps the one you are most familiar with.
You may use pictures, graphs, or videos (or video links) for emphasis or illustration.
Include a bibliography and cite your sources in your article.
Explication
An explication or "close reading" examines a short passage from the text.
The writer is looking for words/phrases or themes or motifs in the selection which he finds significant.
Finally, the explication should consider the small passage within the context of the play.
Memory/Remembrance
Explore the theme of memory in the play by writing a listicle or a traditional essay about the many times memory and remembrance are mentioned.
Possible titles: “The 5 Times Characters in Hamlet Swore They Would Remember and then Promptly Forgot” or “What They Wanted to Remember: Hamlet and Ophelia”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
What types of things do the characters in the play promise they will remember: people, actions, words? What do you make of the play’s focus on memory? What and why do Hamlet and Ophelia forget or deny? Consider the “Mousetrap” and Hamlet’s love letters and Ophelia’s weeds in your discussion of memory’s importance to the play.
Death/Decay
In either a traditional essay or a listicle, write about the theme(s) death and decay
Possible titles: “Hamlet’s Obsession with Death, Both His Own and Others’” or “The 5 Times Hamlet Talks about Decaying Corpses”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
Why does Hamlet think about death and the process of dying so much? What does his obsession with corpses say about his mental state? How does his obsession with death affect other characters, plots, and outcomes?
Poison and Sickness/Disease
In either a traditional essay or a listicle, write about poison and/or disease
Possible titles: “Diseases of the Mind and Body in Hamlet” or “The 5 Times Claudius Poisoned Someone” or “Poison: The Literal and Figurative Uses of it in Shakespeare’s Hamlet”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
What does the association of Claudius with poison say about his character/personality? Does Claudius’ weapon of choice prove that he is, as Hamlet asserts, not as “manly” as King Hamlet was? How does Claudius’ use of poison and deception affect other characters, plots, and outcomes?
Incest/Sex
In either a traditional essay or a listicle, write about incest and/or sex
Possible titles: “The 4 Times Hamlet Considered the Sex Life of Gertrude and Claudius” or “Incest in Hamlet: Real or Imagined” or “Hamlet Doesn’t Want Anyone to Have Sex: Here’s 5 Reasons Why”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
What does the accusation of incest say about the accuser and the accused in terms of their motivations and personalities? Does Hamlet’s aversion to sex have anything to do with his depression? Does Hamlet sexually harass Ophelia? Is Hamlet pathologically obsessed with sex or with his mother and Ophelia as sexual objects? Why do you suppose Hamlet idealizes his father as a sexually physically superior to Claudius and himself?
Acting and Pretending
In either a traditional essay or a listicle, write about acting/pretending
Possible titles: “5 Times Hamlet Fooled Them All” or “Claudius: The One Man Hamlet Could not Trick”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
What does Hamlet’s and Claudius’ cat and mouse game say about their motivations and personalities? Does Hamlet’s attempts to deceive others cast hero? How does Hamlet’s acting skills match up with the actors/players who show up?
Faith/Religion
Explore the influence of faith and religion on the behaviors, attitudes, and words of the Hamlet, Claudius, and the Ghost.
Possible titles: “Th5 Times someone in Hamlet Contemplates the Afterlife” or “Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell in Shakespeare’s Hamlet”
Consider using one or more of these questions to develop your thesis and come to a conclusion:
How does Hamlet’s faith affect his behavior? Compare and contrast the faith of Hamlet and Claudius in terms of both what they believe about God/afterlife and how their beliefs affect their actions and motives. What affect does Hamlet’s knowledge that the Ghost of his father is stuck in Purgatory have on his actions and motives?
Explication
Explore one of these themes in an explication of one of these passages:
Themes
Death
Revenge
Insanity
Loyalty or Filial Piety
Uncertainty
Morality
Sex (or sexual repression/aversion)
Desire, Shame, and Guilt
Passages
The Pyrrhus speech: 2.2.1527-1571
what a rogue and peasant slave am I: 2.2.1623-1680
To be, or not to be: 3.1.1749-1783
Get thee to a nunnery: 3.1.121-130