Timed Essay Feedback
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Some really excellent essays
Much better analysis and evaluation
Consistent relevance to task
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Linkage (or lack of) in topic sentences
Use (or lack ) of apostrophes
Spelling (particularly of soliloquy/soliloquies)
Coverage of Hamlet’s procrastination
Discussion of the play’s climax/ final scene
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Refer back to topic previous paragraph
Introduce new paragraph
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Previous paragraph: Hamlet’s isolation and
misery at the play’s outset.
New paragraph: Hamlet’s longing for death in
his first soliloquy.
Topic sentence: Shakespeare depicts the true
extent of Hamlet’s initial misery in his first
soliloquy.
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Previous paragraph: Hamlet’s first soliloquy
and his desire to commit suicide.
Next paragraph: ‘To be or not to be.’
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Used to indicate ownership:
Hamlet’s father; Claudius’ brother; the play’s
tragic hero.
Use to indicate omission:
Don’t abbreviate in a critical essay because it
isn’t formal language.
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You must discuss this fully.
The ambiguous nature of the Ghost is not the
only cause of it.
Hamlet’s contemplative nature means he is
unsuited for the role of revenge hero. He always
stops to consider the consequences of his
actions, particularly their impact on his soul. He
is equally plagued with questions about the
afterlife, about the wisdom of suicide, about what
happens to bodies after they die—the list is
extensive. This philosophising prevents him from
acting until it is too late.
By the outset of the play’s final scene, Hamlet has
realised that there is a time when action is
required:
He that hath killed my king and whored my
mother,
Popped in between th' election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life
(And with such cozenage!)—is ’t not perfect
conscience
To quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be
damned
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?
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He also appears to have overcome his longing
for death, trusting God’s providence instead:
“Not a whit. We defy augury. There’s a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be
now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it
will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come—
the readiness is all.”
He appears a more determined and secure
character. This makes his sudden death feel
more tragic.
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Hamlet finally takes action, but only after
being spurred to it by the most extreme
circumstances one might consider possible:
watching his mother die and knowing that he,
too, will die in moments.
Is his death shameful, heroic or neither?
You decide.
Horatio’s words reflect the audience’s
feelings on Hamlet’s death and the tragic
waste of human potential it represents:
“Now cracks a noble heart.—Good night, sweet
prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest
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Refer back to task
Try to sum up your main points
Do not end with a list of techniques
Avoid single sentence conclusions (and
introductions)
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In ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare powerfully evokes
sympathy for his tragic young prince.
Hamlet’s procrastination may well result in
him losing his life. However, throughout the
play Shakespeare has illustrated that all life
on Earth soon turns to dust; what is of
greater importance is what happens once we
have ‘shuffled off this mortal coil’. In this
respect, we are relieved to know that hamlet’s
soul, unlike so many other in the play
remains uncorrupted.