Grade 12 University English Hamlet – Compare/Contrast Essay In this assignment, you are asked to write a comparative or contrast essay (or a combination of the two) whereby you will find connections between characters and prominent ideas found in Hamlet. You will be required to use at least ONE secondary source in your essay. Your essay must adhere to the formal writing rules and the MLA guide. Choose one of the following essay topics: 1. Compare and/or contrast how Hamlet treats Ophelia and Gertrude. Discuss how his interactions with these female characters inform the reader of Hamlet’s view of women. 2. Compare and/or contrast Laertes and Hamlet. Discuss each character’s morality and their view of family honour. 3. Compare and/or contrast how Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras secure revenge. 4. Compare and contrast the characters of Hamlet and Horatio. 5. Compare and/or contrast how disease and decay are used as a metaphor for the diseased nation and the corruption of mankind. 6. Compare and contrast the idealism of both Hamlet and Ophelia. Explore how it was a force that unified them and destroyed them both. 7. Focusing on Hamlet’s seven soliloquies, compare and/contrast Hamlet’s character at the beginning and at the end of the play exploring his transformation or lack thereof. 8. Compare how dramatic irony adds to the atmosphere of tragedy and to the atmosphere of comedy. How does this influence the overall thematic significance of the play? (examples and not limited to—5.1 and 5.2) Be sure to refer to your notes on essay structure (Essay Outline) that were provided in class. You are to structure your essay so that it contains 3 arguments. Your essay should contain a total of 8 paragraphs (6 body paragraphs + introduction + conclusion). Each body paragraph should contain TWO direct quotations. Therefore, you will have 12 quotations in total. You are required to use at least one secondary source that will help develop or support your argument. You are encouraged to use brief quotations or paraphrase information from the secondary source. Sources must be academic and credible. Websites such as Wikipedia or Sparknotes are not acceptable. Your sources must either be academic periodicals (that you can access from library computers) or good old-fashioned books that sit on a shelf. Adhere to MLA handout to cite quotations properly. Please also keep the following guidelines in mind: All rough work must be submitted with your final draft and “process work” will be included in your rubric Your final copy must be typed and in MLA format (including Work Cited) A copy must be submitted to turnitin.com – failure to do so will result in a ZERO Length 8-9 pages max. without exception. Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences: Due Date: Turnitin Date: Grade 12 University English: Hamlet – Compare/Contrast Essay Outline INTRODUCTION General Opening Statement ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Harnessing Statements ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thesis: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Argument #1 (Text A _____________________________________________): Topic Sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Argument #1 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________): Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1(Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Argument #2 (Text A _____________________________________________): Topic Sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Argument #2 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________): Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1(Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Argument #3 (Text A _____________________________________________): Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text A) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Argument #3 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________): Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #1 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #1(Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quotation #2 (Text B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided; 3-5 sentences) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding sentence ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CONCLUSION Restate Thesis ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Summation of Main Points ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ General Closing Statement ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________