HAMLET: THE PHSYCHOLOGICAL CHART
The purpose of the psychological chart assignment for Hamlet is to allow you to do a close reading of the text, which will
help you evaluate a character based on direct and indirect characterization. The basic idea of a chart is that you are
tracking Hamlet's psychological state through the course of the play, using the supplied scale or one of your creation
(SANITY/INSANITY) as the "Y-AXIS" throughout particular scenes/acts: THE "X-AXIS." A careful look at your chart
will allow you to draw conclusions to determine if Hamlet is actually sane, or has reached insanity. We will be debating
this as the play progresses so gather as much evidence as possible.
Set Up: Draw a chart (A bar graph, scatterplot, line graph (insert other types of graphs that Mrs. Wesley has no clue
about here) to track Hamlet’s sanity. You can begin with scene 2 of Act one and progress from there. Every scene should
be included, but you must also indicate the Act. I would set up your sanity Y axis by considering the following:
5 = “Madness”
4= Unstable Anger/Excitement
3 = Anger
2 = Sad/Depressed/Grief
1= Sane/Logical
As you track his sanity for each scene, you must pull at least one direct quote (indirect or direct characterization) that
helps to support your claim. Remember, the more evidence you have, the better! Here is a mini Example of what a chart
might look like (Of course, yours will be taking up the whole page so you have more space to work with).