EARL HAIG SECONDARY SCHOOL
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
ENG 4U1
Objective: You will write an essay applying your understanding of Tom Stoppard’s reworking of Hamlet
in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead to a different minor character.
Instructions: You will illustrate your understanding of the conventions Stoppard in the form of an essay.
Your thesis should be a speculation on how Stoppard would likely treat a character such as Gertrude,
Ophelia, and Laertes. Your body paragraphs should reflect back onto Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are
Dead and Hamlet, considering things such as the “Key Concepts #2-7,” Existentialism, the role of minor
characters, and Post-Modernism. Avoid “cookie-cutter” comparisons; don’t have Gertrude make scientific
discoveries that are unappreciated by Ophelia. Write in a formal style, using Standard English: third person
point of view, no slang, colloquialisms, clichés, platitudes, or idioms. Make sure that you write in an active
voice.
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Evaluation Rubric
Thinking/
Inquiry
Below One
<50%
Ineffective
reworking of a
minor character
from Hamlet into
a “Stoppardian”
universe.
Level One
50-59%
Level Two
60-69%
Level Three
70-79%
Level Four
80-100%
A limited
reworking of a
minor character
from Hamlet into
a “Stoppardian”
universe.
Somewhat
effective
reworking of a
minor character
from Hamlet into
a “Stoppardian”
universe.
Effective
reworking of a
minor character
from Hamlet into
a “Stoppardian”
universe.
Highly effective
reworking of a
minor character
from Hamlet into
a “Stoppardian”
universe.
A weak
understanding
of Stoppardian
conventions.
A limited
understanding
of Stoppardian
conventions.
An
understanding
of Stoppardian
conventions.
A strong
understanding of
Stoppardian
conventions.
A rich
understanding of
Stoppardian
conventions.
Tips for effective Style
This paper should be written in a formal style. Our goal is to be straightforward,
economical, and honest. To be effective, write in an active voice and avoid the word
there. Avoid platitudes, idioms, clichés, slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, and
euphemisms. If it is necessary to use any of these, or to use vulgarities, please put them in
quotation marks to let me know that you are aware of the transgressions.
At all times, stay “in control” of your language by using meaningful words you
understand. Avoid unnecessary repetition, parenthetical remarks, self-referential
remarks, platitudes. Make sure there is sentence variety.
Make Stoppard or Shakespeare the subject of many of the sentences.
Make Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or Hamlet the subject of many of the sentences.
Make Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead or Hamlet the subject of many of the
sentences.
Make Laertes is Dead or Gertrude is Dead the subject of many of the sentences.
Avoid making “the reader” or the audience the subject. Feel free to make them the object.