Name ___________________________
Date _____________
English Literature and Composition
Hamlet Theme Paper
Assignment Sheet
Requirements:
3-4 pages
6-9 uses of DRT (big DRT and baby DRT)
Typed, double spaced, size 12 font
Directions: You will write a paper discussing a major theme in Hamlet or Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead. Since we have read that the best papers are the ones that intrigue and
interest the writer, you will be able to choose your own topic. Choose from the four topics below.

In Kate Chopin's “The Awakening” (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess
"That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In a novel or
play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while
questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between
outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work.

One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which
you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from
the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your
essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.

Identify a character who experiences a cultural collision in the play (national, regional,
ethnic, religious, institutional) and who, as a result, must face questions about his or her
sense of identity. In your essay, describe the character's response and explain its relevance
to the theme of the play.

According to critic Northrop Frye, "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their
human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great
trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of
course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning." Select a novel or play in
which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an
essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure
contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
Name ___________________________
Date _____________
Today’s Assignment:
1. Choose the topic that you are most interested in writing about. Turn that topic into a
question/questions that you will ask of the text.
2. Review the notes from your reading logs, the active reading notes from your text and your
class notes looking for an answer to your question. Take notes on potential answers to
your question. Write down DRT and SRT that answer your question.
3. Review the notes that you just took. Draft a thesis statement.
1. Research Questions:
Example: (from prompt #1) How does Hamlet conform outwardly? How does Hamlet question inwardly? What
kind of tension does this create? What theme does this support? Why?
1. Notes: Next page of handout
3. Thesis Statement
Example: Hamlet conforms outwardly to the rules and laws of Denmark while inwardly questioning the
corruption that exists within the state. Hamlet’s madness proves Shakespeare’s belief that the inability
to act and the hidden expression of one’s true beliefs will eventually drive them mad.
Name ___________________________
Date _____________
Space for key notes:
What are the subtopics that need to be proved in order to prove your thesis statement?
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In what order should these subtopics be addressed? Number them.
Name ___________________________
Date _____________
Homework: Outline
You may write this thesis and outline in the space below (with your additional body paragraphs on a separate
sheet of paper, on a separate sheet of paper, or you may type your homework (recommended).
Thesis Statement:
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Body Paragraph 1 – Topic Sentence and 3 pieces of DRT – Answers one of your subtopics.
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DRT 1:
DRT 2:
DRT 3:
Body Paragraph 2 – Topic Sentence and 3 pieces of DRT – Answers one of your subtopics.
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DRT 1:
DRT 2:
DRT 3:
Body Paragraph 3 – Topic Sentence and 3 pieces of DRT – Answers one of your subtopics.
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DRT 1:
DRT 2:
DRT 3: