Trail Guide to Composing Your Hamlet
Essay
THE
•
Title
Grabs the reader’s attention – the title is the gateway
of your essay
•
Specifically states the topic of the essay, and a
provocative idea or image (borrow words from Hamlet.)
Let the reader know what is the literature under
consideration.
Exs.:
Within the Compass of His Brain: Dutiful Hamlet
A More Horrid Hent: The Vengeful Hamlet
The Introductory
Paragraph
•
Informs the reader of the author and title of the
literature to be discussed.
•
Gives a brief background to the story, and what is the main
character’s problematic situation. (A view of the “territory”
of the essay.)
•
Ends with
the thesis statement
The Thesis
Statement
•
Clearly states, in a single sentence, key points to
be argued.
•
Stays close to the terms of the prompt.
•
Is concise, but complex enough to be interesting.
Ex.:
While Hamlet’s fury against his mother alone may be justified,
his harsh treatment of Ophelia reflects an excessive, if not
unnatural reaction to his mother’s betrayal.
The
Body of the Essay
Key points from the thesis statement
________________________________________
serve as the claims of your body paragraphs.
You may of course, for longer essays, write multiple paragraphs for each claim.
Quotations from the text of the play must be followed by
Act number.
_____________
Scene number.
________________
Line number
______________
in parentheses:
“O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and
resolve itself into a dew” (1.2.133-134).
Quotations from the critic must be followed by
Last name, if not given
in a tag line
_________________________
and
Page number, if known
_________________________
in parentheses, followed by a period.
Ex:
Goethe sums up Hamlet’s problem as “a great action laid
upon a soul unfit for the performance of it” (134).
Remember to incorporate most quotations by
paraphrasing part of the quote and directly quoting
the remainder.
Ex:
Polonius attempts to convince the King and Queen that
their “noble son is mad . . . nothing else but mad,” and
urges them to “find out the cause” (2.2.95-103).
The most engaging part of your essay is your
commentary
___________________
on the literature. This is your place, not to paraphrase the story
or summarize plot, but to EXCAVATE MEANINGS.
Interpret and Explain:
• How quoted data supports the claims of your thesis
• How quoted data represents the writer’s intent
• How literary devices you recognize in the quotation - tone,
imagery, diction, allusions, symbolism – work in concert
to further understanding of the subject of your thesis.
Body Building
Develop two or three body paragraphs (or sections of
the essay), depending on the number of your claims.
The claims and quotations are the bones, and your
commentary is the MUSCLE of your essay!
The Conclusion
This is your grand finale!
• Begin with a
• Then
restatement of your
thesis.
____________
re-cap your argument, succinctly.
• Finally, turn to your audience
with an assertion of
the “life lesson” in your topic, its universal significance.
(Answer, “So what?”)
Works Cited
Means just this. Only (and all of) the works quoted in your essay. Refer to the
following example of correct MLA style, but do NOT just copy and paste
without adjusting the formats.
Works Cited
Clemen, W.H. “The Imagery of Hamlet.” 1951.
Eliot, T.S. “Hamlet and His Problems.” Rpt. in Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Cyrus Hoy.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992.
Gardner, Helen. “Hamlet and the Tragedy of Revenge.” 1959.
Jones, Ernest. “Tragedy and the Mind of the Infant.” Rpt. in Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed.
Cyrus Hoy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992.