Blog # 4

I think this quote is so resonant for authors and script writers because it is so well known, for young and older poeple. Even when it was not as famous, I beleive authors saw this as an opportunity to cite an amazing work of literature and saw the potential in it's popularity as an older quote in a new type of setting/genre. I also beleive it is a very witty and catchy line to read, or to speak. For that reason I beleive screen writers have used this quote so much in the in their movies. This is a timeless quote and im sure it will be used much more in the future by every type of author and in every kind of genre, comedy/spoofs,dramas,romace, and much more.
My favorite type of allusion is "to think, or not to think" because i think it is very powerfull, and it is very hard not to think, therefore this quote does not really make a lot of sence, but is very unique and stiffling. :)

Procrastination!

Just read this great article in The New Yorker about procrastination. Much of the article made me think of Hamlet, and his inability to make a decision about avenging his father's murder.  Doesn't this quote from the article sound like the author must be talking about Hamlet: "Viewed this way, procrastination starts to look less like a question of mere ignorance than like a complex mixture of weakness, ambition, and inner conflict."

Check it out if you're interested. Of course, I know nobody in our class has any idea what it's like to put something off...  :)

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/10/11/101011crbo_books_surowiecki?currentPage=1

Oh! And did you know that writer "Victor Hugo would write naked and tell his valet to hide his clothes so that he’d be unable to go outside when he was supposed to be writing." How great is that?!

Blog Hwk#4: "To be or not to be..."

"To be, or not to be, / that is the question" (III.i.63).

Why is this (arguably) the most famous line in all of English literature? Why has this line been so resonant and memorable for readers? What does the line connote for you or evoke from you?

Also, "Hyper Hamlet" is a fantastic site that has attempted to create a record of every time allusions to lines from Hamlet have been made. Look up "To be or not to be" and check out how many allusions others have made to these words! Extra Credit if you post about your favorite allusion to the line!

http://www.hyperhamlet.unibas.ch/index.php/hyperhamlet/hh2


*Please post your answer as a COMMENT to this post!

Citing a play!

Here is an example of how lines from the play should be cited:

At the end of the play, Richard tries to regain his kingdom by imagining his thoughts as his subjects, "And these same thoughts people this little world, / In humours like the people of this world" (V.i.9-10).

Notice that "9-10" lets us know that both Lines 9 and 10 have been quoted. You DON'T need to cite each line separately. Also, please notice that the period goes at the very end--there is NO PERIOD before the last quotation mark.

Please check out this link for more info. on citing from a play using MLA format:
http://www.colby.edu/personal/l/leosborn/quotes.html

Blog Hwk# 3: Puns in Hamlet

Find a moment in Hamlet in which Shakespeare uses a pun to build on the possible meanings of what is being said. Make sure to use a dictionary to explore the multiple meanings of the word (there might be a meaning that existed in Shakespeare's time and does not exist in ours).

A pun is an often humorous use of a word/phrase that has more than one possible meaning.
Examples: 

“The pigs were a squeal!”

“Those scientists should date. They have chemistry!”

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." -Groucho Marx

"Kings worry about a receding heir line."

If you're stuck, you may discuss one of the following puns in Hamlet:

p. 38: "sun"

p. 60: "tenders" 

p. 112: "privates"

p. 114: "beggar"

Please explain how Shakespeare uses the pun, what different meanings he is playing with, and what the effect of the pun is.

*Please post your answer as a COMMENT to this post!

HW # 2

On page 49 in Roche's version of Oedipus the chorus says to the messenger, "This is his palace, sir, and he's within. / This lady is his wife and mother... of his children."

On page 211 of the other version of Oedipus the leader says to the messenger, "This is his palace, stranger. He's inside. / But here is his queen, his wife, and mother/ of his children."

Both of these lines are trying to reveal that Oedipus is married to his mother, the queen. In Roche's version its a little more obvious because of the elipses. The elipses adds a dramatic effect that makes the reader pause and say the line two diffeent ways. In the other version, it's not as obvious because there is a line break, however it still has the same effect.