Here is a brief recap of the key events in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare: - King Hamlet of Denmark has recently died, and his brother Claudius has married Hamlet's mother Gertrude and become the new king. - Hamlet encounters his father's ghost, which reveals that he was in fact murdered by Claudius. The ghost commands Hamlet to seek revenge. - Hamlet feigns madness as a way to conceal his plans for revenge from Claudius and spy on those around him. - Hamlet confronts his mother and kills Polonius, thinking it is Claudius. This sends Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, into madness which

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ENG403A Semester Review
Dr. McLauchlan
ENG403A
British & World Literature
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2. Standards
• ELACC11-12RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the
text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word
choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, and beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other
authors.)
• ELACC11-12W7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem;
• narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the
subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject
• under investigation.
• ELACC11-12RL7: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g.,
recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry),
• evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by
Shakespeare as well as one play by an American
• dramatist.)
• ELACC11-12SL3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence
and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of
emphasis, and tone used.
• ELACC11-12L1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing or speaking.
• ELACC11-12L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

3. Essential Questions:
• How does literature reflect the thinking,
values, and human development of a
specific historical time period?
• How does language evolve?
• How can connections between real-life
and fictional experiences enhance
narrative writing?

4. Beowulf vs. Grendel

5. One of the earliest pieces of literature;
an Old English epic poem revealing the
warrior culture of the Anglo-Saxons
that survived through oral tradition.
No one knows who “wrote” Beowulf
Like all early oral poetry, it had as many authors as singers who performed it.
It is from this poem that we derive many of the details for our reconstructions
of Anglo- Saxon social life.

6. Key ideas…
• Beowulf is ancient England’s hero, but he is
also an archetype…. Or perfect example, of an
epic hero.
• The hero archetype in Beowulf is the dragon
slayer, representing a besieged community
facing evil forces that lurk in the cold darkness.
• Grendel, the monster lurking in the depths of
the lagoon, may represent those threatening
forces.

7. Characteristics of the Epic Hero
• Heroes embody the values important to a
particular culture.
• Heroic Qualities
– Nobility, Strength, and/or Wisdom
– Represents/Defends his or her race, culture, or nation
– Mysterious or unusual birth (hero may not initially know)
• Cultural Influences
– The culture often values traits in the hero that reinforce
the culture’s power structure.
• Intellectual wisdom and/or physical prowess

8. Characteristics of the Epic Hero
• Significant Battle, Challenge, or Obstacle
– hero must overcome a difficulty, challenge, or obstacle, or
engage in a significant battle, which proves his or her
heroism.
• i.e. literal battle with a powerful foe; struggle with internal or
mental obstacle
– Cultural Influence
• The hero’s challenges often reflect the culture’s challenges.
• Supernatural Help
– The hero’s ability to overcome their challenge is
supported by superhuman intervention.
– They often have to prove themselves worthy and appeal
to the god, gods, or goddesses.

9. Beowulf’s Character
• Beowulf, like all epic heroes, possesses
superior physical strength and supremely
high ethical standards.
• He embodies the highest ideals of Anglo
Saxon culture
• In his quest, he must defeat monsters that
symbolize dark destructive powers
• At the end of the quest, he is glorified by the
people he has saved.

10. Characters
Beowulf
• Characteristics/Qualities
– good and proud: “that prince of goodness, proudly asserted” (676)
– confident and bold: “When it comes to fighting, I count myself/as
dangerous any day as Grendel” (677-678)
– brave: “Then down the brave man lay” (688)
– strong and intelligent: “Mighty and canny” (736)
– loyal: “Hygelac’s trusty retainer” (757)
– represents his people: “The Great captain/boldy fulfilled his boast to the
Danes” (827-828)

11. A Hero’s Confidence & Strength
• As the excerpt begins, Hrothgar departs the
mead-hall, leaving Beowulf to guard it against
Grendel, a fierce and so far fatal enemy. Yet
Beowulf immediately begins to take off his armor.
• One feature of epics is a scene often called "the
arming of the hero." In such a scene, the narrator
describes the hero's armor and weaponry, giving
details about its make and history.
What does this unusual course of action reveal
about Beowulf?

12. Beowulf Characteristics cont.
• Cultural Influences
– He is called on to play his role in part because of his
sense of honor.
– He feels the need to repay the favor to Hrothgar
because his own father once received a favor from the
Danish king.
– He faces the undefeated Grendel with courage and
brute strength.
– He wins the safety of the Danes and honor for the
Geats, all the while depending on a god who knows
the outcome of all things and provides strength to
those who are good.

13. Beowulf Characteristics cont.
• Obstacle
– encounters a strong and evil monster: “The bane of
the race of men” (712) and “the captain of evil” (749)
– knows he is at high risk of being killed: “they
knew…how often the Danes had fallen prey to death”
(694-695)
– fights a difficult battle: “the two contenders crashed
through the building” (769)
– proves himself stronger than the greatest evil know
to the Danes: “Beowulf was granted/the glory of
winning” (817-818)
– earns the praise of the people: “Beowulf’s doings/were
praised over and over” (855-856)

14. Beowulf Characteristics cont.
• Supernatural Help
– Beowulf trusts in
God: “may the
Divine Lord/in
His wisdom grant
the glory of victory”
(685-686)
– Beowulf is God
blessed: “the Lord was/weaving a victory” (696-
697)
– God rules over all: “Almighty God rules over
mankind/and always has” (701-702)

15. The Canterbury Tales
A group of strangers happens to meet
at an inn. As they talk, they discover
that each of them is on the same
journey - a journey motivated by the
teachings of their church.
Gladly, they decide to travel together
toward their goal, enjoying each other's
company as they seek a holy site. From
this fictional chance encounter spring
the famous stories of The Canterbury
Tales.

16. Chaucer's Pilgrims and The
Three Estates
• As you read excerpts from The
Canterbury Tales, you met
representatives of each of the
three estates.
• In medieval England society was
roughly divided into three estates
– or social classes.
1. the clergy
2. the nobility and military
3. peasants and merchants
• Ideally, the three estates were
supposed to work together to
fulfill different roles within
society.

21. A Full Picture
• Chaucer chooses not
to label or depict all
first-estate characters in
a strictly positive or
negative light. Instead, he develops the characters as individuals,
focusing on the innate qualities that reveal their humanity.
• The Parson and the Pardoner, two representatives of the
church, act according to their personal values rather than under
the direct supervision of the church. The Parson carries out the
church's mission for the good of others, while the Pardoner
abuses his office for his own personal gain.

22. Literary Device: Frame
Narrative
• The Canterbury Tales is a framed narrative, which means that there is an
introductory story that sets up a series of stories within that main story.
• Frankenstein is an example of a Frame Narrative.

24. The Wife of Bath
• You first meet the colorful character of
the Wife of Bath briefly in "The
Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales. In
the prologue to her tale, Alison (the
Wife of Bath) establishes herself as an
expert on love and marriage.
• The Pardoner beseeches her to "instruct
us younger men in your technique."
Alison is more than ready to grant the
Pardoner's request, and she embarks on
her tale about finding happiness in
marriage.

25. The Wife of Bath: The
Narrator's Description
• Like all the characters in The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath is
introduced in "The Prologue." A cloth merchant who wears the finest
clothing and draws respect from everyone around her, the Wife is partly
deaf, has had five husbands, and has traveled on pilgrimages throughout
Europe and in the Middle East. According to the narrator, she "knew the
remedies for love's mischances, / An art in which she knew the oldest
dances."
• As you read her tale, you will see how truly the narrator speaks. The
Wife of Bath loves to talk about marriage and considers herself an
unparalleled expert on the subject.

30. The Wife of Bath: In Her Own
Words
• Storytelling is like this sometimes: curling back on itself, following
tempting side paths, and finally returning to its main plot.
• As the Wife of Bath tells her tales, readers learn about her and the things
that are important to her.
• In this Tale we determine that the Wife of Bath values doing good deeds
when she reveals to the knight that true gentility is performing acts of
kindness towards others.

31. Connections Among the
Tales
• The tales are also loosely linked by
– theme (such as fidelity and authority in marriage)
– important moral and social questions (What is just behavior? What is the
proper way to comport oneself?)
– issues of the day (such as the growing power of the legal profession and the
rivalry among occupations)
• These links guided Chaucer as he planned his work. If you do the math,
you'll see that 30 pilgrims will each tell two tales going to Canterbury
and two tales coming home. That's 120 tales! Chaucer never completed
all of these tales, but the links among tales hold those that he composed
together and create a sense of community among the travelers.

32. Sonnets

33. Parts of a Poem
1. Stanza: a division or section of a poem
1. They are named for the quantity of lines it contains.
 couplet = two lines quatrain = four lines
2. Line: basic unit of poetic form
3. Foot: A basic unit of rhythm within a line, with one stressed and
one unstressed syllable in it
4. Meter: the rhythm or repeating pattern in poetry
1. window (win stressed dow unstressed)
 casino (ca unstressed si stressed no unstressed

34. Terms that will help…..
 couplet : two consecutive lines of poetry
 octave : a stanza of eight lines in a poem
 quatrain : a stanza of four lines in a poem
 sestet : a stanza of six lines in a poem
 volta: turn in the poem (climax)

35. The Sonnet
• A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic
pentameter with a carefully patterned
rhyme scheme. Other strict, short poetic
forms occur in English poetry (the sestina,
the villanelle, and the haiku, for example),
but none has been used so successfully
by so many different poets.

36. Iambic Pentameter
• A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with
ten beats.
• An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”
• “Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).
• “Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.
• A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable
and a stressed syllable (in that order).

38. Let’s compare the two styles of sonnet…
Petrarchan Sonnet Shakespearean Sonnet
The Italian form of the sonnet consists The English sonnet also has 14 lines,
of 14 lines divided into an octave (eight but they are divided into three quatrains
lines) followed by a sestet (six lines). (four lines each) and a rhyming couplet
(two lines).
The turn, or volta, occurs at the The turn, or volta, comes at the
beginning of the sestet, in line 9. beginning of line 13 – that is, the
beginning of the couplet.
The octave’s rhyme scheme is almost Each quatrain consists of two pairs of
always the same. abbaabba Sometimes alternating rhyming lines, and the
you may see the octave rhyme scheme
abbacddc or even (rarely) abababab sonnet ends with a rhyming couplet.
The sestet’s rhyme scheme can vary The rhyme scheme is almost always :
but the A and B rhymes of the octave
abab cdcd efef gg.
cannot be used again.,
Hint: the last 2 lines rhyme
When written in English, Petrarchan Shakespearean sonnets are written in
sonnets are written in iambic iambic pentameter, which means that
pentameter. When they are written in each line contains 10 syllables and
Italian, they do not follow this meter every second syllable is stressed.

39. Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet
“Farewell Love and all thy laws for ever”
Farewell Love and all thy laws for ever, a
Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more; b
Senec and Plato call me from thy lore b
To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavour. a
In blind error when I did persever, a
Thy sharp repulse, that pricketh aye so sore, b
Hath taught me to set in trifles no store b
And scape forth, since liberty is lever. a
Therefore farewell; go trouble younger hearts c
And in me claim no more authority; d
With idle youth go use thy property d
And thereon spend thy many brittle darts. c
For hitherto though I have lost all my time, e
Me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb. e
- Wyatt Devonshire (1557)

40. “Sonnet 138” or “When My Love Swears that
She is Made of Truth” (Shakespearean/English Sonnet)
When my love swears that she is made of truth a
I do believe her, though I know she lies, b
That she might think me some untutor'd youth, a
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties. b
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, c
Although she knows my days are past the best, d
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: c
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd. d
But wherefore says she not she is unjust? e
And wherefore say not I that I am old? f
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust, e
And age in love loves not to have years told: f
Therefore I lie with her and she with me, g
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be. g William Shakespeare

41. The Tragedy of
Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark
William Shakespeare

42. The Tragedy of Hamlet: Recap
There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark . . .

43. The Tragedy of Hamlet: Recap
Prince Hamlet returns home
from university to discover
that his father is dead and
his mother has married his
uncle Claudius.
And now Claudius
has declared
himself king.

44. The Tragedy of Hamlet: Recap
As if that’s not bad
enough, the ghost of
his father appears to
Hamlet . . .
He tells Hamlet that he’s
been murdered by Claudius
and demands that Hamlet
get revenge.

45. The Tragedy of Hamlet: Recap
Instead of jumping into any
action, Hamlet broods over
his options— and overthinks
every action…. A problem
throughout the play.
Hamlet then starts acting
very strange…..but he is
actually sane…..

46. The Tragedy of Hamlet: Recap
He starts talking in
riddles.
He acts cruelly to
Ophelia, a girl who
loves him.
He’s suspicious of
everyone.
He tells Horatio and Marcellus that he
may put on an act. (antic disposition)

47. Symbols
0 Symbols are objects,
characters, figures, or
colors used to
represent abstract
ideas or concepts.

48. Use of Words
0 The sinister uses of words are represented by
images of ears and hearing, from Claudius's
murder of the king by pouring poison into his
ear to Hamlet's claim to Horatio that "I have
words to speak in thine ear will make thee
dumb".
0 The poison poured in the king's ear by Claudius
is used by the ghost to symbolize the corrosive
effect of Claudius's dishonesty on the health of
Denmark. Declaring that the story that he was
killed by a snake is a lie, he says that "the whole
ear of Denmark" is "Rankly abused….".

49. Yorick’s Skull
0 Hamlet is not a particularly
symbolic play, at least in the
sense that physical objects
are rarely used to represent
thematic ideas.
0 One important exception is
Yorick's skull, which Hamlet
discovers in the graveyard in
the first scene of Act V.
0 It symbolizes Hamlet’s
obsession with death and
decay…….

50. 0 As Hamlet speaks to and about the skull of the
king's former jester, it becomes a symbol of
several different aspects of death, including its
inevitability and its disintegration of the body.
0 Hamlet urges the skull to "get you to my lady's
chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick,
to this favor she must come"—no one can avoid
death.
0 He also traces the skull's mouth and says, "Here
hung those lips that I have kissed I know not
how oft," indicating his fascination with the
physical consequences of death.
Different Aspects of Death

51. Decay of the Human Body
0 This latter idea is an important motif
throughout the play, as Hamlet frequently
makes comments referring to every human
body's eventual decay, noting that Polonius
will be eaten by worms, that even kings are
eaten by worms, and that dust from the
decayed body of Alexander the Great might be
used to stop a hole in a barrel.

52. Great video summary of
Hamlet
0 Video Sparknotes
0 http://viewpure.com/t0CqUTmwKiM
0 http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/haml
et