Guest Blogger - Will H.

To be honest, I really do hate poetry. Most of the time it just makes simple ideas way to complicated, and there are double meanings to the ideas, which is exactly why I will keep this as straightforward as possible. Keeping with the idea of poetic structure in Shakespeare (as it has been mentioned several times below), the most obvious form of it in Hamlet is the use of rhyming couplets at the end of some scenes. These simple similarities of sound often tie together the two ideas expressed, and they help draw each scene to a quick close. For example, at the end of Act 1 Scene 2, it says, “Till then, sit still my soul. (Foul) deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them in men’s eyes.” Through the rhyming of “eyes” and “rise” Shakespeare directly draws the connection between men and foulness. Had he otherwise said something like “Bad deeds will be exposed, regardless of man’s methods to hide them.” Though it would have made more sense to me in the first place by saying it like that, the rhyme attempts to help sum up the main idea of the scene, as well as distinguish the mood, which is in this case, a gloomy one after the introduction of the ghost.
There is another rhyming couplet at the end of Act 3 Scene 2, following Hamlet’s discussion of clouds with Polonius and portion of comedic relief amidst the tragedy. “How in my words somever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent.” From a quick internet search I found that “shent” correlates with shame. So from that, I assume Shakespeare could have written something like “I won’t take action upon my words, they bring her shame.” Here Shakespeare is once again emphasizing this simple idea by rhyming two parts of a sentence, and it highlights Hamlet’s thoughts about Ophelia and once again brings out the dark aspects of this tragedy, even after a bout of comic relief from Polonius earlier.
From the simple concept of rhyming couplets, Shakespeare stays true to his continued use of poetic structure in Hamlet, and this is generally important because it helps tie up the end of each it is used in by capturing the mood.

Guest Blogger - Ihab M.

Shakespeare’s claim to fame was never the plots of his plays. The basic premises of such works as Romeo and Juliet and Othello were well known and understood before the Bard’s adaptations. Instead, his value was in the unique execution of his plays. Shakespeare introduced many original words and phrases of his own invention in his plays, and almost always set his stories to a specific rhythmic meter. But what really characterized Shakespeare’s works was the sharp wit injected into the most somber of scenes. Hamlet is full of excellent examples of this.
Plenty of the wit comes in the form of biting sarcasm, particularly where Hamlet is speaking to Claudius. In the second scene of the first act, when asked by his uncle about the clouds of his father’s death still hanging over him, Hamlet replies “Not so, my lord; I am too much in the sun” (line 69). The reply is markedly sardonic. Hamlet’s meaning is not that he is happy—the word “sun” is a homophone of “son”—the intent is to say that Claudius has called him “son” too much and that Hamlet does not accept him as his father.
Shakespeare was not afraid to throw in a double entendre either. Yes, if there was one thing that England’s national poet could get behind, it was innuendo. Shakespeare really nails it in Act III, scene 2, with Hamlet’s conversation with Ophelia starting on line 119.

HAMLET: Lady, shall I lie on your lap?
OPHELIA: No, my lord.
Hamlet: I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPHELIA: Ay, my lord.
HAMLET: Do you think I meant country matters?
OPHELIA: I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET: That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.
OPHELIA: What is, my lord?
HAMLET: Nothing.

I’m no expert on Olde English profanity, but like Hamlet, I know a hawk from a handsaw. I assume that this was an obvious joke to Shakespeare’s intended audience at the time. After disrespecting Ophelia with the suggestion that he have sexual relations her, Hamlet refers to “country matters.” And he certainly doesn’t mean “matters that have to do with the country,” as evidenced by his next line, “a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.” The jokes, while entertaining, serve the more important purpose of illustrating to the savvy audience that Hamlet is not only coherent, but almost brilliant in his derisive dialogue. Four hundred words exactly!

Guest Blogger- Taylor T.

In the past week or two, we have been learning quite a bit about poetry and the structure. Even more specifically, poetry within Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Now I’m not quite sure about my fellow AP Lit classmates, but I know for sure that I am horrible with this! I can not even identify the syllables as stressed or unstressed so how do I identify the feet and than the rhythm? To me, everything is written in iambic pentameter! Consequently, I have a very tough time understanding why Shakespeare uses the techniques he does. For instance, why does he write in blank verse iambic pentameter? Why do some parts of the play switch from poetry to prose? Why is rhyme only used sometimes? Why is the meter broken part?
Some techniques I am familiar with are as follows; blank verse, which uses a rhythm and meter without an end rhyme along with free verse, which does not use a structured rhythm, meter, or end rhyme. Also, an elision is easy to understand. To keep the meter the same, Shakespeare leaves out an unstressed syllable. For example, in Act 1 Scene 3, Hamlet says, “…(Foul) deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.” Luckily, I can also rhyme making the heroic couplet easy to recognize. It is two consecutive lines of iambic pentameter with end rhyme. A heroic couplet is used during Act 2 Scene 2, where Hamlet says, “… I’ll have grounds more relative than this. The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscious of the King.”
Overall, I know some simple techniques of poetry and sometimes how to identify them. Unfortunately, I struggle with the rest. These are just a few of my issues with Shakespeare and his ways. Oh poetry, how you frustrate me!

Guest Blogger -Katie H.

This week in class we have been talking about different elements of poetic structure, including iambic pentameter, blank verse, couplets, and more, that are present in Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_. As I have been reading _Hamlet_, I have found it fairly easy to identify these elements; however, trying to figure out why Shakespeare uses them takes a little more effort. That is why I decided to look more into why Shakespeare uses these elements in _Hamlet_.

To start, the one thing that Shakespeare uses the most out of all the elements of poetic structure is iambic pentameter. As we all know, iambic pentameter is when there are five sets of an unstressed then stressed syllable in a line. The main reason Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter is that it was a common practice in his time. It was what the people were used to and expected to hear. Also, it adds a beat to the text giving it a song-like quality. This helps the words flow well so that they just roll off of the tongue. Overall, iambic pentameter creates a more eloquent and formal speech.

Shakespeare also switches from poetry to prose many times throughout _Hamlet._ The reason for this is that the two types of writing have different connotations. While poetry shows dignity and respect, prose represents familiarity. For example, when Hamlet is speaking to those of higher class – Gertrude, Horatio, and others – he speaks in poetry.
However, when he speaks to servants or lower class friends, like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he speaks in prose. Hamlet also uses prose when speaking to those he does not respect like Claudius. In the end, the change between poetry and prose helps the audience to know how Hamlet feels towards each character.

Finally, Shakespeare ends every scene with a rhyming couplet. At first I thought that Shakespeare did this to end every scene in a way that the audience, or reader, would remember. However, through my research, I found that the rhyming couplet signals to the audience that the scene is over. Once they hear the rhyming couplet, the audience knows to listen for the next line that will explain the setting for the next scene.

Overall, the poetic structure in _Hamlet_ is very important to the telling of the story.

http://shakespeare.nowheres.com/faq/faq30.php

http://www.englandmademe.com

Guest Blogger - Kelsey G.

While reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet I began to wonder how Shakespeare came to write this play. Some believe that Shakespeare was inspired by the death of his only son Hamnet at the age of 11. However it is more likely that Hamnet’s death inspired some of Shakespeare’s other plays and the similarities in names should be dismissed. It is possible that his death drove Shakespeare to start writing tragedies. Shakespeare’s first plays were comedies and histories such as Richard III, Henry VI, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado about Nothing. He then later in life wrote Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and other tragic plays. Critics claim the start of Shakespeare’s tragedy era began his greatest writing. There is also controversy as to who wrote the play. Some believe Shakespeare stole the play and others think he interpreted it from the story of Vita Amlethi. Amleth’s uncle also killed his father to take the throne just like Hamlet’s uncle Claudius who then marries his mother Gertrude. The legend of Amleth was around two centuries before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet leading to the debate of whether it was an original idea and how much, if any influence did Amleth have on the character Hamlet. The most likely source of inspiration is the Ur-Hamlet, A lost play which is believed to be written by Thomas Kyd. Scholars are unsure how much of the Ur-Hamlet Shakespeare used or even if it ever existed. However it remains the most probable inspiration for Hamlet if Shakespeare used one. Many of Shakespeare’s plays revolve around nobility and royalty. He was interested in the succession of Kings and may have found it fascinating to write about an uncle (Claudius) slaying his brother (King Hamlet) to become a king and disrupting the line. The origin of Hamlet proves to be a mystery for scholars and the public but people refuse to let that get in the way of enjoying one of Shakespeare’s most prized plays.

Guest Blogger - Duncan G.

A good man is hard to find
The title:
What is a good man?
Some of the characters give different perspectives to this.
"A good man is hard to find," Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more." The grandma and Red Sammy believe that it is hard to find trustworthy men. Furthermore, the grandmother considers Red Sammy as a good man for giving some boys driving a Chrysler gas. She also tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good man because she thinks that he is nice. But the misfit does not think so. "Nome, I ain't a good man," The Misfit said after a second ah if he had considered her statement carefully, "but I ain't the worst in the world neither.” The grandmother believes that a good man is made by a good family. She believes that the misfit is good inside because he comes from a good family. She also believes that she comes from a good family; therefore she is good. Jesus is also mentioned, but is Jesus a good man? The grandmother claims that Jesus is, but the reason to why the Misfit kills is because of Jesus. Lastly, Bailey stopped the black sedan after the accident, hoping for a good man, but he wasn’t a good man. So what I have come up with is that O’Conner is trying to show us about the what goodness is, and the grandmother’s misconception of goodness, since the grandmother isn’t a good.

The Family’s Death
It was the grandmother’s fault. I think if the grandmother would have kept quiet, no one would have died. “‘You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?’ the grandmother…..‘I would hate to have to,’ he said.” Even as the family was dying, the grandmother was had no sorrow, she was just trying to save herself. Therefore, I think that the misfit killed them all cause of the grandmother’s selfishness.

The Ending
The grandmother called the misfit her child. This was very confusing, but I think that the grandmother realized that she was not good. She was a hypocrite, looking good, doesn’t make you. It is a moment of grace and the misfit acknowledges this. “"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."” Then again, knowing her characteristics, she could have done that just to try saver her life, but was too late.

Guest Blogger - Kelsey M.

The three short stories we have learned about this week are Young Goodman Brown; A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everyday Use. In class we have also swapped teachers for the three days, which brought new ideas and perspective into the situation. We have become very used to one specific Teachers methods that when a new person comes in with their own ways to teach a short story, it makes the students think in ways that they aren’t used to. We discussed the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker on Wednesday and talked about the importance on how the Mother’s use of Dee’s name changes. When Dee first comes home from College, she tells her Mother that she changed her name to Wangero, and would like to be called that. As the story goes on, the mother always thinks of Dee like, Dee (Wangero). I believe that signifies a neutral setting, no strong emotion is pulled through. When she says, Dee, she reaches a very high emotional peak and remembers that Dee is her daughter and she has control over her. When she uses, Miss Wangero, I believed that she was being sarcastic and becomes slightly bitter with Dee. And that’s what we’ve been talking about in AP Lit.

Guest Blogger - Conner G.

Young Goodman Brown: Symbol Analysis

YGB starts this story off by leaving his wife for a night of doing something that he feels skeptical about. The Beginning of the story is somewhat pleasant and is quite enjoyable to read. as the story progresses, however, YGB "takes a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind." This marks the change from reality to a Gothic style of writing.


As YGB leaves his wife, she begs him not to leave her saying "a lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeard of herself sometimes." later, when YGB meets with the devil, he exclaims his reasoning for being late was that "Faith kept me back awhile." looking into this, i realized that this statement has two meanings. one being that she simply kept him back because of the long good-bye. But the second is a more symbolic meaning. His faith in god delayed his meeting with the devil. During his meeting with the devil, YGB sees the staff that he carried. "It bore the likeness of a great black snake", and when i read this i thought what kind of things it could symbolize, and one thing really stuck out to me that i couldn't get out of my head. In the bible, the first book, Genesis, states that a serpent-like creature tempts Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. So in either situation, the staff could represent just evil. YGB had had his Faith in god shaken several times in this story. the first being when the staff leads YGB to the devil's ceremony, and the second is when YGB sees Goody Cloyse speaking with the devil. Goody, being YGB's spiritual and moral leader, had taught YGB catechism, and when she was speaking with the devil, he was angry with her, even though he was doing the exact same thing. i didn't really understand this part about why he wasn't mad at himself, so feedback would be nice!\

Toward the end of the ceremony, YGB seems almost in a trance (?), but breaks out of it yelling "Faith! Faith! look up to heaven, and resist the evil one!" he tries to get Faith to break out of the trance too, not know if she is even there (ambiguity!)

"When he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, and aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom." This being the last sentence of the story, really emphasizes the fact that YGB had completely lost his faith in god. partly because he died, and was no longer with his wife, Faith, and also because they carved no hopeful verse upon his gravestone, because there was no hope of him going to heaven. He had turned to the devil, and there was no going back.

Guest Blogger - Tania G.

When I was young, about six years old, I picked up my first poetry book and began to read. It was the most colorful, vivid, creative thing I had ever read. That book was The Cat in The Hat and I fell in love. The poems were so easy to understand with it’s small words and yet it painted such a big picture in your mind. Now at seventeen I find myself struggling with the poems in AP Lit. The poems which were once so simple had become very confusing. I asked myself whether it was really necessary to use all the confusing metaphors and similes to get the point across. Why couldn’t the poems simply state what they were trying to say? Then it hit me. It was sort of like my childhood poems were simple color crayon pictures in my mind. I could draw it quickly and in the end the drawing was obvious but plain, which was enough to entertain me back then. But the poems I read now are much different. These poems use many different mediums and use different techniques every time. Picture Starry Night by Van Gogh with it’s movement or Sunday Afternoon by Georges Seurat with it’s pointillism. These drawings take much longer to create but in the end the pictures they paint are more intricate, and descriptive. There is so much more to notice and you really see things in a different perspective. The thing is you have to know a little bit about art to really appreciate it and the same goes for poems. If you don’t have the skills or knowledge to spot the hidden meaning all your seeing is the pretty colors and shapes. Once you start to acquire these skills you start noticing things you didn’t see before and slowly you begin to notice the complementary colors and delicate strokes. So maybe things aren’t as easy as “one fish, two fish” anymore. I’m moving on to bigger more colorful pictures, slowly but surely.

Guest Blogger - Meghann K.

Poetry Findings:

I don't know about my peers, but ever since middle school, I've hated our poetry units in English. I always felt like poetry was just created to confuse people and fill up empty lesson plans. I always get lost--remember that watermelon poem we read in class that was a metaphor for a pregnant woman? I was so lost that I basically gave up trying to understand. But now that we have an assigned book that explains poetry, I've actually started to understand it. Poetry is something that can be explained through metaphors and personification, denotation and connotation. Poetry gives us a new perspective on an event or object, like when we analyzed the poems about Nathan Morrison's suicide in front of the pentagon. Because there aren't any rule in poetry, an author can give his or her little twist or feelings about the event, object, or issue they are trying to discuss. In some cases, it is easier to write about something in a poem than put it through a documentary or essay, because poems can make the subject personal, whereas an essay can feel distant.

Poetry still is challenging to pick apart and analyze. Metaphors and similes can be used excessively, and the format can still throw me off when i read. "When In Rome" was a poem that irked from the start because of the funky, different format. I'm so used to reading a book or article that I don't like figuring out the new format or explain it in class. Now that I've figured out that those changes could mean a new speaker is introduced, or a different point in being expressed, it's clearer and less bothersome for me to figure out. I think that the four questions we always answer in class (Speaker, setting, main purpose, and explanation) are very helpful for me in understanding the point of the poem.

Our unit, so far, has showed me that poetry can be understood without having a Ph. D in English Literature and can be enjoyable.

Guest Blogger - Nijhum D.

My thoughts on poetry
Poetry is the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts, as defined by 'dictionary.com'. For me poems are another way to describe the meaning, or get to the point in a more complicated way. It is much harder for me to understand the meaning of poems, however it makes it easier to understand deeper emotions and feelings of the object. Poems use similes, metaphors, personifications, and more to get in depth and show the readers through imagery and specific syntax exactly what the author wants you to know. I don't like to sit at home and read poems because it takes up too much time and requires too much thinking unlike a book, which tells you what is going on and gets directly to the point. However I think the poetry unit is a great part of an AP literature class because it teaches students a different way of visualizing and understanding things. Reading books after books is great but that is necessary for everything and every class, but reading poems and writing poems is much different. It is harder and I think more students struggle with the process of understanding it as a whole. They understand the little descriptive parts, and little details more then the point of the writing. For me, it is more interesting to read books because you are understand what is going on, and it helps you get hooked on the story and makes you keep on reading, but for poems it is different. I don't like to read poems, but I guess most songs are considered poetry, which most people love. Songs have the same style as poems, especially rap. Most songs rhyme, follow certain patterns, give details, but are hard to find an actual meaning within it's words other then the theme or basic understanding. I think poems help everyone get another perspective on a the reading, and are come in different ways, including songs which most people love!

Guest Blogger - Chelsee F.

Hello everybody! As I was pondering about what to write I was suddenly inspired by Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum Est. The primary concern in writing poetry is all about the experience. Poetry is full of all kinds of experience including actual or imaginary, strange or common. Using poems to decribe vital events help bring a lot of emotion for the event. By using a soldier as the speaker it helps us see how they would see it in there situation. The poem is about WWI and the usage of poisonous gas as a main weapon to use against the opponent. Wilfred Owen is able to put many words that sketches out lucid images of what being in war is. This poem has vivid imagery that really captures the idea of dying for ones country. “And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin” This is very descriptive of how the deadly gas is contorting his face. Using such imagery really captures the reader’s attention. “Dim through the misty panes and thick green lights, as under a green sea, i saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” The soldier sees another soldier who is dying from the green poisonous gas. He could not belive what he was seeing before him, this helpless man with a few minutes t olive. By using all this imagery it helps readers understand how dangerous being in war is and what we put people through. “The blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs bitter as the cud of vile.” War is an ugly thing and she quote Dulce et Decorum Est, it is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country, is a very false quote.