Notes on Hamlet

The play has certainly evolved from the fact that act the beginning Hamlet was shocked about the news of his uncle killing his father and just all together angry at everyone and everything around him. And now that the play has developed, he is now this strong character with a mindset of his own. He has a plan and he is going to stick to it to take revenge against his uncle. We now have this wondering in the back of our brains of what is going to happen. Is Hamlet actually going to kill his uncle? The plot has thickened a lot and everything is more suspenseful now.

At the beginning of the play, I thought that it was going to be about straight-forward revenge, but now that all of these twists and turns are happening, I'm starting to think that all that awaits for me now is suspense after suspense. Before, after hearing that Claudius killed his father, I thought Hamlet was just going to right away kill his uncle. But now that he has hatched this plan to catch his uncle, everything has become more on edge. I feel like the plot and the characters are going to keep on thickening up and we are going to be left with one big catastrophe at the end of the play.

Who was Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare. Such a complex man no other can really understand him. There are many stories that talk about where he came from, where he was born, when he was born, what was his culture like growing up, his family, etc. Yet, those are just stories. Anecdotes that we are all bound to assume as facts. I feel like we will never truly know who this amazingly brilliant creature known as William Shakespeare is.

I feel like when students even hear the name Shakespeare, they immediately let a grunt, their hands get sweaty, and they think of how for how ever long they are going to have no life during the time the are assigned to read a piece from Shakespeare. Some don't get it, but most go into it feeling like they know they won't get it and they should just give up now. I can say that I was definitely one of these students a while ago. But now that we discuss not only Hamlet, but his other works and how he writes similarly in a lot of his plays, I feel like I've progressed a lot as a reader of Shakespeare. I will now read a line or a passage, not get it at all, go back and try breaking it down, and eventually I find myself engulfed in the writing and actually understanding a lot of it. I think I now get his puns and that a lot of what he says he doesn't actually mean literally. And I find myself still tripping up on his language. Of course, it's not the same language we use today so it can be quite difficult at times. But I know that's not something that you just get, but something you have to work on.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

I LOVE Facebook. I mean, what typical teenager doesn't? Honestly though.... The thing about Facebook is that it gives me something to do when I'm extremely bored. Which is a lot of the time. I can sit on it for hours and every few minutes or so someone will post something to my news feed so there's always something new going on. Whether it's a picture, a post, etc., there's always a new change of "scenery". The benefits are the straight-forward answers everyone will always give you. Like how it is a perfect way to stay in touch with people. This is 100% completely true and I fully agree. If I didn't have Facebook, I most likely wouldn't talk to half my relatives. This is a terrible thing to say, but it's true. It gives us a chance to not only communicate through direct talk, but see what one another is up to through recent pictures and posts and such.

 Some risks for using Facebook is that it gives other sites a chance to see what you do on Facebook and track what are you're likes and dislikes that way they can send you piles upon piles of popups and such. This IS a tragedy. Because, honestly, who likes popups?! They suck. Also, this concept is extremely dangerous. I know that I don't want my personal information floating around the internet for anyone to access.

Reading this article and discussing this in class definitely helped me become more aware of what I do exactly when I'm on the internet. Before I really knew anything about this, I had no idea that this kind of thing could actually happen. I now think that the internet, which unfortunately includes Facebook, can be a harmful tool. This is a serious matter, but I feel like most people out there in the world, mostly the ones using the internet the most, don't actually know what's going on here. As did I before I knew anything about this at all.

Vocabulary #9

1. Abortive: failing to produce the intended result
"The marriage was abortive after the couple got divorced within the first few months."
2. Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
"The group of girls bruited the false statement that one of the girls was pregnant."

3. Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
"His contumelious attitude towards people makes others dispise him."

4. Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle
"The judge's dictum was final."

5. Ensconce: establish or settle
"The settlers ensonced a newfound culture and way of living when they came to America."

6. Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions
"His inconoclastic comeback was forced by his built up anger."

7. In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
"When the girl was interrupted by her mom, she had to start her story in medias res."

8. Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
"The fatal earthquake was an internecine to both side of the war."

9. Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy
"The group left the annoying girl behind because of how maladroit she was. She kept holding up the group."

10. Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
"The old man's maudlin talk was making me feel actually a little sad for him."

11. Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
"Her modulate control could make her followers practically do anything."

12. Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
"Our portentous praises to the gods made us hopeful they would grant us want we wanted."

13. Prescience: the power to foresee the future
"She has a prescience manner about her that makes me think that she knows what's going to happen."

14. Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
"When I do something nice for someone, I don't expect a quid pro quo."

15. Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down
"Fruits and vegetables are salubrious foods."

16. Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
"The party was so wild it was almost saturnalia."

17. Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized
"His touchstone was often critiqued."

18. Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
"I went through a tramatic experience when my brother almost died."

19. Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.
"Most couples in high school end up vitiated their relationship because they are so young and naive."

20. Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
"His waggish mood made it almost impossible to not laugh when you're around him."

Vocabulary Midterm Autopsy

On the midterm I got a 74. It's definitely a lot better than I thought I was going to get. I sort of went into the test thinking that I didn't studu enough and getting a good grade would be nearly impossible. The week before the test, I followed my study schedule, yet, by the time Thursday rolled around, I felt overwhelmed by all these words and I felt like I definitely was not ready to pass it. I think the outcome of my score is due to my complete concentration when taking the test and the determination to get the highest grade possible. I went into the test feeling sort of unprepared, yet while I took the test I felt the need to just do the best I could and actually finish the test. When the final comes around, I can definitely improve on not letting myself become so overwhelmed and to just calm down and take it one step at a time.

Vocabulary #7

1. aberration: the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual
"He aberrated from trendy styles to weird clothes that no one would have ever guessed he would wear."

2. ad hoc: for the special purpose or end presently under consideration
"A committee formed ad hoc to deal with the situation."

3. bane: a person or thing that ruin or spoils
"Gambling was the bane of his existence."

4. bathos: a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace
"

5. cantankerous: disagreeable to deal with; peevish
"The cantankerous and argumentative man was annoying to most people."

6. casuistry: specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality
"However, i'm not convinced of such casuistry because i'm not convinced that self-regard and egocentrism are exactly the same thing."

7. de facto: in fact; reality
"Although his title was prime minister, he was de facto president of the country."

8. depredation: the act of preying upon or plundering; robbery
"His depredation towards his girlfriend made her feel empty and selfconscious about herself."

9. empathy: the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings
"I felt empathy towards her when she lost her dad to cancer."

10. harbinger: a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another
"The harbinger made the girl feel welcomed in the group."

11. hedonism: the doctrine that pleasure and happiness is the highest good
"Loving and happy people believe in hedonism."

12. lackluster: lacking brilliance or radiance; dull
"The lackluster jewelry wasn't very appealing and nobody wanted it."

13. malcontent: not satisfied or content with currently prevailing conditions or circumstances
"I felt malcontent with my work."

14. melliflows: sweetly or smoothingly flowing; sweet-sounding
"The harmonies make beautiful melliflows that makes you want to listen to the song over and over."

15. nepotism: patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship
"The teacher was accused of nepotism after she gave more attention to one student than the rest."

16. pander: a person who furnishes clients for a prostitute or supplies persons for illicit sexual intercourse
"The pimp was a pander."

17. peccadillo: a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifiling fault
"His peccadillo made his parents very angry, but after a couple weeks of being grounded, he was finally forgiven."

18. piece de resistance: the principal dish of a meal
"

19. remand: to send back, remit, or consign again
"They remanded the man to jail after he committed a second crime."

20. syndrome: a group of symptoms that together are characteristics of a specific disorder, disease, or the like
"The boy was born with Down Syndrome which has been very hard for the family."

Vocabulary #8

I guess I can't be in abeyance of what I think I know about Hamlet so far. Well, the one thing I am absolutely certain of is that he is definitely not ambivalent, but has strong feelings and is certain in what he thinks. I can obviously tell that his life around him beleaguers him. Yet, he doesn't let other think for him but has carte blanche and has his own feelings about things. You can see this when Claudis and others are talking and Hamlet has this outburt of cataclysm. He thinks that his mother is debauching their whole family after she marries her brother-in-law. I can also tell no one really thinks of him as special or having a eclat of any kind. He is definitely different from other characters for he certainly is fastidious but doesn't gambol when something exciting happens. He is passionate about the finding of his father's ghost and is imbued with deep fascination of the ghost. It is true he is an inchoate young boy who is lampooned by his stepfather, but he is also very strong and not malleable, but holds his own. I would have to say his stepfather is a powerful nemesis that is against him. Yet, he has lots of opts to follow his stepfather and mother, but he can be definitely be a philistine and go against everyone and everything. His character is some sort of picaresque in the sense that he is a rough sort of hero in this play. His sometimes queasy actions and refractory personality makes him stand out among others though most might not see this. He is a savoir-faire character who is not confused but knows just what to do.