Subtext assignment (due as blog entries Friday, February 22--please post Thursday evening, not before):
1. Using this link, download act 3, scene 4 from the beginning to Gertrude’s line “I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me.” (Delete everything beginning with Hamlet’s line “I must to England, you know that?”)
2. Turn this scene into a word processing document. It will be several pages long.
3. Keep the entire text as it is, except change the name Queen Margaret to Queen Gertrude at the beginning of the scene (a mistake on the web site).
4. Identify as much subtext as you can. This is the most important part of the assignment. Subtext refers to all the meanings not directly contained in the text. Specifically, as we discussed in class, the subtext contains implied stage directions, the character’s thoughts, feelings, and motives as the lines are being spoken, as well as notes indicating tone of voice, movements, and gestures. Write your subtext at the end of short speeches or at the appropriate points in the middle of longer speeches. Do not simply paraphrase speeches. And please don't invent off-the-wall meanings which are not clearly implied or logically compatible with the original text.
5. When you finish, paste your document into the "compose" window of your blog. But before you click "publish post," go through the document carefully and put everything you added in BOLD or in a different color (you can't do this step before you post or the formatting will be lost when you paste your word document to your blog and you'll have to do it all over again, probably muttering to yourself inappropriate language in the process, and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?) Putting all your additions in boldface or color makes it easier for me to identify what you have added.
Please do NOT consult with each other in preparing this assignment or wait to post your scene until after you have read the work of others. What you post must be your work and only your work. As you should know, the school takes a particularly dim view of collaborating on assignments that are not collaborative in nature. It's called cheating. Don't let it happen to you.
Done in a spirit of exploration, with a strong mind and a clear heart, this assignment can be a lot of fun for all of us.
1. Using this link, download act 3, scene 4 from the beginning to Gertrude’s line “I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me.” (Delete everything beginning with Hamlet’s line “I must to England, you know that?”)
2. Turn this scene into a word processing document. It will be several pages long.
3. Keep the entire text as it is, except change the name Queen Margaret to Queen Gertrude at the beginning of the scene (a mistake on the web site).
4. Identify as much subtext as you can. This is the most important part of the assignment. Subtext refers to all the meanings not directly contained in the text. Specifically, as we discussed in class, the subtext contains implied stage directions, the character’s thoughts, feelings, and motives as the lines are being spoken, as well as notes indicating tone of voice, movements, and gestures. Write your subtext at the end of short speeches or at the appropriate points in the middle of longer speeches. Do not simply paraphrase speeches. And please don't invent off-the-wall meanings which are not clearly implied or logically compatible with the original text.
5. When you finish, paste your document into the "compose" window of your blog. But before you click "publish post," go through the document carefully and put everything you added in BOLD or in a different color (you can't do this step before you post or the formatting will be lost when you paste your word document to your blog and you'll have to do it all over again, probably muttering to yourself inappropriate language in the process, and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?) Putting all your additions in boldface or color makes it easier for me to identify what you have added.
Please do NOT consult with each other in preparing this assignment or wait to post your scene until after you have read the work of others. What you post must be your work and only your work. As you should know, the school takes a particularly dim view of collaborating on assignments that are not collaborative in nature. It's called cheating. Don't let it happen to you.
Done in a spirit of exploration, with a strong mind and a clear heart, this assignment can be a lot of fun for all of us.
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