Using a Double-Entry Journal with Shakespeare's Hamlet

1. Using a Double-Entry Journal with
Shakespeare's Hamlet

2. Ice Breaker
•Why are you here today?
•If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
•If you were a cartoon, which one would you prefer
being?
•What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?
•What's the worst thing you did as a kid?
•What do you do to have fun?
•Have you been told, you look like someone famous?
•What is that one thing which makes you different?
•If you were the Miss World, what would your message
for aspiring models be?

3. 1.
Students
will read
Shakespea
re's play.
The
Tragedy of
Hamlet,
Prince of
Denmark
and use a
double-entry
journal to
reflect
upon the
characters
and their
actions.
2.
Students
will use a
graphic
organizer
to
improve
their
reading
comprehe
nsion of
literary
character
s.

4. Demonstration
Explain to students that although
Shakespeare's plays were written more
than 400 years ago, the themes that run
through his plays are timeless. Hamlet is
one of the characters that has been
interpreted and played many times on
many different stages. Point out that the
language of Shakespeare's plays and his
complex characters sometimes confuse
students and prevent them from enjoying
his plays.
Explain that one of the key ways to truly
understand the depth of a Shakespearean
play is to understand the characters and
why they act the way they do. A double-entry
journal is one way in which students
can keep track of and respond to the
characters and their actions in each act.

5. Before beginning to read Hamlet, discuss
the characteristics of a tragedy and explain
that Shakespeare's plays are broken into
five acts. Discuss exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, and denouement.
Explain to students that they are going to
use the double-entry journal as they read
Hamlet. They are going to have a separate
double-journal entry for every act to help
them respond to and understand the
characters, and therefore better
understand the play.
Explain that in Act I, students will learn some
background knowledge about the characters
and what has happened to them up to that
point. Have students take turns reading Act I
aloud. Distribute the blank double-entry journal
form, or have students copy it into their
notebooks. The title of the first journal is
Double-Entry Journal for Act I of Hamlet. In the
left column, have students write Quotations as
the head. In the right column, have students
write Reflections and Analysis.

6. As a class, select some of the most important quotes from the major characters
in Act I and have students write them in the left column. In the right column,
have students identify the speaker and what they have learned about the
speaker from what the speaker says. Encourage them to try to relate to the
characters and to voice any questions they have about what will happen to the
characters in subsequent acts. Point out that many of the characters' lines are
quite long, so students can simply pick out several of the lines that add to the
overall developing plot and best support what the character is trying to convey.
Use the double-entry journal below as an example. Note that these are only a
few examples of important quotes from Act I. Students can also include quotes
from Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia.

7. "If there be any good think to
be done/That may to thee do
ease, and grace to me,/Speak
to me." (I, i, 130-2)
Horatio; he doubted the existence of
the King's ghost, but then he sees
the ghost himself and begs the ghost
to explain his presence. The ghost
leaves, and Horatio wants Hamlet to
see the ghost because he thinks the
ghost will speak to Hamlet.
Horatio’s seems like the ghost is a
good friend.

8. "...But to persevere/In
obstinate condolement is a
course/Of impious
stubbornness, 'tis unmanly
grief,/(I, ii, 92-4)
The King; he thinks that
Hamlet has been mourning
his father's death too long. He
wants Hamlet to recognize
him as the new King and
Hamlet's mother as the King's
wife. This seems strange. Why
would the king rush Hamlet's
mourning? I don't think a
child can take too long in
mourning a parent's death.