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Paul Gross, Hamlet Forever
In our eight years of marriage, my wife and I haven’t even considered bringing a TV set into our home. Where would we put it? And now, why even bother? The Internet keeps us informed, and I can catch...
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Hamlet Introduction: Friends to this ground. And liegemen to the Dane.
There was a particularly festive atmosphere at school today. Election Day. Full moon. A human skull greeting my students at the classroom door. I love the first day of my Hamlet unit. After O Canada...
View ArticleHamlet's inertia mirrored in Fortinbras
Usually for the first Act of Hamlet, I dock my iPod at the front of the class and play an audio version while the students follow along in their texts. Hearing the actors speak the lines helps the...
View ArticleLesson Debrief: Staging Hamlet's Ghost
When my Grade 12 College level students study Hamlet, we do not spend weeks analyzing the details. We do not debate about Hamlet or Claudius proving the greater villain; we do not philosophize on...
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Reading Reflection: The Piano Man's Daughter
Recently, our school’s student book club met and discussed our first book of the year: The Piano Man’s Daughter, by local favourite Timothy Findley. First published in 1995, it remains an excellent...
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Hamlet: Collaborative Essay Topics
It is Spring time again, when my thoughts bend toward crocuses, robins, sunshine, detox diets, and the beginning of another Hamlet unit. I know that I’ve blogged many times about Hamlet, but I love to...
View ArticleMemorizing Hamlet
Every time that I teach the Hamlet unit, I assign a different passage for memorization. In past semesters I’ve assigned either: Hamlet’s first soliloquy, ‘O that this too too sullied flesh would melt…’...
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"Was Ophelia pregnant?" and other questions after the second act
There are a number of students in my Grade 12 class that attended last year’s school trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival to see Ben Carlson’s performance of Hamlet, and therefore already have a...
View ArticleShakespeare Club… #37: The Complete Works
So, the plan to meet with colleagues once a month to discuss a Shakespeare play over an Americano or a London Fog disintegrated. Actually, it first became something of a free-for-all, then a foot-race...
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Polonius and his children
Last semester my Grade 12 class raised many good points and questions regarding the quality of character in Hamlet. The students were great at getting me to re-think many aspects of the play which I’ve...
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