Hamlet Sarcasm Workshop

Labeling Make a key at the top of the person’s paper using your highlighters Sample: Blue=Statement Pink=Proof Yellow=Commentary Highlight statement, proof, and commentary using your key

Evaluate Your Statement (Claim) Is it arguable? In other words, is it an obvious declaration like “Hamlet is sarcastic?” or does it connect Hamlet’s use of sarcasm to the characterization of Hamlet like “Hamlet’s use of sarcasm in the play reveals his bitterness towards his uncle.” What do we know about Hamlet because of his sarcastic statements?

PROOF – Citation format Check your citations. Include Act, scene, and line(s) There are two forms of proper citation format per MLA. You may choose EITHER, but be consistent with your choice. Arabic numbers – For Act I, scene ii, lines , you would use ( ) Roman numerals - For Act I, scene ii, lines , you would use (I.ii ) If your citation spans more than one line, did you indicate the line break? Ex: “Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” ( ).

PROOF – quote integration Look at your quotes. Did you use the phrase “This quote means” or some other variation? Take it out. This is not quote integration. Did you simply pluck the quote off the page and drop it in your paper, or is it integrated into one of you own sentences? Hamlet’s very first utterance in the play comes in his sarcastic comment “A little more than kin and less than kind” (1.2.67), setting the stage for his continued use of words as weapons.

Evaluate Connections Draw a line between the first quote’s commentary and the claim. Evaluate if you have made this connection in your commentary. If yes, draw a check mark next to the line If no, draw and “x” on the line. Repeat with your second (and third, etc) quote Only draw a check mark if the connection is clear and explicit. I should not need to take a leap of faith to get where you are going.

Get Rid of Summary Cross out all instances of summary. Summary should only be EXTREMELY BRIEF to provide context to quotes. Example: In act I, scene ii, just after Hamlet greets Horatio, Hamlet makes the sarcastic comment, “Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” ( ). “just after Hamlet greets Horatio” gives context but does not waste space with summary

Self-Evaluation Re-read your paragraph(s) and your comments Now that you have gone through the workshop, ask yourself, “How well did I do? What can I do better?” On the TOP of your paper, give yourself a score from 1-10 telling me how well written you believe your paragraph was. Next to the score, make notes of what you need to revise in order to strengthen it Turn in your paragraph(s)