Typically, the manner in which research projects proceed is as follows: the writer (that’s you) reads and contemplates a given literary work. Then, he or she develops an insight into some important aspect of the play. Notice how this is very similar to the preparation for all previous essays. Next, the writer decides it may be beneficial to survey what others (more experienced, frequently professional) literary critics have written on the topic that has piqued her interest. For example, many critics have long puzzled over why it takes Hamlet so long to exact vengeance. My own view is that he has to procrastinate, or we would have a very short play indeed.
Nonetheless, commentators have taken up this question and interrogated it for quite a while. A famous Freudian critic named Edmund Wilson opined that Hamlet is anxiety-ridden over killing Claudius because he had actually done what Hamlet secretly wanted to do – namely kill the father and marry the mother. Now, as a writer, you may agree or disagree with this thesis, andwriter, you may agree or disagree with this thesis, and you may express your approval or disapprobation by synthesizing the view into your own essay. The research essay is a space in which to demonstrate your knowledge of the critical landscape surrounding a topic from the play and also insist upon the validity of your own stance.
Thesis: After losing his father unexpectedly, Hamlet experiences a crisis of masculinity that forces him into paralytic or reactionary positions.
Evidence: Specific textual examples in support of your thesis might include Claudius and Gertude calling Hamlet unmanly in their initial exchange. Additionally, each of Hamlet’s soliloquies contain blandishments against his inaction that characterize him as effete.
Research Component
You will perform library research that will be recorded in an annotated bibliography and incorporated into the final research paper. The project requires 6 annotated entries.
However, your essay on Hamlet, Prince of Denmark should incorporate at least 4 of those into your discussion of the play.
These sources may be accessed via our library’s web site.
Secondary sources can be synthesized into your essay in a number of different ways. You might cite an opinion that differs from your own so that you might signal to the reader the exact line of debate in which you are engaged.
Or, you might cite a source that confirms your own opinion. Additionally, you may quote a critic in order to build on his or her work. At any rate, the goals are to demonstrate familiarity with some facet of the critical debate surrounding the play and enter that debate by proposing and arguing for your own persuasive claim.
The annotated bibliography consists of 6 scholarly sources. This is simply a list of secondary works on the play in MLA format with a brief (4-6 sentences) paragraph following the citation and explaining the argument of said source. In addition to explicating the source, you should also speculate as to where you might make use of the source in your own essay. The final, completed project should be 5-7 pages (Think 4 pages for the essay and 3 more for the annotations) in length including the annotated bibliography.
Rubric
Focus: An interpretive insight into some important aspect of the play and a forecast of supporting material.
Development: Multiple paragraphs connected by clear transitions in which the central thesis is vigorously supported with both textual evidence and critical commentary from secondary scholarly sources.
Organization: A clear pattern of logical structure replete with connective transitions and signposts.
Grammar and MLA: The essay must be free of patterns of grammatical error and the document should adhere strictly to MLA documentation procedures.: An interpretive insight into some important aspect of the play and a forecast of supporting material.
Development: Multiple paragraphs connected by clear transitions in which the central thesis is vigorously supported with both textual evidence and critical commentary from secondary scholarly sources.
Organization: A clear pattern of logical structure replete with connective transitions and signposts.
Grammar and MLA: The essay must be free of patterns of grammatical error and the document should adhere strictly to MLA documentation procedures
Helpful Tips
Upon first reference to the play, cite the full title and italicize. Thereafter, you may simply refer to the play as Hamlet, but the play is always italicized; the character is not.
Plays are cited by act, scene and lines in Arabic numbers, e.g. (Shakespeare 1.2.3-10)
Begin with an interesting question, intriguing quote or some such rhetorical device, just as you have in previous essays. Develop a perspective or stance on the topic you find interesting that naturally emerges from a closer look at the text. Use the textual evidence in the play itself and interactions with critics to make your arguments throughout.
Lead paragraphs with clear transitions. Engage quotes, both primary and secondary in each paragraph; this will be the heart and soul of your critical, researched synthesis analysis.
Do not rehearse the plot of Hamlet; I already know it.
Hamlet is a big apple pie; carve out a small piece that is not too big, not too sweet-chew on it. For example, I could pose a seemingly innocuous question like “Why is there a ghost in an otherwise wholly realistic play?” This will invariably lead to other questions like “What is the function and purpose of this element of the play?” “What is the play’s attitude toward the supernatural?” “What did Elizabethans think about the afterlife, spirits, demons, apparitions?” Suddenly, you have yourself a research topic along the lines of the following:
What were ideas and attitudes like vis-à-vis the supernatural in Early Modern England and how does Shakespeare demonstrate, dismiss or subvert these notions in the play? Just ask lots of questions and you too can perform this kind of stunning feat.
I will provide a list of topics and ideas; however, the best topics are the ones that come from your own deep thinking on some limited aspect of the play. Do not fear the melancholy Dane and have fun!
