TEACHER S PET PUBLICATIONS LitPlan Teacher Pack for Hamlet based on the play by William Shakespeare Written by Mary B. Collins 1997 Teacher s Pet Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This LitPlan for William Shakespeare s Hamlet has been brought to you by Teacher s Pet Publications, Inc. Copyright Teacher s Pet Publications 1997 11504 Hammock Point Berlin MD 21811 Only the student materials in this unit plan (such as worksheets, study questions, assignment sheets, and tests) may be reproduced multiple times for use in the purchaser s classroom. For any additional copyright questions, contact Teacher s Pet Publications. www.tpet.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS - Hamlet Introduction 10 Unit Objectives 13 Reading Assignment Sheet 14 Unit Outline 15 Study Questions (Short Answer) 19 Quiz/Study Questions (Multiple Choice) 26 Pre-reading Vocabulary Worksheets 43 Lesson One (Introductory Lesson) 51 Nonfiction Assignment Sheet 54 Oral Reading Evaluation Form 58 Writing Assignment 1 60 Writing Assignment 2 66 Writing Assignment 3 76 Writing Evaluation Form 67 Vocabulary Review Activities 65 Extra Writing Assignments/Discussion?s 70 Unit Review Activities 78 Unit Tests 81 Unit Resource Materials 121 Vocabulary Resource Materials 137 3
SHORT ANSWER STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - Hamlet Act One 1. Identify Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus, Horatio, and King Hamlet. 2. What had Bernardo seen at a prior watch? 3. Why does Marcellus think Horatio should speak to the ghost? 4. What does young Fortinbras want to do? 5. Who do the soldiers/guards want to tell about the ghost? 6. Identify King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and Polonius. 7. Where does Claudius send Cornelius and Voltimand? 8. What does the King tell Hamlet? 9. Hamlet is upset for two reasons. What are they? 10. What news does Horatio bring Hamlet? 11. What does Hamlet decide to do after he hears Horatio's news? 12. What is Laertes' advice to Ophelia? 13. What is Polonius' advice to Laertes? 14. At the end of Scene III, Ophelia agrees to "obey." What will she do? 15. What did the ghost tell Hamlet? 16. Hamlet swears Horatio to two things. What are they? Act II 1. Where does Polonius send Reynaldo? Why? 2. Why does Polonius think Hamlet is "mad"? 3. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to the castle? 4. What is Polonius' plan for testing his theory that Hamlet is love-crazy? 5. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern finally meet with Hamlet, and Hamlet discovers they were sent for by the King. How does Hamlet describe his personal problems to them? What does he tell them? 6. What arrangement does Hamlet make with Player 1? 7. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave Hamlet, what does he basically say in his soliloquy? 19
ANSWER KEY SHORT ANSWER STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - Hamlet Act One 1. Identify Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus, Horatio, and King Hamlet. Bernardo, Francisco and Marcellus are guard soldiers at Elsinore. Horatio is Hamlet's friend. King Hamlet is Hamlet's father who was murdered prior to the beginning of the play. 2. What had Bernardo seen at a prior watch? Bernardo had seen King Hamlet's ghost. 3. Why does Marcellus think Horatio should speak to the ghost? Horatio was a scholar who should know the proper way to address a ghost. 4. What does young Fortinbras want to do? Young Fortinbras wants to regain the lands his father had lost. 5. Who do the soldiers/guards want to tell about the ghost? They think Hamlet (King Hamlet's son) should know about the ghost. 6. Identify King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and Polonius. King Claudius is King Hamlet's brother, Hamlet's uncle. He came to the throne and married King Hamlet's wife after King Hamlet's death. Queen Gertrude is Hamlet's mother. Laertes is Polonius' son. Polonius is Lord Chamberlain. 7. Where does Claudius send Cornelius and Voltimand? He sends them to the King of Norway with letters asking the King to try to keep young Fortinbras from going to battle. 8. What does the King tell Hamlet? He tells Hamlet that Hamlet should not grieve so deeply for his father's death; it is time to think of other things. He says he wants Hamlet to think of him as his father and to remain at cheerful Elsinore for a while longer. 9. Hamlet is upset for two reasons. What are they? His father has died, and his uncle has married his mother less than two months after his father's death. It was not a respectable period of time to wait, besides which the marriage in Hamlet's time was considered incestuous. 10. What news does Horatio bring Hamlet? Horatio tells Hamlet of King Hamlet's ghost. 21
11. What does Hamlet decide to do after he hears Horatio's news? He decides to go on watch with the guards at midnight in hopes of seeing the ghost himself. 12. What is Laertes' advice to Ophelia? He warns her to stay away from Hamlet and tells her to protect her virtue. 13. What is Polonius' advice to Laertes? Polonius tells Laertes to not always voice his thoughts, to be familiar but not vulgar, to hold on to his closest friends, to beware of getting into quarrels, to listen to everyone but not to always give advice, to listen to others' opinions without always judging them, to buy good clothes, to not be a borrower or lender, and above all else, to his own self be true. 14. At the end of Scene III, Ophelia agrees to "obey." What will she do? She agrees to obey Polonius' wish that she would stay away from Hamlet and reject his affections. 15. What did the ghost tell Hamlet? The ghost told Hamlet that King Hamlet was murdered by Claudius, and it asked Hamlet to avenge the murder. 16. Hamlet swears Horatio to two things. What are they? He swears him to secrecy about the events of this evening (seeing the ghost) and to go along with him should he pretend to be crazy. Act II 1. Where does Polonius send Reynaldo? Why? Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to spy on Laertes and to take him money and messages. 2. Why does Polonius think Hamlet is "mad"? He thinks Ophelia's rejections have been too much for Hamlet, that Hamlet is love-sick. 3. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to the castle? They have come to find out why Hamlet is acting so strangely and to report their findings to the King. 4. What is Polonius' plan for testing his theory that Hamlet is love-crazy? He wants to have Hamlet meet Ophelia. He (Polonius) will hide and eavesdrop on the conversation to determine whether or not Hamlet is love-sick. 22