Was Hamlet Crazy or Not? Created by Lydia Driskill

Goal: Determine Hamlet's sanity

Objective: Students will decide whether they think Hamlet was pretending to be crazy or if he genuinely lost his mind.

Standards: RL.11-12.3 – Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Essential Question

Was Hamlet crazy or did he pretend to lose his mind?

Use http://www.instagrok.com/ to look up key words about Hamlet and his mental state during the novel. Search words like: "Hamlet crazy", "Hamlet's ghost", "Hamlet mental state".

Was Hamlet really crazy? Use http://www.wisegeek.org/was-hamlet-really-crazy.htm come up with ideas as to why you think he is or is not crazy.

This source dives into Hamlet's mental state throughout the course of the novel. https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2015/04/24/was-hamlet-sane-or-insane/

Use this source to determine whether you think the ghost was real or a figment of Hamlet's imagination. http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/ghost.html

Assignment: Now that you have read through these articles, write a paragraph (5-8 sentences) explaining why you think Hamlet is crazy or not. Use the sources to support your stance.

Assessment

Credits:

Created with images by Thalita Carvalho ϟ - "Hamlet" • Provenance Online Project - "Context image from Penn Libraries Folio PR2751 .A1" • Hans - "tab read chapel chapel st leonhard chapel" • inkflo - "curved house wall old stone building french" • D-Stanley - "Shakespeare`s Globe Theatre"

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