Final Draft Minimum Page Requirement: at least 5 full, typed-double spaced pages with one-inch margins at the top, sides, and bottom of the page.

Choose one of the following writing prompts for your Hamlet paper. 

• At the end of the play, Hamlet exhorts Horatio to “. . . report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied” (5.2.371-2).  Hamlet reiterates this request: “. . . in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain / To tell my story” (5.2.383-4).  For Horatio to fulfill Hamlet’s command “aright,” what central portrait of Hamlet would Horatio have to convey?  In other words, how would Hamlet most accurately and perceptively be characterized? . . . As a proven hero?  An unwilling martyr?  A pitiable victim?  A frustrated love?  A self-pitying person?  A thwarted prince?  A loving son?  An accomplished actor?  A ranting madman?  An insightful philosopher?  A perceptive critic?  A disillusioned idealist?  A student of death?  A director of life?  A great Dane?  In order to characterize Hamlet, employ the division/classification mode.

• Pick one character who could have—at several points in the play—changed the whole chain of events.  Develop your analysis and argument using the cause/effect mode.

• Who is responsible for Ophelia’s death?  Use 2-3 different people and explain using cause/effect.  Then persuade the reader that one character was most influential.  Optional third part: Suppose Ophelia had lived; how would that have affected the story? (Hint: use information from Act 5 for support, do not just make up anything). Use the compare/contrast mode.

• Explain how Hamlet is or is not the tragic hero using cause/effect.  Then, indicate 2-3 other characters who might be considered heroes and explain why.  Choose one to be the ultimate hero and persuade the reader.  Make sure to apply the cause/effect mode.

• Early on we hear from Marcellus, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (1.4.100).  How does the rest of the play either prove or disprove this statement?  Please think critically with this prompt, as it could be easy just to state the obvious.  How do individual choices affect the state of Denmark?  Utilize the cause/effect mode.

• There are numerous tragedies within the tragic play Hamlet.  Focus on 2-3 of those tragedies, explaining them through the compare/contrast mode.  Then, using persuasion, argue that one tragedy is greater than the others.

–ambition driven tragedies

–revenge driven tragedies

–putting on a false appearance/dishonesty tragedies

–meddling in other people’s affairs driven tragedies

–betrayals of trust tragedies

• Explore the repetition of symbols throughout Hamlet.  Employ the example mode.  Throughout your analysis of symbolism, be sure to convey an argument.