Mr. Lazarow, what was the assignment for the extra credit again?

--Laura C.

Today, the question was asked where have we seen "as a woodcock to mine own springe" (Vii:336)before? Lydia pointed out as class was ending that Polonius says something similar in Iiii:124 ("ay, springes to catch woodcocks." But, Polonius says this when he is giving advice to Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet. Other than similar words, I don't see the connection between Laertes's death and Polonius's advice to Ophelia. Can someone please explain this?

--Laura C

Yesterday 3-17-08 in class we wrapped up act four and started Act 5 sc.1 . we are plnnaing to finnish the book by the break and have the test prior to the senior trip.
~Paul~

In Vi, Hamlet fights with Laertes about who loved Ophelia more at her funeral. As Mr. Laz pointed out today in class, this reinforces that fact that Hamlet is going crazier because no one sane would jump into the middle of a funeral and fight with the deceased’s brother. Do you think Shakespeare intentionally had Hamlet pick the fight at the funeral because he wanted to keep up with his "pretend madness," he is actually becoming mad, or he was truly upset about Ophelia's death and just lost control?

--Laura C

Hamlet act IV. scene V.

Who is the lady that Hamlet speaks of, when he is talking to Horatio?



Lydia P.

March 14th

Today in class, we discussed Hamlet IVvi-IVvii. Hamlet chose to send multiple letters to Gertrude and Horatio so that Claudius would have to pay the ransom to the pirates. Hamlet switched the letters he was supposed to give to England about his death sentence with his own letters that had death sentences for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
We also discussed Laertes's qualities that were beneficial for Claudius's plan to kill Hamlet. Laertes is a skilled fencer and agrees to kill Hamlet in a sword fight in order to avenge the death of his father. Claudius needs to know how far Laertes was willing to go to get revenge for the death of his father. Laertes says that he will cut Hamlet's throat in a church. This is significant because it shows that Hamlet is honorable and now has the maturity to be the king. Laertes is willing to do a dishonorable and sinful assassination on the prince.
We also discussed whether the death of Ophelia was in fact a suicide. Because Ophelia is insane and has no grasp of the difference between right and wrong, we can assume that she did not commit suicide. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing if it truly was a suicide, which leaves the question of where to bury her. If she did kill herself, then she cannot be buried on holy ground.
The assignment for this weekend is to read V.

--Laura C

Today in class we got our quizzes back and reviewed the answers. Some of the questions we discussed were why did Hamlet call Claudius “my mother”? The answer was because it is an insult to Claudius to not be called by his title. Secondly because when two people get married they become one person and therefore Claudius is Hamlet’s mother. Lastly, Hamlet will never call anyone except King Hamlet his father. We also discussed the rest of act 4 scene 5. We talked about Ophelia’s song and how it represented how she has been used and abused by everyone in her life. If anyone has any questions regarding the quiz just ask and I’ll try to help.

~Kelley Bartlett

The Thing to Remember/Take note of post was by me, Paul Campbell.

Thing to Remember/Take Note

Thing to Remember from today (3/12/08) from class:

In the case of the Flowers everything is:

1) A have and need to increase

or

2) missing and need to acquire

And that Mr. Lazarow took time to mention quite a few times the part about; The truth is told by the young, old, and the crazy but no one will listen to them until it is too late.

The Flowers Ophelia gave out:

The Flowers Ophelia gave out:

Rosemary-(Remembrance)

Laertes -for their father.

- To remember the things his father told him before he returned to school.

Gertrude - for the late King Hamlet.

Pansies-(Thoughts)

Laertes - For the raging thought in his head about what he should do about his father’s recent death.

Gertrude -Of her new relationship with her son Hamlet.

Fennel-(Flattery)

Claudius - his use of flattery to manipulate people.

Gertrude - her needing to be aware of being manipulated.

Columbines-(Disloyalty)

Claudius - his disloyalty to the entire country.

Rue-(Sorrow/Repentance)

Ophelia - For her sadness, due to the death of her father. She feels responsible for his death, and also the death of her mother who died during childbirth.

Gertrude - needs sorrow and repentance for her behavior.

Claudius - he needs some but has none.

Daisies-(Infidelity)

Gertrude - Her relationship with Claudius while Hamlet (her husband) was still alive.

Violets-(Faithfulness)

No One - She gives it to no one because she has no faith for anyone any more

~Paul Campbell~

Tuesday, March 11,2008

today in class we took a quiz on Act IV, secenes 1-5. We then asked a few questions about the act. The assignment for tonight is to find out what all the flowers mean and to interpret the reciever of each flower. ~Joe Aaron

March 10, 2008

Today in class we reviewed Act 4 scene 3 and 4. Currently Hamlet believes himself to be a coward and has already waited four months to kill Claudius. Tomorrow we will continue to talk about scene 4.

Marci W

Thursday March 6

Today in class, we reviewed Act 3 or continued on to Act 4. We studied the review questions for Act 3 and prepared for the test tomorrow as much as we could.

Samantha Schaeffer

Monday March 3rd

Mr. Lazarow was not in class today, but we were told to prepare for our upcoming test on Friday.

We have started Act 4 . Pay close attention to King Claudius's dialogue. How he refers to Hamlet, and the words he uses.

Lydia P.