For these logs, you will approach Act 4 from the viewpoint of a particular character (Gertrude, Claudius, Ophelia, or Laertes), one of which has already been assigned to you. You will read Act 4 and summarize each scene in your logs (as usual), but instead of doing the other log questions, you will use the questions from Handout 4, making entries only for the scenes in which your character appears. There are 8 character questions on the handout, all of which should be addressed across your Act 4 logs, although you need not answer them all for each scene. You should address questions multiple times where appropriate. 

The due date for these logs (and the completion of Act 4) is day 16, which is intended to be on Friday, August 14th.

In addition to the logs, you will be required to present your character to the class in a way that is engaging. An engaging presentation is NOT a slideshow. Our time with Hamlet is one of performance, and you will approach your character in the same way. Suggestions for presentations:

• Include a performance
  • Use any of the methods we have practiced in class (staged performance, physicalized performance, modern paraphrase)
  • Add roles - like a narrator - that reveals context, stopping the "true" action of the play to inform the audience of character details, motivations, hopes, flaws, fears, etc...
  • Duplicate roles - like Claudius - to show the complexity of his conflict by having to two (or more) actors play is part in different ways. You could even have these two roles acting as one person (draped in the same clothes, standing in the same spot) but taking control as the character changes his perspective.
• Create something new
  • Invent a scene that might be taking place in a character's mind
  • Mix scenes together, showing how earlier scenes contributed to who they are now
  • Have the character "interact" with quotes from various points in the play; have actors representing other characters say their quotes as the focus character responds.

To ensure we have time for these presentations, we will likely divide day 16 into two days, with presentations themselves on Monday, April 17th