Reflection on Reading and Writing, First Semester

Reading science fiction this year, was the most in depth reading I have ever done regarding science fiction books in my life. This was a challenge and made me become a more active reader. Also, I found myself becoming more curious about different book types as opposed to before when I was only interested in reading non-fiction books. Writing essays on sci-fi books was a new experience and forced me to explore new creative ideas. Then, when moving on to reading Hamlet, I found it complicated because of the language and it is a very different type of book in comparison to reading sci-fi books. Writing about Hamlet was when I put to practice a writing method I learned over the summer, which consists of writing ideas down on a sheet of paper and connecting them to the ones of the same category. This helped me brainstorm and arrive to conclusions quicker and more efficiently. For example, I used to spend more than an hour to come up with the ideas to write in a single paragraph. Now when using this method it only takes me about 30 minutes to come up with the structure of one paragraph. I feel much more comfortable writing. With the guidance of Dr. Forman to figure out what essay structure would work best for me helped me understand how to in the future organize my ideas from the beginning. Also, Dr. Forman taught me that any type of writing could be interpreted very differently when acted out. Next time I read a book, I will think about a character's tone in many different ways that could possibly be said and even acted out. These different options of how to interpret tones are limitless and cause a major change in the way that a reader and/or an audience take in the plot and message of literary works and different types of writing works.

Hamlet Film Essay English IV Rough Draft

In Olivier and Tennant's film versions of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the dead king's son and his royal relatives are portrayed differently through their tone. In addition, their tone is influenced by the lighting conditions in each film. The depiction of each character's personality within both movies is inclined toward anger and persuasion. Each character has its own interests. Claudius seeks power, superiority over all, and the ability to manipulate. Hamlet wants justice to flourish and Gertrude feels the need to make any decision possible that it takes to maintain her social status.

            There is only one main light in Olivier's film; it is horizontal and focused on the front of Hamlet's body. This makes the viewer's eyes focus on Hamlet as soon as the scene starts. Furthermore, when the light is on two characters or more they start to talk about their conflicts, or concerns in more depth and in a more intimate way. For example, when Gertrude gets behind Hamlet and the light is facing both of their faces, she puts her hands on his shoulders to create a comfort aura among the people in the scene and tries to get Hamlet to agree on her point of view on his father's death. Also, the quality of the movie is not as great since filming technology was not nearly as advanced it is today. This indeed contributes to the lighting appearing more intense than how it would appear to be like today. The darkest section of the set is where the throne is. As Hamlet looks down at the throne and leans with no energy and powerless against it, the real grievous and sorrowful way that he sees his family is revealed. The tone and the lighting combined make it a more insightful and powerful film.  

            Both Hamlet and Gertrude appear to be under Claudius' control. Hamlet speaks with an oppressed, and nostalgic tone. His self-esteem and mood decline throughout the scene. He ponders his problems in a negative way as shown during his soliloquy, his expressions and actions. The way in which he looks down at the throne portrays how much he has out of hope. This grief builds up his anger toward Claudius constantly. Claudius expresses himself using a loud, authoritative, dominant and egoistic tone. His vociferous tone almost matches the intensity of the light that overwhelms Hamlet. King Claudius tries his hardest in getting Hamlet to settle down but does not want him interfering with him at all with his monarchical capacity. Judging from this scene it is unimaginable to see Hamlet stand up to king Claudius and stabbing him. Queen Gertrude speaks in a very sweet and soothing tone. She initially deals with Hamlet and his concerns in a motherly way. After king Claudius shares his opinion about familiar issues, queen Gertrude becomes particularly intimate her son. It gets to the point where she seems to sugarcoat the real family problems at hand with a mouth-to-mouth kiss.

            As opposed to Olivier's film, Tennant's lighting selection is more plentiful. The lights are facing down vertically as well as many of the architectural features of the spacious room that they are in. The floor that Hamlet kneels down on has a dark tone. It is so clean and clear that it reflects light almost with the same precision that a mirror does. When Hamlet is speaking to Claudius and Gertrude with the court as an audience, the background behind Hamlet is very dark and there is only a small looking arch. On the contrary, behind Claudius and Gertrude, the background is a capacious and well-lit room. In a similar way to Olivier's movie, the potency of the light increases when Gertrude approaches Hamlet to talk about her concerns in an intimate way. The lighting in this scene enhances the tone more than in Olivier's film because of the quantity of lights involved and their location. For instance, when the camera is focused on king Claudius and queen Gertrude, their bodies are more illuminated than that of Hamlet's when the camera is focused on him.

Hamlet Essay #2, Body Paragraph #2

Tennant's lighting selection is more plentiful. Possibly, the more light there is, the more anger Hamlet expresses when in front of an audience. The light is vertical as well as many of the architectural features of the spacious room that they are in. The floor that Hamlet kneels down on has a dark tone and it is so clean and clear that it reflects light almost as much as a mirror does. When Hamlet is speaking to Claudius and Gertrude with the court as an audience, the background behind Hamlet is very dark and there is only a small looking arch. On the contrary, behind Claudius and Gertrude the background is a capacious well-lit room. In a similar way to Olivier's film, the potency of the light increases when Gertrude approaches Hamlet to talk about her concerns in an intimate way.

Hamlet Essay #2, Body Paragraph #1

There is only one main light in Olivier's film in the beginning of the scene, it is horizontal and focused on the front of Hamlet's body. This makes the viewer's eyes focus on Hamlet as soon as the scene starts. In addition, when the light is on two characters or more they start to talk about their conflicts, or concerns in more depth and in a more intimate way. For example, when Gertrude gets behind Hamlet and the light is facing both of their faces, she puts her hands on his shoulders and tries to get Hamlet to agree on her point of view on his father's death. There is only one light because it could represent Hamlet's father's presence and how it all relates back to only his death.

Intro Paragraph for Essay #2 on Hamlet

In Olivier and Tennant's film versions of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the dead king's son and his royal relatives are portrayed differently through their tone. In addition, their tone is influenced by the lighting conditions in each film. The depiction of each character's personality within the movies is inclined toward anger and persuasion. Each character has their own interests. Claudius seeks power, superiority over all, and ability to manipulate. Hamlet wants justice to prosper and Gertrude feels the need to make any decisions that it takes to maintain her social status.