Shakespeare Extended response #2 Dylan Myler

Dylan Myler                                                                                                           6/19/15

English 7                                                                                                 Period:8

Context and Reflection:

For my final exam I chose my second extended response for the Shakespeare play “Hamlet”. I have shown my use of language and grammar in this writing.  I chose this piece because it was one in which I could improve the grammar, language and length. These edits make the piece better because grammar is important in writing and the language makes the writing more interesting and compelling.  It is about the plot of Hamlet and its two main themes and how Shakespeare uses these themes.

The Writing:

Source 1: nfs.sparknotes.com/hamlet

In Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” the idea that death is inevitable and mysterious are major themes in this play. The play is set in a castle in Denmark where the king and queen of Denmark live. Hamlet’s father has just been murdered and the king's brother, Claudius has just taken the throne and the king's wife, Gertrude. The ghost of the dead king comes and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius and that Hamlet must avenge his death. The conflict of the story is Hamlet’s father was murdered and Hamlet must murder King Claudius. Throughout the story, Hamlet has trouble, during one scene he was talking to his mom Gertrude and didn’t know that his mom and Polonius were talking before and when Hamlet came in he hid behind the arras, when Hamlet was talking to his mom he shouted and his mom and Polonius screamed. Hamlet thought Polonius was Claudius and stabs him. Polonius is the lord chamberlain of the king's court and the father of Ophelia and Laertes.  After Hamlet kills Polonius, Hamlet’s lover (and Polonius’s father), Ophelia goes mad with grief and kills herself in the river. Also, later in the story Hamlet and Laertes fight because Laertes blames the death of his sister and father on Hamlet. Laertes has put poison on his sword and stabs Hamlet, they both drop their swords and Hamlet gets Laertes sword and he stabs Laertes, dooming them both to die. Hamlet then Stabs Claudius with the sword and forces him to drink a goblet of poison which his mother just drank and died from. At the end of it Hamlet has completed his quest to kill Claudius and killed many others. Hamlet’s character was created well in this play, if he was any different the story would not be as entertaining. In this play Hamlet is very brave, willing, and clever, he uses these traits and his knowledge to escape and kill Claudius. In one part Hamlet is sent to England to be executed but he changes the document sent with him that says to execute him and rewrites it to say to kill the two men he was sent with.   Shakespeare clearly communicates the theme that death is inevitable and  mysterious when he shows Hamlet finding Yorick’s skull and shows Hamlet marveling  over at the consequences of death . The play “Hamlet” clearly shows Shakespeare’s use of death and revenge.

About the Author:

My name is Dylan Myler, I am a average student and like science a lot. As an English student I think that I have improved greatly compared to last year, even though I still don’t like writing that much. In my writing I think that I am much more descriptive and I think I use more figurative language because the authors I read use lots of figurative and descriptive language and as a reader I find it much more enjoyable than other types of writing.