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Hamlet Research Essay

A research project is required in ENG102. Now that you have written your analysis of Hamlet, your task will be to find authoritative sources to support your assessment of the text. To do this is to develop your Information literacy which is defined as follows:

• “Information Literacy Outcome: The Information Literacy component of the general education core states: “Graduates should be able to recognize a need for information, access the information effectively and efficiently using various mediums, critically select and evaluate Information and incorporate it into their knowledge base, and present information in an appropriate format.”

You need to find support from three different types of source (But you need more than three sources):

• Books (these can be ebooks).

• Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers—these can be from the library’s databases: JSTOR, MLA Bibl io graphy, Literature Resource Center).

• Internet.

The more sources you have, the higher your grade will be on the MLA portion of this assignment. You should have at least one quote from each of the three source areas above. If you have only three sources, the highest grade you can receive is a “C.” You may have 3 Internets sources, 4 sources from the library’s databases, and 2 sources from books. You could have 1 Internet article, 1 book, and 5 database sources.

Do not paraphrase your sources. Quote them.

You will need to use your Little DK Handbook and my MLA/Research document to see how to properly quote these various sources and how to cite them in your Works Cited. I see that several of you are using online sites that create your Works Cited entries for you. Guess what? They are almost always wrong. Learn the proper way to do them yourselves.

Assignment: After I have graded tour essay and returned it to you, you will rewrite it based on my comments and you will gracefully add your supportive, authoritative sources as show below. Your sources must come from the three areas designated above. Everything must be in proper MLA format.

Keep in mind that if you don’t quote or directly refer to a source, it is NOT a work you cited in the body of your text and DOES NOT belong in your Works Cited. Every semester I get essays with no quotes from sources, yet they have 5 or 6 in their Works Cited. Those essays are automatic “Fs”. Avoid paraphrasing because that leads to plagiarism. Quote your sources.

Below is a sample body paragraph with sources added in red. Do not write on this scene, since I have already done it.

Notice that the passage below contains my analysis of the play which is supplemented with quotes from authoritative sources.

In the first meeting between Ophelia and Laertes (topic—what you’ll discuss), we begin to see her inability to stand by her convictions (Purpose—what this paragraph will reveal about her). Laertes is about to leave for France, but before he goes he feels he needs to tell Ophelia what she should do in regards to her relationship with Hamlet. The fact that he believes he must tell her what to do is revealing because it suggests that he doesn’t think his sister is capable of making her own decisions. Susan Wallington states, “Laertes has certainly learned from his father that Ophelia is to be treated as an inferior” (34). He tells her that Hamlet’s love is “The perfume and suppliance of a minute-- / no more” (1.3.7-8). He is telling her that Hamlet’s love is as long lasting as a whiff of perfume and nothing more.(explanation of quote that focuses on the image in the quote.) As we will see when her father arrives, Ophelia truly believes that Hamlet loves her, yet when her brother says Hamlet’s love is as intangible as a whiff of perfume, she doesn’t argue or contest what Laertes says. She believes Hamlet’s love is true, but she will not stand by that conviction. When Polonius challenges Ophelia on the truth of Hamlet’s love “Ophelia only puts up a weak defense showing that she doesn’t know her own mind” (“Ophelia as the Lost Soul”). In response to her brother’s assertion that Hamlet’s feelings are as unsubstantial as hint of perfume, she responds, “No more but so?” (1.3.9). In other words, she is asking if Hamlet’s love is no more than that. Who should know if Hamlet’s love is true: Ophelia or Laertes? .(explanation of quote that focuses on the image in the quote.) She should, but as soon as her brother challenges her beliefs, she backs away from her convictions. Laertes lecture to her runs 35 lines and not once does she interrupt him to tell him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. One critic notes, “Laertes speech may come across as showing his concern for his sister, but never one does he ask her how she feels, what she believes. This is because Ophelia is seen as an empty shell with no will of her own” (Jessup). Just before Laertes leaves, he asks her to keep in mind what he has said. She responds, “Tis in my memory locked / And You yourself shall keep the key of it” (1.3.86-87). Rather than tell Laertes to mind his own business, she says she will keep his admonitions locked in her heart as if they are treasures. .(explanation of quote that focuses on the image in the quote.) Again, she fails to express her true belief that Hamlet’s love is sincere. This scene reveals that she simply has no backbone and will not stand up for what she believes. Back to topic and point of paragraph that is worded to support the thesis.

Works Cited

Jessup, Paula. “A Woman Without Will.” Shakespeare for People of all Ages. Np., 2013. Web. 14 Jun.

2013.

“Ophelia as the Lost Soul.” Women in Drama: A depiction of Women in Literature. Stanford

University, 2013. Web. 15 Jun. 2013.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Literature: Reading, Reacting , Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and

Stephen Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. 1520- 1618. Print.

Wallington, Susan. “Feminism in Hamlet.” English Today 3.4: 234-245. JSTOR. Web. 12 Jun. 2013.

The above paragraph illustrates what your body paragraphs should look like. There is a balance between quotes from the text and quotes from outside, authoritative critics.

The Works Cited entries are in alphabetical order. The first two entries are from Web sites. The third is our text. The forth is from the library’s database JSTOR which provides PDF files from journal articles originally in print.

There are only four sources in this Works Cited because the four were quoted in the paragraph above. In the paragraphs that would follow this one, more sources would be quoted and the Works Cited would have more entries. Once again, if you don’t quote it, it’s not a work you cited in the body of your text and, thus, doesn’t belong in your Works Cited page.